Acts 18; Acts 19; Acts 20

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

2 In Corinth he met a Jewish man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. Aquila had been born in Pontus, and they had recently come from Italy because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them,

3 and because they made tents for a living as he did, he stayed with them and they worked together.

4 On every day of worship, Paul would discuss [Scripture] in the synagogue. He tried to win over Jews and Greeks who had converted to Judaism.

5 But when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted all his time to teaching the word of God. He assured the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

6 But they opposed him and insulted him. So Paul shook the dust from his clothes and told them, "You're responsible for your own death. I'm innocent. From now on I'm going to people who are not Jewish."

7 Then he left the synagogue and went to the home of a man named Titius Justus, who was a convert to Judaism. His house was next door to the synagogue.

8 The synagogue leader Crispus and his whole family believed in the Lord. Many Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.

9 One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, "Don't be afraid to speak out! Don't be silent!

10 I'm with you. No one will attack you or harm you. I have many people in this city."

11 Paul lived in Corinth for a year and a half and taught the word of God to them.

12 While Gallio was governor of Greece, the Jews had one thought in mind. They attacked Paul and brought him to court.

13 They said, "This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are against Moses' Teachings."

14 Paul was about to answer when Gallio said to the Jews, "If there were some kind of misdemeanor or crime involved, reason would demand that I put up with you Jews.

15 But since you're disputing words, names, and your own teachings, you'll have to take care of that yourselves. I don't want to be a judge who gets involved in those things."

16 So Gallio had them forced out of his court.

17 Then all [the governor's officers] took Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio couldn't have cared less.

18 After staying in Corinth quite a while longer, Paul left [for Ephesus]. Priscilla and Aquila went with him. In the city of Cenchrea, Aquila had his hair cut, since he had taken a vow. From Cenchrea they took a boat headed for Syria

19 and arrived in the city of Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. Paul went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews.

20 The Jews asked him to stay longer, but he refused.

21 As he left, he told them, "I'll come back to visit you if God wants me to." Paul took a boat from Ephesus

22 and arrived in the city of Caesarea. He went [to Jerusalem], greeted the church, and went back to the city of Antioch.

23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia, where he strengthened [the faith of] all the disciples.

24 A Jew named Apollos, who had been born in Alexandria, arrived in the city of Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker and knew how to use the Scriptures in a powerful way.

25 He had been instructed in the Lord's way and spoke enthusiastically. He accurately taught about Jesus but knew only about the baptism John performed.

26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him [home] with them and explained God's way to him more accurately.

27 When Apollos wanted to travel to Greece, the believers [in Ephesus] encouraged him. They wrote to the disciples in Greece to tell them to welcome him. When he arrived in Greece, God's kindness enabled him to help the believers a great deal.

28 In public Apollos helped them by clearly showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah and that the Jews were wrong.

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior provinces to get to the city of Ephesus. He met some disciples in Ephesus

2 and asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?" They answered him, "No, we've never even heard of the Holy Spirit."

3 Paul asked them, "What kind of baptism did you have?" They answered, "John's baptism."

4 Paul said, "John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. John told people to believe in Jesus, who was coming later."

5 After they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came to them, and they began to talk in other languages and to speak what God had revealed.

7 About twelve men were in the group.

8 For three months Paul would go into the synagogue and speak boldly. He had discussions with people to convince them about the kingdom of God.

9 But when some people became stubborn, refused to believe, and had nothing good to say in front of the crowd about the way [of Christ], he left them. He took his disciples and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

10 This continued for two years so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

11 God worked unusual miracles through Paul.

12 People would take handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul's skin to those who were sick. Their sicknesses would be cured, and evil spirits would leave them.

13 Some Jews used to travel from place to place and force evil spirits out of people. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to force evil spirits out of those who were possessed. These Jews would say, "I order you [to come out] in the name of Jesus, whom Paul talks about."

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

15 But the evil spirit answered them, "I know Jesus, and I'm acquainted with Paul, but who are you?"

16 Then the man possessed by the evil spirit attacked them. He beat them up so badly that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

17 All the Jews and Greeks living in the city of Ephesus heard about this. All of them were filled with awe for the name of the Lord Jesus and began to speak very highly about it.

18 Many believers openly admitted their involvement with magical spells and told all the details.

19 Many of those who were involved in the occult gathered their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of these books and found that they were worth 50,000 silver coins.

20 In this powerful way the word of the Lord was spreading and gaining strength.

21 After all these things had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem by traveling through Macedonia and Greece. He said, "After I have been there, I must see Rome."

22 So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed longer in the province of Asia.

23 During that time a serious disturbance concerning the way [of Christ] broke out in the city of Ephesus.

24 Demetrius, a silversmith, was in the business of making silver models of the temple of Artemis. His business brought a huge profit for the men who worked for him.

25 He called a meeting of his workers and others who did similar work. Demetrius said, "Men, you know that we're earning a good income from this business,

26 and you see and hear what this man Paul has done. He has won over a large crowd that follows him not only in Ephesus but also throughout the province of Asia. He tells people that gods made by humans are not gods.

27 There's a danger that people will discredit our line of work, and there's a danger that people will think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is nothing. Then she whom all Asia and the rest of the world worship will be robbed of her glory."

28 When Demetrius' workers and the others heard this, they became furious and began shouting, "Artemis of the Ephesians is great!"

29 The confusion spread throughout the city, and the people had one thought in mind as they rushed into the theater. They grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who traveled with Paul, and they dragged the two men into the theater with them.

30 Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but his disciples wouldn't let him.

31 Even some officials who were from the province of Asia and who were Paul's friends sent messengers to urge him not to risk going into the theater.

32 Some people shouted one thing while others shouted something else. The crowd was confused. Most of the people didn't even know why they had come together.

33 Some people concluded that Alexander was the cause, so the Jews pushed him to the front. Alexander motioned with his hand to quiet the people because he wanted to defend himself in front of them.

34 But when they recognized that Alexander was a Jew, everyone started to shout in unison, "Artemis of the Ephesians is great!" They kept doing this for about two hours.

35 The city clerk finally quieted the crowd. Then he said, "Citizens of Ephesus, everyone knows that this city of the Ephesians is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis. Everyone knows that Ephesus is the keeper of the statue that fell down from Zeus.

36 No one can deny this. So you have to be quiet and not do anything foolish.

37 The men you brought here don't rob temples or insult our goddess.

38 If Demetrius and the men who work for him have a legal complaint against anyone, we have special days and officials to hold court. That's where they should bring charges against each other.

39 If you want anything else, you must settle the matter in a legal assembly.

40 At this moment we run the risk of being accused of rioting today for no reason. We won't be able to explain this mob."

41 After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.

1 When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, said goodbye, and left for Macedonia.

2 He went through that region and spoke many words of encouragement to the people. Then he went to Greece

3 and stayed there for three months. When Paul was going to board a ship for Syria, he found out that the Jews were plotting to kill him. So he decided to go back through Macedonia.

4 Sopater (son of Pyrrhus) from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia accompanied Paul.

5 All these men went ahead and were waiting for us in Troas.

6 After the Festival of Unleavened Bread, we boarded a ship at Philippi. Five days later we joined them in Troas and stayed there for seven days.

7 On Sunday we met to break bread. Paul was discussing [Scripture] with the people. Since he intended to leave the next day, he kept talking until midnight.

8 (Many lamps were lit in the upstairs room where we were meeting.)

9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in a window. As Paul was talking on and on, Eutychus was gradually falling asleep. Finally, overcome by sleep, he fell from the third story and was dead when they picked him up.

10 Paul went to him, took him into his arms, and said, "Don't worry! He's alive!"

11 Then Eutychus went upstairs again, broke the bread, and ate. Paul talked with the people for a long time, until sunrise, and then left.

12 The people took the boy home. They were greatly relieved that he was alive.

13 We went ahead to the ship and sailed for the city of Assos. At Assos, we were going to pick up Paul. He had made these arrangements, since he had planned to walk overland to Assos.

14 When Paul met us in Assos, we took him on board and went to the city of Mitylene.

15 We sailed from there. On the following day we approached the island of Chios. The next day we went by the island of Samos, and on the next day we arrived at the city of Miletus.

16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to get to Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, if that was possible.

17 From Miletus Paul sent messengers to the city of Ephesus and called the spiritual leaders of the church to meet with him [in Miletus].

18 When they were with him, he said to them, "You know how I spent all my time with you from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia.

19 I humbly served the Lord, often with tears in my eyes. I served the Lord during the difficult times I went through when the Jews plotted against me.

20 I didn't avoid telling you anything that would help you, and I didn't avoid teaching you publicly and from house to house.

21 I warned Jews and Greeks to change the way they think and act and to believe in our Lord Jesus.

22 "I am determined to go to Jerusalem now. I don't know what will happen to me there.

23 However, the Holy Spirit warns me in every city that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me.

24 But I don't place any value on my own life. I want to finish the race I'm running. I want to carry out the mission I received from the Lord Jesus--the mission of testifying to the Good News of God's kindness.

25 "Now I know that none of you whom I told about the kingdom [of God]will see me again.

26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am not responsible for the [spiritual] death of any of you.

27 I didn't avoid telling you the whole plan of God.

28 Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as bishops to be shepherds for God's church which he acquired with his own blood.

29 I know that fierce wolves will come to you after I leave, and they won't spare the flock.

30 Some of your own men will come forward and say things that distort the truth. They will do this to lure disciples into following them.

31 So be alert! Remember that I instructed each of you for three years, day and night, at times with tears in my eyes.

32 "I am now entrusting you to God and to his message that tells how kind he is. That message can help you grow and can give you the inheritance that is shared by all of God's holy people.

33 "I never wanted anyone's silver, gold, or clothes.

34 You know that I worked to support myself and those who were with me.

35 I have given you an example that by working hard like this we should help the weak. We should remember the words that the Lord Jesus said, 'Giving gifts is more satisfying than receiving them.'"

36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

37 Everyone cried a lot as they put their arms around Paul and kissed him.

38 The thought of not seeing Paul again hurt them most of all. Then they took Paul to the ship.