Acts 16:25-34

The Conversion of the Jailor

At midnight, while the other prisoners listened to Paul and Silas singing and praying, a great earthquake shook open all the prison doors and released all those bound in stocks. Believing his prisoners had escaped, the jailor prepared to kill himself rather than face the torturous Roman judgment. Paul stopped him by crying out that they were all there and he should not harm himself.

The jailor called for lights, leaped into the prison in trembling fear, fell before Paul and Silas, brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The inspired response was, as in other cases (Acts 2:37-38; Acts 22:10; Acts 22:16), based on the current condition of the one asking the question. The jailor was told, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household." Then, they spoke the word of the Lord to him so that faith could be produced (Romans 10:17). The same hour of the night, he washed their stripes, which is clear evidence of repentance. Immediately afterward, he and all the members of his household were baptized. Then, and only then, "he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household (Acts 16:25-34).