1 Now he went to Derbe and Lystra too. At Lystra there was a disciple named Timothy, whose mother was a Christian Jewess, but his father was a Greek.
2 He had a high reputation among the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.
3 Paul wanted this man to join him in his journey; so on account of the Jews in that district he took him and had him circumcised, for everybody knew that his father was a Greek.
4 As they journeyed on from town to town, they delivered to the brothers to keep the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem.
5 So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.
6 Then they crossed Phrygia and Galatia. But because they were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the message in Asia,
7 they went on to Mysia and tried to get into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not permit them.
8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
9 There Paul had a vision one night: a man from Macedonia kept standing and pleading with him in these words, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"
10 As soon as he had this vision, we laid our plans to get off to Macedonia, because we confidently concluded that God had called us to tell them the good news.
11 So we sailed away from Troy and struck a bee line for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis.
12 From there we went on to Philippi, a Roman colony, the leading town in that part of Macedonia. In this town we stayed some days.
13 On the sabbath we went outside the gate, to the bank of the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to talk with the women who had met there.
14 Among them was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple goods from the town of Thyatira, and she stayed to listen to us. She was already a worshiper of God, and the Lord so moved upon her heart that she accepted the message spoken by Paul.
15 When she and her household were baptized, she begged us by continuing to say, "If you have made up your mind that I am a real believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she continued to insist that we do so.
16 Once as we were on our way to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had the gift of magical fortune-telling, and continued to make great profits for her owners by fortune-telling.
17 This girl kept following Paul and the rest of us, shrieking, "These men are slaves of the Most High God, and they are proclaiming to you a way of salvation."
18 She kept this up for a number of days. Because Paul was so much annoyed by her, he turned and said to the spirit in her, "In the name of Jesus Christ I order you to come out of her." And that very moment it came out.
19 But as the owners saw that the hope of their profit-making was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them to the public square, before the authorities,
20 and brought them to the chiefs of the police court. They said, "These men are Jews; they continue to make great disturbance in our town
21 and to advocate practices which it is against the law for us Romans to accept or observe."
22 The crowd also joined in the attack upon them, and the chiefs of the police court had them stripped and flogged.
23 After flogging them severely, they put them into jail, and gave the jailer orders to keep close watch on them.
24 Because he had such strict orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
25 But about midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,
26 suddenly there was an earthquake so great that it shook the very foundations of the jail, the doors all flew open, and every prisoner's chains were unfastened.
27 When the jailer awoke and saw that the jail doors were open, he drew his sword and was on the point of killing himself, because he thought that the prisoners had escaped.
29 Then the jailer called for lights and rushed in and fell trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas.
30 After leading them out of the jail, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31 They answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you and your household will be saved."
32 Then they told God's message to him and to all the members of his household.
33 Even at that time of the night he took them and washed their wounds, and he and all the members of his household at once were baptized.
34 Then he took them up to his house and gave them food, and he and all the members of his household were happy in their faith in God.
35 When day broke, the chiefs of the police court sent policemen with the message to let the men go.
36 The jailer reported this message to Paul, saying, "The chiefs of the police court have sent orders to let you go. So now you may come out and go in peace."
37 But Paul said to them, "They beat us in public and that without a trial, and put us in jail although we are Roman citizens! Let them come here themselves and take us out!"
38 The policemen reported this message to the chiefs of the police court, and they became alarmed when they heard that they were Roman citizens,
39 and came and pleaded with them, and took them out and begged them to leave town.
40 After getting out of jail, they went to Lydia's house; they saw the brothers and encouraged them, and then left town.