Acts 16:16 (LSB)

Passage

Now it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a servant-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

Nearby Context

Acts 16:14 And a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening, whose heart the Lord opened to pay attention to the things spoken by Paul.

Acts 16:15 And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Acts 16:16 Now it happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a servant-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling.

Acts 16:17 Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.”

Acts 16:18 And she continued doing this for many days. But being greatly annoyed, Paul turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to leave her!” And it left at that very moment.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "Spirit", "happened", "going", "place", "prayer", "servant-girl", "having", and "divination". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "Spirit" and "happened", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "And when she and her household had..." into verse 17's "Following after Paul and us she kept...", so "Spirit" and "happened" 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 "Spirit" and "happened" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.