The First Converts

³⁷ Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers,^[a] what should we do?”^{(A) 38} Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.^{(B) 39} For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”^{(C) 40} And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” ⁴¹ So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. ⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

³⁵ Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus.^{(A) 36} As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?”^{[a](B) 38} He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip^[b] baptized him.

The Conversion of Lydia

¹¹ We therefore^[a] set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis,^{(A) 12} and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days.^{(B) 13} On the Sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed^[b] there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. ¹⁴ A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. ¹⁵ When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.” And she prevailed upon us.^(C)

²⁵ About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.^{(A) 26} Suddenly there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened.^{(B) 27} When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he supposed that the prisoners had escaped.^{(C) 28} But Paul shouted in a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.” ²⁹ The jailer^[a] called for lights, and rushing in, he fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ Then he brought them outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”^{(D) 31} They answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”^{(E) 32} They spoke the word of the Lord^[b] to him and to all who were in his house. ³³ At the same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and his entire family were baptized without delay. ³⁴ He brought them up into the house and set food before them, and he and his entire household rejoiced that he had become a believer in God.^(F)