Acts 16

New Testament · English Majority Text Version with Greek parallel

Acts 16

1Now he arrived at Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek,Κατήντησε δὲ εἰς Δέρβην καὶ Λύστραν, καὶ ἰδού, μαθητής τις ἦν ἐκεῖ ὀνόματι Τιμόθεος, υἱὸς γυναικός τινος Ἰουδαίας πιστῆς, πατρὸς δὲ Ἕλληνος,

2who had a good testimony by the brothers in Lystra and Iconium.ὃς ἐμαρτυρεῖτο ὑπὸ τῶν ἐν Λύστροις καὶ Ἰκονίῳ ἀδελφῶν.

3Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him, because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was Greek.τοῦτον ἠθέλησεν ὁ Παῦλος σὺν αὐτῷ ἐξελθεῖν, καὶ λαβὼν περιέτεμεν αὐτὸν διὰ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους τοὺς ὄντας ἐν τοῖς τόποις ἐκείνοις· ᾔδεισαν γὰρ ἅπαντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ ὅτι Ἕλλην ὑπῆρχεν.

4And as they were going through the cities, they were delivering to them the decrees to keep, which had been decided by the apostles and the elders at Jerusalem.ὡς δὲ διεπορεύοντο τὰς πόλεις, παρεδίδουν αὐτοῖς φυλάσσειν τὰ δόγματα τὰ κεκριμένα ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ τῶν πρεσβυτέρων τῶν ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ.

5Therefore the churches were strengthened in the faith, and were growing in number each day.αἱ μὲν οὖν ἐκκλησίαι ἐστερεοῦντο τῇ πίστει καὶ ἐπερίσσευον τῷ ἀριθμῷ καθ᾽ ἡμέραν.

6Now when they had gone through Phrygia and the Galatian region, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit from speaking the word in Asia.Διελθόντες δὲ τὴν Φρυγίαν καὶ τὴν Γαλατικὴν χώραν, κωλυθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος λαλῆσαι τὸν λόγον ἐν τῇ Ἀσίᾳ,

7And having come to Mysia they attempted to go to Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them.ἐλθόντες κατὰ τὴν Μυσίαν ἐπείραζον κατὰ τὴν Βιθυνίαν πορεύεσθαι, καὶ οὐκ εἴασεν αὐτοὺς τὸ Πνεῦμα.

8So they bypassed Mysia, and went down to Troas.παρελθόντες δὲ τὴν Μυσίαν κατέβησαν εἰς Τρῳάδα.

9And a vision appeared during the night to Paul. A certain man of Macedonia was standing, urging him, and saying, “Come across to Macedonia and help us.”καὶ ὅραμα διὰ τῆς νυκτὸς ὤφθη τῷ Παύλῳ· ἀνήρ τις ἦν Μακεδὼν ἑστώς, παρακαλῶν αὐτὸν καὶ λέγων, Διαβὰς εἰς Μακεδονίαν βοήθησον ἡμῖν.

10Now when he saw the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.ὡς δὲ τὸ ὅραμα εἶδεν, εὐθέως ἐζητήσαμεν ἐξελθεῖν εἰς τὴν Μακεδονίαν συμβιβάζοντες ὅτι προσκέκληται ἡμᾶς ὁ Κύριος εὐαγγελίσασθαι αὐτούς.

11Therefore, putting to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and the next day came to Neapolis,Ἀναχθέντες οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς Τρῳάδος εὐθυδρομήσαμεν εἰς Σαμοθρᾴκην, τῇ τε ἐπιούσῃ εἰς Νεάπολιν,

12and from there to Philippi, which is chief of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we were spending some days in that very city.ἐκεῖθέν τε εἰς Φιλίππους, ἥτις ἐστὶ πρώτη τῆς μερίδος τῆς Μακεδονίας πόλις, κολωνεία. ἦμεν δὲ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ πόλει διατρίβοντες ἡμέρας τινάς.

13And on the Sabbath day we went outside the city beside a river, where prayer was customarily made; and having sat down we spoke to the women who assembled together there.τῇ τε ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σαββάτων ἐξήλθομεν ἔξω τῆς πόλεως παρὰ ποταμὸν οὗ ἐνομίζετο προσευχὴ εἶναι, καὶ καθίσαντες ἐλαλοῦμεν ταῖς συνελθούσαις γυναιξί.

14And a certain woman named Lydia, a dealer of purple cloth of the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to the things spoken by Paul.καί τις γυνὴ ὀνόματι Λυδία, πορφυρόπωλις πόλεως Θυατείρων, σεβομένη τὸν Θεόν, ἤκουεν, ἧς ὁ Κύριος διήνοιξε τὴν καρδίαν προσέχειν τοῖς λαλουμένοις ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου.

15And when she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” So she persuaded us.ὡς δὲ ἐβαπτίσθη καὶ ὁ οἶκος αὐτῆς, παρεκάλεσε λέγουσα, Εἰ κεκρίκατέ με πιστὴν τῷ Κυρίῳ εἶναι, εἰσελθόντες εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου μείνατε. καὶ παρεβιάσατο ἡμᾶς.

16Now it came to pass, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl, having a spirit of Python, met us, who brought much profit to her masters by fortune telling.Ἐγένετο δὲ πορευομένων ἡμῶν εἰς προσευχὴν παιδίσκην τινὰ ἔχουσαν πνεῦμα Πύθωνος ἀπαντῆσαι ἡμῖν, ἥτις ἐργασίαν πολλὴν παρεῖχε τοῖς κυρίοις αὐτῆς μαντευομένη.

17This girl, following after Paul and us, was crying out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.”αὕτη κατακολουθήσασα τῷ Παύλῳ καὶ ἡμῖν ἔκραζε λέγουσα, Οὗτοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι δοῦλοι τοῦ Θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου εἰσίν, οἵτινες καταγγέλλουσιν ἡμῖν ὁδὸν σωτηρίας.

18And this she did for many days. But Paul, being greatly annoyed and turning around, said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And he came out in that very hour.τοῦτο δὲ ἐποίει ἐπὶ πολλὰς ἡμέρας. διαπονηθεὶς δὲ ὁ Παῦλος καὶ ἐπιστρέψας τῷ πνεύματι εἶπε, Παραγγέλλω σοι ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐξελθεῖν ἀπ᾽ αὐτῆς. καὶ ἐξῆλθεν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ.

19And when her masters saw that the hope of their profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the marketplace before the rulers.Ἰδόντες δὲ οἱ κύριοι αὐτῆς ὅτι ἐξῆλθεν ἡ ἐλπὶς τῆς ἐργασίας αὐτῶν, ἐπιλαβόμενοι τὸν Παῦλον καὶ τὸν Σίλαν εἵλκυσαν εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἄρχοντας,

20And bringing them to the magistrates they said, “These men, being Jews, are agitating our city;καὶ προσαγαγόντες αὐτοὺς τοῖς στρατηγοῖς εἶπον, Οὗτοι οἱ ἄνθρωποι ἐκταράσσουσιν ἡμῶν τὴν πόλιν Ἰουδαῖοι ὑπάρχοντες,

21and they are proclaiming customs which are not lawful for us to receive or to do, since we are Romans.”καὶ καταγγέλλουσιν ἔθη ἃ οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν παραδέχεσθαι οὐδὲ ποιεῖν Ῥωμαίοις οὖσι.

22And the crowd rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore their clothes and ordered men to beat them with rods.καὶ συνεπέστη ὁ ὄχλος κατ᾽ αὐτῶν, καὶ οἱ στρατηγοὶ περιρρήξαντες αὐτῶν τὰ ἱμάτια ἐκέλευον ῥαβδίζειν.

23And when they laid many strokes on them, they cast them into prison, commanding the prison keeper to keep them securely;πολλάς τε ἐπιθέντες αὐτοῖς πληγὰς ἔβαλον εἰς φυλακὴν παραγγείλαντες τῷ δεσμοφύλακι ἀσφαλῶς τηρεῖν αὐτούς·

24who, having received such a command, cast them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.ὅς παραγγελίαν τοιαύτην εἰληφώς ἔβαλεν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἐσωτέραν φυλακὴν καὶ τοὺς πόδας αὐτῶν ἠσφαλίσατο εἰς τὸ ξύλον.

25Now about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.Κατὰ δὲ τὸ μεσονύκτιον Παῦλος καὶ Σίλας προσευχόμενοι ὕμνουν τὸν Θεόν, ἐπηκροῶντο δὲ αὐτῶν οἱ δέσμιοι.

26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were loosed.ἄφνω δὲ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας ὥστε σαλευθῆναι τὰ θεμέλια τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου, ἀνεῴχθησάν τε παραχρῆμα αἱ θύραι πᾶσαι καὶ πάντων τὰ δεσμὰ ἀνέθη.

27And becoming awake, the prison keeper, seeing the doors of the prison open, drawing a sword, he was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to have escaped.ἔξυπνος δὲ γενόμενος ὁ δεσμοφύλαξ καὶ ἰδὼν ἀνεῳγμένας τὰς θύρας τῆς φυλακῆς, σπασάμενος μάχαιραν ἔμελλεν ἑαυτὸν ἀναιρεῖν νομίζων ἐκπεφευγέναι τοὺς δεσμίους.

28But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”ἐφώνησε δὲ φωνῇ μεγάλῃ ὁ Παῦλος λέγων, Μηδὲν πράξῃς σεαυτῷ κακόν, ἅπαντες γάρ ἐσμεν ἐνθάδε.

29And asking for a light he rushed in, and he came trembling, and fell before Paul and Silas,αἰτήσας δὲ φῶτα εἰσεπήδησε καὶ ἔντρομος γενόμενος προσέπεσε τῷ Παύλῳ καὶ τῷ Σίλᾳ,

30and he brought them forth outside and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”καὶ προαγαγὼν αὐτοὺς ἔξω ἔφη, Κύριοι, τί με δεῖ ποιεῖν ἵνα σωθῶ;

31And they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”οἱ δὲ εἶπον, Πίστευσον ἐπὶ τὸν Κύριον Ἰησοῦν Χριστόν, καὶ σωθήσῃ σὺ καὶ ὁ οἶκός σου.

32And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all those in his house.καὶ ἐλάλησαν αὐτῷ τὸν λόγον τοῦ Κυρίου καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἐν τῇ οἰκίᾳ αὐτοῦ.

33And he took them along in that same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he and all his family were baptized.καὶ παραλαβὼν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ὥρᾳ τῆς νυκτὸς ἔλουσεν ἀπὸ τῶν πληγῶν, καὶ ἐβαπτίσθη αὐτὸς καὶ οἱ αὐτοῦ πάντες παραχρῆμα.

34And bringing them up into his house, he set a meal before them; and he rejoiced with his whole house, having believed in God.ἀναγαγών τε αὐτοὺς εἰς τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ παρέθηκε τράπεζαν, καὶ ἠγαλλιᾶτο πανοικὶ πεπιστευκὼς τῷ Θεῷ.

35Now when it became day, the magistrates sent the officers, saying, “Release those men.”Ἡμέρας δὲ γενομένης ἀπέστειλαν οἱ στρατηγοὶ τοὺς ῥαβδούχους λέγοντες, Ἀπόλυσον τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐκείνους.

36And the prison keeper told these words to Paul, saying, “The magistrates have sent so that you may be released. Now therefore depart, and go in peace.”ἀπήγγειλε δὲ ὁ δεσμοφύλαξ τοὺς λόγους τούτους πρὸς τὸν Παῦλον ὅτι Ἀπεστάλκασιν οἱ στρατηγοὶ ἵνα ἀπολυθῆτε· νῦν οὖν ἐξελθόντες πορεύεσθε ἐν εἰρήνῃ.

37But Paul said to them, “They beat us publicly, although we were uncondemned Romans, and they cast us into prison, and now do they cast us out secretly? No indeed! Let them come themselves and lead us out.”ὁ δὲ Παῦλος ἔφη πρὸς αὐτούς, Δείραντες ἡμᾶς δημοσίᾳ ἀκατακρίτους, ἀνθρώπους Ῥωμαίους ὑπάρχοντας, ἔβαλον εἰς φυλακήν· καὶ νῦν λάθρᾳ ἡμᾶς ἐκβάλλουσιν; οὐ γάρ, ἀλλὰ ἐλθόντες αὐτοὶ ἐξαγαγέτωσαν.

38And the officers related to the magistrates these words, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans.ἀνήγγειλαν δὲ τοῖς στρατηγοῖς οἱ ῥαβδοῦχοι τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα· καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν ἀκούσαντες ὅτι Ῥωμαῖοί εἰσι,

39And coming, they appealed to them, and bringing them out, they asked them to depart from the city.καὶ ἐλθόντες παρεκάλεσαν αὐτούς, καὶ ἐξαγαγόντες ἠρώτων ἐξελθεῖν τῆς πόλεως.

40And coming out from the prison, they entered into the house of Lydia; and seeing the brothers, they encouraged them and departed.ἐξελθόντες δὲ ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς εἰσῆλθον πρὸς τὴν Λυδίαν, καὶ ἰδόντες τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς παρεκάλεσαν αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐξῆλθον.

The Fathers on Acts 16

Saint John Chrysostom comments on this chapter. Each excerpt below is drawn from the full text held in the Fathers Library; follow the link on any entry to read the whole work.

On Acts 16:13–14

Saint John Chrysostom

Eastern Fathers · c. 400 AD · Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles

“And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont (Chrys. “was thought likely”) to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.”

Read Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles →

On Acts 16:25–26

Saint John Chrysostom

Eastern Fathers · c. 400 AD · Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles

“And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”

Read Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles →