Acts 16 | Philippian Jailer prison was shaken to its foundations. All Acts 16:16-35, 40; 17:1 the doors flew open, and the chains of Based on NLT every prisoner fell off! The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He Acts 16:16-17 assumed the prisoners had escaped, so One day as Paul and Silas were going he drew his sword to kill himself. But down to the place of prayer, they met a Paul shouted to him, “Stop! Don’t kill slave girl who was possessed* by an evil yourself! We are all here!” spirit*. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. Acts 16:29-30 She followed…Paul and Silas shouting, …The jailer called for lights and ran to “These men are servants of the Most the dungeon and fell down trembling High God, and they have come to tell before Paul and Silas. Then he brought you how to be saved.” them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Acts 16:18 This went on day after day until Paul got Acts 16:31-34 so tired of it that he turned and spoke to They replied, “Believe* in…Jesus and the evil spirit within her. “I command you will be saved, along with everyone you in the name of Jesus…to come out in your household.” Then they told the of her,” he said. And instantly it left her. message about Jesus to him and all who lived in his household. That same hour Acts 16:19-21 the jailer washed their wounds, and he Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now and everyone in his household were shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas immediately baptized*. The jailer fed and dragged them before the authorities them at his house and they all rejoiced at the marketplace. “The whole city is in because they all believed in God. an uproar because of these men!” they shouted. “They are teaching the people Acts 16:35, 40; 17:1 to do things that are against our The next morning the city officials customs.” released Paul and Silas. When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the Acts 16:22-24 home of Lydia… There they met with A mob quickly formed…. Paul and Silas the group of believers* that met at were severely beaten, and then they were Lydia’s house and encouraged them thrown into prison. The jailer was once more…Then they left to go to ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. another city. So the jailer…put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.

Acts 16:25-28 Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing…to God, and the other prisoners were listening. Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and the Why This Story? You may amplify the reason they were This story has been used effectively in baptized (to show that they had turned both Purpose and Church Formation from their sins and turned to God) to themed story sets. This story clearly reinforce the passage and the teachings shows a person asking for salvation and you have already shared on baptism. receiving an answer. It shows baptism as a response of obedience. This story The term household in reference also shows the formation of the house to the jailer probably refers to his church at Lydia’s house, and shows family. You may describe this term if Paul’s sense of responsibility to needed. encourage and teach the believers there. Name of Jesus refers to Jesus’ personality and power. You may simply Story Crafting say, by the power of Jesus. Most High God refers to the position of God, that is, ‘the highest God’ (indirectly a reference to ‘the God in Words/Phrases to heaven’) or ‘the God who is higher than Consider all other gods,’ that is to say, ‘the most Possessed* important God.’ Here the reference In some cultures, spirit possession is a would certainly seem to be to ‘God who good thing and is actively sought. If this is greater than all others.’ is true in the culture in which you work, you will need to ensure that the audience stocks understands that this was an evil spirit. If your culture does not have an understanding of ‘stocks,’ you may Evil Spirit* substitute ‘chains’ or say that they were Evil spirits refer to spiritual beings who locked up so they could not escape. This serve Satan as his agents, being under passage includes information about Paul his authority. These spiritual beings have and his Roman citizenship. It’s power to oppress a human being and interesting, but can make the story too even take control of him. We know from lengthy. You may include it if the the Bible that evil spirits were created by subject will reoccur in later stories (Paul God and chose to disobey him. It seems in Rome, etc.). that many South Asian languages do not have a term that can express that Sirs, what must I do to be saved? adequately. (Their evil spirit may refer The jailer asked how he could be saved, to a dead person’s spirit that ‘haunts’ probably both for physical escape and people.) Try to choose a word that refers moral and spiritual change. If your to an independent spirit being that is evil language’s word for ‘saved’ implies both and opposed to God. If there is one, you physical and spiritual salvation, it’s even can also use a neutral word for an better. If the word could imply only independent spirit being and add a physical salvation, you can amplify how qualification like spirit from Satan, or to be saved to something like, ‘…to be bad/evil spirit. Be aware that extra saved so that God will not punish me for explanation might be necessary during my sins.’ the discussion time.

Belief* 3) ‘bath,’ with a qualification such as This describes man’s response to God’s ‘bath of enlightenment’ (Tamil) or ‘bath promise. It probably implies more than of dedication;’ If you use some form of mental agreement, but putting one’s ‘bath of enlightenment,’ you should faith/confidence in God. ensure that your audience understands that this bath signifies a spiritual Baptize* enlightenment already received through This word is an important term in the repentance and forgiveness of sins Bible and needs to be thought through through Jesus. carefully before attempting to translate. If you have a Bible translation, you may 4) using the word for a custom in the choose to use what the translation uses. culture that refers to ceremonial washing If the translation uses the borrowed term to make something ritually clean; (as we also borrow the term from the 5) using the borrowed term with an Greek baptizo), but no one understands appositional ‘unpacking of meaning,’ it, you might want to consider explaining i.e.‘he was baptized,’ ‘he was the term. If you are working with long- ceremonially washed.’ term believers, you need to see with what term they feel most comfortable. If Keep in mind that in many cultures and you need to find a term for some reason, religions, people ceremonially wash a careful study of the meaning of the often to remove sins. You may need to concept of ‘baptism’ is needed. The specify that this is a once for all Greek word means to ‘put inside or ceremony. under water,’ or ‘to wash in a spiritual sense.’ John’s baptism was done to show Believers* that a person wanted to stop sinning and After Pentecost, the people who obey God. In baptism in the church, a followed Jesus were also called person also makes a public ‘believers.’ We’ve used that term in the demonstration of his commitment to story set to refer to Jesus’ followers after Jesus and his union with him. Romans Pentecost and to emphasize the fact that 6:3-4 indicates that baptism is a symbol people became followers of Jesus of Jesus’ burial and resurrection, and our through belief in him. death to our old life and resurrection into our new life with Jesus. This imagery Intra-Story Cohesion may be very effective in certain cultures. Use the same words or phrases you have Some ideas for translating this term been using throughout the story set for include: possessed, evil spirit, belief, baptize, 1) to wash someone in water to make name of Jesus, and believers. him ceremonially clean; If you have found that you need to 2) to wash someone with water as part of expound upon from what people are their initiation into the religious being saved, be sure you are consistently community; using this in each reference to save/saved/saving.

Worldview Sirs is a polite term of address for men in this biblical culture. Use whatever term is most appropriate in your language.

Story Set Themes Purpose Church Formation Baptism Persecution Boldness Fear