Acts 19
1 Now it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the hinterland, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples.
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland districts of Roman Asia, and went to Ephesus. There he found some disciples, of whom he asked,
2 "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."
‘Did you, when you became believers in Christ, receive the Holy Spirit?’ ‘No,’ they answered, ‘we did not even hear that there was a Holy Spirit.’
3 "Into what, then, were you baptized?" he asked. And they said, "Into the baptism of John."
‘What then was your baptism?’ Paul asked.
4 "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."
‘John’s baptism was a baptism on repentance,’ rejoined Paul, ‘and John told the people (speaking of the “one coming” after him) that they should believe in him – that is in Jesus.’
5 When they heard this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus;
On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,
6 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.
and, after Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit descended on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to preach.
7 They were in all about twelve men.
There were about twelve of them in all.
8 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.
Paul went to the synagogue there, and for three months spoke out fearlessly, giving addresses and trying to convince his hearers, about the kingdom of God.
9 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.
Some of them, however, hardened their hearts and refused to believe, denouncing the Way before the people. So Paul left them and withdrew his disciples, and gave daily addresses in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus.
10 This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the Lord’s message, Jews as well as Greeks.
This went on for two years, so that all who lived in Roman Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the Lord’s message.
11 God also wrought extraordinary miracles by the hand of Paul;
God did miracles of no ordinary kind by Paul’s hands;
12 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.
so that people would carry home to the sick handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body, and their diseases would leave them and the wicked spirits go out of them.
13 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."
An attempt was made by some itinerant Jews, who were exorcists, to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had wicked spirits in them. ‘I order you,’ they would say, ‘by the Jesus, whom Paul preaches.’
14 There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish high priest who used to do this.
The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this;
15 But the evil spirit answered, "Jesus I know, and Paul I have heard of, but who are you?"
but the wicked spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know, but you – who are you?’
16 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.
Then the man, in whom this wicked spirit was, sprang on them, mastered both of them, and so completely overpowered them, that they fled out of the house, stripped of their clothes, and wounded.
17 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.
This incident came to the knowledge of all the Jews and Greeks living at Ephesus; they were all awe-struck, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in the highest honour.
18 Many also of those who became believers used to come to confess and to declare their deeds.
Many, too, of those who had become believers in Christ came with a full confession of their practices;
19 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.
while a number of people, who had practiced magic, collected their books and burnt them publicly; and on reckoning up the price of these, they found it amounted to fifty thousand silver coins.
20 So mightily the word of the Lord continued to grow and to prevail.
So irresistibly did the Lord’s message spread and prevail.
21 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."
Sometime after these events Paul resolved to go through Macedonia and Greece, and then make his way to Jerusalem. ‘And after I have been there,’ he said, ‘I must visit Rome also.’
22 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.
So he sent to Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Roman Asia.
23 Now just at this time, there arose no small commotion concerning the Way.
Just about that time a great disturbance arose about the Way.
24 There was a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Diana, and brought rich profit to his workmen.
A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver models of the shrine of Artemis, and so gave a great deal of work to the artisans,
25 He gathered them together with others of like occupation, and said. "Men, you know that by this business we make our money.
got these men together, as well as the workmen engaged in similar occupations, and said: ‘Men, you know that our prosperity depends on this work,
26 "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.
and you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but in almost the whole of Roman Asia, this Paul has convinced and won over great numbers of people, by his assertion that those Gods which are made by hands are not Gods at all.
27 "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."
So that not only is this business of ours likely to fall into discredit, but there is the further danger that the Temple of the great Goddess Artemis will be thought nothing of, and that she herself will be deprived of her splendour – though all Roman Asia and the whole world worship her.’
28 After listening to this they were filled with rage, and cried out again and again, saying,
When they heard this, the men were greatly enraged, and began shouting – ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’
29 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.
The commotion spread through the whole city, and the people rushed together into the amphitheater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.
30 When Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not let him,
Paul wished to go into the amphitheater and face the people, but the disciples would not let him,
31 and some of the Asiarchs, too, who were his friends, sent word to him repeatedly, entreating him not to venture into the theater.
while some of the chief religious officials of the province, who were friendly to him, sent repeated entreaties to him not to trust himself inside.
32 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.
Meanwhile some were shouting one thing and some another, for the Assembly was all in confusion, most of those present not even knowing why they had met.
33 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,
But some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom several of the Jewish leaders had pushed to the front, and he waved his hand to show that he wanted to speak in their defence to the people.
34 but when they saw that he was a Jew they all, with one voice, for about two hours, shouted,
However, when they recognised him as a Jew, one cry broke from them all, and they continued shouting for two hours – ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’
35 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?
When the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he said, ‘People of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from Zeus?
36 "Since these facts cannot be gainsaid, you ought to be calm and do nothing reckless.
As these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and do nothing rash;
37 "For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.
for you have brought these men here, though they are neither robbers of Temples nor blasphemers of our Goddess.
38 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.
If, however, Demetrius and the artisans who are acting with him have a charge to make against anyone, there are court days and there are Magistrates; let both parties take legal proceedings.
39 But if you desire anything further, it must be settled in the regular assembly.
But if you want anything more, it will have to be settled in the regular Assembly.
40 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."
For I tell you that we are in danger of being proceeded against for today’s riot, there being nothing to account for it; and in that case we will be at a loss to give any reason for this disorderly gathering.’
41 With these words he dismissed the assembly.
With these words he dismissed the Assembly.
