12
and from there to Philippi, a Roman colony, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia. We stayed in that city for a number of days.
13
On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.
14
A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who worshiped God, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was spoken by Paul.
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After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, "If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in Prison
16 Once, as we were on our way to prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit of prediction and made a large profit for her owners by fortune-telling.
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As she followed Paul and us she cried out, "These men are the slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation."
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And she did this for many days. But Paul was greatly aggravated, and turning to the spirit, said, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" And it came out right away.
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When her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to the authorities.
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And bringing them before the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are seriously disturbing our city. They are Jews,
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and are promoting customs that are not legal for us as Romans to adopt or practice."
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Then the mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.