Bible Gateway passage: Acts 16 - New King James Version (2024)

Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16Then he came to ^(A)Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, ^(B)named Timothy, ^(C)the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. ²He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. ³Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he ^(D)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek. ⁴And as they went through the cities, they delivered to them the ^(E)decrees to keep, ^(F)which were determined by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem. ^5(G)So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.

The Macedonian Call

⁶Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the region of ^(H)Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in ^[a]Asia. ⁷After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the ^[b]Spirit did not permit them. ⁸So passing by Mysia, they ^(I)came down to Troas. ⁹And a vision appeared to Paul in the night. A ^(J)man of Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go ^(K)to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Lydia Baptized at Philippi

¹¹Therefore, sailing from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis, ¹²and from there to ^(L)Philippi, which is the ^[c]foremost city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were staying in that city for some days. ¹³And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there. ¹⁴Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of ^(M)Thyatira, who worshiped God. ^(N)The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. ¹⁵And when she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So ^(O)she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

¹⁶Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl ^(P)possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters ^(Q)much profit by fortune-telling. ¹⁷This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” ¹⁸And this she did for many days.

But Paul, ^(R)greatly ^[d]annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” ^(S)And he came out that very hour. ¹⁹But ^(T)when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and ^(U)dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.

²⁰And they brought them to the magistrates, and said, “These men, being Jews, ^(V)exceedingly trouble our city; ²¹and they teach customs which are not lawful for us, being Romans, to receive or observe.” ²²Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes ^(W)and commanded them to be beaten with rods. ²³And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely. ²⁴Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

The Philippian Jailer Saved

²⁵But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. ^26(X)Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately ^(Y)all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. ²⁷And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. ²⁸But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, “Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.”

²⁹Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰And he brought them out and said, ^(Z)“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

³¹So they said, ^(AA)“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.” ³²Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. ³³And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. ³⁴Now when he had brought them into his house, ^(AB)he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having believed in God with all his household.

Paul Refuses to Depart Secretly

³⁵And when it was day, the magistrates sent the ^[e]officers, saying, “Let those men go.”

³⁶So the keeper of the prison reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”

³⁷But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us openly, uncondemned ^(AC)Romans, and have thrown us into prison. And now do they put us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and get us out.”

³⁸And the officers told these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans. ³⁹Then they came and pleaded with them and brought them out, and ^(AD)asked them to depart from the city. ⁴⁰So they went out of the prison ^(AE)and entered the house of Lydia; and when they had seen the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.