Add parallel Print Page Options

16 And he came into Derbe and Lystra. And lo! a disciple was there, by name Timothy, the son of a Jewess christian[a], and of the father heathen.

And brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium [The brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium], yielded good witnessing to him.

And Paul would that this man should go forth with him [Paul would him to go forth with himself], and he took, and circumcised him, for Jews that were in those places. For all knew, that his father was heathen.

[Forsooth] When they passed by cities, they betook to them to keep the teachings, that were deemed of apostles and elder men, that were at Jerusalem.

And the churches were confirmed in faith, and increased in number each day.

And they passed Phrygia, and the country of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to speak the word of God in Asia.

And when they came to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus suffered not them [and the Spirit of Jesus suffered them not].

But when they had passed by Mysia, they came down to Troas;

and a vision by night was showed to Paul. But a man of Macedonia that stood, prayed him, and said [and a vision in night was showed to Paul. Some man of Macedonia was standing, and praying him, and saying], Go thou into Macedonia, and help us.

10 And as he had seen the vision, at once [anon] we sought to go forth into Macedonia, and were made certain, that God had called us to preach to them [made certain that God had called us to evangelize to them].

11 And we went by ship from Troas, and came to Samothracia with straight course [Soothly we going by boat, or sailing, from Troas, with straight course came to Samothracia]; and the day following to Neapolis;

12 and from thence to Philippi, that is the first part of Macedonia, the city colony [the city of colony]. And we were in this city some days, and spake together [speaking together].

13 And in the day of sabbaths we went forth without the gate beside the river, where prayer seemed to be [Soothly in the day of sabbaths, we went out without the gate beside the flood, where prayer was seen to be]; and we sat, and spake to women that came together.

14 And a woman [And some woman], Lydia by name, a purpless of the city of Thyatira, worshipping God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened to give attention to these things, that were said of Paul.

15 And when she was baptized and her house, she prayed, and said, If ye have deemed that I am faithful to the Lord, enter ye into mine house, and dwell [she prayed, saying, If ye have deemed me to be faithful to the Lord, enter ye into mine house, and dwell]. And she constrained us.

16 And it was done, when we went to prayer, that a damsel that had a spirit of divination [some wench having a spirit of divination], met us, which gave great winning to her lords in divining.

17 This followed Paul and us, and cried, and said [saying], These men be servants of the high God, that tell to you the way of health.

18 And this she did in many days. And Paul sorrowed, and turned, and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ, that thou go out of her [I command to thee in the name of Jesus Christ, to go out of her]. And he went out in the same hour.

19 And the lords of her saw, that the hope of their winning went away, and they took Paul and Silas, and led into the market, either doom place, to the princes [catching Paul and Silas, they led them into the market, or doom place, to the princes].

20 And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, These men disturb our city [These men distrouble our city], for they be Jews,

21 and show a custom, which is not leaveful to us to receive [and show a custom, which it is not leaveful to us to receive], neither do, since we be Romans.

22 And the people and magistrates ran against them [And the people ran against them, and the magistrates], and when they had rent (to pieces) the coats of them, they commanded them to be beaten with rods.

23 And when they had given to them many wounds, they sent them into prison, and commanded to the keeper, that he should keep them diligently [commanding to the keeper, that he diligently should keep them].

24 And when he had taken such a precept, he put them into the inner prison [Which, when he had taken such a precept, sent them into the inner prison], and restrained the feet of them in a tree.

25 And at midnight Paul and Silas worshipped, and praised God; and they that were in [the] keeping heard them.

26 And suddenly a great earth-moving was made, so that the foundaments of the prison were moved. And at once [And anon] all the doors were opened, and the bonds of all were loosed.

27 And the keeper of the prison was awaked, and saw the gates of the prison opened [and seeing the gates of the prison opened], and with a sword drawn out he would have slain himself, and guessed that the men that were bound had fled [weening the bound men to have fled].

28 But Paul cried with a great voice, and said [saying], Do thou no harm to thyself, for all we be here.

29 And he asked light, and entered [in], and trembled, and fell down to Paul and to Silas at their feet [and trembling he fell down to Paul and Silas at the feet].

30 And he brought them withoutforth, and said, Lords, what behooveth me to do, that I be made safe?

31 And they said, Believe thou in the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be safe, and thine house.

32 And they spake to him the word of the Lord, with all that were in his house.

33 And he took them in the same hour of the night, and washed their wounds. And he was baptized, and all his house at once [anon].

34 And when he had brought them into his house, he set to them a board. And he was glad with all his house, and believed to God [And he gladded with all his house, believing to God].

35 And when day was come, the magistrates sent constables, and said, Deliver thou those men. [And when day was made, the magistrates sent tormentors, saying, Dismiss, or deliver, ye those men.]

36 And the keeper of the prison told these words to Paul, That the magistrates have sent, that ye be delivered; now therefore go ye out, and go ye in peace [and go in peace].

37 And Paul said to them, They sent us men of Rome into prison, that were beaten openly and uncondemned, and now privily they bring us out; not so, but come they themselves, and deliver us out. [Forsooth Paul said to them, They sent into prison us, beaten openly uncondemned, men Romans, and now privily they cast us out; not so, but come they, and themselves cast us out.]

38 And the constables told these words to the magistrates; and they dreaded, for they heard that they were Romans.

39 And they came, and besought them, and they brought them out, and prayed, that they should go out of the city.

40 And they went out of the prison, and entered to Lydia [entered into Lydia]. And when they saw brethren [And the brethren seen], they comforted them, and went forth.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 16:1 the son of a woman Jewess faithful, or christian

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra,(A) where a disciple named Timothy(B) lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer(C) but whose father was a Greek. The believers(D) at Lystra and Iconium(E) spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.(F) As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders(G) in Jerusalem(H) for the people to obey.(I) So the churches were strengthened(J) in the faith and grew daily in numbers.(K)

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia(L) and Galatia,(M) having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.(N) When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus(O) would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.(P) During the night Paul had a vision(Q) of a man of Macedonia(R) standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we(S) got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel(T) to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

11 From Troas(U) we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi,(V) a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia.(W) And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath(X) 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. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira(Y) named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart(Z) to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household(AA) were baptized,(AB) 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

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer,(AC) we were met by a female slave who had a spirit(AD) by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God,(AE) who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She 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.(AF)

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money(AG) was gone, they seized Paul and Silas(AH) and dragged(AI) them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar(AJ) 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans(AK) to accept or practice.”(AL)

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

25 About midnight(AP) Paul and Silas(AQ) were praying and singing hymns(AR) to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.(AS) At once all the prison doors flew open,(AT) and everyone’s chains came loose.(AU) 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.(AV) 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.(AW) 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”(AX)

31 They replied, “Believe(AY) in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved(AZ)—you and your household.”(BA) 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night(BB) the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his household were baptized.(BC) 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he(BD) was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole household.

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

37 But Paul said to the officers: “They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens,(BG) 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.”

38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.(BH) 39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city.(BI) 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house,(BJ) where they met with the brothers and sisters(BK) and encouraged them. Then they left.

Footnotes

  1. Acts 16:12 The text and meaning of the Greek for the leading city of that district are uncertain.