BibleBlox
78. paul and silas in prison
/ acts 16:16-40 /
/ listen as you follow along /
After Paul’s first missionary trip 🧳 was finished, Paul wanted to go on another journey 🧭 to visit all the new friends they had made and see how they were doing. But this time, Barnabas decided to go on a different trip ✌️ with his cousin Mark. That meant Paul needed a new travel buddy. God helped Paul find the perfect friend for this new adventure - a wonderful teacher 👨🏼🏫 named Silas. Silas was known in the church ⛪️ for being wise 🧠 and helpful, and he was excited to join Paul on this second missionary journey.
Paul and Silas traveled 🧳 to many cities 🌆 together. In each place, they would visit people and tell them the good news 🗞️ about Jesus. One special city 🏙️ they visited was called Philippi. While Paul and Silas were in Philippi, there was a young servant girl 👧🏼 who kept following them around everywhere they went. She had a demon 😈 inside her that made her tell fortunes, 🔮 and her masters made money 💰 from this. Day after day, she would follow Paul and Silas, calling out to everyone, "These men are servants of the Most High God! They're telling you how to be saved!"
Now, even though what she was saying was true, Paul knew the poor girl 👧🏼 was being controlled by this bad spirit. 😈 It wasn't good for her to have this spirit inside her. After many days of this happening, Paul felt very sad 😔 for the girl. He turned around and spoke to the demon, 😈 saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!" And just like that, the spirit left her right away! 👿
But when the girl's masters saw that she couldn't tell fortunes 🥠 anymore, they got very angry. 😡 You see, they cared more about the money 💰 they were making than about the girl 👧🏼 being helped. They were so mad 😠 that they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the marketplace where the city leaders were. They told lies about Paul and Silas, saying they were causing trouble in the city. 🏙️
That's when the angry 😤 crowd joined in, and the leaders ordered Paul and Silas to be beaten 👊 and thrown into jail. But even though they were hurt 😔 and in prison, Paul and Silas knew that helping that girl was the right thing to do. The guards put them in the very back of the prison and even put their feet in special wooden blocks called stocks. ⛓️
But do you know what Paul and Silas did? Instead of crying 😢 or complaining, they decided to have a midnight worship 🙌 party! They sang songs 🎤 to God and prayed 🙏 out loud. All the other prisoners were listening 👂🏻 to their beautiful songs. 🎧
Then, God sent a big earthquake! 🫨 It was so strong 💪 that all the prison doors 🚪 flew open, and everyone's chains ⛓️💥 fell off! The jail guard was scared 😱 because he thought all the prisoners would run 🏃🏼♂️💨 away. But Paul called 🗣️ out, "Don't worry! We're all still here!"
The guard was so surprised 😮 by their kindness that he asked Paul and Silas, "What must I do to be saved?" They told him all about Jesus's love, ❤️ and that very night, the guard and his whole family decided to follow Jesus too! The guard was so happy 😁 that he took Paul and Silas to his house, 🏡 cleaned their wounds, and gave them a nice meal. 🥘
77. paul's first mission / 78. paul and silas in prison / 79. paul writes letters to churches
