Acts 16
1Then
came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which
was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
2Which
was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
3Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were
in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
4And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained
of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
5And
so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
6Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy
Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
7After they
were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
8And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.
9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and
prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
10And
after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us for to preach the gospel unto them.
11Therefore
loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;
12And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia,
and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.
13And
on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto
the women which resorted thither.
14And a
certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord
opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be
faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.
16And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination
met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
17The
same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way
of salvation.
18And this did she many days.
But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And
he came out the same hour.
19And when her
masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the
rulers,
20And brought them to the magistrates,
saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
21And
teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off
their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
23And
when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made
their feet fast in the stocks.
25And at midnight
Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and
immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew
out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all
here.
29Then he called for a light, and sprang
in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
30And
brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31And
they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
33And he took them the same hour of the night,
and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in
God with all his house.
35And when it was
day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
36And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now
therefore depart, and go in peace.
37But Paul
said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust
us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
38And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they
were Romans.
39And they came and besought
them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
40And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the
brethren, they comforted them, and departed.