Acts 16 Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek.

VIN⁽ⁱ⁾ ¹ Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek. ² The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. ³ Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴ As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for them to obey. ⁵ So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. ⁶ Then Paul and his companions passed through Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Message in the province of Asia. ⁷ And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. ⁹ During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ As 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. ¹¹ We left by ship from Troas and sailed to Samothrace, and the next day to Neapolis. ¹² From there, we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. ¹³ On 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. ¹⁴ Among 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. ¹⁵ And 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. ¹⁶ One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of clairvoyance, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling. ¹⁷ This 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.” ¹⁸ She 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. ¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, ²⁰ They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil ²¹ by promoting customs that are unlawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.” ²² The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods. ²³ after they had been severely lash'd, they were thrown into prison, the jayler being charg'd to keep them safe. ²⁴ On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. ²⁵ About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ but Paul shouted aloud, "Do not harm yourself, we are all here!" ²⁹ The jailer called for lights. He rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ And at that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴ Then he brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he was really rejoicing, having believed in God with his whole family. ³⁵ When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.” ³⁶ so the jayler told Paul, the magistrates had order'd them to be discharg'd. depart then, said he, and go in peace. ³⁷ But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly, without trial, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now cast us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out." ³⁸ The police reported his words to the Magistrates, who, on hearing that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, were alarmed, ³⁹ They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city. ⁴⁰ After 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.