Acts 19
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul took the inland route and arrived in Ephesus where he found some believers.
Now it came to pass while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul having passed through the upper parts of Asia came to Ephesus:
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.
and finding some disciples there, he said unto them, Have ye received the holy Spirit since ye embraced the faith? And they said unto him, Nay, we had not even heard whether the holy Spirit be yet given.
3 “So what baptism did you receive?” he asked. “John's baptism,” they replied.
And he said unto them, Into what then were ye baptized? 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.
Then said Paul, John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people, that they should believe in Him that was coming after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when they heard this, they were baptized in 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 as Paul laid his hands on them, the holy Spirit came upon them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. And the men were in all about twelve.
7 There were about twelve of them in total.
And he went into the synagogue,
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.
and spake boldly, disputing with them for the space of three months, and persuading them of the things concerning 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 as some were hardened and refractory, speaking evil of the way of life before the multitude, he departed from them, and took away the disciples with him, disputing daily in the school of one 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.
And this he did for two years; so that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord Jesus.
11 God performed unusual miracles through Paul,
And God wrought extraordinary miracles by the hands 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 that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases lest them, and evil spirits went out of them.
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.”
Then some of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name the name of the Lord Jesus over those that had evil spirits, saying, "We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth."
14 The ones doing this were the seven sons of Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest.
Now there were seven sons of one Sceva a Jewish priest, who did 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 and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye?
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, leapt upon them, and mastered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that 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, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18 Many came to trust in the Lord and confessed their sins, openly admitting their evil practices.
And many of them that believed came confessing and declaring their former practices.
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 a great number of those that had used inquisitive arts, brought the books, and burned them before them all: and they computed the price of them, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
20 In this way the word of the Lord grew strong and spread widely.
So mightily did the word of the Lord increase and 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.
After these things, Paul purposed in spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia, and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
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 into Macedonia two of those that ministred to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed some time in Asia.
23 It was about this time that serious problems occurred regarding the Way.
Now there happened at that time no small disturbance about the way which he taught.
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.
For one Demetrius, a silver-smith, who made silver models of Diana's temple, brought no small gain to the artificers: whom he got together,
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.
and with them the workmen they employed about such things, and said, My friends, ye know that by this employment we get our wealth.
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 ye see and hear, that not only at Ephesus, but in almost all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and perverted many people, saying, that they are no gods which are made by 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 that we are not only in danger of this, that the business we follow will come to nothing; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be despised; and her magnificence destroyed, whom all Asia and the whole world worshippeth.
28 When they heard this they became furious, and shouted out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Hearing this and being filled with rage, they cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
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.
And the whole city was filled with confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus two Macedonians, fellow-travellers with Paul.
30 Paul thought he should confront the mob, but the other believers would not let him.
And when Paul would have gone in unto 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 also of the chief men of Asia, being his friends, sent to him and desired him not to venture himself into the theatre.
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.
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another; for the assembly was confused, and the greater part did not know for what 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 forward out of the multitude, the Jews urging him on. And Alexander beckoning with the hand, would have made a defence 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 knew that he was a Jew, they all cried out with one voice, for near two hours, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
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?
And when the Secretary had appeased the multitude, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who doth not know that the city of the Ephesians is devoted to the service of the great goddess 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 therefore these things are incontestible, ye ought to be quiet and composed, and to do nothing rashly.
37 You have brought these men here, but they haven't robbed any temples or blasphemed against our goddess.
For ye have brought these men hither, who are neither robbers of temples, nor blasphemers of your 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 Demetrius therefore, and the artificers that are with him, have a charge against any one, the law-courts are open, and there are Roman proconsuls likewise: let them implead one another.
39 If there's anything else, it can be taken to the legal assembly.
But if ye are enquiring any thing about other matters, let it be decided in a lawful 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 we are in danger of being charged with sedition for what has happened this day, there being no cause by which we can give a reason for this concourse.
41 When he had finished speaking, he dismissed the crowd.
And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
