Acts 16

He also came to Derbe and Lystra. There was a disciple there named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was Greek. The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted him to go with him, so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek. As they traveled through the cities, they delivered to them the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, for them to observe. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number day by day. They went through Phrygia and the Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. When they came to the borders of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. Passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night a vision appeared to Paul: a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After he saw the vision, we immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. So we sailed from Troas and made a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. From there we went to Philippi, a leading city of that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city for some days. On the Sabbath we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered. A woman named Lydia, a seller of purple cloth from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she prevailed upon us. As we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl with a spirit of divination met us. She brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of God Most High, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” She kept doing this for many days. Paul became greatly troubled, turned, and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour. When her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers. They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil. They proclaim customs that we, as Romans, are not permitted to accept or practice.” The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off them and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Having received such an order, he put them in the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the prison’s foundations were shaken. At once all the doors opened and everyone’s bonds were loosened. The jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here!” He called for lights, rushed in, and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He brought them outside and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. At that very hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds. Immediately he and all his household were baptized. He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced with his whole household that he had believed in God. When day came, the magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders for your release. So come out now and go in peace.” But Paul said to them, “They beat us publicly without a conviction, though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now are they sending us away secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves and lead us out.” The officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens, and they came and appealed to them. After leading them out, they asked them to leave the city. After leaving the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they saw the brothers, encouraged them, and departed.

Rights and attribution