13 Bible Verses about Prisons

After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him.

But the king of Assyria discovered Hoshea’s conspiracy. He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt and had not paid tribute money to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.

The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.

and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined.

They placed him in custody because it had not been decided what should be done to him.

But this is a people plundered and looted,
all of them trapped in holes
or imprisoned in dungeons.
They have become plunder
with no one to rescue them
and loot, with no one saying, “Give it back!”

Asa was angry with the seer and put him in prison because of his anger over this. And Asa mistreated some of the people at that time.

and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this guy in prison and feed him only bread and water until I come back safely.’”

For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.

But the king of Assyria discovered Hoshea’s conspiracy. He had sent envoys to So king of Egypt and had not paid tribute money to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested him and put him in prison.

The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.

Then he blinded Zedekiah and bound him with bronze chains. The king of Babylon brought Zedekiah to Babylon, where he kept him in custody until his dying day.

When we entered Rome, Paul was permitted to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. May the Lord grant that he obtain mercy from the Lord on that day. And you know how much he ministered at Ephesus.

Then he stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him,

He ordered that the centurion keep Paul under guard, though he could have some freedom, and that he should not prevent any of his friends from serving him.

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples

I was naked and you clothed Me;
I was sick and you took care of Me;
I was in prison and you visited Me.’

They hurt his feet with shackles;
his neck was put in an iron collar.

Let the groans of the prisoners reach You;
according to Your great power,
preserve those condemned to die.

to hear a prisoner’s groaning,
to set free those condemned to die,

For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married.

If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

They put a wooden yoke on him with hooks
and led him away to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into the fortresses
so his roar could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.

The Spirit of the Lord God is on Me,
because the Lord has anointed Me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives
and freedom to the prisoners;

in order to open blind eyes,
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,
and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.

saying to the prisoners: Come out,
and to those who are in darkness: Show yourselves.
They will feed along the pathways,
and their pastures will be on all the barren heights.

So Jeremiah went into a cell in the dungeon and stayed there many days.

So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don’t send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there.”

So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard’s courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker’s street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard’s courtyard.

and had him thrown into prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.

So they seized them and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.

So they arrested the apostles and put them in the city jail.

As for you,
because of the blood of your covenant,
I will release your prisoners
from the waterless cistern.

So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison.

But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had explained to them.

After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.

They put him in custody until the Lord’s decision could be made clear to them.

He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized. He brought them up into his house, set a meal before them, and rejoiced because he had believed God with his entire household.

But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

I assure you: You will never get out of there until you have paid the last penny!

But he wasn’t willing. On the contrary, he went and threw him into prison until he could pay what was owed.

‘The Lord has appointed you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest to be the chief officer in the temple of the Lord, responsible for every madman who acts like a prophet. You must confine him in the stocks and an iron collar.

Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.

At Riblah the king of Babylon slaughtered Zedekiah’s sons before his eyes, and he also slaughtered all Judah’s nobles.

After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded.

When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.

So now please listen, my lord the king. May my petition come before you. Don't send me back to the house of Jonathan the scribe, or I will die there." So King Zedekiah gave orders, and Jeremiah was placed in the guard's courtyard. He was given a loaf of bread each day from the baker's street until all the bread was gone from the city. So Jeremiah remained in the guard's courtyard.

The warden put all the prisoners who were in the prison under Joseph's authority, and he was responsible for everything that was done there. The warden did not bother with anything under Joseph's authority, because the Lord was with him, and the Lord made everything that he did successful.

They put him in custody until the Lord’s decision could be made clear to them.

When the 1,000 years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison

The officials were angry at Jeremiah and beat him and placed him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it had been made into a prison.

So Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes, and he dined regularly in the presence of the king of Babylon for the rest of his life.

and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this guy in prison and feed him only bread and water until I come back safely.’”

If you are honest, let one of you be confined to the guardhouse, while the rest of you go and take grain to relieve the hunger of your households.

At that time, the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was imprisoned in the guard’s courtyard in the palace of the king of Judah.

Then Pharaoh sent for Joseph, and they quickly brought him from the dungeon. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to Pharaoh.

When daylight came, the chief magistrates sent the police to say, "Release those men!" The jailer reported these words to Paul: "The magistrates have sent orders for you to be released. So come out now and go in peace."

Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position as cupbearer, and he placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

and say, ‘This is what the king says: Put this guy in prison and feed him only bread and water until I come back safely.’”

But the Lord was with Joseph and extended kindness to him. He granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden.

and had him thrown into prison, where the king’s prisoners were confined. So Joseph was there in prison.

The Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes. They brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles, and he was forced to grind grain in the prison.

and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard in the prison where Joseph was confined.

Reach a settlement quickly with your adversary while you’re on the way with him, or your adversary will hand you over to the judge, the judge to the officer, and you will be thrown into prison.

Free me from prison
so that I can praise Your name.
The righteous will gather around me
because You deal generously with me.

(He had been thrown into prison for a rebellion that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)

After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s chains came loose.

After they passed the first and second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and immediately the angel left him.

“Lord,” he told Him, “I’m ready to go with You both to prison and to death!”

On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

So they arrested the apostles and put them in the city jail.

On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

But an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during the night, brought them out, and said,

Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a fair judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.

So they seized them and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.