Acts 16:1–21

PAUL SELECTS TIMOTHY

16Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy,^h the son of a believing Jewish woman,ⁱ but his father was a Greek. ²The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him.^{j 3}Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised^k him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. ⁴As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe.^{l 5}So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.^m

EVANGELIZATION OF EUROPE

⁶They went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia; they had been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.^{n 7}When they came to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus^o did not allow them. ⁸Passing by Mysia they went down to Troas.^{p 9}During the night Paul had a vision in which a Macedonian man was standing and pleading with him, “Cross over to Macedonia and help us!”^{q 10}After^r he had seen the vision, we immediately made efforts to set out for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

LYDIA’S CONVERSION

¹¹From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to Philippi,^s a Roman colony and a leading city of the district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for several days. ¹³On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there. ¹⁴A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying.^{t 15}After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.”^u And she persuaded us.

PAUL AND SILAS IN PRISON

¹⁶Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit by which she predicted the future.^v She made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷As she followed Paul and us she cried out, “These men, who are proclaiming to you^A a way of salvation, are the servants of the Most High God.” ¹⁸She did this for many days.

Paul was greatly annoyed. Turning to the spirit, he said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out right away.^w

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas^x and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities. ²⁰Bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews ²¹and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice.”^y