Book of Common Prayer

¹⁶ As we were going to the place of prayer we were met by a girl who had a spirit of divination. She and her oracles made a good living for her owners. ¹⁷ She followed Paul and the rest of us.

“These men are servants of God Most High!” she would shout out. “They are declaring to you the way of salvation!”

¹⁸ She did this for many days. Eventually, Paul got fed up with it. He turned round and addressed the spirit.

“I command you in the name of Jesus the Messiah,” he said, “come out of her!”

And it came out then and there.

¹⁹ When the girl’s owners saw that their hope of profit had vanished, they seized Paul and Silas, dragged them into the public square before the authorities, ²⁰ and presented them to the magistrates.

“These men,” they said, “are throwing our city into an uproar! They are Jews, ²¹ and they are teaching customs which it’s illegal for us Romans to accept or practice!”

²² The crowd joined in the attack on them, and the magistrates had their clothes torn off them and gave orders for them to be beaten with rods. ²³ When they had thoroughly beaten them, they threw them into prison, and gave orders to the jailer to guard them securely. ²⁴ With that instruction, he put them into the innermost part of the prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.

⁴⁷ When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the shore. ⁴⁸ He saw they were having to work hard at rowing, because the wind was against them; and he came to them, in the small hours of the night, walking on the sea. He intended to go past them, ⁴⁹ but they saw him walking on the sea and thought it was an apparition. They yelled out; ⁵⁰ all of them saw him, and they were scared stiff.

At once he spoke to them.

“Cheer up,” he said, “it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”

⁵¹ He came up to them and got into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were overwhelmed with astonishment. ⁵² They hadn’t understood about the loaves, because their hearts were hardened.

⁵³ They made landfall at Gennesaret, and tied up the boat. ⁵⁴ People recognized Jesus as soon as they got out of the boat, ⁵⁵ and scurried about the whole region to bring sick people on stretchers to wherever they heard that he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went, in villages, towns or in the open country, they placed the sick in the market-places and begged him to let them touch even the hem of his garment. And all who touched it were healed.