The Lord Upholds My Life

To the choirmaster: with ^tstringed instruments. A Maskil¹ of David, ^uwhen the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”

Paul in Corinth

1 After this Paul¹ left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named ^vAquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife ^vPriscilla, because ^wClaudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3 and ^xbecause he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 And ^yhe reasoned in the synagogue ^yevery Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

5 ^zWhen Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul ^awas occupied with the word, ^btestifying to the Jews that the Christ was ^cJesus. 6 And when they opposed and reviled him, ^dhe shook out his garments and said to them, ^e“Your blood be on your own heads! ^fI am innocent. ^gFrom now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius ^hJustus, ⁱa worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. 8 ^jCrispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together ^kwith his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul ^lone night in ^ma vision, ⁿ“Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, 10 ⁿfor I am with you, and ^ono one will attack you to harm you, for ^pI have many in this city who are my people.” 11 And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

12 But when Gallio was ^qproconsul of Achaia, ^rthe Jews² made a united attack on Paul and ^sbrought him before the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God contrary to ^tthe law.” 14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or vicious ^ucrime, O Jews, I would have reason to accept your complaint. 15 But ^vsince it is a matter of questions about words and names and ^wyour own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.” 16 And he drove them from the tribunal. 17 And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

Paul Returns to Antioch

18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of ^xthe brothers³ and set sail for Syria, and with him ^yPriscilla and Aquila. At ^zCenchreae ^ahe had cut his hair, for he was under a vow. 19 And they came to ^bEphesus, and he left them there, but ^che himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you ^dif God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he ^ewent up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and ^fwent from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, ^gstrengthening all the disciples.

Apollos Speaks Boldly in Ephesus

24 Now a Jew named ^hApollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, ⁱcompetent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in ^jthe way of the Lord. And ^kbeing fervent in spirit,⁴ he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only ^lthe baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when ^mPriscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him ⁿthe way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to ^oAchaia, ^pthe brothers encouraged him and ^qwrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, ^rhe greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures ^sthat the Christ was Jesus.