Acts 18-20 (New American Standard Bible)

Acts 18

Paul at Corinth

 ¹After these things he left ^(A)Athens and went to ^(B)Corinth.

 ²And he found a Jew named ^(C)Aquila, a native of ^(D)Pontus, having recently come from ^(E)Italy with his wife ^(F)Priscilla, because ^(G)Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,

 ³and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and ^(H)they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.

 ⁴And he was reasoning ^(I)in the synagogue every ^(J)Sabbath and trying to persuade ^(K)Jews and Greeks.

 ⁵But when ^(L)Silas and Timothy ^(M)came down from ^(N)Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly ^(O)testifying to the Jews that ^(P)Jesus was the Christ.

 ⁶But when they resisted and blasphemed, he ^(Q)shook out his garments and said to them, "Your ^(R)blood be on your own heads! I am clean From now on I will go ^(S)to the Gentiles."

 ⁷Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, ^(T)a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.

 ^8(U)Crispus, ^(V)the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord ^(W)with all his household, and many of the ^(X)Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.

 ⁹And the Lord said to Paul in the night by ^(Y)a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

 ¹⁰for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city."

 ¹¹And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

 ¹²But while Gallio was ^(Z)proconsul of ^(AA)Achaia, ^(AB)the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before ^(AC)the judgment seat,

 ¹³saying, "This man persuades men to worship God contrary to ^(AD)the law."

 ¹⁴But when Paul was about to ^(AE)open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrong or of vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you;

 ¹⁵but if there are ^(AF)questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters."

 ¹⁶And he drove them away from ^(AG)the judgment seat.

 ¹⁷And they all took hold of ^(AH)Sosthenes, ^(AI)the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of ^(AJ)the judgment seat. But Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

 ¹⁸Paul, having remained many days longer, ^(AK)took leave of ^(AL)the brethren and put out to sea for ^(AM)Syria, and with him were ^(AN)Priscilla and ^(AO)Aquila In ^(AP)Cenchrea he ^(AQ)had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.

 ¹⁹They came to ^(AR)Ephesus, and he left them there Now he himself entered ^(AS)the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.

 ²⁰When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,

 ²¹but ^(AT)taking leave of them and saying, "I will return to you again ^(AU)if God wills," he set sail from ^(AV)Ephesus.

 ²²When he had landed at ^(AW)Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to ^(AX)Antioch.

Third Missionary Journey

 ²³And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the ^(AY)Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

 ²⁴Now a Jew named ^(AZ)Apollos, an ^(BA)Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to ^(BB)Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.

 ²⁵This man had been instructed in ^(BC)the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with ^(BD)the baptism of John;

 ²⁶and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when ^(BE)Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ^(BF)the way of God more accurately.

 ²⁷And when he wanted to go across to ^(BG)Achaia, ^(BH)the brethren encouraged him and wrote to ^(BI)the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

 ²⁸for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating ^(BJ)by the Scriptures that ^(BK)Jesus was the Christ.

Acts 19

Paul at Ephesus

 ¹It happened that while ^(BL)Apollos was at ^(BM)Corinth, Paul passed through the ^(BN)upper country and came to ^(BO)Ephesus, and found some disciples.

 ²He said to them, "^(BP)Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "No, ^(BQ)we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit."

 ³And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "^(BR)Into John's baptism."

 ⁴Paul said, "^(BS)John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^(BT)to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus."

 ⁵When they heard this, they were ^(BU)baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

 ⁶And when Paul had ^(BV)laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began ^(BW)speaking with tongues and ^(BX)prophesying.

 ⁷There were in all about twelve men.

 ⁸And he entered ^(BY)the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them ^(BZ)about the kingdom of God.

 ⁹But when ^(CA)some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^(CB)the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away ^(CC)the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

 ¹⁰This took place for ^(CD)two years, so that all who lived in ^(CE)Asia heard ^(CF)the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles at Ephesus

 ¹¹God was performing ^(CG)extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

 ^12(CH)so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^(CI)the evil spirits went out.

 ¹³But also some of the Jewish ^(CJ)exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches."

 ¹⁴Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

 ¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said to them, "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?"

 ¹⁶And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

 ¹⁷This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in ^(CK)Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

 ¹⁸Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

 ¹⁹And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand ^(CL)pieces of silver.

 ²⁰So ^(CM)the word of the Lord ^(CN)was growing mightily and prevailing.

 ²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to ^(CO)go to Jerusalem ^(CP)after he had passed through ^(CQ)Macedonia and ^(CR)Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, ^(CS)I must also see Rome."

 ²²And having sent into ^(CT)Macedonia two of ^(CU)those who ministered to him, ^(CV)Timothy and ^(CW)Erastus, he himself stayed in ^(CX)Asia for a while.

 ²³About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning ^(CY)the Way.

 ²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^(CZ)was bringing no little business to the craftsmen;

 ²⁵these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.

 ²⁶"You see and hear that not only in ^(DA)Ephesus, but in almost all of ^(DB)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^(DC)gods made with hands are no gods at all.

 ²⁷"Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of ^(DD)Asia and ^(DE)the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence."

 ²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the ^(DF)Ephesians!"

 ²⁹The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along ^(DG)Gaius and ^(DH)Aristarchus, Paul's traveling ^(DI)companions from ^(DJ)Macedonia.

 ³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, ^(DK)the disciples would not let him.

 ³¹Also some of the ^[a]Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

 ^32(DL)So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

 ³³Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^(DM)motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

 ³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

 ³⁵After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, "Men of ^(DN)Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven?

 ³⁶"So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

 ³⁷"For you have brought these men here who are neither ^(DO)robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

 ³⁸"So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and ^(DP)proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another.

 ³⁹"But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

 ⁴⁰"For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today's events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering."

 ⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the assembly.

Acts 20

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

 ¹After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for ^(DQ)the disciples, and when he had exhorted them and taken his leave of them, he left ^(DR)to go to ^(DS)Macedonia.

 ²When he had gone through those districts and had given them much exhortation, he came to Greece.

 ³And there he spent three months, and when ^(DT)a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for ^(DU)Syria, he decided to return through ^(DV)Macedonia.

 ⁴And he was accompanied by Sopater of ^(DW)Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by ^(DX)Aristarchus and Secundus of the ^(DY)Thessalonians, and ^(DZ)Gaius of ^(EA)Derbe, and ^(EB)Timothy, and ^(EC)Tychicus and ^(ED)Trophimus of ^(EE)Asia.

 ⁵But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for ^(EF)us at ^(EG)Troas.

 ^6(EH)We sailed from ^(EI)Philippi after ^(EJ)the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at ^(EK)Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.

 ⁷On ^(EL)the first day of the week, when ^(EM)we were gathered together to ^(EN)break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.

 ⁸There were many ^(EO)lamps in the ^(EP)upper room where we were gathered together.

 ⁹And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.

 ¹⁰But Paul went down and ^(EQ)fell upon him, and after embracing him, he ^(ER)said, "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him."

 ¹¹When he had gone back up and had ^(ES)broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.

 ¹²They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

Troas to Miletus

 ¹³But ^(ET)we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land.

 ¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.

 ¹⁵Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to ^(EU)Miletus.

 ¹⁶For Paul had decided to sail past ^(EV)Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in ^(EW)Asia; for he was hurrying ^(EX)to be in Jerusalem, if possible, ^(EY)on the day of Pentecost.

Farewell to Ephesus

 ¹⁷From Miletus he sent to ^(EZ)Ephesus and called to him ^(FA)the elders of the church.

 ¹⁸And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, ^(FB)from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,

 ¹⁹serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through ^(FC)the plots of the Jews;

 ²⁰how I ^(FD)did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house,

 ²¹solemnly ^(FE)testifying to both Jews and Greeks of ^(FF)repentance toward God and ^(FG)faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

 ²²"And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, ^(FH)I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,

 ²³except that ^(FI)the Holy Spirit solemnly ^(FJ)testifies to me in every city, saying that ^(FK)bonds and afflictions await me.

 ²⁴"But ^(FL)I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may ^(FM)finish my course and ^(FN)the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to ^(FO)testify solemnly of the gospel of ^(FP)the grace of God.

 ²⁵"And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about ^(FQ)preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.

 ²⁶"Therefore, I testify to you this day that ^(FR)I am innocent of the blood of all men.

 ²⁷"For I ^(FS)did not shrink from declaring to you the whole ^(FT)purpose of God.

 ²⁸"Be on guard for yourselves and for all ^(FU)the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd ^(FV)the church of God which ^(FW)He purchased with His own blood.

 ²⁹"I know that after my departure ^(FX)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing ^(FY)the flock;

 ³⁰and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away ^(FZ)the disciples after them.

 ³¹"Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of ^(GA)three years I did not cease to admonish each one ^(GB)with tears.

 ³²"And now I ^(GC)commend you to God and to ^(GD)the word of His grace, which is able to ^(GE)build you up and to give you ^(GF)the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

 ³³"^(GG)I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes.

 ³⁴"You yourselves know that ^(GH)these hands ministered to my own needs and to the ^(GI)men who were with me.

 ³⁵"In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

 ³⁶When he had said these things, he ^(GJ)knelt down and prayed with them all.

 ³⁷And they began to weep aloud and ^(GK)embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,

 ³⁸grieving especially over ^(GL)the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again And they were ^(GM)accompanying him to the ship.