Timothy Goes with Paul

16 Paul came to Derbe and Lystra [14:6], where a ·follower [disciple] named Timothy lived. Timothy’s mother was Jewish [^Cher name was Eunice (2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15)] and a believer, but his father was a Greek.

² The ·believers [^Lbrothers (and sisters)] in Lystra and Iconium [13:51] ·respected Timothy and ·said good things about [spoke well of; ^Ltestified about] him. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him, but all the people living in that area knew that Timothy’s father was Greek. So Paul circumcised Timothy ·to please his mother’s people [^Lbecause of the Jews in those places]. ⁴ ·Paul and those with him [^LThey] traveled from town to town and ·gave [delivered; passed on] the ·decisions [decrees] made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. ⁵ So the churches became stronger in the faith and grew larger every day.

Paul Is Called to Macedonia

⁶ ·Paul and those with him [^LThey] went through the areas of Phrygia [^Ca region in north central Asia Minor; 18:23] and Galatia [^Ceither the Roman province of Galatia or the old kingdom of Galatia in its north] since the Holy Spirit ·did not let them [prohibited them to; ^Ceither through circumstances or divine revelation] ·preach the Good News [^Lspeak the word] in Asia [^Ca Roman province, in present-day Turkey]. ⁷ When they came ·near [or opposite] the country of Mysia [^Cthe northwest section of Asia Minor, present-day Turkey], they tried to go into Bithynia [^Cnorthern Asia Minor further east than Mysia], but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went to Troas [^Ca city in northwest Asia Minor]. ⁹ That night Paul saw in a vision a man from Macedonia [^Can area across the Aegean Sea in mainland Greece]. The man stood and ·begged [urged; encouraged], “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we [^Cthe switch to first person plural (“we”) indicates that the author, Luke, joined them (see also 20:5—21:18; 27:1—28:16)] immediately ·prepared [made plans; attempted] to leave for Macedonia, ·understanding [or convinced] that God had called us to ·tell the Good News [preach the Gospel] to those people.

Lydia Becomes a Christian

¹¹ We ·left [embarked/put out to sea from] Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace [^Ca mountainous island in the north Aegean]. The next day we sailed to Neapolis [^Ccity in Macedonia, the first city Paul visited on the continent of Europe]. ¹² Then we went by land to Philippi, a Roman colony [^Ca town begun by Romans with Roman laws, customs, and privileges] and ·the leading city in that part [or one of the leading cities in that district; or a city in the first district] of Macedonia. We stayed there for several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river where we ·thought [expected] we would find a special place for prayer [^CPhilippi evidently had no synagogue because of its small Jewish population]. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. ¹⁴ One of the listeners was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira [^Cin western Asia Minor] ·whose job was selling [who was a dealer/merchant in] purple cloth [^Cthe most expensive type of material]. She was a worshiper of God [^Ca God-fearing Gentile; 10:2], and the Lord opened her ·mind [^Lheart] to pay attention to what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She and ·all the people in her house [her household] were baptized. Then she ·invited us to her home [^Lurged us], saying, “If you ·think I am truly [^Lhave judged me to be] ·a believer in [or faithful to] the Lord, then come stay in my house.” And she ·persuaded us [urged us strongly] to stay with her.

Paul and Silas in Jail

¹⁶ Once, while we were going to the place for prayer, a ·servant [slave] girl met us. She had a ·special spirit [spirit/demon of divination/prediction; ^LPython spirit; ^CPython was the serpent god that guarded the Delphic oracle; the term came to be used of the ability to predict the future] in her, and she earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are ·servants [slaves] of the Most High God. They are telling you ·how you can be saved [^Lthe way/path of salvation].”

¹⁸ She kept this up for many days. This ·bothered [annoyed; exasperated] Paul, so he turned and said to the spirit, “By the ·power [^Lname] of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her!” ·Immediately, [^LThat very hour] the spirit came out.

¹⁹ When the owners of the ·servant [slave] girl saw that their ·source for making money [hope of profit] was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the ·city rulers [leaders; authorities] in the marketplace. ²⁰ They brought Paul and Silas to the ·Roman rulers [magistrates] and said, “These men are Jews and are ·making trouble in [disturbing] our city. ²¹ They are ·teaching things [advocating customs] that are not ·right [permitted; lawful] for us as Romans to [^Ladopt/accept or to] do.”

²² The crowd joined the attack against them. The ·Roman officers [magistrates] ·tore [stripped off] the clothes of Paul and Silas and ·had [ordered] them beaten with rods [2 Cor. 11:25]. ²³ After ·being severely beaten [^Lmany blows were laid on them], ·Paul and Silas [^Lthey] were thrown into ·jail [prison], and the jailer was ordered to guard them ·carefully [securely]. ²⁴ When he heard this order, he put them far inside the ·jail [prison] and ·pinned [secured; fastened] their feet ·down between large blocks of wood [in stocks; ^Lin wood].

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing ·songs [hymns; praise songs] to God as the other prisoners listened. ²⁶ Suddenly, there was a ·strong [great; violent] earthquake that shook the foundation of the ·jail [prison]. Then all the doors of the ·jail [prison] broke open, and all the prisoners were freed from their chains. ²⁷ The jailer woke up and saw that the ·jail [prison] doors were open. Thinking that the prisoners had already escaped, he got his sword and was about to kill himself [^Cbeing responsible, he would suffer punishment and shame for their escape]. ²⁸ But [^Lwith a great/loud voice] Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We are all here.”

²⁹ The jailer ·told someone to bring a light [^Lasked for lights]. Then he ·ran [rushed] inside and, shaking with fear, fell down before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He brought them outside and said, “·Men [^LLords; Sirs], what must I do to be saved?”

³¹ They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and ·all the people in your house [your household].” ³² So ·Paul and Silas [^Lthey] told the ·message [word] of the Lord to the jailer and all the people in his ·house [household]. ³³ At that hour of the night the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Then he and all his ·people [or family; household] were baptized immediately. ³⁴ After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them food. He and his ·family [^Lhousehold] ·were very happy [rejoiced; celebrated] because they now believed in God.

³⁵ The next morning, the ·Roman officers [magistrates] sent the police to tell the jailer, “Let these men go free.”

³⁶ The jailer ·said [^Lreported these words] to Paul, “The ·officers [magistrates] have sent an order to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”

³⁷ But Paul said to ·the police [^Lthem], “They beat us in public ·without a trial [^Luncondemned], even though we are Roman citizens [^CRoman law stated that citizens could not be beaten without a trial]. And they threw us in ·jail [prison]. Now they want to ·make us go away [get rid of us; throw us out] ·quietly [in secret]. No! Let them come themselves and bring us out.”

³⁸ The police ·told [reported to] the ·Roman officers [magistrates] what Paul said. When ·the officers [^Lthey] heard that ·Paul and Silas [^Lthey] were Roman citizens, they were afraid. ³⁹ So they came and ·told Paul and Silas they were sorry [apologized to them; appeased them] and took them out of ·jail [prison] and asked them to leave the city. ⁴⁰ So when they came out of the ·jail [prison], they went to Lydia’s house where they saw some of the ·believers [^Lbrothers (and sisters)] and encouraged them. Then they left.