Acts 16:35-38

35The next morning, the important officers sent their police to the prison with a message for the guard. They told him, ‘Let those men go free.’

36The guard went to Paul and he told him, ‘The city officers have sent a message to me. They said, “Let Paul and Silas go free.” So now you can leave the prison. Nobody will hurt you any more.’

37But Paul spoke to the police who had brought the message. He said, ‘The city officers did not find that we had done anything wrong. But they commanded their soldiers to hit us with sticks in front of everybody. We are citizens of Rome but they still did this to us. They even put us into prison. Now they want us to leave the prison and go away. They want to send us away secretly. We will not agree! The Roman officers must come here to the prison themselves. Then they must lead us out for everyone to see.’

38The police returned to the city officers. They told them what Paul had said. The officers now understood that Paul and Silas were citizens of Rome. This made them very afraid.