Acts 16
(1) Timothy Joins Paul
Paul also went to Derbe and Lystra [cities in Turkey] where he met a Jesus-follower named Timothy. Timothy’s mom was a Jewish believer, but his dad was a Greek, and the spiritual family in Lystra and Iconium only had good things to say about Timothy. Paul wanted Timothy to join him on his journey, so he had him get circumcised since all the Jews in that area knew his dad was Greek. While they were traveling through the cities, they told everyone about the decision that had been made by Jesus’s original disciples and the elders in Jerusalem. So the churches’ faith was being strengthened, and every day more people joined the church.
(6) Paul Called to Macedonia
Then Paul’s crew passed through the Phrygian and Galatian regions since the Different Spirit held them back from sharing the message in the Roman province of Asia [Western Turkey]. After going to the province of Mysia, they almost went to Bithynia, but Jesus’s Spirit didn’t let them. So they passed through Mysia and ended up in Troas. There, Paul saw a vision in the night of a Macedonian man telling him,
“Come to Macedonia and help us.”
After seeing that vision, we wanted to go to Macedonia, and concluded that God was calling us to share the good news with them.
(11) Paul Visits Greece
So we set sail from Troas [Western Turkey] and went straight to Samothrace [Samothraki, Greece]. The next day we went to Neapolis [Kavala, Greece] then Philippi [Greece], which is a prominent city in the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony [the northern coast of modern-day Greece]. We stayed in Philippi for a number of days, and when the Sabbath came, we went outside the city gate to a riverside, where we thought there’d be a prayer building. When we found the building, we sat down and started talking to the women who had gathered there.
(14) Lydia Baptized
One of the women was named Lydia, and she was from the city of Thyatira [in western Turkey]. She sold purple fabrics for a living and was someone who worshiped God. While she was listening to Paul speak, the Ruler opened her heart, and she latched onto his words. She and her entire household ended up getting baptized, and then she told us,
“If you think I truly am relying on the Ruler, then come stay at my house!”
So we did.
(16) Fortune-Telling Spirit Exorcised
When we were on our way to the prayer building, we ran into a slave girl who had a spirit of Python. [Python was a snake/dragon killed by Greek god, Apollo. Traveling fortune tellers were said to have a “spirit of Python.”] This slave girl’s fortune-telling had made her owners a lot of money. When the girl saw us, she chased after us, yelling,
“These men are slaves to the ultimate God, and they’re telling you the way to be rescued!”
She kept doing that for a number of days until it annoyed Paul so much that he turned to the spirit and said,
“I order you in the name of Jesus the Chosen One to come out of her!”
And it came out that moment.
(19) Girl’s Owners Get Paul and Silas Arrested
But when the girl’s owners saw that their hope for income was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them out into the central market where the authorities were. They brought them to the top military general and said,
“These guys are stirring up trouble in our city! They’re promoting Jewish customs that aren’t legal for us Romans to follow or accept!”
At that, the crowd united against them. Then the top military generals stripped the shirts off of Paul and Silas’s backs and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After giving them a hefty beating, they were thrown into prison and the jailer was ordered to keep a close watch on them. After the jailer received those orders, he threw them into the prison’s securest cell and shackled their feet in a wooden harness.
(25) Earthquake Breaks Jail; Jailer is Baptized
Around midnight that night, Paul and Silas were talking to God and singing worship songs to Him when an intense earthquake suddenly shook the prison building. The prison cell doors flung open, and everyone’s chains fell off. When the jailer woke up and saw that the doors were open, he assumed all the prisoners had escaped, so he got ready to take his own life. But Paul shouted,
“Don’t hurt yourself! We’re all still here!”
So the jailer got some lights and ran inside the prison. Trembling with fear, he threw himself down in front of Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked,
“Guys, what do I need to do in order to be rescued?”
They said,
“Trust and rely on the Leader, Jesus, and you’ll be rescued—you and your household.”
So then Paul and Silas shared God’s message with him and everyone living with him. The jailer cleaned their wounds, then he and his entire household got baptized. Then the jailer brought them into his house in the middle of the night and shared his food with them. He and his entire household celebrated since they had all started trusting God.
(35) Paul and Silas are Released
When the morning came, the top military officials sent police officers who told the jailer,
“You can release those guys.”
So the jailer told Paul,
“The top military officials sent people saying to release you. So come on out and peacefully be on your way.”
But Paul said,
“Some of us are Romans, yet they beat us in public and threw us into prison without giving us a trial! Now they want to send us away in secret? I don’t think so! Tell them to come here themselves and bring us out.”
So the police brought the message back to the top military officials, which scared them to hear that some of them were Romans. So they came, released them out of jail, and begged them to leave town. When Paul and Silas got out of prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they visited the spiritual family and encouraged them before leaving the city.
