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The BibleActs 16

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Acts 16

1
English · Berean Standard Bible

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.

2
English · Berean Standard Bible

The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

3
English · Berean Standard Bible

Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, so he took him and circumcised him on account of the Jews in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.

4
English · Berean Standard Bible

As they went from town to town, they delivered the decisions handed down by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey.

5
English · Berean Standard Bible

So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

6
English · Berean Standard Bible

After the Holy Spirit had prevented them from speaking the word in the province of Asia, they traveled through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.

7
English · Berean Standard Bible

And when they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.

8
English · Berean Standard Bible

So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

9
English · Berean Standard Bible

During the night, Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

10
English · Berean Standard Bible

As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11
English · Berean Standard Bible

We sailed from Troas straight to Samothrace, and the following day on to Neapolis.

12
English · Berean Standard Bible

From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13
English · Berean Standard Bible

On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.

14
English · Berean Standard Bible

Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

15
English · Berean Standard Bible

And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

16
English · Berean Standard Bible

One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.

17
English · Berean Standard Bible

This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!”

18
English · Berean Standard Bible

She continued this for many days. Eventually Paul grew so aggravated that he turned and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” And the spirit left her at that very moment.

19
English · Berean Standard Bible

When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities in the marketplace.

20
English · Berean Standard Bible

They brought them to the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews and are throwing our city into turmoil

21
English · Berean Standard Bible

by promoting customs that are unlawful for us Romans to adopt or practice.”

22
English · Berean Standard Bible

The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered that they be stripped and beaten with rods.

23
English · Berean Standard Bible

And after striking them with many blows, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to guard them securely.

24
English · Berean Standard Bible

On receiving this order, he placed them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

25
English · Berean Standard Bible

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

26
English · Berean Standard Bible

Suddenly a strong earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. At once all the doors flew open and everyone’s chains came loose.

27
English · Berean Standard Bible

When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, presuming that the prisoners had escaped.

28
English · Berean Standard Bible

But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself! We are all here!”

29
English · Berean Standard Bible

Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas.

30
English · Berean Standard Bible

Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31
English · Berean Standard Bible

They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.”

32
English · Berean Standard Bible

Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.

33
English · Berean Standard Bible

At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized.

34
English · Berean Standard Bible

Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

35
English · Berean Standard Bible

When daylight came, the magistrates sent their officers with the order: “Release those men.”

36
English · Berean Standard Bible

The jailer informed Paul: “The magistrates have sent orders to release you. Now you may go on your way in peace.”

37
English · Berean Standard Bible

But Paul said to the officers, “They beat us publicly without a trial and threw us into prison, even though we are Roman citizens. And now do they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and escort us out!”

38
English · Berean Standard Bible

So the officers relayed this message to the magistrates, who were alarmed to hear that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.

39
English · Berean Standard Bible

They came to appease them and led them out, requesting that they leave the city.

40
English · Berean Standard Bible

After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house to see the brothers and encourage them. Then they left the city.

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The SBL Greek New Testament, ed. Michael W. Holmes. Copyright 2010 Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software. CC BY 4.0. · Source ↗

Greek New Testament text: The SBL Greek New Testament (SBLGNT), edited by Michael W. Holmes. Copyright 2010 by the Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Source: https://github.com/LogosBible/SBLGNT (v1.2). Changes: apparatus sigla (⸀ ⸁ ⸂ ⸃ ⸄ ⸅) removed; book titles moved to headings.

The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible, BSB. Dedicated to the public domain. · Source ↗

The Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version), standard text of 1769; electronic text courtesy of eBible.org and the CrossWire Bible Society. Public domain outside the United Kingdom. In the UK, rights in the Authorized Version are vested in the Crown under Letters Patent, administered by Cambridge University Press. · Source ↗

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