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The apostolic church

Paul's third journey: three years at Ephesus

AD 52–57Approximate date

Acts 18:23–21:16

Paul revisited the churches of Galatia and Phrygia, then spent about three years at Ephesus, teaching daily in the hall of Tyrannus, so that all the province of Asia heard the word. He then traveled through Macedonia and Greece and set out for Jerusalem with a collection for its poor.

So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.

Acts 19:20 (World English Bible)
MACEDONIAACHAIAASIAGALATIACILICIASYRIAAntiochTarsusSalamisPaphosPergaPisidian AntiochIconiumLystraDerbeTroasPhilippiThessalonicaBereaAthensCorinthEphesusMiletusCaesareaJerusalemGold dashed: first journey, about AD 46–48. Gold solid: second, about 49–52.Dotted: third, about 52–57 (three years at Ephesus). Routes simplified.Coastlines simplified
Paul's three missionary journeys (Acts 13–21), with approximate routes.

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul at Ephesus, and many who had practiced magic burned their scrolls publicly, worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:19). Churches sprang up in nearby cities, such as Colossae and Laodicea, planted by Paul's co-workers. Delegates from the churches of Macedonia, Achaia, Galatia, and Asia traveled with him to carry the gift to Jerusalem.

Places

JerusalemTyreMacedoniaAsiaEphesusAntiochCaesareaCyprusAchaiaSyriaGreeceGalatiaTroasPhilippiPhoeniciaMiletusPhrygiaAssosChiosCosMitylenePataraPtolemaisRhodesSamosTrogyllium

Dating notes

Ussher: AD 56–60. Dates for Paul's journeys follow the conventional chronology, anchored by an inscription at Delphi, found in 1905, that dates Gallio's term as proconsul of Achaia (Acts 18:12) to AD 51–52; Ussher, who could not have known it, runs two to three years later.

Open on the timelineRead Acts 18:23–21:16