Acts 19
1 During the stay of Apollos in Corinth, Paul, after passing through the inland districts, came to Ephesus, where he found a few disciples.
While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul [left the places in Phrygia and Galatia] provinces where he had been visiting, and traveled through [Asia province] back to Ephesus. He met some people [who said that they] were believers.
2 "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you first believed?" he asked them. "No," they replied, "we did not even hear that there is a Holy Spirit."
He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed [God’s message]?” They answered, “No, we [(exc) did not]. We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 "Into what then were you baptized?" he asked. "Into John's baptism," they replied.
So Paul asked, “So when you were baptized, what [were you showing]?” They replied, “[We were showing] that we [(exc)] believed what John [the Baptizer] taught.”
4 "John," he said, "administered a baptism of repentance, bidding the people believe on One who was to come after him; namely, on Jesus."
Paul said, “John baptized people who turned away from their sinful behavior. He [also] told the people to believe in the one who would come after he [had come], and that was Jesus.”
5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus;
So, when those men heard that, they were baptized [to affirm that they believed] [MTY] in the Lord Jesus.
6 and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.
After that, Paul placed his hands on their heads [one by one], and the [power of the] Holy Spirit came upon [each of] them. The [Holy Spirit] enabled them to speak in various languages [MTY] [that they had not learned], and they also spoke messages [that the Holy Spirit] revealed to them.
7 They numbered in all about twelve men.
There were about twelve men [whom Paul baptized and who received the power of the Holy Spirit].
8 Afterwards he went into the synagogue. There for three months he continued to preach fearlessly, explaining in words which carried conviction the truths which concern the Kingdom of God.
For three months after that, Paul entered the Jewish meeting place [in Ephesus on each] Sabbath/Jewish day of rest, and he spoke boldly. He convincingly taught [the people] about how God wanted to rule [MET] [their lives].
9 But some grew obstinate in unbelief and spoke evil of the new faith before all the congregation. So Paul left them, and, taking with him those who were disciples, held discussions daily in Tyrannus's lecture-hall.
[A few of the people in the meeting house believed the message about Jesus]. But some of the people would not believe that message and did not want to [continue to] hear it. While many people were listening, they said many bad things about the way [for people to receive eternal life about which Paul was preaching]. So Paul left them and took the believers with him [to meet in another place]. He taught every day in a lecture hall [that a man whose name was] Tyrannus [lectured in/owned].
10 This went on for two years, so that all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, heard the Lord's Message.
For two years Paul continued to teach people in that building. In this way, most of [HYP] the Jews and non-Jews who lived in Asia [province] heard the message about the Lord [Jesus].
11 God also brought about extraordinary miracles through Paul's instrumentality.
Also, God gave Paul the power [MTY] to do amazing miracles.
12 Towels or aprons, for instance, which Paul had handled used to be carried to the sick, and they recovered from their ailments, or the evil spirits left them.
[If those who were sick could not come to Paul, handkerchiefs or aprons that Paul had touched would be taken and] placed on the sick people {[others] would take [and place on] the sick people handkerchiefs or aprons that Paul had touched}. As a result, those sick people would become well, and evil spirits that troubled people would leave.
13 But there were also some wandering Jewish exorcists who undertook to invoke the name of Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, "I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches."
There were also some Jews who traveled around [to] various places, [and] they commanded the evil spirits in those places to depart [from people. Certain ones of those Jews once] tried to command the evil spirits to come out of people by saying “I command you by the authority [MTY] of the Lord Jesus, the man about whom Paul preaches, to come out!”
14 There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew of high-priestly family, who were doing this.
There were seven men who were doing that. They were sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew, [who called himself] a chief priest.
15 "Jesus I know," the evil spirit answered, "and Paul I have heard of, but who are you?"
But [one day as they were doing that], the evil spirit [refused to come out of that person. Instead, he] said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know [that he has authorized] Paul [to expel demons]. (But no one has authorized you [to do anything to me!]/who authorized you [to do anything to me]?) [RHQ]”
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was sprang on two of them, over-mastered them both, and treated them with such violence, that they fled from the house stripped of their clothes and wounded.
[After saying that, suddenly] the man who was controlled by the evil spirit jumped on the seven Jewish men, [one after another], knocked all of them down, and beat each of them severely. He tore off their clothes and wounded them, causing them to bleed. So, [greatly frightened, they all] ran out of the house.
17 All the people of Ephesus, Jews as well as Greeks, came to know of this. There was widespread terror, and they began to hold the name of the Lord Jesus in high honour.
All the people who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and non-Jews, heard what had happened. So they were afraid [MTY]. They honored the Lord Jesus [MTY] [because they realized that he was very powerful].
18 Many also of those who believed came confessing without reserve what their conduct had been,
[At that time], while other believers were listening, many believers confessed the evil things that they had been doing.
19 and not a few of those who had practised magical arts brought their books together and burnt them in the presence of all. The total value was reckoned and found to be 50,000 silver coins.
Several of those who had [previously] practiced sorcery gathered up their scrolls [that told how to work] magic and burned them in a public place. When people added up how much those scrolls had cost, they realized that altogether the amount was 50,000 valuable silver coins.
20 Thus mightily did the Lord's Message spread and triumph!
As a result, many more people heard [MTY] the message about the Lord [Jesus], and the message powerfully [changed their lives].
21 When matters had reached this point, Paul decided in his own mind to travel through Macedonia and Greece, and go to Jerusalem. "After that," he said, "I must also see Rome."
After those things had happened, Paul decided that he wanted to go to Jerusalem, but he decided that [first] he would visit [the believers in] Macedonia and Achaia [provinces again]. Paul said, “After I have been to Jerusalem, I must also go to Rome.”
22 But he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself remained for a while in Roman Asia.
He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia. But Paul stayed a little longer [in Ephesus city], in Asia [province].
23 Now just at that time there arose no small commotion about the new faith.
[Soon after that], some of the people there tried to make a lot of [LIT] trouble for the people who believed the way [God revealed for us(inc) to receive eternal life].
24 There was a certain Demetrius, a silversmith, who made miniature silver sanctuaries of Diana, a business which brought great gain to the mechanics in his employ.
There was a man there whose name was Demetrius who made little images out of silver. [They were models] of the temple of [a goddess whose name was] Artemis. Demetrius and the other men [who made those little images] earned a lot of [LIT] money [from selling those images].
25 He called his workmen together, and others who were engaged in similar trades, and said to them, "You men well know that our prosperity depends on this business of ours;
Demetrius called a meeting of his workmen and also of others who made the little silver images. He said to them, “Men, you know that we [(inc)] earn a lot of money doing our kind of work.
26 and you see and hear that, not in Ephesus only but throughout almost the whole province of Asia, this fellow Paul has led away a vast number of people by inducing them to believe that they are not gods at all that are made by men's hands.
Also, you know that [this fellow] Paul has persuaded many people who live in Ephesus [to no longer buy the images that we make. Now even the people from] many other towns in our province [no longer want to buy what we make]. This fellow tells people that the gods that we have made [and worship] are not gods [and that we should not worship them].
27 There is danger, therefore, not only that this our trade will become of no account, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will fall into utter disrepute, and that before long she will be actually deposed from her majestic rank--she who is now worshipped by the whole province of Asia; nay, by the whole world."
[If people continue to listen to him], soon they will ruin our business. Besides, they will no longer think that they should [come to] the temple of Artemis [to worship her. People] all over our Asia [province] and everywhere [HYP] else worship [our great] goddess [Artemis. Soon people] may no longer consider that Artemis is great!”
28 After listening to this harangue, they became furiously angry and kept calling out, "Great is the Ephesian Diana!"
All the men there were very angry [at Paul] when they heard what Demetrius said. They began to shout, “The goddess Artemis of us Ephesians is very great!”
29 The riot and uproar spread through the whole city, till at last with one accord they rushed into the Theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were fellow travellers with Paul.
Many of the other people in the city heard the shouting and went [and joined the crowd. They also became angry at Paul] and began shouting. [Several of] the people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, two men [from Macedonia] who had been traveling with Paul. [Then the whole crowd of people ran, dragging those men along with them], to the city stadium.
30 Then Paul would have liked to go in and address the people, but the disciples would not let him do so.
Paul also wanted to go [to the stadium and speak to] the people, but the other believers would not let him go there.
31 A few of the public officials, too, who were friendly to him, sent repeated messages entreating him not to venture into the Theatre.
Also, some government officials of that province who were friends of Paul [heard what was happening]. So they sent someone to tell him [urgently] not to go into the stadium.
32 The people, meanwhile, kept shouting, some one thing and some another; for the assembly was all uproar and confusion, and the greater part had no idea why they had come together.
The crowd of people [in the stadium] continued shouting. Some shouted one thing, and some shouted something else. But most of them did not even know what the meeting was about!
33 Then some of the people crowded round Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward; and Alexander, motioning with his hand to get silence, was prepared to make a defence to the people.
One of the [Jews there was named Alexander. Some of] the Jews pushed him to the front of the stadium, [so that he could speak to the crowd of people]. So Alexander motioned with his hands to the crowd, [wanting them to be quiet]. He wanted to tell them that [the Jews] were not responsible [for the riot].
34 No sooner, however, did they see that he was a Jew, than there arose from them all one roar of shouting, lasting about two hours. "Great is the Ephesian Diana," they said.
But [many of the non-Jewish people] knew that Alexander was a Jew. [They also knew that the Jews did not worship the goddess Artemis. So the non-Jews there] unitedly [and] repeatedly shouted for about two hours, “Great is [the goddess] Artemis [whom we(inc)] Ephesians [worship]!”
35 At length the Recorder quieted them down. "Men of Ephesus," he said, "who is there of all mankind that needs to be told that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Diana and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
Then the city secretary made the crowd stop shouting, and he said to them, “My fellow-citizens, everyone in the world knows [RHQ] that [we(inc) people who live in] Ephesus [city] guard the temple [where we worship] the great [goddess] Artemis. Also, [everyone knows that we(inc) watch over] the [sacred] image [of our goddess] that fell down from heaven!
36 These facts, then, being unquestioned, it becomes you to maintain your self-control and not act recklessly.
Of course everyone knows that, and no one can say that these things are not true. So you should be quiet now. Do not suddenly do anything (foolish/that will cause us trouble).
37 For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.
You [should not] have brought these [two] men [here, because they have not done anything evil]. They have not gone into our temples and taken things [from there]. And they have not spoken evil of our goddess.
38 If, however, Demetrius and the mechanics who support his contention have a grievance against any one, there are Assize-days and there are Proconsuls: let the persons interested accuse one another.
Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow-workmen want to accuse anyone [about anything bad, they should do it in the right way]. There are courts [that you can go to when you want to accuse someone], and there are judges [there who have been appointed by the government] {[whom the government has appointed]}. You can accuse [anyone there].
39 But if you desire anything further, it will have to be settled in the regular assembly.
But if you want to ask about something else, [you should ask] for [other officials to] resolve it when [those] officials legally assemble.
40 For in connexion with to-day's proceedings there is danger of our being charged with attempted insurrection, there having been no real reason for this riot; nor shall we be able to justify the behaviour of this disorderly mob."
[And this is certainly not a legal meeting! Resolve this legally] because, if [we(inc) do] not, I am afraid [that the governor] will hear about all this noise [that you have made] and will say that we [(inc)] were trying to rebel [against the government]. If he would ask me what you were all shouting about, I would not be able to give him an answer.”
41 With these words he dismissed the assembly.
That is what the city secretary said [to the crowd]. Then he told them all to go [home. So they left].
