Paul arrived at Trobe and then at Luster. There was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who believed in the Lord, but his father was a Greek.

The brothers of Ruth and Iconium praised him.

Paul wanted to take him with him, but because all the Jews in those places knew that his father was a Greek, he circumcised him.

They passed through various cities and handed over the rules set by the apostles and elders of Jerusalem to their disciples to abide by.

So the faith of the churches became stronger, and the number of people increased day by day.

Since the Holy Spirit forbade them from preaching in Asia, they passed through the region of Phrygia and Galatia.

At the border of Mesaea, they wanted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

They crossed over every province and went down to Troas.

At night, a vision appeared with Paul. A Macedonian stood and begged him, saying, “Please come to Macedonia and help us.”.

After Paul saw this vision, we immediately wanted to go to Macedonia, thinking that God had called us to preach the gospel to those there.

So we set sail from Troa and sailed all the way to Samothra, and the next day we arrived at Niapolis.

From there we arrived at Philippi, the first city on this side of Macedonia. It is also a defensive city of Rome. We stayed in this city for a few days.

On the Sabbath day, when we left the city gate and arrived at the river, we found a place for prayer. So we sat down and preached to the women who had gathered there.

There was a woman named Lydia who sold purple cloth. She was from the city of Tyatira and had always worshipped God. When she heard it, the Lord opened her heart and instructed her to pay attention to what Paul was saying.

She and her family, having been baptized, begged us, saying, If you think that I truly believe in the Lord, come and stay at my house. So they forced us to stay.

Later, we went to the place where we prayed. There was a maid facing her, possessed by witches and demons, who used magic to bring great wealth to her masters.

She followed Paul and us, shouting, ‘These are the servants of the Most High God, who tell you the way of salvation.’.

After she cried out like this for many days, Paul became weary in his heart and turned to the demon, saying, In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to come out of her. That ghost came out at that time.

The masters of the maidservants, seeing that their hope for profit was gone, grabbed Paul and Silas and brought them to the market to meet the leaders.

And he brought them before the rulers, saying, These are Jews, who have harassed our city,

Spread the rules that were unacceptable and infeasible to us Romans.

And all the people rose up together to attack them. The official ordered them to strip off their clothes and beat them with sticks.

After beating them with many sticks, they were placed in prison and instructed the guards to strictly guard them.

The imperial guards received such orders and put them in the inner prison, with wooden dogs on their feet.

Around midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns praising God, and the prisoners also listened attentively.

Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and even the foundation of the prison shook. The prison gate was immediately fully opened, and the chains of the prisoners were also loosened.

The jailer woke up and saw that the prison gate was fully open. He thought the prisoner had escaped and drew his sword to commit suicide.

Paul shouted loudly, “Don’t hurt yourself, we are all here.”.

The jailer called for a lamp, jumped in, and fell trembling before Paul Silamen.

Then he led them out and said, gentlemen, what should I do to be saved?

They said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will be saved.

They spoke the word of the Lord to him and his entire family.

That night, at that moment, the guards took them away and washed their wounds. He and his people were immediately baptized.

So the jailer took them up to his own house and set them up with food. He and his whole family rejoiced because they believed in God.

At dawn, the official sent a servant to say, “Release those two people.”.

And the jailer told Paul these words, saying, The rulers have sent for your release. Now you can leave prison and go safely.

But Paul said, We are Romans and have not been convicted. So they struck us in front of everyone and put us in prison. Do you want to drive us out privately now? This is not possible. Tell them to lead us out by themselves.

The servant reported this to the officer. The officials were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.

So he came to persuade them, brought them out, and asked them to leave the city.

The two of them left the prison and went to Lydia’s house. After seeing the brothers and comforting them, he left.