Acts - Chapter 19

Paul in Ephesus

^{1 ①} While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²whom he asked, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They answered, “We have not even heard that anyone may receive the Holy Spirit.” ³Paul then asked, “What kind of baptism have you received?” And they answered, “The baptism of John.”

⁴Paul then explained, “John’s baptism was for conversion, but he himself said they should believe in the one who was to come, and that one is Jesus.” ⁵Upon hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶Then Paul laid his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came down upon them; and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. ⁷There were about twelve of them in all.

⁸Paul went into the synagogue and for three months he preached and discussed there boldly, trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God. ⁹Some of them, instead of believing, grew obstinate and criticized the Way publicly. So Paul departed from them and took the disciples with him. He taught daily in the lecture hall of a certain Tyrannus. ¹⁰He did this for two years, so that all those who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and non-Jews, heard the word of the Lord.

^{11 ②} God did extraordinary deeds of power through the hands of Paul. ¹²Even handkerchiefs or cloths that had touched his skin were laid upon the sick and their illnesses were cured, and evil spirits also departed from them. ¹³Some Jews who traveled around driving out evil spirits, also tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those possessed by evil spirits, saying, “I command you by this Jesus whom Paul preaches.” ¹⁴Among them were the seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva. ¹⁵But one day, when they entered a house and dared to do this, the evil spirit said to them, “Jesus I recognize and Paul I know; but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man with the evil spirit sprang at them and overpowered first one and then another. And he handled them so violently that they fled from that house naked and mauled. ¹⁷This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus; all of them were very impressed and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in great honor.

¹⁸Many of those who had become believers came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices. ¹⁹Many who had practiced magic arts collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of these was assessed, it came to fifty thousand silver coins.

²⁰In this way, the word of the Lord spread widely and with power.

The silversmiths’ riot

^{21 ③} When all these events were completed, Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, decided to travel through Macedonia and Achaia again and then go on to Jerusalem. And he said, “After I have been there, I must visit Rome also.” ²²So he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia ahead of him, while he himself stayed on for a time in Asia.

²³About that time the city was deeply troubled because of the Way. ²⁴It all began because of a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis and whose business brought a great deal of profit to the workers. ²⁵He called them, together with others who did similar work, and said, “Friends, you know that our prosperity depends on this work. ²⁶But, as you can see and hear for yourselves, this Paul has led astray a great number of people, not only here in Ephesus, but also throughout most of the province of Asia. And he has convinced them that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. ²⁷The danger grows that not only our trade will be discredited, but even that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will count for nothing. She whom Asia and all the world worships may soon be stripped of her renown.”

²⁸On hearing this they became enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹The uproar spread throughout the whole city. The mob rushed to the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. ³⁰Paul wished to face this crowd, but the disciples would not let him. ³¹Some of the officials of the Asian province also, who were friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to show himself in the theater.

³²Meanwhile the whole assembly was in an uproar. Some shouted one thing, and some shouted another and most of them did not know why they were there. ³³Some of the crowd wanted a certain Alexander to speak, whom the Jews put forward. Alexander intended to make a speech of defense before the crowd, ³⁴but when they recognized that he was a Jew, they chanted all together for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵Finally the town clerk was able to calm the mob. He said, “Citizens of Ephesus, who does not know that Ephesus is keeper of the temple of the great Artemis, and of her image which fell from the sky? ³⁶Since these things are undeniable, you must calm yourselves and do nothing rash. ³⁷These men whom you brought here are not temple-robbers nor have they spoken ill of our goddess. ³⁸If Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen want to bring charges against anyone, the courts are open and there are officials. Let them bring charges against each other. ³⁹If there is anything further that needs to be investigated, let it be done in the lawful assembly. ⁴⁰For as it is today, we are in danger of being charged with rioting, since there is no valid excuse we can give for this wild demonstration.” ⁴¹And the town clerk dismissed the assembly.