Founding the Corinthian Church
1After this, he Other mss read Paul left Athens and went to Corinth, Ac 17:15; 19:1; 1Co 1:2; 2Co 1:1,23; 2Tm 4:20
2where he found a Jewish man named Aquila, Ac 18:18,26; Rm 16:3-5; 1Co 16:19; 2Tm 4:19 a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius Roman emperor a.d. 41–54; he expelled all Jews from Rome in a.d. 49. had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul came to them,
3and being of the same occupation, stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers Or leatherworkers, or less likely manufacturers of theatrical properties by trade. Ac 20:34; 1Co 4:12; 9:15; 2Co 11:7; 12:13; 1Th 2:9; 2Th 3:8
4He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks. Ac 9:20; 13:14; 14:1; 18:19
5When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with preaching the message Other mss read was urged by the Spirit and solemnly testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. Jb 32:18; Ac 15:22; 16:1,9; 17:3,14-15; 18:28; 1Th 3:6
6But when they resisted and blasphemed, Ac 13:45; Rm 3:8; 1Co 4:13; Ti 3:2 he shook his robe A symbolic display of protest; Mt 10:14; Ac 13:51 Neh 5:13; Mt 10:14; Ac 13:51 and told them, “Your blood is on your own heads! 2Sm 1:16; Ezk 18:13; 33:4; Mt 27:25 I am innocent. Lit clean From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” Ezk 3:18; Ac 13:46
7So 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.
8Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed the Lord, along with his whole household. Mk 5:22; Ac 11:14; 1Co 1:14 Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
9Then the Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.
10For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city.” Mt 28:20; Ac 23:11
11And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
12While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack against Paul and brought him to the judge’s bench. Ac 13:7; 18:27
13“This man,” they said, “persuades people to worship God contrary to the law! ”
14As 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.
15But 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.” Ac 23:29; 25:11,19
16So he drove them from the judge’s bench.
17Then they all Other mss read Then all the Greeks seized Sosthenes, 1Co 1:1 the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judge’s bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.
The Return Trip to Antioch
18So 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. Nm 6:2,5,9,18; Ac 21:24; Rm 16:1
19When they reached Ephesus Ac 19:1; 20:16; 1Co 15:32; 1Tm 1:3; 2Tm 1:18 he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and engaged in discussion with Or and addressed the Jews.
20And though they asked him to stay for a longer time, he declined,
21but he said good-bye and stated, Other mss add “By all means it is necessary to keep the coming festival in Jerusalem. But “I’ll come back to you again, if God wills.” Rm 1:10; 1Co 4:19; 16:7; Heb 6:3; Jms 4:15; 1Pt 3:17 Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22On landing at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church The church in Jerusalem and went down to Antioch. Ac 8:40; 11:19
23And after spending some time there, he set out, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Ac 14:22; 16:6
The Eloquent Apollos
24A Jew named Apollos, Ac 19:1; 1Co 1:12; 3:5; 4:6; 16:12; Ti 3:13 a native Alexandrian, an eloquent man who was powerful in the use of the Scriptures, arrived in Ephesus.
25This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, Or in the Spirit he spoke and taught the things about Jesus accurately, although he knew only John’s baptism. Lk 7:29; Ac 9:2; 19:3; Rm 12:11
26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. After Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him home Lit they received him and explained the way of God to him more accurately. Mt 2:8; Lk 1:3; Ac 18:25; 23:15,20; 24:22; Eph 5:15; 1Th 5:2
27When 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. Ac 18:12,18; 1Co 3:6
28For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah. Ac 9:22; 17:2-3; 18:5
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