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From there we went to Philippi, a city of Macedonia's first district and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city several days.
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On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the riverbank, where we thought there might be a place for prayer. We sat down and began to talk with the women who had gathered.
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One of those women was Lydia, a Gentile God-worshipper from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth. As she listened, the Lord enabled her to embrace Paul's message.
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Once she and her household were baptized, she urged, "Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house." And she persuaded us.
Paul and Silas in prison
16 One day, when we were on the way to the place for prayer, we met a slave woman. She had a spirit that enabled her to predict the future. She made a lot of money for her owners through fortune-telling.
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She began following Paul and us, shouting, "These people are servants of the Most High God! They are proclaiming a way of salvation to you!"
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She did this for many days. This annoyed Paul so much that he finally turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave her!" It left her at that very moment.
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Her owners realized that their hope for making money was gone. They grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the officials in the city center.
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When her owners approached the legal authorities, they said, "These people are causing an uproar in our city. They are Jews
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who promote customs that we Romans can't accept or practice."
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The crowd joined in the attacks against Paul and Silas, so the authorities ordered that they be stripped of their clothes and beaten with a rod.