Acts 16

1 And he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple named Timothy was there, the son of a woman who was a Jewess and who believed. But his father was a Greek.

2 He was well reported of by the brothers at Lystra and Iconium.

3 Paul wanted him to go with him, and taking him he circumcised him, because of the Jews who were in those places; for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4 And as they passed through the cities, they delivered to them the commandments to keep, the ones that were ordained by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem.

5 Then indeed the churches were established in the faith and increased in number daily.

6 And coming through the Phrygian and the Galatian region; and by the Holy Spirit being forbidden to speak the Word in Asia;

7 having come to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia. But the Spirit did not allow them.

8 Then passing by Mysia, they came down into Troas.

9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A certain man of Macedonia stood, begging him, saying, Come over into Macedonia and help us!

10 And after he saw the vision, we immediately tried to go into Macedonia, gathering that the Lord had called us in order to preach the gospel to them.

11 Then having set sail from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

12 and from there to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we continued spending time in that city some days.

13 And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was usually made. And we sat down and spoke to the women who came together there.

14 And a certain woman named Lydia heard us, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God; whose heart the Lord opened, so that she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul.

15 And when she was baptized, she and her household, she begged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay. And she constrained us.

16 And as we went to prayer, it happened that a certain girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by divining.

17 The same followed Paul and us and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are announcing to us the way of salvation.

18 And she did this many days. But being distressed, and turning to the demonic spirit, Paul said, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her! And it came out in that hour.

19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their gain went out, having seized Paul and Silas, they dragged them to the market before the rulers.

20 And bringing them near to the judges, they said, These men, being Jews, are exceedingly troubling our city.

21 And they teach customs which are not lawful for us to receive nor to do, being Romans.

22 And the crowd rose up against them. And tearing off their clothes, the judges ordered them to be flogged.

23 And after laying on them many stripes, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailor to keep them safely;

24 who, having received such a command, thrust them into the inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks.

25 And toward midnight Paul and Silas prayed and praised God in a hymn. And the prisoners listened to them.

26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were loosened.

27 And being awakened, and seeing the doors of the prison being open, drawing a sword, the jailer was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.

28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.

29 Then asking for a light he rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

30 And leading them outside, he said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved, and your household.

32 And they spoke the Word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his household.

33 And taking them in that hour of the night, he washed from their stripes. And he was baptized, he and all his, immediately.

34 And bringing them up to the house, he set a table before them and rejoiced, believing in God with all his household.

35 And day coming, the judges sent the floggers, saying, Let those men go.

36 And the jailer spoke these words to Paul: The judges have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.

37 But Paul said to them, Having beaten us publicly, men who are Romans and uncondemned, they threw us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! But coming themselves, let them bring us out.

38 And the floggers reported these words to the judges. And hearing that they were Romans, they were afraid.

39 And coming they begged them. And bringing them out, they asked them to depart out of the city.

40 And going out from the prison, they entered into the house of Lydia. And seeing the brothers, they comforted them and departed.