Chapter 18

¹After this he left Athens and went to Corinth. ²There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, ³and as they practiced the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together, for they were tent-makers. ⁴Every Sabbath he would preach in the synagogue, and try to convince both Jews and Greeks.

⁵By the time Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was absorbed in preaching the message, emphatically assuring the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶But as they contradicted and abused him, he shook his clothes in protest, and said to them,

“Your blood be on your own heads! I am not to blame for it! After this I will go to the heathen.”

⁷So he moved to the house of a devout proselyte named Titius Justus, which was next door to the synagogue. ⁸But Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, and so did all his household, and many of the people of Corinth heard Paul and believed and were baptized. ⁹One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision,

“Do not be afraid! Go on speaking and do not give up, ¹⁰for I am with you, and no one shall attack you or injure you, for I have many people in this city.”

¹¹So he settled there for a year and a half, and taught them God’s message.

¹²While Gallio was governor of Greece the Jews made a concerted attack upon Paul, and brought him before the governor.

¹³“This fellow,” they said, “is trying to induce people to worship God in ways that are against the law.”

¹⁴Before Paul could open his lips, Gallio said to the Jews,

“If some misdemeanor or rascality were involved, Jews, you might reasonably expect me to listen to you. ¹⁵But as it is only a question of words and titles and your own law, you must look after it yourselves. I refuse to decide such matters.”

¹⁶And he drove them away from the court. ¹⁷Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio paid no attention to it.

¹⁸Paul stayed some time longer, and then bade the brothers goodbye and sailed for Syria, with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, because of a vow he had been under. ¹⁹When they reached Ephesus he left them there. He went to the synagogue there and had a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰They asked him to stay longer, but he would not consent. ²¹He bade them goodbye, saying,

“I will come back to you again if it is God’s will.”

Then he sailed from Ephesus. ²²When he reached Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and paid his respects to the church, and then went on to Antioch. ²³After spending some time there, he started out again, and traveled systematically through Galatia and Phrygia, reassuring all the disciples.

²⁴A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, skilful in the use of the Scriptures. ²⁵He had had some instruction about the Way of the Lord, and he talked with burning zeal and taught painstakingly about Jesus, though he knew of no baptism but John’s. ²⁶He spoke very confidently in the synagogue at first, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the Way of God to him more correctly. ²⁷As he wanted to cross to Greece, the brothers wrote to the disciples there, urging them to welcome him. On his arrival there he was of great service to those who through God’s favor had become believers, ²⁸for he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, and showed from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.