Acts 19
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus and found certain disciples.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul took the inland route and arrived in Ephesus where he found some believers.
2 He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said to him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No, we haven't heard anything about a Holy Spirit,” they told him.
3 He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
“So what baptism did you receive?” he asked. “John's baptism,” they replied.
4 Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.”
“John baptized with the baptism of repentance,” said Paul. He told the people that they should trust in the one who would come after him—that is, they should trust in Jesus.
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke with other languages and prophesied.
After Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 They were about twelve men in all.
There were about twelve of them in total.
8 He entered into the synagogue and spoke boldly for a period of three months, reasoning and persuading about the things concerning God’s Kingdom.
Paul went to the synagogue and over the course of the next three months spoke boldly to those who were there, discussing with them and trying to convince them about the kingdom of God.
9 But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
But some of them were stubborn, and refused to accept. They denounced the Way to the crowd. So Paul gave up on them and left the synagogue, taking the believers with him. Then he had discussions every day at the hall of Tyrannus.
10 This continued for two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
This went on for the next two years, with the result that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
11 God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul,
God performed unusual miracles through Paul,
12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
so much so that they took handkerchiefs or aprons Paul had touched to heal the sick and to drive out evil spirits.
13 But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
Some Jews who were going around exorcising decided to use the name of the Lord Jesus when they drove out evil spirits. They'd say, “I command you to leave in the name of the Jesus that Paul talks about.”
14 There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
The ones doing this were the seven sons of Sceva, a Jew and a chief priest.
15 The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”
But one day an evil spirit responded, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”
16 The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
The man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered all of them. He beat them so severely that they ran out of the house, naked and badly injured.
17 This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
People living in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard about this. They were all in awe at what had happened, and the name of the Lord Jesus gained great respect.
18 Many also of those who had believed came, confessing and declaring their deeds.
Many came to trust in the Lord and confessed their sins, openly admitting their evil practices.
19 Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.
A number of those who used to practice sorcery collected their books on magic and brought them to be burned publicly. They worked out how much the books were worth, and the total was fifty thousand silver coins.
20 So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.
In this way the word of the Lord grew strong and spread widely.
21 Now after these things had ended, Paul determined in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
Some time after this Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing first through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I've been there, I'll have to go to Rome,” he said.
22 Having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed on for a while in the province of Asia.
23 About that time there arose no small disturbance concerning the Way.
It was about this time that serious problems occurred regarding the Way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen,
A man called Demetrius, a silversmith, was producing small silver replicas of the temple of the goddess Artemis. This business brought in a great deal of work for such craftsmen.
25 whom he gathered together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth.
Demetrius called them together, along with others who worked in similar trades, and said, “Fellow-workers, you know that it's through this business we make our money.
26 You see and hear that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods that are made with hands.
As you're no doubt aware from what you've seen and heard—not just here in Ephesus, but throughout almost the whole of Asia—this man Paul has convinced and misled many people, telling them that there are no such things as gods made by human hands.
27 Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.”
It's not just a question that our business will be in danger of losing respect, but that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be considered worthless. Artemis herself would be dethroned from her high position as the one whom everyone in Asia and the whole world worships.”
28 When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
When they heard this they became furious, and shouted out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel.
The city was in complete chaos. People rushed towards the amphitheatre, dragging along with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions who were from Macedonia.
30 When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn’t allow him.
Paul thought he should confront the mob, but the other believers would not let him.
31 Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.
Some of the provincial officials, who were Paul's friends, also sent a message begging him not to go into the amphitheatre.
32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn’t know why they had come together.
Some were shouting one thing, and some something else, for the crowd that had gathered was in total confusion—most of them had no idea why they were there.
33 They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people.
The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. Alexander motioned with his hand for them to be quiet, wanting to explain things to the people.
34 But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
But when they realized he was a Jew, they all took up a chant that lasted for about two hours, shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
After the town clerk had managed to quiet the mob down, he told them, “People of Ephesus, who doesn't know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image that fell from heaven?
36 Seeing then that these things can’t be denied, you ought to be quiet and to do nothing rash.
Since these facts can't be denied, you should stay calm—don't do anything rash.
37 For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.
You have brought these men here, but they haven't robbed any temples or blasphemed against our goddess.
38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another.
So if Demetrius and the other craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, then go to the authorities and the courts. They can press charges there.
39 But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly.
If there's anything else, it can be taken to the legal assembly.
40 For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning today’s riot, there being no cause. Concerning it, we wouldn’t be able to give an account of this commotion.”
In fact we ourselves are in danger of being accused of being responsible for this riot today, since there was no reason for it, and we can't justify why it happened.”
41 When he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
When he had finished speaking, he dismissed the crowd.
