| Chapter 16
|
| 1 | Then came he
to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named
Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but
his father was a Greek: |
| 2 |
Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium. |
| 3 | Him would Paul have to go
forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in
those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek. |
| 4 | And as they went through the cities,
they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles
and elders which were at Jerusalem. |
|
5 | And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased
in number daily. |
| 6 | Now
when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were
forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia, |
| 7 | After they were come to Mysia, they
assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not. |
| 8 | And they passing by Mysia came down to
Troas. |
| 9 | And a vision
appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him,
saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us. |
|
10 | And after he had seen the vision, immediately we
endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called
us for to preach the gospel unto them. |
| 11 | Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight
course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis; |
| 12 | And from thence to Philippi, which is
the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that
city abiding certain days. |
| 13
| And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where
prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which
resorted thither. |
| 14 | And
a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which
worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto
the things which were spoken of Paul. |
| 15 | And when she was baptized, and her household, she
besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into
my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. |
|
16 | And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a
certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her
masters much gain by soothsaying: |
|
17 | The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are
the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. |
| 18 | And this did she many
days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in
the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. |
| 19 | And when her masters saw
that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew
them into the marketplace unto the rulers, |
| 20 | And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men,
being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, |
| 21 | And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to
receive, neither to observe, being Romans. |
| 22 | And the multitude rose up together against them: and
the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. |
| 23 | And when they had laid many
stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them
safely: |
| 24 | Who, having
received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet
fast in the stocks. |
| 25 |
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the
prisoners heard them. |
| 26 |
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the
prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's
bands were loosed. |
| 27 |
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison
doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing
that the prisoners had been fled. |
|
28 | But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm:
for we are all here. |
| 29 |
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down
before Paul and Silas, |
| 30 |
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? |
| 31 | And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. |
| 32 | And they spake unto him the word of
the Lord, and to all that were in his house. |
| 33 | And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed
their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. |
| 34 | And when he had brought them into his
house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his
house. |
| 35 | And when it
was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go. |
| 36 | And the keeper of the prison
told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now
therefore depart, and go in peace. |
|
37 | But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned,
being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out
privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out. |
| 38 | And the serjeants told these
words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were
Romans. |
| 39 | And they came
and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the
city. |
| 40 | And they went
out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen
the brethren, they comforted them, and departed. |
