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¹ Paul saddled up, left Athens, and headed for Corinth. ² He ran into a fellow named Aquila from Pontus along with his wife, Priscilla. This cowboy and his wife were from Italy and had lit out of there when Claudius Caesar had kicked all the Jews out of Rome. ³ Paul stayed with them in Athens and helped them make cowboy tents, because that was his trade.

⁴ But on the day of rest, Paul could be found down at the Jewish church in town. He did everything he could to recruit riders for Jesus's outfit. ⁵ When Silas and Timothy got there from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching about Jesus. He told everyone who would listen that Jesus was the Top Hand who would save them all. ⁶ Most folks would listen for a spell and then make fun of him or just argue. Paul would then shrug his shoulders and say, "Y'all go ahead and try to save yourselves. Your deaths will be long, hard, and your fault. I'm headed out to gather the unbranded mavericks. At least they'll listen."

⁷ He headed over to Titius Justus's place. This cowboy had once been an unbranded maverick, but now he wore the brand of Jesus proudly. Ol' Titius's place was right next door to the Jewish church. ⁸ But not everyone had shunned Paul's message. Crispus, the head honcho at the church, believed in Jesus along with his whole family and household staff. There were quite a few others who also became believers and were baptized with the brand of Jesus on their hearts.

⁹ Paul was laying in his bedroll one night, and the Lord said to him, "Don't weaken, cowboy. Don't let people bully you into silence. ¹⁰ I'm behind you so speak out boldly. No one's going to lay a finger on ya. There's more folks who ride for me here than you know about." ¹¹ So Paul stuck around there for about eighteen months teaching and preaching about Jesus.

¹² But then a fellow named Gallio rose to power in Achaia. Some Jews got together and started a ruckus about Paul. They hauled him in before the new governor and demanded a trial. ¹³ They said Paul was "Splitting God's herd with his teachings and making a mockery of our code."

¹⁴ Paul was about to respond to the allegations when Gallio stood up and said to the Jews, "If this man had shot someone or rustled some cattle, I'd listen to the case. ¹⁵ But this all boils down to him saying something y'all don't like. Quit wasting my time over arguments about words and take care of it yourselves. I'm not going to listen to any more of this nonsense from y'all." ¹⁶ And then he threw them all out of the courtroom.

¹⁷ As they were leaving, the Jews grabbed a guy named Sosthenes (the new leader of the Jewish church and a believer in Jesus) and beat him mercilessly. Gallio rolled his eyes and said nothing.

Paul Heads Back to Antioch in Syria

¹⁸ Paul hung around Corinth for a little while longer and then said his goodbyes as he headed out for Cenchreae. While there, he shaved his head according to Jewish custom when a vow you have made has been completed. Then he grabbed his saddle and other tack, got on a boat with Aquila and Priscilla, and sailed for Syria.

¹⁹ The boat stopped at the port of Ephesus and Paul left his two companions there. While he was there, he once again went to the Jewish church to try to talk some sense into them. ²⁰ They asked him to stick around a while, but he told them he couldn't. ²¹ But Paul did say, "I'll come back here if God lets me. You can count on that." Then he boarded the boat, and they sailed away from Ephesus. ²² The next stop was the port of Caesarea. Since he was close by, he rode over to Jerusalem and met with the cowboys there before heading back north to Antioch in Syria. ²³ After spending some time with the cowboys in Antioch, Paul saddled up and went back down the trail through Galatia and Phrygia. He stopped and visited with every cowboy he came across who was a believer and urged them to keep riding hard for the brand.

Apollos is Schooled in Ephesus

²⁴ Meanwhile, there was a great speaker named Apollos who'd arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. This cowboy knew quite a bit about the Good Book. ²⁵ He was really good at gathering folks to ride for the brand of Jesus. But he only went as far as the baptism of John because that's all he knew. ²⁶ When Aquila and Priscilla heard him preach in the Jewish church, they mentored him and explained Jesus's way even more to him.

²⁷ Apollos told them he'd been thinking of heading over to Achaia. All the believers in Ephesus encouraged him to head out. They even sent word to the believers over there to welcome him and listen to what he had to say. He proved to be quite a hand to the believers around Achaia. ²⁸ He stood up to the Jews lofty arguments in public meetings. He used the Good Book to prove Jesus was the Top Hand who would save all those who rode for him.