Acts 18

¹ After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; ² And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. ³ And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. ⁴ And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. ⁵ And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. ⁶ And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. ⁷ And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. ⁸ And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. ⁹ Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: ¹⁰ For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. ¹¹ And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ¹² And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, ¹³ Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. ¹⁴ And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: ¹⁵ But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. ¹⁶ And he drave them from the judgment seat. ¹⁷ Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. ¹⁸ And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. ¹⁹ And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰ When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; ²¹ But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. ²² And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. ²³ And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. ²⁴ And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. ²⁵ This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. ²⁶ And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. ²⁷ And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: ²⁸ For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Study Helps

Glossary

Athens Place v. 1: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Athens.
Corinth Place v. 1, 8, 11-12, 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Corinth.
Italy Place v. 2: Biblical region. Modern identification: Rome.
Jew Tribe v. 2, 24: The name derived from the patriarch Judah, at first given to one belonging to the tribe of Judah or to the separate kingdom of Judah.
Pontus Place v. 2: A province of Asia Minor, stretching along the southern coast of the Euxine Sea, corresponding nearly to the modern province of Trebizond. In the time of the apostles it was a Roman province. Modern identification: Pontus.
Priscilla Person v. 2, 18, 26: The wife of Aquila ( Acts 18:2 ), who is never mentioned without her. Her name sometimes takes the precedence of his ( Rom. 16:3 ; 2 Tim. 4:19 ). She took part with Aquila (q. v. ) in insturcting Apollos ( Acts 18:26 ).
Rome Place v. 2: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Rome.
Macedonia Place v. 5: Biblical region. Modern identification: Macedonia.
City People v. 10: The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain ( Gen. 4:17 ). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (10:10-12).
Achaia Place v. 12, 27: Biblical region. Modern identification: Achaia.
Gallio Person v. 12, 14, 17: The elder brother of Seneca the philosopher, who was tutor and for some time minister of the emperor Nero. He was “deputy”, i. e.
Cenchreae Place v. 18: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Kechries.
Syria Place v. 18: Biblical region. Modern identification: Damascus.
Ephesus Place v. 19, 21, 24, 27: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Ephesus.
Jerusalem Place v. 21-22: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Jerusalem.
Antioch Place v. 22-23: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Antioch on the Orontes.
Caesarea Place v. 22: (Palestinae), a city on the shore of the Mediterranean, on the great road from Tyre to Egypt, about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Modern identification: Caesarea Maritima.
Galatia Place v. 23: Biblical region. Modern identification: Galatia.
Phrygia Place v. 23: Biblical region. Modern identification: Phrygia.
Alexandria Place v. 24: Biblical settlement. Modern identification: Alexandria.
Egypt Place v. 24: The land of the Nile and the pyramids, the oldest kingdom of which we have any record, holds a place of great significance in Scripture. Modern identification: Ain Shams.
John Person v. 25: (1. ) One who, with Annas and Caiaphas, sat in judgment on the apostles Peter and John ( Acts 4:6 ). He was of the kindred of the high priest; otherwise unknown. (2. ) The Hebrew name of Mark (q. v. ).