Acts 16:10-17

Expanded Bible

¹⁰ After Paul had seen the vision, we [^Cthe switch to first person plural (“we”) indicates that the author, Luke, joined them (see also 20:5—21:18; 27:1—28:16)] immediately ·prepared [made plans; attempted] to leave for Macedonia, ·understanding [or convinced] that God had called us to ·tell the Good News [preach the Gospel] to those people.

Lydia Becomes a Christian

¹¹ We ·left [embarked/put out to sea from] Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace [^Ca mountainous island in the north Aegean]. The next day we sailed to Neapolis [^Ccity in Macedonia, the first city Paul visited on the continent of Europe]. ¹² Then we went by land to Philippi, a Roman colony [^Ca town begun by Romans with Roman laws, customs, and privileges] and ·the leading city in that part [or one of the leading cities in that district; or a city in the first district] of Macedonia. We stayed there for several days.

¹³ On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river where we ·thought [expected] we would find a special place for prayer [^CPhilippi evidently had no synagogue because of its small Jewish population]. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. ¹⁴ One of the listeners was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira [^Cin western Asia Minor] ·whose job was selling [who was a dealer/merchant in] purple cloth [^Cthe most expensive type of material]. She was a worshiper of God [^Ca God-fearing Gentile; 10:2], and the Lord opened her ·mind [^Lheart] to pay attention to what Paul was saying. ¹⁵ She and ·all the people in her house [her household] were baptized. Then she ·invited us to her home [^Lurged us], saying, “If you ·think I am truly [^Lhave judged me to be] ·a believer in [or faithful to] the Lord, then come stay in my house.” And she ·persuaded us [urged us strongly] to stay with her.

Paul and Silas in Jail

¹⁶ Once, while we were going to the place for prayer, a ·servant [slave] girl met us. She had a ·special spirit [spirit/demon of divination/prediction; ^LPython spirit; ^CPython was the serpent god that guarded the Delphic oracle; the term came to be used of the ability to predict the future] in her, and she earned a lot of money for her owners by telling fortunes. ¹⁷ This girl followed Paul and us, shouting, “These men are ·servants [slaves] of the Most High God. They are telling you ·how you can be saved [^Lthe way/path of salvation].”