Acts 19

¹Acts 19:1. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples²Acts 19:2. and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”³Acts 19:3. “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.⁴Acts 19:4. Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”⁵Acts 19:5. On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.⁶Acts 19:6. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.⁷Acts 19:7. There were about twelve men in all.

⁸Acts 19:8. Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.⁹Acts 19:9. But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.¹⁰Acts 19:10. This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹Acts 19:11. God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,¹²Acts 19:12. so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.¹³Acts 19:13. Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”¹⁴Acts 19:14. Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.¹⁵Acts 19:15. But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”¹⁶Acts 19:16. Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.¹⁷Acts 19:17. This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.¹⁸Acts 19:18. Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds.¹⁹Acts 19:19. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.²⁰Acts 19:20. So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.

²¹Acts 19:21. After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”²²Acts 19:22. He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.²³Acts 19:23. About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.²⁴Acts 19:24. It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.²⁵Acts 19:25. Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.²⁶Acts 19:26. And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.²⁷Acts 19:27. There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”²⁸Acts 19:28. When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”²⁹Acts 19:29. Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.³⁰Acts 19:30. Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him.³¹Acts 19:31. Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.³²Acts 19:32. Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there.³³Acts 19:33. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.³⁴Acts 19:34. But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”³⁵Acts 19:35. Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven?³⁶Acts 19:36. Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.³⁷Acts 19:37. For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.³⁸Acts 19:38. So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there.³⁹Acts 19:39. But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly.⁴⁰Acts 19:40. For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”⁴¹Acts 19:41. After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.