Acts 18–19

Ministering at Corinth

18After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. ²And he found a certain Jew named ^aAquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome); and he came to them. ³So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them ^band worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers. ^4cAnd he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

^5dWhen Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was ^ecompelled ¹by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶But ^fwhen they opposed him and blasphemed, ^ghe shook his garments and said to them, ^h“Your blood be upon your own heads; ⁱI am clean. ^jFrom now on I will go to the Gentiles.” ⁷And he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named ²Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ^8kThen Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.

⁹Now ^lthe Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; ^10mfor I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹²When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the ³judgment seat, ¹³saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

¹⁴And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. ¹⁵But if it is a ⁿquestion of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.” ¹⁶And he drove them from the judgment seat. ¹⁷Then ⁴all the Greeks took ^oSosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸So Paul still remained ⁵a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. ^pHe had his hair cut off at ^qCenchrea, for he had taken a vow. ¹⁹And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, ²¹but took leave of them, saying, ^r“I ⁶must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, ^sGod willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.

²²And when he had landed at ^tCaesarea, and ⁷gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch. ²³After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of ^uGalatia and Phrygia ⁸in order, ^vstrengthening all the disciples.

Ministry of Apollos

^24wNow a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being ^xfervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, ^ythough he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. ²⁷And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, ^zhe greatly helped those who had believed through grace; ²⁸for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, ^ashowing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Paul at Ephesus

19And it happened, while ^aApollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through ^bthe upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples ²he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

So they said to him, ^c“We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

³And he said to them, “Into what then were you baptized?”

So they said, ^d“Into John’s baptism.”

⁴Then Paul said, ^e“John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.”

⁵When they heard this, they were baptized ^fin the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had ^glaid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and ^hthey spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷Now the men were about twelve in all.

⁸ⁱAnd he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading ^jconcerning the things of the kingdom of God. ⁹But ^kwhen some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil ^lof the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. ¹⁰And ^mthis continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles Glorify Christ

¹¹Now ⁿGod worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, ^12oso that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. ^13pThen some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists ^qtook it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ¹“We ²exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul ^rpreaches.” ¹⁴Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

¹⁶Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, ³overpowered them, and prevailed against ⁴them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and ^sfear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. ¹⁸And many who had believed came ^tconfessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. ^20uSo the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

The Riot at Ephesus

^21vWhen these things were accomplished, Paul ^wpurposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through ^xMacedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^yI must also see Rome.” ²²So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, ^zTimothy and ^aErastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.

²³And ^babout that time there arose a great commotion about ^cthe Way. ²⁴For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of ⁵Diana, brought ^dno small profit to the craftsmen. ²⁵He called them together with the workers of similar occupation, and said: “Men, you know that we have our prosperity by this trade. ²⁶Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that ^ethey are not gods which are made with hands. ²⁷So not only is this trade of ours in danger of falling into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana may be despised and ⁶her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸Now when they heard this, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!” ²⁹So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord, having seized ^fGaius and ^gAristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. ³⁰And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. ³¹Then some of the ⁷officials of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him pleading that he would not venture into the theater. ³²Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And ^hAlexander ⁱmotioned with his hand, and wanted to make his defense to the people. ³⁴But when they found out that he was a Jew, all with one voice cried out for about two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

³⁵And when the city clerk had quieted the crowd, he said: “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple guardian of the great goddess ⁸Diana, and of the image which fell down from ⁹Zeus? ³⁶Therefore, since these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly. ³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of ¹your goddess. ³⁸Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a ²case against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹But if you have any other inquiry to make, it shall be determined in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰For we are in danger of being ³called in question for today’s uproar, there being no reason which we may give to account for this disorderly gathering.” ⁴¹And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.