Once upon a time, there was a man named Paul who traveled through the lands to tell people about Jesus. He had a friend and helper with him, whose name was Silas. They were courageous men who loved God very much and joyfully shared the good news about Jesus.
One day Paul and Silas came to a city called Philippi. There they helped many people. But some people in the city did not like Paul and Silas talking about Jesus. They had the two men arrested and thrown into prison. It was a dark place, and their feet were put into heavy blocks of wood so they couldn’t escape.
Paul and Silas could have been desperate. But instead, they did something remarkable: they began to pray and praise God with songs. Their voices were full of joy and hope, and the other prisoners listened in amazement and curiosity.
Suddenly, as they sang and prayed, the earth shook with heavy trembling. It was a strong earthquake! The doors of the prison sprang open, and the chains fell from the prisoners. It was a miracle!
The jailer woke up from his sleep and saw the doors open. He was very afraid that the prisoners had fled. But Paul cried out loudly: “Don’t do anything to yourself! We’re all here!” The guard was so overwhelmed that he fell down in front of Paul and Silas and asked, “What must I do to be saved?”
Paul and Silas kindly told him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your house.” The guard heard the good news and was happy. He took Paul and Silas to his home and tended to their wounds. That same night, the guard and his entire family were baptized because they believed in Jesus.
The next morning, the city officials released Paulus and Silas. They realized that Paul and Silas had done nothing wrong. The two men moved on to tell more people about the wonderful love of God.
Message of history
Even in difficult times, we can praise and trust God. God can make something good out of every situation and help us.
Bible passage
The story of Paul and Silas in prison and how they sing praises is found in Acts 16:16-40:
“Now it happened that when we were going to the place of prayer, we met a maid who had a divination spirit. This brought her masters great profit through fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying, “These people are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation!” And she did so for many days. But Paul was indignant and turned around and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he went out at the same hour. But when their masters saw that the hope of their gain had vanished, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them to the market place before the chief officials, and led them to the centurions, saying, “These people, the Jews, are confusing our city and proclaiming customs that we must not accept or practice, since we are Romans.” And the crowd rose up against them at the same time, and the captains had their clothes torn off and ordered them to be beaten with rods. And when they had given them many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them safe. At this order he threw her into the inner prison and locked her feet in the stick. At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God; and the prisoners listened to them. Then suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison shook; and immediately all the doors were opened, and the fetters of all were loosed. But when the jailer started up from his sleep and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and wanted to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” Then he asked for a light, and sprang into it, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you and your house will be saved.” And they preached to him the word of the Lord and to all who were in his house. And he took them to himself in the same hour of the night, and washed off their welts; and he was baptized with all who belonged to him, without delay. And he brought them into his house, set before them a meal, and rejoiced with all his household that he had come to believe in God. And when day came, the centurions sent the bailiffs and said, “Release those people.” Then the jailer proclaimed these words to Paul, saying, “The centurions have [zu mir] sent for you to be released, so go out and go in peace.” And Paul said to them, “They have publicly beaten us, who are Romans, without condemnation, and thrown us into prison; And now they want to push us out secretly? Not so! But let them come and lead us out! The bailiffs, however, proclaimed these words to the captains; and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. And they came and spoke to them, and led them out, and begged them to leave the city. So they went out of prison and went to Lydia; and when they saw the brothers, they comforted them and went away.”
