Beaten and Jailed at Philippi

¹⁶One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination. She earned a great deal of money for her owners through fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, crying out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way of salvation!" ¹⁸She kept doing this for many days. Finally Paul, greatly troubled, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And it came out that very hour. ¹⁹When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men, being Jews, are causing serious trouble in our city. ²¹They are promoting customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice." ²²The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates had their clothes torn off and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ²³After they had been severely beaten, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was ordered to guard them securely. ²⁴Having received such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.