Atti 16
La Nuova Diodati
16 Or egli giunse a Derbe e a Listra; qui c'era un discepolo, di nome Timoteo, figlio di una donna giudea credente, ma di padre greco,
2 di cui rendevano buona testimonianza i fratelli di Listra e di Iconio.
3 Paolo volle che questi andasse con lui; cosí presolo con sé, lo circoncise a motivo dei Giudei che erano in quei luoghi, perché tutti sapevano che suo padre era greco.
4 E, come essi attraversavano le città, ordinavano loro di osservare le decisioni prese dagli apostoli e dagli anziani a Gerusalemme.
5 Le chiese dunque erano fortificate nella fede e crescevano di numero ogni giorno.
6 Mentre attraversavano la Frigia e la regione della Galazia, furono impediti dallo Spirito Santo di annunziare la parola in Asia.
7 Giunti ai confini della Misia, essi tentavano di andare in Bitinia, ma lo Spirito non lo permise loro.
8 Cosí, attraversata la Misia, discesero a Troas.
9 Durante la notte apparve a Paolo una visione. Gli stava davanti un uomo Macedone, che lo supplicava e diceva: «Passa in Macedonia e soccorrici».
10 Dopo che ebbe visto la visione, cercammo subito di passare in Macedonia, persuasi che il Signore ci aveva chiamati là per annunziare loro il vangelo.
11 Perciò, salpando da Troas, ci dirigemmo a Samotracia, e il giorno seguente a Neapolis,
12 e di là a Filippi, che è la prima città di quella parte della Macedonia e una colonia romana; e restammo in quella città diversi giorni.
13 Il giorno di sabato andammo fuori città lungo il fiume, dove era il luogo ordinario della preghiera; e, postici a sedere, parlavamo alle donne che erano là radunate.
14 E una donna di nome Lidia, commerciante di porpora, della città di Tiatira, che adorava Dio, stava ad ascoltare. E il Signore aprí il suo cuore per dare ascolto alle cose dette da Paolo.
15 Dopo essere stata battezzata con la sua famiglia, ci pregò dicendo: «Se mi avete giudicata fedele al Signore, entrate e rimanete in casa mia». E ci costrinse ad accettare.
16 Ora, mentre andavamo al luogo della preghiera, ci venne incontro una giovane schiava che aveva uno spirito di divinazione e che, facendo l'indovina, procurava molto guadagno ai suoi padroni.
17 Costei, messasi a seguire Paolo e noi, gridava, dicendo: «Questi uomini sono servi del Dio Altissimo e vi annunziano la via della salvezza».
18 Ed essa fece questo per molti giorni; ma Paolo, infastidito, si voltò e disse allo spirito: «Io ti comando nel nome di Gesú Cristo di uscire da lei». E lo spirito uscí in quell'istante.
19 Ora i padroni di lei, vedendo che la speranza del loro guadagno era svanita, presero Paolo e Sila e li trascinarono sulla piazza del mercato davanti ai magistrati;
20 e, presentatili ai pretori, dissero: «Questi uomini, che sono Giudei, turbano la nostra città,
21 e predicano usanze, che a noi che siamo Romani, non è lecito di accettare o di osservare».
22 Allora la folla insorse tutta insieme contro di loro; e i pretori, strappate loro le vesti, comandarono che fossero frustati.
23 E, dopo averli battuti con molti colpi, li gettarono in prigione, comandando al carceriere di tenerli al sicuro.
24 Questi, ricevuto un tale ordine, li gettò nella parte piú interna della prigione e fissò i loro piedi ai ceppi.
25 Verso la mezzanotte Paolo e Sila pregavano e cantavano inni a Dio; e i prigionieri li udivano.
26 Improvvisamente si fece un gran terremoto tanto che le fondamenta della prigione furono scosse: e in quell'istante tutte le porte si aprirono e le catene di tutti si sciolsero.
27 Il carceriere, destatosi e viste le porte della prigione spalancate, trasse fuori la spada e stava per uccidersi, pensando che i prigionieri fossero fuggiti.
28 Ma Paolo gridò ad alta voce: «Non farti alcun male, perché noi siamo tutti qui».
29 E, chiesto un lume, egli corse dentro, e tutto tremante si gettò ai piedi di Paolo e Sila;
30 poi li condusse fuori e disse: «Signori, cosa devo fare per essere salvato?».
31 Ed essi dissero: «Credi nel Signore Gesú Cristo, e sarai salvato tu e la casa tua».
32 Poi essi annunziarono la parola del Signore a lui e a tutti coloro che erano in casa sua.
33 Ed egli li prese in quella stessa ora della notte e lavò loro le piaghe. E lui e tutti i suoi furono subito battezzati.
34 Condottili quindi in casa sua, apparecchiò loro la tavola e si rallegrava con tutta la sua famiglia di aver creduto in Dio.
35 Fattosi giorno i pretori mandarono i littori a dire al carceriere: «Lascia liberi quegli uomini».
36 E il carceriere riferí a Paolo queste parole: «I pretori hanno mandato a dire che siate lasciati liberi; quindi uscite e andate in pace».
37 Ma Paolo disse loro: «Dopo averci pubblicamente battuti senza essere stati condannati in giudizio, noi che siamo cittadini romani, ci hanno gettati in prigione e ora ci fanno uscire di nascosto? No davvero! Vengano loro stessi a condurci fuori».
38 I littori riferirono queste parole ai pretori; ed essi, quando udirono che erano cittadini romani, ebbero paura.
39 Or essi vennero e li pregarono di scusarli e, condottili fuori, chiesero loro di lasciare la città.
40 Allora essi, usciti di prigione, entrarono in casa di Lidia e, visti i fratelli, li consolarono; poi partirono.
Acts 16
EasyEnglish Bible
Timothy travels with Paul and Silas
16 Paul travelled to Derbe and then he arrived in Lystra. A man called Timothy lived in Lystra. He was a believer. His mother was a Jew who had become a believer in Jesus. But Timothy's father was a Gentile who came from Greece. 2 All the believers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him to different places. All the Jews in that region knew that Timothy's father was a Gentile. So Paul circumcised Timothy, so that the Jews would accept him.[a]
4 Paul, Silas and Timothy travelled through many towns. In each place, they told the believers the things that the apostles and the other leaders in Jerusalem had decided. They told the believers to obey those rules. 5 In this way, the groups of believers in those towns became stronger. They trusted Jesus more. More and more people joined the groups of believers every day.
Paul has a vision
6 Paul and his friends wanted to go to the region of Asia to speak God's message. But the Holy Spirit stopped them from doing this. So they travelled through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia. 7 Then they arrived at the edge of the region of Mysia. They wanted to go from there into the region of Bithynia. But the Holy Spirit of Jesus stopped them from going there too. 8 So they went quickly through Mysia and they arrived at the city of Troas, on the coast.
9 During that night, Paul had a vision. In the vision, he saw a man from the region called Macedonia. The man stood there and he said to Paul, ‘Please, please come across the sea to Macedonia and help us.’ 10 After Paul's vision, we immediately prepared ourselves for the journey to Macedonia.[b] We decided that God was telling us to go there. He wanted us to tell the people there the good news about Jesus.
Lydia becomes a believer
11 We got in a ship at Troas and we sailed across the sea. We went across to an island called Samothrace. The next day, we continued our journey to a port called Neapolis. 12 We then travelled across the land to Philippi, the most important city in the region of Macedonia. The Romans ruled Philippi and many Roman people lived there. We stayed there for a few days.
13 On the Jewish day of rest, we went out of the city gate. We went down to the edge of the river. We thought that the Jews might have a special meeting place there. We thought that they would meet there to pray. We found a group of women who were meeting there. So we sat down and we talked to them.[c]
14 One of the women who listened to us was called Lydia. She was from the city of Thyatira. She bought and sold expensive dark red cloth. She was a Gentile woman who now worshipped God. The Lord helped her to understand Paul's message. So she believed the things that he said.
15 Then Paul and Silas baptized Lydia and the other people who lived in her house. After this, Lydia asked us to go to her house. She said to us, ‘If you think that I really believe in the Lord Jesus, then please stay in my house.’ We agreed to go and to stay there.
The Roman rulers put Paul and Silas in prison
16 One day, we were going to the place where people prayed to God. On the way there, we met a slave girl. A bad spirit was living inside her. This spirit told her what would happen soon. People gave her masters a lot of money when she told them about these future things. 17 She followed Paul and all of us. She was shouting, ‘These men are servants of the powerful God who is over all! They are telling you how God can save you!’
18 The slave girl continued to do this for many days. After some time, Paul became angry. So he turned round and he said to the bad spirit, ‘I am using the authority of Jesus Christ! I command you to leave this woman!’ When Paul said that, the spirit left her immediately.
19 Her masters now knew that the girl could not get money for them any more. So they took hold of Paul and Silas and they pulled them to the market place of the city. They took them to stand in front of the leaders of the city. 20 They asked the important officers to judge them. They said, ‘These men are Jews. They are causing much trouble in our city. 21 They are teaching people to obey strange ideas. We are Roman people. We cannot agree with these laws. They are not right for us to do.’
22 A lot of people quickly came together there. They started to attack Paul and Silas. So the important officers said to their soldiers, ‘Tear the clothes off Paul and Silas. Then hit them with sticks!’ 23 The soldiers hit Paul and Silas many times. Then they took hold of them and they pushed them into the prison. The officers said to the prison guard, ‘Lock the prison door carefully so that these men cannot get free.’
24 The prison guard did what he had been told to do. He put Paul and Silas in a room in the middle of the prison. He put their feet between big heavy pieces of wood so that they could not move their legs.
25 At midnight, Paul and Silas were praying. They were also singing songs to praise God. The other people in the prison were listening to them. 26 The ground under the prison suddenly shook strongly. Immediately, all the prison doors opened. The chains that held the people in the prison all fell off. 27 The prison guard woke up. He saw that the prison doors were open. He thought that all the people in the prison had become free. He decided that he should kill himself. So he pulled out his sword.[d]
28 Paul shouted very loudly to him, ‘Do not hurt yourself! We are all still in here!’
29 The guard said, ‘Bring me some lights.’ Then he ran to the prison room where Paul and Silas were. He was very frightened. He went down on his knees in front of them. 30 Then he led Paul and Silas out of the prison. He said to them, ‘Masters, what must I do so that God will save me? Tell me!’
31 Paul and Silas said to him, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and then God will save you. He will save you and the people who live in your house, if they believe too.’ 32 Then Paul and Silas went to the guard's house. They spoke God's message about the Lord Jesus to him and to all the people in his house. 33 In the middle of the night, the man took care of them. He washed their bodies where the soldiers had hurt them. Immediately after this, Paul and Silas baptized the man and his whole family. 34 The man gave them some food to eat in his house. The guard and all his family were very happy because now they believed in God.
35 The next morning, the important officers sent their police to the prison with a message for the guard. They told him, ‘Let those men go free.’ 36 The guard went to Paul and he told him, ‘The city officers have sent a message to me. They said, “Let Paul and Silas go free.” So now you can leave the prison. Nobody will hurt you any more.’
37 But Paul spoke to the police who had brought the message. He said, ‘The city officers did not find that we had done anything wrong. But they commanded their soldiers to hit us with sticks in front of everybody. We are citizens of Rome but they still did this to us. They even put us into prison. Now they want us to leave the prison and go away. They want to send us away secretly. We will not agree! The Roman officers must come here to the prison themselves. Then they must lead us out for everyone to see.’
38 The police returned to the city officers. They told them what Paul had said. The officers now understood that Paul and Silas were citizens of Rome. This made them very afraid. 39 So they went to see Paul and Silas in the prison. They told Paul and Silas that they were very sorry. Then they led Paul and Silas out of the prison. They asked them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas left the prison, they went to Lydia's house. There they met the other believers. They spoke to the believers to make them strong. Then Paul and Silas left Philippi.[e]
Footnotes
- 16:3 Timothy's father was not a Jew. So nobody had circumcised Timothy when he was a baby. Paul wanted Timothy to go with him to help him with his work. Paul wanted to tell Jews, not only Gentiles, the good news about Jesus. These Jews knew Timothy. They knew that his father was not a Jew. This is why Paul circumcised Timothy. If he had not done this, the Jews would not have accepted him.
- 16:10 'We' is used here so it seems that Luke met Paul, Silas and Timothy in Troas.
- 16:13 Not many Jews were living in Philippi, so they did not have a synagogue. Instead, they met at the side of the river to pray together.
- 16:27 The guard thought that the people in the prison had run away. He knew that this would be a very bad thing for him. If this had happened, the leader of the soldiers would kill him. So he decided to kill himself.
- 16:40 Luke did not go with Paul and Silas when they left Philippi.
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