Acts 19
1 And it came to pass, in Apollos being in Corinth, Paul having gone through the upper parts, came to Ephesus, and having found certain disciples,
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples
2 he said to them, “Having believed, did you receive the Holy Spirit?” And they said to him, “But we did not even hear whether there is any Holy Spirit”;
and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 and he said to them, “Into what, then, were you immersed?” And they said, “Into John’s immersion.”
“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.
4 And Paul said, “John, indeed, immersed with an immersion of conversion, saying to the people that they should believe in Him who is coming after him—that is, in the Christ—Jesus”;
Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 and they, having heard, were immersed into the Name of the Lord Jesus,
On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 and Paul having laid [his] hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, they were also speaking with tongues, and prophesying,
And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 and all the men were, as it were, twelve.
There were about twelve men in all.
8 And having gone into the synagogue, he was speaking boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God,
Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
9 and when certain were hardened and were disbelieving, speaking evil of The Way before the multitude, having departed from them, he separated the disciples, reasoning every day in the school of a certain Tyrannus.
But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 And this happened for two years so that all those dwelling in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks,
This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
11 also mighty works—not common—God was working through the hands of Paul,
God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,
12 so that even to the ailing were brought from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them; the evil spirits also went forth from them.
so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.
13 And certain of the wandering exorcist Jews, took on [them] to name over those having the evil spirits the Name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches”;
Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I bind you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”
14 and there were certain—seven sons of Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest—who are doing this thing;
Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 and the evil spirit, answering, said, “I know Jesus, and I am acquainted with Paul; and you—who are you?”
Eventually, one of the evil spirits answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaping on them, and having overcome them, prevailed against them, so that they fled naked and wounded out of that house,
Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
17 and this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who are dwelling at Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the Name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified;
This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.
18 many also of those who believed were coming, confessing and declaring their acts,
Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.
19 and many of those who had practiced the superfluous arts, having brought the scrolls together, were burning [them] before all; and they reckoned together the prices of them, and found [it] fifty thousand pieces of silver,
And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
20 so powerfully was the word of God increasing and prevailing.
So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.
21 And when these things were fulfilled, Paul purposed in the Spirit, having gone through Macedonia and Achaia, to go on to Jerusalem, saying, “After my being there, it is also necessary for me to see Rome”;
After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”
22 and having sent to Macedonia two of those ministering to him—Timotheus and Erastus—he himself stayed a time in Asia.
He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.
23 And there came, at that time, not a little stir about The Way,
About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.
24 for a certain one, Demetrius by name, a worker in silver, making silver sanctuaries of Artemis, was bringing to the craftsmen not a little gain,
It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.
25 whom, having brought in a crowd together, and those who worked around such things, he said, “Men, you know that by this work we have our wealth;
Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.
26 and you see and hear, that not only at Ephesus, but almost in all Asia, this Paul, having persuaded, turned away a great multitude, saying that they who are made by hands are not gods;
And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
27 and not only is this department in danger for us of coming into disregard, but also, that of the great goddess Artemis, the temple is to be reckoned for nothing, and also her greatness is about to be brought down, whom all Asia and the world worships.”
There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
28 And having heard, and having become full of wrath, they were crying out, saying, “Great [is] the Artemis of the Ephesians!”
When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion; they rushed also with one accord into the theater, having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s fellow-travelers.
Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.
30 And on Paul’s resolving to enter in to the populace, the disciples were not permitting him,
Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him.
31 and also some of the chief men of Asia, being his friends, having sent to him, were pleading [with] him not to venture into the theater himself.
Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.
32 Some indeed, therefore, were calling out one thing, and some another, for the assembly was confused, and the greater part did not know for what they had come together;
Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
33 and out of the multitude they put forward Alexander—the Jews thrusting him forward—and Alexander having beckoned with the hand, wished to make defense to the populace,
The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.
34 and having known that he is a Jew, one voice came out of all, for about two hours, crying, “Great [is] the Artemis of the Ephesians!”
But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 And the public clerk having quieted the multitude, says, “Men, Ephesians, why, who is the man that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of that which fell down from Zeus?
Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?
36 These things, then, being undeniable, it is necessary for you to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.
Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.
37 For you brought these men, who are neither temple-robbers nor slandering of your goddess;
For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.
38 if indeed, therefore, Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a matter with anyone, court [days] are held, and there are proconsuls; let them accuse one another.
So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there.
39 And if you seek after anything concerning other matters, it will be determined in the legal assembly;
But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly.
40 for we are also in peril of being accused of insurrection in regard to this day, there being no occasion by which we will be able to give an account of this concourse”;
For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”
41 and having said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
