Act 16 | NASB1995 | STEP | Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra . And a disciple was there , named Timothy , the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer , but his father was a Greek ,

1 Paul came also to ^aDerbe and to ^bLystra. And a disciple was there, named ^cTimothy, the son of a ^dJewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, 2 and he was well spoken of by ^ethe brethren who were in ^fLystra and ^gIconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to ^{▼▼ Lit go out}go with him; and he ⁱtook him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering ^jthe decrees which had been decided upon by ^kthe apostles and ^lelders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. 5 So ^mthe churches were being strengthened ^{▼▼ Or in faith}in the faith, and were ^oincreasing in number daily.

6 They passed through the ^{▼▼ Or Phrygia and the Galatian region
,} ^qPhrygian and ^rGalatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^{▼▼ I.e. west coast province of Asia Minor
,} ^tAsia; 7 and after they came to ^uMysia, they were trying to go into ^vBithynia, and the ^wSpirit of Jesus did not permit them; 8 and passing by ^xMysia, they came down to ^yTroas. 9 ^zA vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^aaMacedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen ^abthe vision, immediately ^acwe sought to ^{▼▼ Lit go out}go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^aepreach the gospel to them.

11 So putting out to sea from ^afTroas, we ran ^aga straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; 12 and from there to ^ahPhilippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^aiMacedonia, ^aja Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. 13 And on ^akthe Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

First Convert in Europe

14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of ^alThyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, ^ama worshiper of God, was listening; ^{▼▼ Lit whose heart the Lord opened}and the Lord ^aoopened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 And when she and ^apher household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

16 It happened that as we were going to ^aqthe place of prayer, a slave-girl having ^ara spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of ^asthe Most High God, who are proclaiming to you ^{▼▼ Lit a way}the way of salvation.” 18 She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^auin the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very ^{▼▼ Lit hour}moment.

19 But when her masters saw that their hope of ^awprofit was ^{▼▼ Lit gone out}gone, they seized ^ayPaul and Silas and ^azdragged them into the market place before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and ^baare proclaiming customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being ^bbRomans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their ^{▼▼ Or outer garments}robes off them and proceeded to order ^{▼▼ Lit to beat with rods} them to be ^bebeaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^bfthe jailer to guard them securely; 24 ^{▼▼ Lit who}and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in ^bhthe ^{▼▼ Lit wood}stocks.

25 But about midnight ^bjPaul and Silas were praying and ^bksinging hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly ^blthere came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately ^bmall the doors were opened and everyone’s ^bnchains were unfastened. 27 When ^bothe jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^bpto kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before ^bqPaul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^brwhat must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

31 They said, ^bs“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^btyour household.” 32 And they spoke the word of ^{▼▼ Two early mss read God}the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them ^bvthat very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set ^{▼▼ Lit a table}food before them, and rejoiced ^{▼▼ Or greatly with his whole household, having believed in God}greatly, having believed in God with ^byhis whole household.

35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And ^bzthe jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go ^cain peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us in public without trial, ^cbmen who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 The policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^ccThey were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept begging them ^cdto leave the city. 40 They went out of the prison and entered the house of ^ceLydia, and when they saw ^cfthe brethren, they ^{▼▼ Or exhorted}encouraged them and departed.