Acts 16

1Paul also went back to the towns of Derbe and Lystra. In Lystra there was a believer whose name was Timothy. His mother was a Jew and a believer and his father was a Greek.

2The believers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy.

3Paul wanted Timothy to go with him, so Paul circumcised Timothy because of the Jews that lived in those Roman towns. All the Jews knew that Timothy's father was a Greek.

4Then Paul and those with him traveled through other cities. Paul and those with him gave the believers the rules and decisions from the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. They told them to obey these rules.

5Paul and those traveling with him encouraged the churches to become stronger in their faith, and the number of believers grew every day.

6Paul and those traveling with him went to the country of Phrygia and Galatia and they preached there. They wanted to go to the country of Asia, but the Holy Spirit did not allow it.

7When Paul and those traveling with him came into the country of Mysia, they tried to go to the country of Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit stopped them again.

8Then Paul and those traveling with him went through Mysia and came to the town of Troas.

9That night Paul saw a vision. A man from Macedonia came to Paul. The man stood there and begged Paul, Come across to Macedonia and help us.

10After Paul had seen this vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, because we understood that God had called us to preach the Good News to the people there.

11We sailed from the town of Troas straight to the Island of Samothrace. The next day we arrived at the town of Neapolis.

12From there we went to the town of Philippi, a leading city in that part of Macedonia, where the Romans ruled. We stayed there for a few days.

13On the Sabbath day we went outside the town to a place by the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat down and started to talk to the women who had gathered there.

14One of the women listening was Lydia, who sold expensive purple material. Lydia was from the city of Thyatira. Lydia worshiped God, and as Paul spoke, the Lord opened Lydia's heart and Lydia accepted the message that was preached.

15Lydia and all the people in her family were baptized. Then Lydia said to us: If you agree that I truly believe in the Lord, then please come to my house and stay there. Lydia asked us again and again until we agreed and went to her home.

16One day when we were going to pray, a slave girl met us. She had an evil spirit in her that gave her the power to say what would happen in the future. People paid to listen to her, and she earned a lot of money for her owners.

17This slave girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting: These men are servants of the Most High God. They will tell you how God can save you.

18The slave girl did this for many days, and then Paul became troubled. He turned to the girl and said to the evil spirit: By the power of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her! Immediately, the spirit came out.

19The owners of the slave girl saw that they would no longer get money from this girl. The owners were angry and they grabbed Paul and Silas and they pulled them into the court, where the leaders of the town were.

20The owners told the judge and the leaders: These men are Jews and they are making problems in our town.

21Paul and Silas are telling the people to do things that are not right for us as Romans to do.

22The whole crowd turned against Paul and Silas. The officials tore the clothes off both men and ordered that they should be beaten.

23After the soldiers had beaten Paul and Silas with many stripes, they put them in jail and they told guard to make sure they didn’t escape.

24Then the guard put Paul and Silas in a room deep inside the jail. He put Paul and Silas' feet in blocks of wood.

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to praise God. The other prisoners were listening to them.

26Suddenly there was a strong earthquake. The ground and the jail trembled. Immediately all the doors of the jail opened and all the chains of the prisoners fell off.

27When the guard woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open, he took out his sword. He wanted to kill himself because he thought that all the prisoners had run away.

28But Paul shouted very loudly and said to him: Do not kill yourself. All of us are here.

29The guard asked someone to bring a light and he ran into the room where Paul and Silas were. He trembled and knelt down on the ground in front of Paul and Silas’ feet.

30The guard took Paul and Silas outside and he asked them: Sirs, what must I do to get saved?

31Paul and Silas said to the guard, Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved— you and your family.

32Paul and Silas told the guard and all the people in his family about the message of the Lord.

33The guard took them the same hour and he washed their wounds and sores. Then Paul baptized the guard and all the people in his family.

34The guard took them to his house and he gave them food to eat. He and his family were very happy because he now believed in God.

35The next morning the Roman leaders sent soldiers to the guard and told him to let Paul and Silas out of jail.

36The guard said to Paul: The Roman leaders said that I must let you go free. Come out and go in peace.

37But Paul said to the guard: We are Roman citizens and the Roman leaders told the soldiers to beat us where everyone could see it and they put us in jail. But they did not first take us to a court to judge us. Now they want us to go out of jail and they want no one to know about it. No, they can not do that. Those Roman leaders must come here to this jail themselves and they must let us out.

38When the soldiers told the Roman leaders that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they became afraid.

39The Roman leaders came to the jail and told Paul and Silas that they were very sorry for what they had done. Then they walked with them and asked them to go out of their town.

40Paul and Silas walked away from the jail and they went to Lydia's house. There they saw the believers and they encouraged them. Then Paul and Silas went away from the town of Philippi.