Acts 19

¹While Apolʹlos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. ²And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ³And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” ⁴And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷There were about twelve of them in all.

⁸And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God; ⁹but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyranʹnus. ¹⁰This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, ¹²so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. ¹³Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” ¹⁶And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷And this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. ¹⁸Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. ¹⁹And a number of those who practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily.

²¹Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedoʹnia and Achaʹia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” ²²And having sent into Macedoʹnia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erasʹtus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

²³About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way. ²⁴For a man named Demeʹtrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Arʹtemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. ²⁵These he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. ²⁶And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Arʹtemis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸When they heard this they were enraged, and cried out, “Great is Arʹtemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹So the city was filled with the confusion; and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaʹius and Aristarʹchus, Macedoʹnians who were Paul’s companions in travel. ³⁰Paul wished to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; ³¹some of the Aʹsi-archs also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. ³²Now some cried one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make a defense to the people. ³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, “Great is Arʹtemis of the Ephesians!” ³⁵And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Arʹtemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? ³⁶Seeing then that these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸If therefore Demeʹtrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against any one, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. ⁴⁰For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.