Acts 16

¹And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek.

²The same was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

³Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those parts: for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴And as they went on their way through the cities, they delivered them the decrees to keep which had been ordained of the apostles and elders that were at Jerusalem.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

⁶And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden of the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia;

⁷and when they were come over against Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not;

⁸and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.

⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: There was a man of Macedonia standing, beseeching him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

¹⁰And when he had seen the vision, straightway we sought to go forth into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel unto them.

¹¹Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;

¹²and from thence to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a Roman colony: and we were in this city tarrying certain days.

¹³And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together.

¹⁴And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.

¹⁵And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

¹⁶And it came to pass, as we were going to the place of prayer, that a certain maid having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by soothsaying.

¹⁷The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim unto you the way of salvation.

¹⁸And this she did for many days. But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit, I charge thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they laid hold on Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers,

²⁰and when they had brought them unto the magistrates, they said, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

²¹and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.

²²And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent their garments off them, and commanded to beat them with rods.

²³And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

²⁴who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

²⁵But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;

²⁶and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened; and every one’s bands were loosed.

²⁷And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

²⁹And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas,

³⁰and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

³¹And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.

³²And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house.

³³And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.

³⁴And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.

³⁵But when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

³⁶And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore come forth, and go in peace.

³⁷But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison; and do they now cast us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and bring us out.

³⁸And the serjeants reported these words unto the magistrates: and they feared when they heard that they were Romans;

³⁹and they came and besought them; and when they had brought them out, they asked them to go away from the city.

⁴⁰And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

Acts 16

¹Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.

²The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

³Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

⁴As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions handed down by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.

⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

⁶After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.

⁷And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.

⁸So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

⁹During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

¹⁰As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

¹¹We sailed from Troas straight to Samothrace, and the following day on to Neapolis.

¹²From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

¹³On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.

¹⁴Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

¹⁵And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

¹⁶One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”

¹⁸She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And the spirit left her at that very moment.

¹⁹When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.

²⁰They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil

²¹by promoting customs that are unlawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.”

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.

²³And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.

²⁴On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.

²⁷When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

³⁰Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”

³²Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.

³³At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized.

³⁴Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

³⁵When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.”

³⁶The jailer informed Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. Now you may go on your way in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens. And now do they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”

³⁸So the officers relayed this message to the magistrates, who were alarmed to hear that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

³⁹They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.

⁴⁰After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house to see the brothers and encourage them. Then they left the city.