But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said,
Parallel translations
- WEB But an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and brought them out, and said,
- BSB But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out, saying,
- NKJV But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
- NASB But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the gates of the prison, and leading them out, he said,
- NLT But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
An angel of the Lord opens the prison by night and frees the apostles. God overrules human opposition to His messengers.
Overview
The angelic rescue shows that no human authority can finally imprison those God sends. It demonstrates God's active care for His witnesses and His sovereign control over events. The deliverance also serves the gospel, freeing the apostles to keep preaching rather than simply to escape.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Acts 16:26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.
- Ps 34:7The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
- Acts 12:7–11And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
- Acts 8:26And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.
- Acts 27:23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
- Ps 105:17–20He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant:
- Ps 146:7Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners:
- Matt 1:20But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
- Isa 61:1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
- Luke 1:11And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 5:19 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.