Paul Is Brought Before Gallio
12 During the time that Gallio was the governor of Achaia, some of the Jews came together against Paul. They took him to court.
13 They said to Gallio, “This man is teaching people to worship God in a way that is against our law!”
14 Paul was ready to say something, but Gallio spoke to the Jews. He said, “I would listen to you if your complaint was about a crime or other wrong.
15 But it is only about words and names—arguments about your own law. So you must solve this problem yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.”
16 So Gallio made them leave the court.
17 Then they all grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue. They beat him before the court. But this did not bother Gallio.
Paul Returns to Antioch
18 Paul stayed with the believers for many days. Then he left and sailed for Syria. Priscilla and Aquila were also with him. At Cenchrea Paul cut off his hair,[a] because he had made a promise to God.
19 Then they went to the city of Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. While Paul was in Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and talked with the Jews.
20 They asked him to stay longer, but he refused.
21 He left them and said, “I will come back to you again if God wants me to.” And so he sailed away from Ephesus.
22 When Paul arrived at Caesarea, he went to Jerusalem and visited the church there. After that he went to Antioch.
23 Paul stayed in Antioch for a while. Then he left there and went through the countries of Galatia and Phrygia. He traveled from town to town in these countries, helping all the followers of Jesus grow stronger in their faith.
Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
24 A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. Born in the city of Alexandria, he was an educated man who knew the Scriptures well.
25 He had been taught about the Lord and was always excited[b] to talk to people about Jesus. What he taught was right, but the only baptism he knew about was the baptism that John taught. 26 Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak, they took him to their home and helped him understand the way of God better.
27 Apollos wanted to go to Achaia. So the believers in Ephesus helped him. They wrote a letter to the Lord’s followers in Achaia and asked them to accept Apollos. When he arrived there, he was a great help to those who had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace.
28 He argued very strongly against the Jews before all the people. He clearly proved that the Jews were wrong. He used the Scriptures and showed that Jesus is the Messiah.