Acts 16:11-32

¹¹We set sail from Troas and made straight for Samothrace. The next day we went on to Neapolis,

¹²and from there to Philippi, the most important town in Macedonia, and also a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for several days.

¹³On the Sabbath day we went out of the town gates down to the riverside where we thought people would come to pray. We sat down and talked with the women that had gathered there.

¹⁴One of them was called Lydia, who sold purple cloth from the town of Thyatira. She worshiped God, and she listened to us. The Lord opened her mind to what Paul was saying, and she accepted what he told her.

¹⁵After she and all her household were baptized, she pleaded with us, “If you really think that I'm truly committed to the Lord, then come and stay at my house.” She kept on insisting until we agreed!

¹⁶One day when we were going down to the place of prayer we met a slave girl possessed by an evil spirit. She earned her masters a great deal of money by fortune-telling.

¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us around, shouting, “These men are the servants of Almighty God. They are telling you how to be saved!”

¹⁸She went on doing this for several days. This bothered Paul so he turned around and told the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to leave her!” The spirit immediately left her.

¹⁹But when her masters saw they had lost their means of making money, they grabbed hold of Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.

²⁰They brought them in front of the magistrates, and accused them: “These Jewish men are causing a great disturbance in our town,” they said.

²¹“They're advocating things that are illegal for us as Romans to accept or to practice.”

²²The crowd joined together in an attack on them. The magistrates tore off Paul and Silas' clothes, and ordered them beaten with rods.

²³After giving them a severe beating, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them locked up.

²⁴The jailer followed his orders. He threw Paul and Silas into the inner cell and shackled their feet in the stocks.

²⁵Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing praises to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

²⁶Suddenly a tremendous earthquake shook the foundations of the prison. Immediately all the doors flew open and everyone's chains fell off.

²⁷The jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison wide open. He drew his sword and was about to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul shouted out, “Don't hurt yourself—we're all still here!”

²⁹The jailer asked for lights to be brought and rushed in. Shaking with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.

³⁰He escorted them out and asked them, “Sirs, what do I have to do so I can be saved?”

³¹“Trust in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your whole household,” they replied.

³²Then they shared the word of the Lord with him and everyone who lived in his house.