Act 16 | NASB2020 | STEP | Now Paul also came 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 Now Paul also came 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 brothers and sisters who were in ^fLystra and ^gIconium. 3 Paul wanted this man to leave with him; and he ^htook 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 ⁱthe ordinances for them to follow which had been determined by ^jthe apostles and ^kelders in Jerusalem. 5 So ^lthe churches were being strengthened ^{▼▼Or in faith}in the faith, and were ⁿincreasing in number daily.

6 They passed through the ^{▼▼Or Phrygia and the Galatian region
,} ^pPhrygian and ^qGalatian region, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in ^{▼▼I.e., west coast province of Asia Minor
,} ^sAsia; 7 and after they came to ^tMysia, they were trying to go into ^uBithynia, and the ^vSpirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 and passing by ^wMysia, they went down to ^xTroas. 9 ^yAnd a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of ^zMacedonia was standing and pleading with him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 When he had seen ^aathe vision, ^abwe immediately sought to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to ^acpreach the gospel to them.

11 So after setting sail from ^adTroas, we ran ^aea straight course to Samothrace, and on the following day to Neapolis; 12 and from there to ^afPhilippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^agMacedonia, ^aha Roman colony; and we were spending some days in this city. 13 And on ^aithe Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was 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 was listening; she was a seller of purple fabrics from the city of ^ajThyatira, and ^aka worshiper of God. ^{▼▼Lit Whose heart the Lord opened}The Lord ^amopened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. 15 Now when she and ^anher 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 ^aothe place of prayer, a slave woman who had ^apa spirit of divination met us, who was bringing great profit to her masters by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us and cried out repeatedly, saying, “These men are bond-servants of ^aqthe Most High God, who are proclaiming to you a way of salvation.” 18 Now she continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and he turned and said to the spirit, “I command you ^arin 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 ^atprofit was suddenly gone, they seized ^auPaul and Silas and ^avdragged them into the marketplace before the authorities, 20 and when they had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men, Jews as they are, are causing our city trouble, 21 and they ^aware proclaiming customs that are not lawful for us to accept or to practice, since we are ^axRomans.”

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

22 The crowd joined in an attack 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 ^babeaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding ^bbthe 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 ^bdthe ^{▼▼Lit wood}stocks.

25 Now about midnight ^bfPaul and Silas were praying and ^bgsinging hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly ^bhthere was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^biall the doors were opened, and everyone’s ^bjchains were unfastened. 27 When ^bkthe jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about ^blto kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And the jailer asked for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear, he fell down before ^bmPaul and Silas; 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, ^bnwhat must I do to be saved?”

The Jailer Converted

31 They said, “ ^boBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and ^bpyour household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them ^bqthat 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 was ^{▼▼Or overjoyed together with his whole household, since...God}overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with ^bthis whole household.

35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And ^buthe jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent word that you be released. So come out now and go ^bvin peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “After beating us in public without due process-- ^bwmen who are Romans--they threw us into prison; and now they are releasing us secretly? No indeed! On the contrary, let them come ^{▼▼Lit themselves}in person and lead us out.” 38 The officers reported these words to the chief magistrates. ^byAnd they became fearful when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and pleaded with them, and when they had led them out, they repeatedly asked them ^bzto leave the city. 40 They left the prison and entered the house of ^caLydia, and when they saw ^cbthe brothers and sisters, they ^{▼▼Or exhorted}encouraged them and departed.