Acts 18:1-17

Paul visits Corinth

1 After Paul had spoken to the important officers of Athens, he left the city. He went from there to the city of Corinth.

18:1Corinth is a city in Greece, about 75 kilometres from Athens.

2 In Corinth, he met a man called Aquila. Aquila was a Jew. He had been born in the region of Pontus. At that time, Caesar Claudius had said that all Jews must leave Rome. So Aquila had left Italy and he had just arrived in Corinth with his wife Priscilla. Paul went to visit them. 3 They knew how to make tents which they could sell to people. Paul also made tents, so he stayed with them and he worked with them.

4 Every Jewish day of rest, Paul taught both Jews and Greek people in the Jewish meeting place. He wanted them all to believe the good news about Jesus.

5 Then Silas and Timothy arrived there from the country called Macedonia. After that, the only work that Paul did was to teach people God's message. He told the Jews clearly that Jesus is God's Messiah. 6 The Jews did not agree with Paul and they insulted him. So he shook the dirt off his clothes at them. He said to them, ‘If God punishes you, then you have caused it to happen. It will not be because of me. Now I will go to the Gentiles and I will teach them God's message.’

18:6Paul cleaned the dirt off his clothes. This meant that Paul did not want to speak to those Jews again.

7 So Paul did not speak in the Jewish meeting place any more. Instead, he went to the house of Titius Justus, which was next to the meeting place. Justus was a Gentile who now worshipped God. 8 A man called Crispus was the leader of the Jewish meeting place there. He, and everyone else who lived in his house, believed in the Lord Jesus. Many other people in Corinth heard Paul's message and they believed in Jesus. When they became believers, someone baptized them.

18:7Paul continued to teach in Corinth. But now he usually taught those who were not Jews. Most people who lived in Corinth were Greek.

9 But one night, the Lord appeared to Paul in a vision. He said, ‘Do not be afraid of those people who are against you. Continue to speak my message to the people here. Do not stop speaking to them. 10 I am here with you. Nobody will hurt you. There are many people in this city who will believe in me.’

11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for 18 months and he taught the people God's message about Jesus.

12 Gallio then became the Roman ruler of the region called Achaia. At this time the Jewish leaders in Corinth decided together to speak against Paul. So they took hold of him and they brought him to Gallio. They wanted Gallio to judge Paul.

18:12The men with authority in Rome caused Gallio to rule Achaia in AD 51.

13 The Jewish leaders said to Gallio, ‘This man is teaching people to worship God in a wrong way. The things that he teaches are against our Jewish law.’

14 Paul was ready to speak, but Gallio spoke first to the Jews. He said, ‘If this man had done a very bad thing, then I would judge him. It would be right for me to listen to you. 15 But you are arguing about words and names and your own Jewish law. So you yourselves must decide what to do about it. I will not be a judge to decide about these things.’ 16 Then Gallio told his soldiers to take the Jewish leaders away. 17 Then the whole crowd of people took hold of a man called Sosthenes. He was the leader of the Jewish meeting place there. The crowd hit him with sticks in front of Gallio. But Gallio did nothing to stop them. He did not think it was important.