Acts 16
16
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
1Paul came to Derbe. Then he went on to Lystra. A believer named Timothy lived there. His mother was Jewish and a believer. His father was a Greek. 2The believers at Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy. 3Paul wanted to take him along on the journey. So he circumcised Timothy because of the Jews who lived in that area. They all knew that Timothy’s father was a Greek. 4Paul and his companions traveled from town to town. They reported what the apostles and elders in Jerusalem had decided. The people were supposed to obey what was in the report. 5So the churches were made strong in the faith. The number of believers grew every day.
Paul’s Vision of the Man From Macedonia
6Paul and his companions traveled all through the area of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit had kept them from preaching the word in Asia Minor. 7They came to the border of Mysia. From there they tried to enter Bithynia. But the Spirit of Jesus would not let them. 8So they passed by Mysia. Then they went down to Troas. 9During the night Paul had a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia standing and begging him. “Come over to Macedonia!” the man said. “Help us!” 10After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia. We decided that God had called us to preach the good news there.
Lydia Becomes a Believer in Philippi
11At Troas we got into a boat. We sailed straight for Samothrace. The next day we went on to Neapolis. 12From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony. It is an important city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there several days.
13On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate. We walked down to the river. There we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered together. 14One of the women listening was from the city of Thyatira. Her name was Lydia, and her business was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to accept Paul’s message. 15She and her family were baptized. Then she invited us to her home. “Do you consider me a believer in the Lord?” she asked. “If you do, come and stay at my house.” She succeeded in getting us to go home with her.
Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison
16One day we were going to the place of prayer. On the way we were met by a female slave. She had a spirit that helped her tell people what was going to happen. She earned a lot of money for her owners by doing this. 17She followed Paul and the rest of us around. She shouted, “These men serve the Most High God. They are telling you how to be saved.” 18She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became upset. Turning around, he spoke to the spirit that was in her. “In the name of Jesus Christ,” he said, “I command you to come out of her!” At that very moment the spirit left the woman.
19Her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone. So they grabbed Paul and Silas. They dragged them into the market place to face the authorities. 20They brought them to the judges. “These men are Jews,” her owners said. “They are making trouble in our city. 21They are suggesting practices that are against Roman law. These are practices we can’t accept or take part in.”
22The crowd joined the attack against Paul and Silas. The judges ordered that Paul and Silas be stripped and beaten with rods. 23They were whipped without mercy. Then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24When he received these orders, he put Paul and Silas deep inside the prison. He fastened their feet so they couldn’t get away.
25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing hymns to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was a powerful earthquake. It shook the prison from top to bottom. All at once the prison doors flew open. Everyone’s chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up. He saw that the prison doors were open. He pulled out his sword and was going to kill himself. He thought the prisoners had escaped. 28“Don’t harm yourself!” Paul shouted. “We are all here!”
29The jailer called out for some lights. He rushed in, shaking with fear. He fell down in front of Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out. He asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus. Then you and everyone living in your house will be saved.” 32They spoke the word of the Lord to him. They also spoke to all the others in his house. 33At that hour of the night, the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Right away he and everyone who lived with him were baptized. 34The jailer brought them into his house. He set a meal in front of them. He and everyone who lived with him were filled with joy. They had become believers in God.
35Early in the morning the judges sent their officers to the jailer. They ordered him, “Let those men go.” 36The jailer told Paul, “The judges have ordered me to set you and Silas free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”
37But Paul replied to the officers. “They beat us in public,” he said. “We weren’t given a trial. And we are Roman citizens! They threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and personally lead us out.”
38The officers reported this to the judges. When the judges heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they became afraid. 39So they came and said they were sorry. They led them out of the prison. Then they asked them to leave the city. 40After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house. There they met with the brothers and sisters. They told them to be brave. Then they left.
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Acts 16: NIrV
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Acts 16
16
Paul in Lycaonia: Timothy. 1He reached [also] Derbe and Lystra where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.#1 Tm 1:2; 2 Tm 1:5. 2The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him,#Phil 2:20. 3and Paul wanted him to come along with him. On account of the Jews of that region, Paul had him circumcised,#Paul had him circumcised: he did this in order that Timothy might be able to associate with the Jews and so perform a ministry among them. Paul did not object to the Jewish Christians’ adherence to the law. But he insisted that the law could not be imposed on the Gentiles. Paul himself lived in accordance with the law, or as exempt from the law, according to particular circumstances (see 1 Cor 9:19–23). for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4As they traveled from city to city, they handed on to the people for observance the decisions reached by the apostles and presbyters in Jerusalem. 5Day after day the churches grew stronger in faith and increased in number.
Through Asia Minor. 6They traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian territory because they had been prevented by the holy Spirit from preaching the message in the province of Asia. 7When they came to Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus#The Spirit of Jesus: this is an unusual formulation in Luke’s writings. The parallelism with Acts 16:6 indicates its meaning, the holy Spirit. did not allow them, 8so they crossed through Mysia and came down to Troas. 9During [the] night Paul had a vision. A Macedonian stood before him and implored him with these words, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10When he had seen the vision, we#This is the first of the so-called “we-sections” in Acts, where Luke writes as one of Paul’s companions. The other passages are Acts 20:5–15; 21:1–18; 27:1–28:16. Scholars debate whether Luke may not have used the first person plural simply as a literary device to lend color to the narrative. The realism of the narrative, however, lends weight to the argument that the “we” includes Luke or another companion of Paul whose data Luke used as a source. sought passage to Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.
Into Europe. 11#The church at Philippi became a flourishing community to which Paul addressed one of his letters (see Introduction to the Letter to the Philippians). We set sail from Troas, making a straight run for Samothrace, and on the next day to Neapolis, 12and from there to Philippi, a leading city in that district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We spent some time in that city. 13On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there. 14One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God,#A worshiper of God: a “God-fearer.” See note on Acts 8:26–40. listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. 15After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.
Imprisonment at Philippi. 16As we were going to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl with an oracular spirit,#With an oracular spirit: literally, “with a Python spirit.” The Python was the serpent or dragon that guarded the Delphic oracle. It later came to designate a “spirit that pronounced oracles” and also a ventriloquist who, it was thought, had such a spirit in the belly. who used to bring a large profit to her owners through her fortune-telling. 17She began to follow Paul and us, shouting, “These people are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18She did this for many days. Paul became annoyed, turned, and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” Then it came out at that moment.
19When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square before the local authorities. 20They brought them before the magistrates#Magistrates: in Greek, stratēgoi, the popular designation of the duoviri, the highest officials of the Roman colony of Philippi. and said, “These people are Jews and are disturbing our city 21and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.” 22#2 Cor 11:25; Phil 1:30; 1 Thes 2:2. The crowd joined in the attack on them, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23After inflicting many blows on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them securely. 24When he received these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and secured their feet to a stake.
Deliverance from Prison. 25About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, 26there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose. 27When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew [his] sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted out in a loud voice, “Do no harm to yourself; we are all here.” 29He asked for a light and rushed in and, trembling with fear, he fell down before Paul and Silas. 30Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you and your household will be saved.” 32So they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. 33He took them in at that hour of the night and bathed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized at once. 34He brought them up into his house and provided a meal and with his household rejoiced at having come to faith in God.
35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the lictors#The lictors: the equivalent of police officers, among whose duties were the apprehension and punishment of criminals. with the order, “Release those men.” 36The jailer reported the[se] words to Paul, “The magistrates have sent orders that you be released. Now, then, come out and go in peace.” 37But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, even though we are Roman citizens and have not been tried, and have thrown us into prison.#22:25. And now, are they going to release us secretly? By no means. Let them come themselves and lead us out.”#Paul’s Roman citizenship granted him special privileges in regard to criminal process. Roman law forbade under severe penalty the beating of Roman citizens (see also Acts 22:25). 38The lictors reported these words to the magistrates, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens.#22:29. 39So they came and placated them, and led them out and asked that they leave the city. 40When they had come out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house where they saw and encouraged the brothers, and then they left.
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