Acts
After this Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth
where he
met a Jew named Aquila, from Pontus. He had recently come from Italy
with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave
Rome. Paul went to see them,
and because they practiced the same trade, he
stayed with them and worked. By trade they were tentmakers.
Paul spoke
in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted his time
completely to the Gospel-word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the
Messiah.
When they opposed and slandered him, he shook the dust off his clothes in protest
and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
Then he departed from the synagogue and went to the
house of Titius Justus, a God-fearing Gentile whose house was
next to the synagogue.
Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the
lord with all his household. Many of the Corinthian people heard,
believed, and were baptized.
The lord said to Paul in a vision at night, “Do
not be afraid, but keep on speaking and do not be silent,
because I am with
you, and no one will attack and harm you, as I have many people in this
city.”
So Paul lived there for eighteen months, teaching the Gospel-word of
God among them.
But when Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia, the Jews unanimously
made an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.
They
said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in a manner contrary to the Law.”
But when Paul was about to open his mouth to respond, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of evil or a serious crime, I would have a reason to accept the complaint of you Jews.
But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own Law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a
judge of these matters!”
And he had them thrown out of the court.
So they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of
the judgment seat, but Gallio ignored all of this.
Paul stayed for many days longer in Corinth and then said goodbye to the brothers.
He sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He had his head
shaved in Cenchrea because he had made a vow.
They came to Ephesus,
and Paul left them there. Then he himself entered the synagogue and addressed
the Jews.
When they asked him to stay longer, he declined,
but as he left
them he said, “I will return to you if God wills.” Then he set sail from
Ephesus.
When he had landed at Caesarea he went and greeted the church, and
then went to Antioch.
After spending some time there, he departed and went
through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
A Jew named Apollos, from Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an
eloquent speaker and powerful in using the Scriptures.
He had been taught
the way of the Lord, and he spoke zealously and taught accurately
the things about 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 the way of God to him more
accurately.
When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers
encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived
he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,
as he powerfully
refuted the Jews in public debate, showing from the Scriptures that the Messiah was
Jesus.
Acts