Acts 16:25 (KJV)

Passage

And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

Nearby Context

Acts 16:23 And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

Acts 16:24 Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Acts 16:27 And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "midnight", "paul", "silas", "prayed", "sang", "praises", "prisoners", and "heard". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "midnight" and "paul", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 24's "Who having received such a charge thrust..." into verse 26's "And suddenly there was a great earthquake...", so "midnight" and "paul" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "midnight" and "paul" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.