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Acts 16

God directs the spread of the gospel into Macedonia, opening hearts while his servants face exploitation, violence, and imprisonment.

Paul recruits Timothy at Lystra, then travels with his companions as the Holy Spirit blocks some routes and a vision directs them toward Macedonia. In Philippi, Lydia receives Paul’s message and welcomes the group into her home. After Paul casts a spirit out of an enslaved girl, her owners bring charges against Paul and Silas. Beaten and imprisoned, they pray and sing before an earthquake opens the prison. The jailer hears the gospel, and the magistrates must answer for their treatment of Roman citizens.

injustice and angerpraise and worshipsermon or Bible study notes
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1He came to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed, but his father was a Greek.
2The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him.
3Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
4As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.
5So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
6When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
7When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.
8Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
10When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.
11Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
12and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.
13On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.
14A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us. The Lord opened her heart to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.
15When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.
16As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling.
17Following Paul and us, she cried out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!”
18She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, 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.
19But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
20When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city
21and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans.”
22The multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates tore their clothes from them, then commanded them to be beaten with rods.
23When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely.
24Having received such a command, he threw them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.
25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were loosened.
27The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, “Don’t harm yourself, for we are all here!”
29He called for lights, sprang in, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,
30brought them out, and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
32They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.
33He took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.
34He brought them up into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God.
35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, “Let those men go.”
36The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out and go in peace.”
37But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!”
38The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,
39and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city.
40They went out of the prison and entered into Lydia’s house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, then departed.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Acts 16:31The answer to the jailer’s question places salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom his household also hears proclaimed.
Acts 16:25Paul and Silas pray and sing while wounded and confined, with other prisoners listening before any deliverance comes.
Acts 16:14Lydia’s response begins with the Lord opening her heart to receive the message Paul speaks.
Where this chapter reaches

John and Romans share this chapter’s link between faith in Jesus and salvation, while Ephesians shares its emphasis on God’s initiative in bringing people to faith. Psalm shares the language and practice of prayer and praise amid distress, seen here in Paul and Silas’s prison worship.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do you notice about God’s direction when the blocked routes lead to both welcome and imprisonment?

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How does Paul’s demand that the magistrates come themselves shape your understanding of his response to injustice?

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Questions people ask about Acts 16

Why did Paul circumcise Timothy in Acts 16?

Verse 3 gives the reason: the Jews in those places knew Timothy’s father was Greek. His mother was a Jewish believer. Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him, so the act addressed an obstacle among local Jews. The passage presents this as a mission decision, without making circumcision a condition of salvation.

Does Acts 16:31 mean one person’s faith saves the whole household?

Paul and Silas tell the jailer to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, then speak the Lord’s word to everyone in his house. Baptism and rejoicing follow. The account brings the household under the same gospel message; it gives no basis for treating the jailer’s faith as a substitute for theirs.

Why did Paul refuse to leave prison in Acts 16?

Paul objected to a quiet release because the magistrates had beaten and imprisoned Roman citizens without a trial. He demanded that they come and bring Paul and Silas out themselves. The officials became afraid and complied. The text records Paul’s demand for acknowledgment of the wrong, without explaining every motive behind it.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).