Acts 16
1 And he came to Derbe and Lystra: and there was a certain disciple there named Timothy, whose mother was one of the Jews of the faith, but his father was a Greek;
Paul 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.
2 Of whom the brothers at Lystra and Iconium had a high opinion.
The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.
3 Paul had a desire for him to go with him, and he gave him circumcision because of the Jews who were in those parts: for they all had knowledge that his father was a Greek.
Paul 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.
4 And on their way through the towns, they gave them the rules which had been made by the Apostles and the rulers of the church at Jerusalem, so that they might keep them.
As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions handed down by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.
5 So the churches were made strong in the faith and were increased in number every day.
So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
6 And after they had gone through the land of Phrygia and Galatia, the Holy Spirit did not let them take the word into Asia;
After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.
7 And having come to Mysia, they made an attempt to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them;
And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.
8 And going past Mysia, they came down to Troas.
So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 And Paul had a vision in the night; a man of Macedonia came, requesting him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia and give us help.
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 And when he had seen the vision, straight away we made the decision to go into Macedonia, for it seemed certain to us that God had sent us to give the good news to them.
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 So, from Troas we went straight by ship to Samothrace and the day after to Neapolis;
We sailed from Troas straight to Samothrace, and the following day on to Neapolis.
12 And from there to Philippi, which is the most important town of Macedonia and a Roman colony: and we were there for some days.
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 And on the Sabbath we went outside the town, by the river, where we had an idea that there would be a place of prayer; and, being seated, we had talk with the women who had come together.
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 And a certain woman named Lydia, a trader in purple cloth of the town of Thyatira, and a God-fearing woman, gave ear to us: whose heart the Lord made open to give attention to the things which Paul was saying.
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 family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If it seems to you that I am true to the Lord, come into my house and be my guests. And she made us come.
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 And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power.
One 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.
17 She came after Paul and us, crying out and saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are giving you news of the way of salvation.
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 And this she did on a number of days. But Paul was greatly troubled and, turning, said to the spirit, I give you orders in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
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 masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers;
When 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.
20 And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;
They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil
21 Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans.
by promoting customs that are unlawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.”
22 And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped.
The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.
23 And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely:
And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.
24 And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners;
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.
26 And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off.
Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.
27 And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away.
When 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.
28 But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here.
But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”
29 And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas,
Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.
30 And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation?
Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation.
They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32 And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
33 And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away.
At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized.
34 And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.
Then 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.
35 But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go.
When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.”
36 And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace.
The jailer informed Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. Now you may go on your way in peace.”
37 But Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out.
But 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!”
38 And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans;
So the officers relayed this message to the magistrates, who were alarmed to hear that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
39 Then they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them out, to go away from the town.
They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.
40 And they came out of the prison and went to the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brothers they gave them comfort and went away.
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.
