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The Macedonian Vision

¹ Now Paul traveled to ^(C1)Derbe and also to ^(C1)Lystra. A disciple named ^(C2)Timothy was there, the son of a ^(C3)Jewish woman who was a believer in Christ, however, his father was a Greek.² Timothy was well spoken of by ^(C1)the brothers and sisters who were in ^(C2)Lystra and ^(C3)Iconium.³ Paul wanted Timothy to go with him as a missionary; and he ^(C1)took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek.⁴ As they traveled from town to town, they delivered ^(C1)the decrees decided on by ^(C2)the apostles and ^(C3)elders who were in Jerusalem, for the churches to observe.⁵ So ^(C1)the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they continually ^(C2)increased in number day after day.

⁶ Now they passed through the territory of ^(C1)Phrygia and ^(C2)Galatia, after being forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in the west coast province of ^(C3)Asia Minor;⁷ and after they came to ^(C1)Mysia, they tried to go into ^(C2)Bithynia, but the ^(C3)Spirit of Jesus did not permit them;⁸ so passing by ^(C1)Mysia, they went down to ^(C2)Troas.⁹ Then ^(C1)a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man from the Roman province of ^(F1)(C2)Macedonia was standing and pleading with him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us!"¹⁰ And when he had seen ^(C1)the vision, ^(F1)(C2)we (including Luke) tried to go on into Macedonia at once, concluding that God had called us to ^(C3)preach the gospel to them.

¹¹ So setting sail from ^(C1)Troas, we ran ^(C2)a direct course to Samothrace, and the next day went on to Neapolis;¹² and from there we came to ^(C1)Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of ^(C2)Macedonia, ^(C3)a Roman colony. We stayed on in this city for several days;¹³ and on ^(C1)the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the bank of the Gangites river, where we thought there would be a ^(F1)place of prayer, and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come there.

First Convert in Europe

¹⁶ It happened that as we were on our way to ^(C1)the place of prayer, we were met by a slave-girl who had ^(F1)(C2)a spirit of divination that is, a demonic spirit claiming to foretell the future and discover hidden knowledge, and she brought her owners a good profit by fortune-telling.¹⁷ She followed after Paul and us and kept screaming and shouting, "These men are servants of ^(C1)the Most High God! They are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!"¹⁸ She continued doing this for several days. Then Paul, being greatly annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit inside her, "I command you ^(C1)in the name of Jesus Christ as His representative to come out of her!" And it came out at that very moment.

¹⁹ But when her owners saw that their hope of ^(C1)profit was gone, they seized ^(C2)Paul and Silas and ^(C3)dragged them before the authorities in the market place where trials were held,²⁰ and when they had brought them before the chief magistrates, they said, "These men, who are Jews, are throwing our city into confusion and causing trouble.²¹ "They are ^(C1)publicly teaching customs which are unlawful for us, as ^(C2)Romans, to accept or observe."

Paul and Silas Imprisoned

²⁵ But about midnight when ^(C1)Paul and Silas were praying and ^(C2)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;²⁶ suddenly ^(C1)there was a great earthquake, so powerful that the very foundations of the prison were shaken and at once ^(C2)all the doors were opened and everyone's ^(C3)chains were unfastened.²⁷ When ^(C1)the jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about ^(C2)to kill himself, thinking that the prisoners had escaped.²⁸ But Paul shouted, saying, "Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!"²⁹ Then the jailer called for torches and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before ^(C1)Paul and Silas,³⁰ and after he brought them out of the inner prison, he said, "Sirs, ^(C1)what must I do to be saved?"

The Jailer Converted

³⁵ Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their officers, saying, "Release those men."³⁶ And ^(C1)the jailer repeated the words to Paul, saying, "The chief magistrates have sent word to release you; so come out now and go ^(C2)in peace."³⁷ But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us in public without a trial, ^(C1)men who are Romans, and have thrown us into prison; and now they are sending us out secretly? No! Let them come here themselves and bring us out!"³⁸ The officers reported this message to the chief magistrates, and ^(F1)when they heard that the prisoners were Romans, ^(C1)they were frightened;³⁹ so they came to the prison and appealed to them with apologies, and when they brought them out, they kept begging them ^(C1)to leave the city.⁴⁰ So they left the prison and went to ^(C1)Lydia's house; and when they had seen ^(C2)the brothers and sisters, they encouraged and comforted them, and left.