18
“Paul Left Athens and Went to the City of Corinth”
1 After these things, Paul left Athens and went to the city of Corinth.
2 Upon meeting a Jewish man named Aquila, who had been born in the province of Pontus, and who had come from Italy just recently, along with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had issued a decree that all Jews had to leave Rome, Paul went to visit them,
3 and because they did the same kind of work as he did, he stayed with them and worked with them. (They were tentmakers by trade.)
4 Paul continued to address people in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade both Jews and Gentiles.
5 On the arrival from Macedonia, however, of Silas and Timothy, Paul himself began giving his full time and attention to proclaiming the message, solemnly declaring to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.
6 When they started to oppose him and insult him, he shook out his clothes as a sign of protest and said to them, “The responsibility for ᵖyour blood be on your own heads! I am free of any and all blame. From now on it is the Gentiles to whom I will go.”
7 And so leaving that place, he went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, a God-fearing Gentile, whose home was next door to the synagogue.
8 As for Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, he placed his faith in the Lord, along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians, when they heard about it, believed and were baptized.
9 Now the Lord spoke during the night by means of a vision to Paul: “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent,
10 for I am with ˢyou; no one will succeed in harming ˢyou, because I have in this city many people.”
11 Paul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them.
12 When Gallio became governor, however, over the province of Achaia, the unbelieving Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,
13 saying, “This fellow is persuading people to worship God in a way contrary to Torah.”
14 Just as Paul was about to open his mouth, however, Gallio said to the Jews, “If, on the one hand, this were a matter of some wrongdoing or serious crime, O Jews, I would have been in giving ᵖyou a patient hearing quite justified.
15 If it involves controversies, however, about words and names and ᵖyour own law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse over such matters to preside as judge.”
16 At that he sent them away from the judgment seat.
17 Then they all grabbed hold of Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began to beat him in front of the judgment seat. Yet Gallio paid no attention.
“They Arrived at the Port of Ephesus”
18 Now as for Paul, after staying on in Corinth for many more days, he said good-bye to the brothers and sisters and set sail for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila, having had his head shaved at the city’s eastern seaport, Cenchrea, because he had taken a vow.
19 They stopped first at the port of Ephesus. As for Priscilla and Aquila, Paul left them behind there. He himself, going into the synagogue, addressed the Jews.
20 Now when they asked him to stay longer, he declined,
21 though as he said good-bye he promised, “I will come back to ᵖyou again if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and gave greetings to the assembly, and then went down to Antioch.
23 And after spending some time there, he set out, traveling from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
24 Meanwhile, there arrived in Ephesus a certain Jewish man named Apollos, who had been born in the city of Alexandria, an eloquent speaker, with a very thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
25 This man had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and with burning zeal he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew of no baptism other than the one John had performed.
26 This man began to speak fearlessly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home with them and explained the Way of God to him in more complete and exact detail.
27 When Apollos decided to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters wrote and urged the disciples there to welcome him. Upon arriving, he was a great help to those who had believed through the gift.
28 It was with fierce intensity and conviction, you see, that he refuted the Jewish authorities in public debate, demonstrating from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.