1After this Paul departed from Athens

2There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome. Paul approached them,

3and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them (for they were tentmakers by trade).

4He addressed both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue every Sabbath, attempting to persuade them.

5Now when Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

6When they opposed him and reviled him, he protested by shaking out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am guiltless! From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”

7Then Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

8Crispus, the president of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it believed and were baptized.

9The Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent,

10because I am with you, and no one will assault you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

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

Paul Before the Proconsul Gallio

12Now while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews attacked Paul together and brought him before the judgment seat,

13saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God in a way contrary to the law!”

14But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or serious piece of villainy, I would have been justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews,

15but since it concerns points of disagreement about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I will not be a judge of these things!”

16Then he had them forced away from the judgment seat.

17So they all seized Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, and began to beat him in front of the judgment seat. Yet none of these things were of any concern to Gallio.

Paul Returns to Antioch in Syria

18Paul, after staying many more days in Corinth, said farewell to the brothers and sailed away to Syria accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because he had made a vow.

19When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila behind there, but he himself went into the synagogue and addressed the Jews.

20When they asked him to stay longer, he would not consent,

21but said farewell to them and added, “I will come back to you again if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus,

22and when he arrived at Caesarea,

23After he spent some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Begins His Ministry

24Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker, well-versed in the scriptures.

25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and with great enthusiasm he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

26He began to speak out fearlessly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the way of God to him more accurately.

27When Apollos wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he assisted greatly those who had believed by grace,

28for he refuted the Jews vigorously in public debate, demonstrating from the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.