Acts 19

¹It happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland districts and came down to Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied to him, “No, we have not even heard that the Holy Spirit is being given.”

³He asked, “Into what, then, were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”

⁴Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of radical reorientation, telling the people that they should believe in the one coming after him—that is, in Jesus.” ⁵On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. ⁷In all, there were about twelve men.

⁸Paul entered the synagogue and spoke out boldly for three months, debating and speaking persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹But when some became stubborn and refused to believe, slandering the Way in front of the whole congregation, Paul withdrew from them. He took the disciples with him and conducted daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This continued for two years, so that everyone living in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

¹¹God was performing extraordinary acts of power through the hands of Paul, ¹²so that even sweat-cloths or work-aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick; their diseases left them, and the wicked spirits went out of them.

¹³Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had wicked spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims!” ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the wicked spirit answered them, “Jesus I recognize, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man in whom the wicked spirit lived lunged at them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷This became known to everyone living in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. ¹⁸Many of those who had become believers came forward, openly confessing and disclosing their occult practices. ¹⁹A significant number of those who had practiced magic gathered their scrolls and burned them in the sight of everyone. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, it came to fifty thousand silver drachmas. ²⁰In this powerful way, the word of the Lord continued to grow and prevail.

²¹After these events, Paul resolved in his spirit to travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then go to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have been there, I must see Rome as well.” ²²So he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed in Asia for a while longer.

²³About that time, a major disturbance arose concerning the Way. ²⁴A man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver models of the shrines of Artemis, provided no small amount of business for the artisans. ²⁵He gathered them together, along with workers in related trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this business. ²⁶You see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost the entire province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and misled a significant crowd, saying that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. ²⁷There is a danger not only that our trade will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and she whom all Asia and the inhabited world worship will be stripped of her majesty.”

²⁸When they heard this, they were filled with fury and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹The city was filled with confusion. They rushed together into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions. ³⁰Paul wanted to go into the assembly, but the disciples would not let him. ³¹Even some of the Asiarchs, who were his friends, sent word to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.

³²Now some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in total chaos, and most of them did not even know why they had come together. ³³Some of the crowd coached Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed forward. Alexander motioned with his hand, wanting to make a defense to the people. ³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry rose from them all for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵After the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, is there anyone who does not know that the city of Ephesus is the temple-warden of the great Artemis and of the image that fell from the sky? ³⁶Since these things are undeniable, you must remain calm and do nothing reckless. ³⁷For you have brought these men here, though they are neither temple-robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸If, therefore, Demetrius and the artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹But if you are seeking anything beyond that, it must be settled in the legal assembly. ⁴⁰For we are in danger of being charged with rioting regarding today’s events, since there is no cause we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.