Acts 19
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul took the inland route and arrived in Ephesus where he found some believers.
Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the hinterland, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples.
2 “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No, we haven't heard anything about a Holy Spirit,” they told him.
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" he asked them. "No" said they, "we did not even hear that there is a Holy Spirit."
3 “So what baptism did you receive?” he asked. “John's baptism,” they replied.
"Into what, then, were you baptized?" he asked. And they said, "Into the baptism of John."
4 “John baptized with the baptism of repentance,” said Paul. He told the people that they should trust in the one who would come after him—that is, they should trust in Jesus.
"John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance," answered Paul, "telling the people to believe on One who was coming after him, namely, on Jesus."
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
When they heard this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus;
6 After Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
and after Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak with tongues, and to prophesy.
7 There were about twelve of them in total.
They were in all about twelve men.
8 Paul went to the synagogue and over the course of the next three months spoke boldly to those who were there, discussing with them and trying to convince them about the kingdom of God.
Then Paul went into the synagogue, and there continued to preach fearlessly for about three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
9 But some of them were stubborn, and refused to accept. They denounced the Way to the crowd. So Paul gave up on them and left the synagogue, taking the believers with him. Then he had discussions every day at the hall of Tyrannus.
But when some grew hardened and disobedient, and spoke evil of the Way before the crowd, he left them, withdrew the disciples, and continued to hold discussions daily in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus.
10 This went on for the next two years, with the result that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the Lord’s message, Jews as well as Greeks.
11 God performed unusual miracles through Paul,
God also wrought extraordinary miracles by the hand of Paul;
12 so much so that they took handkerchiefs or aprons Paul had touched to heal the sick and to drive out evil spirits.
so much so, that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick; and their diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
13 Some Jews who were going around exorcising decided to use the name of the Lord Jesus when they drove out evil spirits. They'd say, “I command you to leave in the name of the Jesus that Paul talks about.”
But there were also some strolling Jewish exorcists, who took it upon them to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches."
14 The ones doing this were the seven sons of Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest.
There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish high priest who used to do this.
15 But one day an evil spirit responded, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”
But the evil spirit answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I have heard of, but who are you?"
16 The man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered all of them. He beat them so severely that they ran out of the house, naked and badly injured.
And the man in whom the evil spirit was sprang on two of them, overpowered them and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
17 People living in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard about this. They were all in awe at what had happened, and the name of the Lord Jesus gained great respect.
And this became known to all the people of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Awe fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in honor.
18 Many came to trust in the Lord and confessed their sins, openly admitting their evil practices.
Many also of those who became believers used to come to confess and to declare their deeds.
19 A number of those who used to practice sorcery collected their books on magic and brought them to be burned publicly. They worked out how much the books were worth, and the total was fifty thousand silver coins.
And some of them who had practised magic arts, collected their books, and burned them in the presence of all. And they counted the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand silver coins.
20 In this way the word of the Lord grew strong and spread widely.
So mightily the word of the Lord continued to grow and to prevail.
21 Some time after this Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing first through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I've been there, I'll have to go to Rome,” he said.
Now after these things were ended, Paul resolved in his spirit to travel through Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. "After I get there," he said, "I must see Rome, too."
22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in the province of Asia.
So he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, while he himself kept back for a time on his way into Asia.
23 It was about this time that serious problems occurred regarding the Way.
Now just at this time, there arose no small commotion concerning the Way.
24 A man called Demetrius, a silversmith, was producing small silver replicas of the temple of the goddess Artemis. This business brought in a great deal of work for such craftsmen.
There was a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, and brought rich profit to his workmen.
25 Demetrius called them together, along with others who worked in similar trades, and said, “Fellow-workers, you know that it's through this business we make our money.
He gathered them together with others of like occupation, and said. "Men, you know that by this business we make our money.
26 As you're no doubt aware from what you've seen and heard—not just here in Ephesus, but throughout almost the whole of Asia—this man Paul has convinced and misled many people, telling them that there are no such things as gods made by human hands.
"And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but almost throughout all of Asia, this fellow Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, by telling them that they are no gods at all who are made with hands.
27 It's not just a question that our business will be in danger of losing respect, but that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be considered worthless. Artemis herself would be dethroned from her high position as the one whom everyone in Asia and the whole world worships.”
"So there is danger not only that our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be brought into disrepute, and that she herself may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world now worships."
28 When they heard this they became furious, and shouted out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
After listening to this they were filled with rage, and cried out again and again, saying,
29 The city was in complete chaos. People rushed towards the amphitheatre, dragging along with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions who were from Macedonia.
The city was filled with commotion. They rushed like one man into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s companions in travel.
30 Paul thought he should confront the mob, but the other believers would not let him.
When Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not let him,
31 Some of the provincial officials, who were Paul's friends, also sent a message begging him not to go into the amphitheatre.
and some of the Asiarchs, too, who were his friends, sent word to him repeatedly, entreating him not to venture into the theater.
32 Some were shouting one thing, and some something else, for the crowd that had gathered was in total confusion—most of them had no idea why they were there.
Now some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in an uproar, and the majority had no idea why they were come together.
33 The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. Alexander motioned with his hand for them to be quiet, wanting to explain things to the people.
And they brought Alexander out of the crowd, whom the Jews had pushed forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, would have made a defense to the people,
34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all took up a chant that lasted for about two hours, shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
but when they saw that he was a Jew they all, with one voice, for about two hours, shouted,
35 After the town clerk had managed to quiet the mob down, he told them, “People of Ephesus, who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image that fell from heaven?
At length the recorder got them quiet. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who here does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple- guardian of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
36 Since these facts can't be denied, you should stay calm—don't do anything rash.
"Since these facts cannot be gainsaid, you ought to be calm and do nothing reckless.
37 You have brought these men here, but they haven't robbed any temples or blasphemed against our goddess.
"For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.
38 So if Demetrius and the other craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, then go to the authorities and the courts. They can press charges there.
If then Demetrius and his craftsmen have a grievance against any one, the courts are open and there are the proconsuls; let them accuse one another.
39 If there's anything else, it can be taken to the legal assembly.
But if you desire anything further, it must be settled in the regular assembly.
40 In fact we ourselves are in danger of being accused of being responsible for this riot today, since there was no reason for it, and we can't justify why it happened.”
For indeed we are in danger of being accused in regard to this day’s riot, since there is no cause for it, nor shall we be able to give account for this disorderly gathering."
41 When he had finished speaking, he dismissed the crowd.
With these words he dismissed the assembly.
