Acts 16:17 (ASV)

Passage

The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.

Nearby Context

Acts 16:15 And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide [there]. And she constrained us.

Acts 16:16 And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.

Acts 16:17 The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.

Acts 16:18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.

Acts 16:19 But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "same", "following", "after", "paul", "cried", "saying", "servants", and "most". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "same" and "following", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And it came to pass as we..." into verse 18's "And this she did for many days...", so "same" and "following" 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 "same" and "following" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.