The Early Church · c. AD 49–50
Chapter 13
Lydia and the Jailer
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
For parents
At Philippi, Paul and Silas have their clothes torn off. They are beaten with rods, thrown into prison and locked in the stocks (Acts 16:22–24). The jailer thinks his prisoners have escaped, and he draws his sword and is about to take his own life before Paul calls out to him (16:27–28). Paul also commands a spirit to come out of a slave girl who told fortunes (16:16–18), and one sentence says that Paul circumcised Timothy (16:3). None of it is described in detail.
Some days later said to , “Let’s go back now to each of the cities where we announced the word of the Lord. Let’s visit our brothers and sisters there and see how they are doing.”
Barnabas planned to take , with them as well. But Paul didn’t think it was a good idea to take along someone who had left them in and hadn’t gone with them to do the work.
The quarrel grew so sharp that they went their separate ways. Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to .
But Paul chose . The brothers and sisters entrusted him to the grace of God, and he set out. He went through and , making the stronger.
Paul came to and . A named was there. His mother was a Jewish woman and a believer, but his father was a Greek.
The brothers and sisters who were at Lystra and spoke well of him.
Paul wanted Timothy to go with him. Because of the Jews in that region, Paul took him and him, since all of them knew that his father was a Greek.
As they went on through the cities, they handed on what the and in had decided, so that the people there would follow it.
So the assemblies became strong in the faith, and they grew in number day by day.
When they had gone through the region of and , the kept them from speaking the word in .
When they came near , they tried to go into , but the Spirit didn’t let them. They went on past Mysia and came down to .
In the night Paul saw a vision: a man of standing there, begging him, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
When Paul had seen the vision, we tried at once to go on to Macedonia. We took it to mean that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.
So we set sail from Troas and headed straight for , and the day after that for . From there we went to , a city of Macedonia. It was the most important city in its district, and it was a colony. We stayed in that city for some days.
On the day we went outside of the city to a riverside, where we thought there would be a place to pray. We sat down and talked with the women who had come together there.
A woman named heard us. She sold purple cloth, she came from the city of , and she worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things Paul said.
When she and her household had been , she begged us, “If you have decided that I am faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” She won us over.
As we were on our way to pray, a slave girl met us. She had a spirit of , and her fortune-telling brought her masters a lot of money.
She followed Paul and us. “These men are servants of the Most High God,” she would shout, “and they are announcing to us a way to be saved!”
She went on doing this for many days. But Paul became very annoyed. He turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” It came out that very hour.
When her masters saw that they had no more hope of making money, they grabbed Paul and Silas and hauled them into the marketplace, in front of the rulers.
They took them to the . “These men are Jews,” they said, “and they’re stirring up our city. They argue for customs that we Romans aren’t allowed by law to accept or to keep.”
The crowd rose up together against them. The magistrates tore their clothes off them, then gave orders to beat them with rods.
After they had beaten them many times, they threw them into prison and told the jailer to guard them closely.
With an order like that, the jailer threw them into the inner part of the prison and locked their feet in the .
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake, and the foundations of the prison shook. In that instant every door opened, and everyone’s chains came undone.
The jailer woke from his sleep and saw the prison doors open. Thinking the prisoners had escaped, he drew his sword and was about to take his own life.
But Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We’re all here!”
The jailer called for lights and ran inside. Trembling, he fell down in front of Paul and Silas. He brought them out. “Sirs,” he said, “what must I do to be saved?”
They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
They spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.
He took them that very hour of the night and washed the places where they had been beaten. Right away he was baptized, and so was all his household.
He brought them up into his home and set food in front of them. He and all his household were full of joy, now that he had believed in God.
When day came, the magistrates sent their officers to say, “Let those men go.”
The jailer passed the message on to Paul. “The magistrates have sent word to let you go,” he said. “So come on out, and go in peace.”
But Paul answered them, “We are Romans, and they beat us in front of everyone with no trial and threw us into prison. And now they’re letting us go in secret? Absolutely not! Let them come themselves and bring us out!”
The officers reported these words to the magistrates. When the magistrates heard that the men were Romans, they were afraid. They came and pleaded with Paul and Silas. They brought them out and asked them to leave the city.
Paul and Silas came out of the prison and went into Lydia’s house. They saw the brothers and sisters there and encouraged them, and then they went on their way.