1 Paul and Silas went to Derbe city and visited the believers there. Next they went to Lystra city. A believer whose name was Timothy lived there. His mother was a Jewish believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 The believers in Lystra and Iconium said good things about Timothy, 3 and Paul wanted to take Timothy with him when he went to other places, so he circumcised Timothy. He did that so that the Jews who lived in those places would accept Timothy, because they knew that his non-Jewish father had not allowed him to be circumcised { anyone to circumcise his son}.

4  So Timothy went with Paul and Silas and they traveled to many other towns. In each town they told the believers the rules that had been decided by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem {that the apostles and elders in Jerusalem had decided} that non-Jewish believers should obey.

5  God was helping the believers in those towns to trust more strongly in the Lord Jesus, and every day more people became believers.

6 Paul and his companions wanted/planned to enter Asia province and preach the message about Jesus there, but they were prevented by the Holy Spirit {the Holy Spirit prevented them} from going there. So they traveled through Phrygia and Galatia provinces. 7 They arrived at the border of Mysia province and they wanted to go north into Bithynia province. But again the Spirit of Jesus showed them that they should not go there. 8 So they went through Mysia province and arrived at Troas, a port city. I, Luke, joined them there. 9 That night God gave Paul a vision in which he saw a man who was a native of Macedonia province. He was standing some distance away, and he was earnestly calling to Paul, “ Please come over here to Macedonia and help us!” 10  The next morning we (exc) immediately got ready to go to Macedonia, because we believed that God had called us to go and preach the good message to the people there.

11 So we (exc) got on a ship in Troas and sailed across the sea to Samothrace Island. We spent the night there, and the next day we sailed again across the sea and arrived at Neapolis port/town. 12 Then we left Neapolis and went by land to Philippi. It was a very important city in Macedonia province, where many Roman citizens lived. We stayed in Philippi several days.

13 On the first ◄Sabbath/Jewish day of rest► after we(exc) arrived, we went outside the city gate down to the river. We had heard someone say that Jewish people gathered to pray there. When we arrived there, we saw some women who had gathered to pray. So we sat down and began to tell them the message about Jesus. 14 A woman whose name was Lydia was one of those who were listening to Paul. She was a non-Jewish woman, from Thyatira city, who bought and sold expensive purple cloth. She had accepted what the Jews believe about God. The Lord God caused her to pay attention to the message that Paul preached, and she believed it. The members of her household also heard the good message and believed in Jesus [MTY]. 15 After Paul and Silas baptized Lydia and the others who lived in her house [MTY] {After Lydia and the others who lived in her house were baptized}, she invited us to go and stay in her home. She said, “You (pl) know that I now believe in the Lord Jesus, so please come and stay in my house.” She persuaded us to do that, so we(exc) stayed there.

16 Another day, while we (exc) were going to the place where people regularly gathered to pray, we met a young woman who was a slave. An evil spirit was enabling her to be a ventriloquist and to tell people what would happen to them. People paid a lot of money to the men who were her owners, in return for her telling them things that she said would happen to them. 17 This young woman followed Paul and the rest of us. She continually shouted, “These men serve the God who is the greatest of all gods! They are telling you how ◄ God can save you so that he will not punish you/to be saved►” 18 She continued to do that for many days. Finally Paul became irritated. So he turned toward the young woman and rebuked the evil spirit that was in her. He said, “By the authority [MTY] of Jesus Christ, I command you (sg) to come out of this young woman!” Right away the evil spirit left her. 19 And then her owners realized that she could no longer earn money for them because she could no longer predict what would happen to people, so they were angry. They grabbed Paul and Silas and forcefully took them to the public square, to the place where the government authorities and a lot of other people were gathered. 20 The owners of the young woman brought them to the city officials and told them, “These men are Jews, and they are greatly troubling the people in [MTY] our city. 21 They are teaching that we (inc) should follow customs that our laws do not allow us Romans to consider to be correct or to obey!” 22 Many of the crowd joined those who were accusing Paul and Silas, and started beating them. Then the Roman authorities commanded soldiers to tear the shirts off Paul and Silas and to beat them with rods/sticks. 23  So the soldiers beat Paul and Silas vigorously with rods. After that, they took them and shoved them into the prison. They told the jailer that he should lock them up securely. 24  Because the officials had commanded him to do that, the jailer shoved Paul and Silas into the cell that was farthest inside. There, he made them sit down on the floor/ground and stretch out their legs. Then he fastened their ankles in grooves between two large wooden beams, so that Paul and Silas could not move their legs.

25 About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying aloud and praising God by singing hymns. The other prisoners were listening attentively to them. 26 Suddenly there was a very strong earthquake. It shook the entire jail [SYN] and its foundation [SYN]. The earthquake caused all the doors of the jail to open suddenly, and caused all the chains that fastened the prisoners to fall off. 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the doors of the jail were open. He thought that the prisoners had escaped. So he pulled out his sword in order to kill himself, because he knew that the officials would kill him if the prisoners escaped. 28 Paul saw the jailer and shouted to him, “Do not harm yourself! We (exc) prisoners are all here!” 29 The jailer shouted to someone to bring torches/lanterns, and after they brought them, he rushed into the jail and knelt down in front of Paul and Silas. He was very much afraid, so much so that he was trembling/shaking. 30 Then he brought Paul and Silas out of the jail and asked: “Sirs, what do I need to do to be saved from being punished for my sins?” 31  They answered, “Trust in what the Lord Jesus has done for you, and you will be saved { God will save you}, and the others who live in [MTY] your house will also be saved if they believe in Jesus.”

32-34 Then the jailer took Paul and Silas into his house, washed their wounds, and gave them a meal. He woke up all the people in his house and Paul and Silas told all of them the message about the Lord Jesus. They all believed in him. Immediately after that, the jailer and all his family were baptized { Paul and Silas baptized the jailer and all his family}. They were very happy, because now they all believed in God.

35 The next morning, the Roman officials commanded some police officers to go to the jail to say to the jailer, “ Our bosses say, ‘Let those two prisoners go now!’ ” 36  After the officers went and told that to the jailer, he went and told Paul, “The Roman authorities have sent a message (sg) saying that I should release you (sg) and Silas from prison. So you two can leave the jail now. Now you can go peacefully!” 37 But Paul said to the police officers, “The authorities commanded men to beat us in front of a crowd before those authorities had learned if we (exc) had done anything wrong! Then they ordered men to shove us into jail! But that was not legal, because we (exc) are Roman citizens! And now they want [RHQ] to send us away secretly! We will not accept that! Those Roman officials must come themselves and tell us that they are sorry, and take us out of jail.” 38 So the police officers went and told the city authorities what Paul had said. When those authorities heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid that someone would report to more important officials what they had done, and as a result they would be punished { those officials would punish them}. 39 So the city authorities came to Paul and Silas and told them that they were sorry for what they had done to them. The authorities brought them out of the jail, and repeatedly asked them to leave the city soon. 40 After Paul and Silas left the jail, they went to Lydia's house. There they met with her and the other believers. They encouraged the believers to continue trusting in the Lord Jesus, and then the two apostles left Philippi.