Acts 16
1And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra, and look, a certain disciple was there named Timothy. He was the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.
2He was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium.
3Paul wanted this man to go 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.
4Now while they were passing through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees they should keep, which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem.
5So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
6And they went through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in the province of Asia,
7and when they had come to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go.
8So, while passing through Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9And a vision appeared to Paul during the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
10And when he saw the vision, immediately we sought to go over to Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
11So, setting sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis,
12and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that part of Macedonia and a Roman colony, and we stayed in that city for several days.
13And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by a riverside to a place habitually used for prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.
14And a certain God-fearing woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a seller of purple cloth, kept listening. The Lord opened her heart to be paying attention to the things that were spoken by Paul.
15And when she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you consider me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay there.” And she persuaded us.
16And it came to pass as we were going to the place of prayer, a certain slave girl who had a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her owners much profit by fortune telling.
17Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
18And she did this for many days. But Paul, being greatly disturbed, 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 moment.
19But when her owners saw that the hope of their profit was gone, they took hold of Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
20And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews
21and are promoting customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or to practice.”
22And the crowd rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off of them, and gave orders for them to be beaten with rods.
23And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, and commanded the jailor to guard them carefully.
24When he received this command, he threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
26and suddenly there was such a great earthquake that the foundations of the prison house were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.
27And when the jailor 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 shouted with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, because we are all here!”
29And he asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas.
30And after bringing them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
33And he took them at that very hour of the night and washed their wounds. And immediately he was baptized, he and all his household.
34And he brought them up into his house, and set a table with food before them, and rejoiced greatly because he had believed in God along with his entire household.
35But when it was day, the magistrates sent their lictors, saying, “Release those men.”
36And the jailor reported the words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. So come out now and go in peace.”
37But Paul said to them, “After beating us publicly without a proper trial—even though we men are Roman citizens—they threw us into prison, and now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Instead, let them come themselves and bring us out!”
38And the lictors told those words to the magistrates, and they became afraid when they heard that they were Romans.
39And they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they asked them repeatedly to leave the city.
40And they went out of the prison and went into the house of Lydia. And when they had seen the brothers and sisters, they encouraged them and departed.