"I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her," and immediately she was healed. [Sidenote: Effect.] When her masters realized that their female slave had been cured, and that the hope of their gains was gone, they became very angry. "They caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the court unto the rulers." But they were shrewd enough not to tell the magistrates the real reason why Paul and Silas had been brought there. They didn't say "these men cured our slave, and we cannot any longer fool the people for money." No, they accused them of breaking the Roman law by introducing "customs" and beliefs which it was unlawful for Romans to observe. When the mob cried out "That is so," the magistrates gave the elders no opportunity to defend themselves, but condemned them to be taken out and beaten. SCOURGED AND IMPRISONED [Sidenote: The "Inner Prison."] With their hands tied, and their backs bared to the whip, the elders were beaten "with many stripes." Bleeding and faint they were then taken to the prison. As the jailor received them, he was ordered to "keep them safely." Hearing this order and thinking the prisoners must be wicked men indeed, the jailor took them and "thrust them into the inner prison." The inner prison of a Roman jail was a dark, damp, gloomy dungeon. One writer calls it a "pestilential cell, damp and cold, from which the light was excluded, and where the chains rusted on the limbs of the prisoners." But not content with shutting the elders up in such a gloomy hole, "the jailor made their feet fast in the stocks." In fastening only their feet, however, he showed a little mercy for there were holes in the stock for the wrists and for the neck also. [Sidenote: Happiness in Gloom.] With their backs sore and bleeding, their bodies chilled by the cold and dampness, their legs cramped and aching, hungry and sleepless and surrounded by the blackness of midnight, Paul and Silas who knew they were suffering for the sake of the true Gospel, could rejoice and praise the Lord. This they did at midnight by praying and singing "praises unto God." Their voices rang out through the prison cells; and prisoners, hard hearted and sinful, listened in surprise to the first Christian hymn they had ever heard. The power of the Lord manifested itself not only in the hearts of His true servants, but in the entire prison and the town as well; for "suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken." All the bolts and bars at the doors fell from their sockets and the doors of the prison flew open, and "every one's bands were loosed," but not a prisoner tried to escape. [Sidenote: The Jailor's Fear.]