Acts 16:6–40

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

⁶Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia^z and Galatia,^a having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.^{b 7}When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus^c would not allow them to. ⁸So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.^{d 9}During the night Paul had a vision^e of a man of Macedonia^f standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰After Paul had seen the vision, we^g got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel^h to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

¹¹From Troasⁱ we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. ¹²From there we traveled to Philippi,^j a Roman colony and the leading city of that district^a of Macedonia.^k And we stayed there several days.

¹³On the Sabbath^l we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira^m named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heartⁿ to respond to Paul’s message. ¹⁵When she and the members of her household^o were baptized,^p she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

¹⁶Once when we were going to the place of prayer,^q we were met by a female slave who had a spirit^r by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. ¹⁷She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God,^s who are telling you the way to be saved.” ¹⁸She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.^t

¹⁹When her owners realized that their hope of making money^u was gone, they seized Paul and Silas^v and dragged^w them into the marketplace to face the authorities. ²⁰They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar^{x 21}by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans^y to accept or practice.”^z

²²The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods.^{a 23}After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer^b was commanded to guard them carefully. ²⁴When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.^c

²⁵About midnight^d Paul and Silas^e were praying and singing hymns^f to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.^g At once all the prison doors flew open,^h and everyone’s chains came loose.^{i 27}The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped.^{j 28}But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

²⁹The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.^{k 30}He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^l

³¹They replied, “Believe^m in the Lord Jesus, and you will be savedⁿ—you and your household.”^{o 32}Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. ³³At that hour of the night^p the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.^{q 34}The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he^r was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

³⁵When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: “Release those men.” ³⁶The jailer^s told Paul, “The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace.”^t

³⁷But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens,^u and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out.”

³⁸The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.^{v 39}They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.^{w 40}After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house,^x where they met with the brothers and sisters^y and encouraged them. Then they left.