Acts 18; Acts 19; Acts 20

Acts 18

1 After this, he left from Athens and went to Corinth,

2 where he found a Jewish man named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius 41-54; he expelled all Jews from Rome in a.d. 49. had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,

3 and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.

4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

5 When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message and solemnly testified to the Jews that the Messiah is Jesus.

6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and told them, "Your blood is on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles."

7 So 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.

8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household; and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

9 Then the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, "Don't be afraid, but keep on speaking and don't be silent.

10 For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city."

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

12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the judge's bench.

13 "This man," they said, "persuades people to worship God contrary to the law!"

14 And as 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.

15 But 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."

16 So he drove them from the judge's bench.

17 Then they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judge's bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.

18 So 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.

19 When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with the Jews.

20 And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined,

21 but said good-bye and stated, "I'll come back to you again, if God wills." Then he set sail from Ephesus.

22 On landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.

23 And [after] spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

24 A Jew named Apollos, a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.

25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John's baptism.

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home and explained the way of God to him more accurately.

27 When 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.

28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah.

Acts 19

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples

2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" "No," they told him, "we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

3 "Then with what [baptism] were you baptized?" he asked them. "With John's baptism," they replied.

4 Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the One who would come after him, that is, in Jesus."

5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak with [other] languages and to prophesy.

7 Now there were about 12 men in all.

8 Then he entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, engaging in discussion and trying to persuade them about the things related to the kingdom of God.

9 But 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.

10 And this went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul's hands,

12 so that even facecloths or work aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.

13 Then 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 whom Paul preaches!"

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

15 The evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize-but who are you?"

16 Then 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.

17 This 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 was magnified.

18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices,

19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value, and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver.

20 In this way the Lord's message flourished and prevailed.

21 When 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!"

22 So after sending two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed in the province of Asia for a while.

23 During that time there was a major disturbance about the Way.

24 For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, provided a great deal of business for the craftsmen.

25 When 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.

26 You both see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost the whole province of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods!

27 So 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 whom the whole province of Asia and the world adore."

28 When they had heard this, they were filled with rage and began to cry out, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

29 So the city was filled with confusion; and they rushed all together into the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's traveling companions.

30 Though Paul wanted to go in before the people, the disciples did not let him.

31 Even 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 into the amphitheater.

32 Meanwhile, some were shouting one thing and some another, because the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together.

33 Then 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.

34 But 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!"

35 However, 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 Artemis, and of the image that fell from heaven?

36 Therefore, since these things are undeniable, you must keep calm and not do anything rash.

37 For you have brought these men here who are not temple robbers or blasphemers of our goddess.

38 So 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.

39 But if you want something else, it must be decided in a legal assembly.

40 In fact, we run a risk of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no justification that we can give as a reason for this disorderly gathering."

41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

Acts 20

1 After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying good-bye, departed to go to Macedonia.

2 And when he had passed through those areas and exhorted them at length, he came to Greece

3 and stayed three months. When he was about to set sail for Syria, a plot was devised against him by the Jews, so a decision was made to go back through Macedonia.

4 He was accompanied by Sopater, son of Pyrrhus, from Beroea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia.

5 These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas,

6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread. In five days we reached them at Troas, where we spent seven days.

7 On the first day of the week, we assembled to break bread. Paul spoke to them, and since he was about to depart the next day, he extended his message until midnight.

8 There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were assembled,

9 and a young man named Eutychus was sitting on a window sill and sank into a deep sleep as Paul kept on speaking. When he was overcome by sleep he fell down from the third story, and was picked up dead.

10 But Paul went down, threw himself on him, embraced him, and said, "Don't be alarmed, for his life is in him!"

11 After going upstairs, breaking the bread, and eating, he conversed a considerable time until dawn. Then he left.

12 They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.

13 Then we went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, from there intending to take Paul on board. For these were his instructions, since he himself was going by land.

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

15 Sailing from there, the next day we arrived off Chios. The following day we crossed over to Samos, and the day after, we came to Miletus.

16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so he would not have to spend time in the province of Asia, because he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, for the day of Pentecost.

17 Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

18 And when they came to him, he said to them: "You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time-

19 serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews-

20 and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable, or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house.

21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.

22 "And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there,

23 except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.

24 But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God's grace.

25 "And now I know that none of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will ever see my face again.

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of everyone's blood,

27 for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole plan of God.

28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

30 And men from among yourselves will rise up with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them.

31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.

32 "And now I commit you to God and to the message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

33 I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing.

34 You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my needs, and for those who were with me.

35 In every way I've shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' "

36 After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

37 There was a great deal of weeping by everyone. And embracing Paul, they kissed him,

38 grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.