Acts 18

Worldwide English (New Testament)

18 After this Paul left Athens and went to the city of Corinth.

² There he met a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus. A short time before this he and his wife Priscilla had come from the country of Italy. They left Italy because Claudius the ruler had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. This was the big city in Italy. Paul went to the house of Aquila and Priscilla.

³ Paul's work had been the making of tents, and that is what they did. So he stayed with them. They worked together.

⁴ Every Sabbath day he talked with the people in the meeting place for the Jews. He tried to talk so that the Jews and the Greeks would believe.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul felt in his heart that he must prove to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

⁶ But the people talked back to Paul. And they said wrong things about him. Paul shook his clothes and said to them, `If you are lost, it is your own fault, not mine! From now on I will go to those who are not Jews.'

⁷ So he left. He went to the house of a man named Justus who worshipped God. His house was next to the meeting place.

⁸ Crispus was the head ruler of the meeting house. He and his whole family believed in the Lord. Many of the people in Corinth heard and believed. And they were baptised.

⁹ The Lord said to Paul in a vision in the night, `Do not fear. Keep on speaking. Do not stop.

¹⁰ I am with you. nobody will hurt you. I have many people in this city.'

¹¹ So Paul stayed there for one year and six months. He taught the people God's word.

¹² When Gallio was the ruler of the province of Achaia, the Jews got together to stop Paul. They took him to court.

¹³ They said, `This man is talking to the people. He is trying to make them worship God in a way that is against our law.'

¹⁴ Paul wanted to speak. Then Gallio said to the Jews, `You Jews, if it were a matter of wrong or of doing something very bad, I would listen to you.

¹⁵ But this is a matter about words and names and about your own law. So you must go and take care of it yourselves! I will not judge such things.'

¹⁶ And he drove them out of the court.

¹⁷ They caught a man. His name was Sosthenes. He was the head ruler of the meeting house. They beat him in front of the judge, but Gallio did nothing about it.

¹⁸ Paul stayed there for many days. Then he said goodbye to the Christian brothers and went in a boat to the country of Syria. Priscilla and Aquila went with him. In the town of Cenchrea he cut his hair off. This was because he had made a promise to God.

¹⁹ When they reached the city of Ephesus, Paul left the others there. He himself went to the meeting place and talked with the Jews.

²⁰ The Jews begged him to stay longer but he would not stay.

²¹ `Goodbye,' he said. `I will come back to you again if it is God's will.' Then he got in a boat and left Ephesus.

²² When he reached Caesarea, he went to greet the church people. Then he went on to Antioch.

²³ He stayed there for a while. Then he left and went through all the countries of Galatia and Phrygia. He helped the disciples to believe more strongly.

²⁴ A Jew came to Ephesus. His name was Apollos. He was born in Alexandria. He spoke with power and was able to explain the holy writings well.

²⁵ This man had been taught the way of the Lord. He was strong in spirit as he talked to people. What he taught them about the Lord was true. But he knew only about the baptism of John.

²⁶ He began to speak without fear in the meeting place. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him to their house. They explained the way of God so that he knew more about it.

²⁷ Apollos decided to go into Achaia. The Christian brothers wrote to the disciples there and asked them to receive him. When he reached Achaia, he helped very much those who believed. They believed because God was kind to them.

²⁸ He talked strongly with the Jews before the people. He proved to them from the holy writings that Jesus is the Christ.