Acts 16:1–24

Timothy Joins Paul in Lystra

¹Paul arrived in the city of Derbe and then went to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived. Timothy’s mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was Greek. ²The believers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy. ³Paul wanted Timothy to go with him. So he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in those places and because he knew that Timothy’s father was Greek. 

⁴As they went through the cities, they told people about the decisions that the apostles and spiritual leaders^ain Jerusalem had made for the people. ⁵So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew in numbers every day. 

Paul Has a Vision

⁶Paul and Silas went through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit kept them from speaking the word in the province of Asia. ⁷They went to the province of Mysia and tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus wouldn’t allow this. ⁸So they passed by Mysia and went to the city of Troas. 

⁹During the night Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia. The man urged Paul, “Come to Macedonia to help us.” 

¹⁰As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we immediately looked for a way to go to Macedonia. We concluded that God had called us to tell the people of Macedonia about the Good News. 

Paul and Silas in Philippi

¹¹So we took a ship from Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to the city of Neapolis, ¹²and from there we went to the city of Philippi. Philippi is a leading city in that part of Macedonia, and it is a Roman colony. We were in this city for a number of days. 

¹³On the day of rest—a holy day, we went out of the city to a place along the river where we thought Jewish people gathered for prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴A woman named Lydia was present. She was a convert to Judaism from the city of Thyatira and sold purple dye for a living. She was listening because the Lord made her willing to pay attention to what Paul said. ¹⁵When Lydia and her family were baptized, she invited us to stay at her home. She said, “If you’re convinced that I believe in the Lord, then stay at my home.” She insisted. So we did. 

¹⁶One day when we were going to the place of prayer, a female servant met us. She was possessed by an evil spirit that told fortunes. She made a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷She used to follow Paul and shout, “These men are servants of the Most High God. They’re telling you how you can be saved.” ¹⁸She kept doing this for many days. Paul became annoyed, turned to the evil spirit, and said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” 

As Paul said this, the evil spirit left her. ¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them to the authorities in the public square. ²⁰In front of the Roman officials, they said, “These men are stirring up a lot of trouble in our city. They’re Jews, ²¹and they’re advocating customs that we can’t accept or practice as Roman citizens.” 

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas. Then the officials tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered ⸤the guards⸥ to beat them with sticks. ²³After they had hit Paul and Silas many times, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security. ²⁴So the jailer followed these orders and put Paul and Silas into solitary confinement with their feet in leg irons.