¹¹We left Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to Neapolis. ⁿ ¹²Then we went by land to Philippi, a Roman colony ⁿ and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for several days.

¹³On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river where we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. ¹⁴One of the listeners was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira whose job was selling purple cloth. She worshiped God, and he opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. ¹⁵She and all the people in her house were baptized. Then she invited us to her home, saying, “If you think I am truly a believer in the Lord, then come stay in my house.” And she persuaded us to stay with her.

Paul and Silas in Jail

¹⁶Once, while we were going to the place for prayer, a servant girl met us. She had a special spirit ⁿ in her, and she earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God. They are telling you how you can be saved.”

¹⁸She kept this up for many days. This bothered Paul, so he turned and said to the spirit, “By the power of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” Immediately, the spirit came out.

¹⁹When the owners of the servant girl saw this, they knew that now they could not use her to make money. So they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the city rulers in the marketplace. ²⁰They brought Paul and Silas to the Roman rulers and said, “These men are Jews and are making trouble in our city.

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Footnotes

nNeapolis City in Macedonia. It was the first city Paul visited on the continent of Europe.
nRoman colony A town begun by Romans with Roman laws, customs, and privileges.
nspirit This was a spirit from the devil, which caused her to say she had special knowledge.