Acts 16:1-15

International Children’s Bible

Timothy Goes with Paul and Silas

16 Paul came to Derbe and Lystra. A follower named Timothy was there. Timothy’s mother was Jewish and a believer. His father was a Greek.

² The brothers in Lystra and Iconium respected Timothy and said good things about him. ³ Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him. But all the Jews living in that area knew that Timothy’s father was Greek. So Paul circumcised Timothy to please the Jews. ⁴ Paul and the men with him traveled from town to town. They gave the decisions 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 Out of Asia

⁶ Paul and the men with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia. The Holy Spirit did not let them preach the Good News in Asia. ⁷ When they came near the country of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia. But the Spirit of Jesus did not let them. ⁸ So they passed by Mysia and went to Troas. ⁹ That night Paul had a vision. In the vision, a man from Macedonia came to him. The man stood there and begged, “Come over to Macedonia. Help us!” ¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia. We understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.

Lydia Becomes a Christian

¹¹ We left Troas in a ship, and we sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to Neapolis.^{[a] 12} Then we went by land to Philippi, the leading city in that part of Macedonia. It is also a Roman colony.^[b] We stayed there for several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river. There we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. ¹⁴ There was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. Her job was selling purple cloth. She worshiped the true God. The Lord opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She and all the people in her house were baptized. Then Lydia invited us to her home. She said, “If you think I am truly a believer in the Lord, then come stay in my house.” And she persuaded us to stay with her.