Acts 18–19

18TH CHAPTER

Paul in Corinth

¹After this, Paul left Athens and went to the city of Corinth. ²In Corinth he met a Jewish man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. Aquila had been born in Pontus, and they had recently come from Italy because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, ³and because they made tents for a living as he did, he stayed with them and they worked together. 

⁴On every day of rest—a holy day, Paul would discuss ⸤Scripture⸥ in the synagogue. He tried to win over Jews and Greeks who had converted to Judaism. ⁵But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted all his time to teaching God’s word. He assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ⁶But they opposed him and insulted him. So Paul shook the dust from his clothes and told them, “You’re responsible for your own death. I’m innocent. From now on I’m going to people who are not Jewish.” 

⁷Then he left the synagogue and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who was a convert to Judaism. His house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸The synagogue leader Crispus and his whole family believed in the Lord. Many Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. 

⁹One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Don’t be afraid to speak out! Don’t be silent! ¹⁰I’m with you. No one will attack you or harm you. I have many people in this city.” 

¹¹Paul lived in Corinth for a year and a half and taught God’s word to them. 

¹²While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews had one thought in mind. They attacked Paul and brought him to court. ¹³They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are against Moses’ Teachings.” 

¹⁴Paul was about to answer when Gallio said to the Jews, “If there were some kind of misdemeanor or crime involved, reason would demand that I put up with you Jews. ¹⁵But since you’re disputing words, names, and your own teachings, you’ll have to take care of that yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge who gets involved in those things.” ¹⁶So Gallio had them forced out of his court. 

¹⁷Then all ⸤the governor’s officers⸥ took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio couldn’t have cared less. 

Paul’s Return Trip to Antioch

¹⁸After staying in Corinth quite a while longer, Paul left ⸤for Ephesus⸥. Priscilla and Aquila went with him. In the city of Cenchrea, Aquila had his hair cut, since he had taken a vow. From Cenchrea they took a boat headed for Syria ¹⁹and arrived in the city of Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. Paul went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. ²⁰The Jews asked him to stay longer, but he refused. ²¹As he left, he told them, “I’ll come back to visit you if God wants me to.” 

Paul took a boat from Ephesus ²²and arrived in the city of Caesarea. He went ⸤to Jerusalem⸥, greeted the church, and went back to the city of Antioch. 

²³After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia, where he strengthened ⸤the faith of⸥ all the disciples. 

Apollos Tells Others about Jesus

²⁴A Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, arrived in the city of Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and knew how to use the Scriptures in a powerful way. ²⁵He had been instructed in the Lord’s way and spoke enthusiastically. He accurately taught about Jesus but knew only about the baptism John performed. ²⁶He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him ⸤home⸥ with them and explained God’s way to him more accurately. 

²⁷When Apollos wanted to travel to Greece, the believers ⸤in Ephesus⸥ encouraged him. They wrote to the disciples in Greece to tell them to welcome him. When he arrived in Greece, God’s kindness^aenabled him to help the believers a great deal. ²⁸In public Apollos helped them by clearly showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah and that the Jews were wrong. 

19TH CHAPTER

Paul in Ephesus

¹While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior provinces to get to the city of Ephesus. He met some disciples in Ephesus ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” 

They answered him, “No, we’ve never even heard of the Holy Spirit.” 

³Paul asked them, “What kind of baptism did you have?” 

They answered, “John’s baptism.” 

⁴Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance.^aJohn told people to believe in Jesus, who was coming later.” 

⁵After they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came to them, and they began to talk in other languages and to speak what God had revealed. ⁷About twelve men were in the group. 

⁸For three months Paul would go into the synagogue and speak boldly. He had discussions with people to convince them about God’s kingdom. ⁹But when some people became stubborn, refused to believe, and had nothing good to say in front of the crowd about the way ⸤of Christ⸥, he left them. He took his disciples and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This continued for two years so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. 

¹¹God worked unusual miracles through Paul. ¹²People would take handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul’s skin to those who were sick. Their sicknesses would be cured, and evil spirits would leave them. 

¹³Some Jews used to travel from place to place and force evil spirits out of people. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to force evil spirits out of those who were possessed. These Jews would say, “I order you ⸤to come out⸥ in the name of Jesus, whom Paul talks about.” ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 

¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I’m acquainted with Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man possessed by the evil spirit attacked them. He beat them up so badly that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 

¹⁷All the Jews and Greeks living in the city of Ephesus heard about this. All of them were filled with awe for the name of the Lord Jesus and began to speak very highly about it. ¹⁸Many believers openly admitted their involvement with magical spells and told all the details. ¹⁹Many of those who were involved in the occult gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of these books and found that they were worth 50,000 silver coins. ²⁰In this powerful way the word of the Lord was spreading and gaining strength. 

²¹After all these things had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem by traveling through Macedonia and Greece. He said, “After I have been there, I must see Rome.” ²²So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed longer in the province of Asia. 

A Riot in Ephesus

²³During that time a serious disturbance concerning the way ⸤of Christ⸥ broke out in the city of Ephesus. 

²⁴Demetrius, a silversmith, was in the business of making silver models of the temple of Artemis. His business brought a huge profit for the men who worked for him. ²⁵He called a meeting of his workers and others who did similar work. Demetrius said, “Men, you know that we’re earning a good income from this business, ²⁶and you see and hear what this man Paul has done. He has won over a large crowd that follows him not only in Ephesus but also throughout the province of Asia. He tells people that gods made by humans are not gods. ²⁷There’s a danger that people will discredit our line of work, and there’s a danger that people will think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is nothing. Then she whom all Asia and the rest of the world worship will be robbed of her glory.” 

²⁸When Demetrius’ workers and the others heard this, they became furious and began shouting, “Artemis of the Ephesians is great!” ²⁹The confusion spread throughout the city, and the people had one thought in mind as they rushed into the theater. They grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who traveled with Paul, and they dragged the two men into the theater with them. 

³⁰Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but his disciples wouldn’t let him. ³¹Even some officials who were from the province of Asia and who were Paul’s friends sent messengers to urge him not to risk going into the theater. 

³²Some people shouted one thing while others shouted something else. The crowd was confused. Most of the people didn’t even know why they had come together. ³³Some people concluded that Alexander was the cause, so the Jews pushed him to the front. Alexander motioned with his hand to quiet the people because he wanted to defend himself in front of them. ³⁴But when they recognized that Alexander was a Jew, everyone started to shout in unison, “Artemis of the Ephesians is great!” They kept doing this for about two hours. 

³⁵The city clerk finally quieted the crowd. Then he said, “Citizens of Ephesus, everyone knows that this city of the Ephesians is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis. Everyone knows that Ephesus is the keeper of the statue that fell down from Zeus. ³⁶No one can deny this. So you have to be quiet and not do anything foolish. ³⁷The men you brought here don’t rob temples or insult our goddess. ³⁸If Demetrius and the men who work for him have a legal complaint against anyone, we have special days and officials to hold court. That’s where they should bring charges against each other. ³⁹If you want anything else, you must settle the matter in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰At this moment we run the risk of being accused of rioting today for no reason. We won’t be able to explain this mob.” ⁴¹After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.^b