Praying and singing hymns may be rendered as “they were singing psalms as prayers to God.” Singing hymns to God is equivalent in some languages to “singing hymns in honor of God.”

Listening to them is potentially ambiguous in English. It may refer to listening to the hymns which were sung or listening to Paul and Silas. In some languages, entirely different verbs are used, depending upon the goal. Essentially, there is no real difference in meaning.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .