Bible in Basic English
And from there to Philippi, which is the most important town of Macedonia and a Roman colony: and we were there for some days.
And on the Sabbath we went outside the town, by the river, where we had an idea that there would be a place of prayer; and, being seated, we had talk with the women who had come together.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a trader in purple cloth of the town of Thyatira, and a God-fearing woman, gave ear to us: whose heart the Lord made open to give attention to the things which Paul was saying.
And when she and her family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If it seems to you that I am true to the Lord, come into my house and be my guests. And she made us come.
And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power.
She came after Paul and us, crying out and saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are giving you news of the way of salvation.
And this she did on a number of days. But Paul was greatly troubled and, turning, said to the spirit, I give you orders in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers;
And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;
Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans.
And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped.
And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely:
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners;
And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off.
And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away.
But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here.
And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas,
And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation?
And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation.
And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away.
And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.
But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go.
And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace.
But Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out.
And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans;
Then they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them out, to go away from the town.
And they came out of the prison and went to the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brothers they gave them comfort and went away.
— Acts 16:12-1964, Bible in Basic English
“and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for some days. On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to speak to the women who had assembled there. A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. After she and her household were baptized, she urged us,“If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us. Paul and Silas Are Thrown Into Prison Now as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us who had a spirit that enabled her to foretell the future by supernatural means. She brought her owners a great profit by fortune-telling. She followed behind Paul and us and kept crying out,“These men are servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” She continued to do this for many days. But Paul became greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit,“I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out of her at once. But when her owners saw their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. When they had brought them before the magistrates, they said,“These men are throwing our city into confusion. They are Jews and are advocating customs that are not lawful for us to accept or practice, since we are Romans.” The crowd joined the attack against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods. After they had beaten them severely, they threw them into prison and commanded the jailer to guard them securely. Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the rest of the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly a great earthquake occurred, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. Immediately all the doors flew open, and the bonds of all the prisoners came loose. When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, because he assumed the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out loudly,“Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell down trembling at the feet of Paul and Silas. Then he brought them outside and asked,“Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied,“Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him, along with all those who were in his house. At that hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds; then he and all his family were baptized right away. The jailer brought them into his house and set food before them, and he rejoiced greatly that he had come to believe in God, together with his entire household. At daybreak the magistrates sent their police officers, saying,“Release those men.” The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying,“The magistrates have sent orders to release you. So come out now and go in peace.” But Paul said to the police officers,“They had us beaten in public without a proper trial– even though we are Roman citizens– and they threw us in prison. And now they want to send us away secretly? Absolutely not! They themselves must come and escort us out!” The police officers reported these words to the magistrates. They were frightened when they heard Paul and Silas were Roman citizens and came and apologized to them. After they brought them out, they asked them repeatedly to leave the city. When they came out of the prison, they entered Lydia’s house, and when they saw the brothers, they encouraged them and then departed.”
And Paul had a vision in the night; a man of Macedonia came, requesting him, and saying, Come over into Macedonia and give us help.
And when he had seen the vision, straight away we made the decision to go into Macedonia, for it seemed certain to us that God had sent us to give the good news to them.
So, from Troas we went straight by ship to Samothrace and the day after to Neapolis;
And from there to Philippi, which is the most important town of Macedonia and a Roman colony: and we were there for some days.
And on the Sabbath we went outside the town, by the river, where we had an idea that there would be a place of prayer; and, being seated, we had talk with the women who had come together.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a trader in purple cloth of the town of Thyatira, and a God-fearing woman, gave ear to us: whose heart the Lord made open to give attention to the things which Paul was saying.
And when she and her family had had baptism, she made a request to us, saying, If it seems to you that I am true to the Lord, come into my house and be my guests. And she made us come.
And when we were going to the place of prayer, we came across a girl with a spirit which gave knowledge of the future, whose masters made great profit from her power.
She came after Paul and us, crying out and saying, These men are the servants of the Most High God, who are giving you news of the way of salvation.
And this she did on a number of days. But Paul was greatly troubled and, turning, said to the spirit, I give you orders in the name of Jesus Christ, to come out of her. And it came out that very hour.
But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, pulling them into the market-place before the rulers;
And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;
Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans.
And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped.
And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely:
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners;
And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off.
And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away.
But Paul said in a loud voice, Do yourself no damage, for we are all here.
And he sent for lights and came rushing in and, shaking with fear, went down on his face before Paul and Silas,
And took them out and said, Sirs, what have I to do to get salvation?
And they said, Have faith in the Lord Jesus, and you and your family will have salvation.
And they gave the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.
And that same hour of the night, he took them, and when he had given attention to their wounds, he and all his family had baptism straight away.
And he took them into his house and gave them food, and he was full of joy, having faith in God with all his family.
But when it was day, the authorities sent the police, saying, Let these men go.
And the keeper said to Paul, The authorities have given orders to let you go: come out now, and go in peace.
But Paul said to them, They have given us who are Romans a public whipping without judging us, and have put us in prison. Will they now send us out secretly? no, truly, let them come themselves and take us out.
And the police gave an account of these words to the authorities, and they were full of fear on hearing that they were Romans;
Then they came and made prayers to them, requesting them, when they had taken them out, to go away from the town.
And they came out of the prison and went to the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brothers they gave them comfort and went away.