The Acts of the Apostles

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- Chapter 18 -

(1 Corinthians 1:1–3; 2 Corinthians 1:1–2)

After that, Paul left the city of Athens and went to the city of Corinth.

There he met a Jew whose name was Aquila, who was from the region of Pontus. Aquila and his wife Priscilla had come a short time previously from the city of Rome, in Italy. They left Rome because Claudius, the Roman emperor, had ordered that all the Jews must leave Rome.

Aquila and Priscilla made tents to earn money. Paul also made tents, so he stayed with them, and they worked together.

Every Sabbath, Paul went to the Jewish meeting place, where he spoke to both Jews and non-Jews. He taught them about Jesus.

When Silas and Timothy came from the region of Macedonia, Paul was strongly moved by the Spirit to tell the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

But the Jews began to turn against Paul and to say evil things about him. So he shook the dust from his clothes and he said to them, “If God punishes you, it is your responsibility, not mine! From now on I will talk to those who are not Jewish!”

So Paul left the Jewish meeting place and went into a house that was next to it, and preached there. Titius Justus, the owner of the house, was a non-Jewish man who worshiped God.

After that, the ruler of the Jewish meeting place, whose name was Crispus, and all of his family believed in the Lord. Many other people in Corinth heard about Crispus and his family; they also believed in Jesus and were baptized.

One night Paul had a vision in which the Lord Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid of the people who are against you, but keep talking about me,

because I will help you and no one will be able to hurt you here. Keep telling them about me, because there are many people in this city who belong to me.”

So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching the people the message from God about Jesus.

Paul before Gallio

When Gallio became the Roman governor of the province of Achaia, the Jewish leaders got together and seized Paul. They took him before the governor and accused him,

saying, “This man is teaching people to worship God in ways that go against our Jewish laws.”

When Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If this man had broken our Roman laws, I would have listened to what you Jews want to tell me.

However, you are talking about words and names and your own Jewish laws, so you yourselves must talk to him about this. I will not judge these things!”

After Gallio had said that, he told some soldiers to take the Jewish leaders away from the court.

Then the people grabbed the leader of the Jews, Sosthenes. They beat him right there in front of the judge’s seat. But Gallio did nothing about it.

Paul Returns to Antioch

Paul stayed with the believers in Corinth for many more days. Then he got on a ship with Priscilla and Aquila and sailed for the province of Syria. He got his hair cut off in Cenchrea because of a vow that he had made.

They arrived at the city of Ephesus, and Priscilla and Aquila stayed there. Paul himself entered the Jewish meeting place and spoke to the Jews about Jesus.

They asked him to stay longer, but he did not agree to stay.

But as he left, he told them, “I will come back, if God wants me to.” Then he got on a ship and sailed away from Ephesus.

When the ship came to the city of Caesarea, Paul got off. He went up to Jerusalem and greeted the believers there. Then he went to the city of Antioch in the region of Syria.

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey Begins

(Acts 13:1–3; Acts 15:36–41)

Paul spent some time with the believers there. Then he left Antioch and walked to many cities in the regions of Galatia and Phrygia. He urged the believers to believe more and more in the message from God about Jesus.

While Paul was going through Galatia and Phrygia, a Jewish man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was from the city of Alexandria and spoke very well about the scriptures.

Other believers had taught Apollos how the Lord Jesus wanted people to live, and he enthusiastically taught those things to the people. However, he was not teaching everything about Jesus, because he only knew about the baptism of John the Baptizer.

Apollos went to the Jewish meeting place, and he told the people there about the things that he had learned. When Priscilla and Aquila heard what he taught, they asked him to come to their home where they taught him more about Jesus.

When Apollos decided that he would like to go to the region of Achaia, the believers in Ephesus told him that it would be good for him to do that. So they wrote a letter to the believers in Achaia saying that they should welcome Apollos. After he got there, he helped those whom God had kindly enabled to believe in Jesus.

Apollos was talking very powerfully with the leaders of the Jews while many other people listened. By reading from the scriptures, he was able to show them that Jesus was the Messiah.

(1 Corinthians 1:1–3; 2 Corinthians 1:1–2)

After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth.

He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers.

He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”

He departed there and went into the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent;

for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Paul before Gallio

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you;

but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.”

So he drove them from the judgment seat.

Then all the Greeks seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio didn’t care about any of these things.

Paul Returns to Antioch

Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers,(a) and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.

He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined;

but taking his leave of them, he said, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the assembly, and went down to Antioch.

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey Begins

(Acts 13:1–3; Acts 15:36–41)

Having spent some time there, he departed and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

When he had determined to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him; and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

for he powerfully refuted the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Footnotes

(a)18:18 The word for “brothers” here and where the context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”