Acts 16:36

So the jail boss told Paul, “The judges have sent a message telling me to let you and Silas go free. So you can go quietly out of the jail now.”

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

In Context

35The next morning, the judges said to some policemen, “Go and tell the jail boss, ‘You can let those 2 prisoners go now.’” Then the policemen went to the jail boss and told him that message.

37But Paul said to the policemen, “No. Yesterday those judges didn’t take us to court to find out if we did anything wrong, or not. They just told men to hit us in front of the crowd. Then they put us in jail. But that is against the Roman law, because we are Romans. You see, even though we are Jews, we are Romans too. Our names are on the list of all the Roman people. So those judges broke the Roman law yesterday. And now they want to send us away while nobody is looking. No way. Those judges have to come to us and tell us that they are sorry, and they have to take us out of this jail themselves.”

Read all of Acts 16

Cross References

1 Samuel 1:17Eli said, “Don’t worry. Go now. We Israel mob follow a good God. He will do whatever you ask him.”

1 Samuel 25:35And David thanked her, and he told his men to get all the food from Abigail. And he said to her, “All right. You can go home now. I have heard you, and I will do what you are asking me.”

John 14:27When I go away, I will give you the power to always feel happy and quiet inside yourselves. You see, I have that power, and I will give you that power too. The people in the world can’t give you that power, but I can. So don’t let anything upset you, and don’t let anything frighten you.

Acts 16:27The jail boss woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open, and he thought, “All those prisoners ran away. I’m in big trouble now.” So he got his big knife, and he was going to kill himself.

Matthew Henry on Acts 16:36-40

Paul and Silas Released. 35 And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. 36 And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 37 But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. 38 And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates:… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Acts 16:36