Acts 18–19

Founding the Corinthian Church

18After this, he ^wleft Athens and went to Corinth, ^x2where he found a Jewish man named Aquila, ^ya native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius ^zhad ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them, ³and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers ^aby trade. ^b4He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks. ^c

⁵When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message ^dand solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. ^e6But when they resisted and blasphemed, ^fhe shook his robe ^ghand told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! ⁱI am innocent. ^jFrom now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ^k7So he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household. ^lMany of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

⁹Then the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent. ¹⁰For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.” ^m11And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the judge’s bench. ⁿ¹³“This man,” they said, “persuades people to worship God contrary to the law!”

¹⁴As Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of a crime or of moral evil, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you Jews. ¹⁵But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of such things.” ^o16So he drove them from the judge’s bench. ¹⁷Then they all ^pseized Sosthenes, ^qthe leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judge’s bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.

The Return Trip to Antioch

¹⁸So Paul, having stayed on for many days, said good-bye to the brothers and sailed away to Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He shaved his head at Cenchreae because he had taken a vow. ^r19When they reached Ephesus ^she left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with ^tthe Jews. ²⁰And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined, ²¹but he said good-bye and stated, ^u“I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” ^vThen he set sail from Ephesus.

²²On landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church ^wand went down to Antioch. ^x23And after spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. ^y

The Eloquent Apollos

²⁴A Jew named Apollos, ^za native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus. ²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, ^ahe spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John’s baptism. ^b26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home ^cand explained the way of God to him more accurately. ^d27When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples urging them to welcome him. After he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace. ^e28For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. ^f

Twelve Disciples of John the Baptist

19While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples ^g2and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” ^h

“No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ⁱ

³“Then what baptism were you baptized with?” he asked them.

“With John’s baptism,” they replied. ^j

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, ^ktelling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.” ^l

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had laid his hands on ^mthem, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to prophesy. ⁿ⁷Now there were about 12 men in all.

In the Lecture Hall of Tyrannus

⁸Then he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things of the kingdom of God. ^o9But when some became hardened and would not believe, slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he withdrew from them and met separately with the disciples, conducting discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ^p10And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, ^qheard the message about the Lord. ^r

Demonism Defeated at Ephesus

¹¹God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, ¹²so that even facecloths or work aprons ^sthat had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. ^t

¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!” ^u14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. ¹⁵The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus ^vwas magnified. ^w18And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, ¹⁹while many of those who had practiced magic ^xcollected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. ²⁰In this way the Lord’s message flourished and prevailed. ^y

The Riot in Ephesus

²¹When these events were over, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well!” ^z22So after sending two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, ^ato Macedonia, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. ^b

²³During that time there was a major ^cdisturbance about the Way. ^d24For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^eprovided a great deal of ^fbusiness for the craftsmen. ²⁵When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. ²⁶You both see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods! ^g27So not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world adore.”

²⁸When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹So the city was filled with confusion, and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius ^hand Aristarchus, ⁱMacedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. ³⁰Though Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him. ³¹Even some of the provincial officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent word to him, pleading with him not to take a chance by going ^jinto the amphitheater. ³²Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, ^kbecause the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³Then some of the crowd gave Alexander advice when the Jews pushed him to the front. So motioning with his hand, Alexander wanted to make his defense to the people. ^l34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a united cry went up from all of them for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵However, when the city clerk had calmed the crowd down, he said, “Men of Ephesus! What man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple guardian of the great ^mArtemis, and of the image that fell from heaven? ³⁶Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash. ³⁷For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our ⁿgoddess. ³⁸So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, the courts are in session, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ^o39But if you want something else, it must be decided in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting ^pfor what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.