Acts 16:13-34

¹³On the Sabbath we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and talked to the women who were gathered there.

¹⁴Amongst them was a woman, named Lydia, belonging to Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth, who was accustomed to join in the worship of God. The Lord touched this woman's heart, so that she gave attention to the message delivered by Paul,

¹⁵and, when she and her household had been baptised, she urged us to become her guests. “Since you have shown your conviction,” she said, “that I really am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she insisted on our doing so.

¹⁶One day, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a girl possessed by a divining spirit, who made large profits for her masters by fortune-telling.

¹⁷This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, calling, “These men are servants of the most high God, and they are bringing you news of a way to salvation.”

¹⁸She had been doing this for several days, when Paul, much vexed, turned and said to the spirit within her, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to leave her.” That very moment the spirit left her.

¹⁹When her masters saw that there was no hope of further profit from her, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the public square to the authorities,

²⁰and took them before the Magistrates. “These men are causing a great disturbance in our town,” they complained;

²¹“They are Jews, and they are teaching customs which it is not right for us, as Romans, to sanction or adopt.”

²²The mob rose as one person against them, and the Magistrates stripped them of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

²³After beating them severely, the Magistrates put them in prison, with orders to the jailer to keep them in safe custody.

²⁴On receiving so strict an order, the Governor put them into the inner cell, and secured their feet in the stocks.

²⁵About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and while the prisoners were listening to them,

²⁶suddenly there was an earthquake of such violence that the jail was shaken to its foundations; all the doors flew open, and all the prisoners' chains were loosened.

²⁷Roused from his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, the Governor drew his sword intending to kill himself, in the belief that the prisoners had escaped.

²⁸But Paul called our loudly, “Do not harm yourself; we are all here.”

²⁹Calling for a light, the Governor rushed in, and flung himself trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.

³⁰Then he led them out, and said, “What must I do to be saved?”

³¹“Believe in Jesus, our Lord,” they replied, “and you will be saved, you and your household too.”

³²Then they spoke to him of God's message, and to all his household as well.

³³And that very hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he himself and everyone belonging to him were baptised without delay.

³⁴Afterward he took them up to his house and set before them something to eat, rejoicing that he, with all his household, had come to believe in God.