Acts 16:13 (GNV)

Passage

And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the citie, besides a Riuer, where they were wont to pray: and we sate downe, and spake vnto the women, which were come together.

Nearby Context

Acts 16:11 Then went we forth from Troas, and with a straight course came to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis,

Acts 16:12 And from thence to Philippi, which is the chiefe citie in ye partes of Macedonia, and whose inhabitants came from Rome to dwell there, and we were in that citie abiding certaine dayes.

Acts 16:13 And on the Sabbath day, we went out of the citie, besides a Riuer, where they were wont to pray: and we sate downe, and spake vnto the women, which were come together.

Acts 16:14 And a certaine woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the citie of the Thyatirians, which worshipped God, heard vs: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended vnto the things, which Paul spake.

Acts 16:15 And when she was baptized, and her houshold, she besought vs, saying, If ye haue iudged me to be faithfull to ye Lord, come into mine house, and abide there: and she constrained vs.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "sabbath", "went", "citie", "besides", "riuer", "where", "wont", and "pray". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "sabbath" and "went", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "And from thence to Philippi which is..." into verse 14's "And a certaine woman named Lydia a...", so "sabbath" and "went" belong inside that flow. In Acts context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "sabbath" and "went" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.