Acts 16

¹He arrived at Derbe and then at Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. ²He was highly regarded by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted this man to travel with him, so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places—for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴As they traveled through the cities, they delivered to the believers the official decrees for them to observe, which had been decided by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. ⁵So the assemblies were being made firm in the faith and were increasing in number every day.

⁶They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in the province of Asia. ⁷When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. ⁸So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. ⁹During the night a vision appeared to Paul: a man from Macedonia was standing there, pleading with him and saying, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!” ¹⁰As soon as he had seen the vision, we immediately sought to go out into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to announce the good news to them.

¹¹Setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for several days. ¹³On the day of the Sabbath, we went outside the city gate to the riverside, where we expected there to be a place of prayer. We sat down and began speaking to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A certain woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple fabrics from the city of Thyatira and a worshiper of God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay close attention to the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

¹⁶It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl met us who had a spirit of the Python, a spirit of divination; she brought her masters much profit through fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation!” ¹⁸She kept doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming deeply annoyed, 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.

¹⁹But when her masters saw that their hope of profit had gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. ²⁰Bringing them before the magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion! They are Jews, ²¹and they are advocating customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans.” ²²The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods. ²³After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴Having received such an order, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the wooden stocks.

²⁵About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. ²⁷When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, assuming that the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!”

²⁹Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and, trembling with fear, fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰He brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹They said, “Trust in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²They spoke the word of the Lord to him together with everyone in his house. ³³He took them at that hour of the night and washed their wounds, and he and all his family were baptized immediately. ³⁴He brought them up into his house and set a meal before them, and he rejoiced with his entire household, having come to trust in God.

³⁵When day broke, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Release those men.” ³⁶The jailer reported these words to Paul: “The magistrates have sent word to release you. So come out now and go in peace.” ³⁷But Paul said to them, “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now they are going to cast us out secretly? Certainly not! Let them come themselves and escort us out.” ³⁸The officers reported these words to the magistrates, and they became afraid when they heard that they were Romans. ³⁹So they came and apologized to them, and after escorting them out, they kept asking them to leave the city. ⁴⁰After leaving the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.