In Corinth

18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ² There 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 leave Rome. Paul went to see them. ³ Because he had the same occupation, he stayed and worked with them, for they were tentmakers by trade. ⁴ Every Sabbath he led a discussion in the synagogue, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

⁵ When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was entirely devoted to preaching the word,^[a] testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ⁶ But when they opposed Paul and slandered him, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”

⁷ He left that place and went to the house of a man named Titius^[b] Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. ⁸ Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

⁹ One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid, but keep on speaking, and do not be silent. ¹⁰ For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

¹² But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the judicial bench. ¹³ They said, “This man is persuading the people to worship God in a way that is against the law.”

¹⁴ But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were some kind of misdemeanor or vicious crime, I would formally accept the complaint of you Jews. ¹⁵ But since these are disputes about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not intend to be a judge of these things.” ¹⁶ So he drove them away from the judicial bench. ¹⁷ Then all the Greeks^[c] seized Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beat him in front of the judicial bench. But none of these things concerned Gallio.

Return to Antioch in Syria

¹⁸ After Paul stayed many more days, he said good-bye to the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea Paul had his head shaved, because he was keeping a vow.