¹⁹ When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities who met together in the public square.^{[a] 20} They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They are Jews ²¹ and are advocating customs that we’re not allowed to accept or practice as Romans.”

²² The crowd joined in the attack against them. Then the magistrates had Paul and Silas^[b] stripped of their clothes and ordered them beaten with rods. ²³ After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security. ²⁴ Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons.