Acts 16:25 (DBY)

Passage

And at midnight Paul and Silas, in praying, were praising God with singing, and the prisoners listened to them.

Nearby Context

Acts 16:23 And having 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, cast them into the inner prison, and secured their feet to the stocks.

Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas, in praying, were praising God with singing, and the prisoners listened to them.

Acts 16:26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison shook, and all the doors were immediately opened, and the bonds of all loosed.

Acts 16:27 And the jailor being awakened out of his sleep, and seeing the doors of the prison opened, having drawn a sword was going to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had fled.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "midnight", "paul", "silas", "praying", "praising", "singing", "prisoners", and "listened". 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 cast..." 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.