Acts 18:19-28; Acts 19
19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and
Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When
they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21But as
he left, he promised, "I will come back if it is God's will." Then he
set sail from Ephesus. 22When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and
greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. 23After spending
some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place
throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. 24 Meanwhile
a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned
man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had
been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and
taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He
began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him,
they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more
adequately. 27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the
brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving,
he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For
he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures
that Jesus was the Christ.
1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through
the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and
asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They
answered, "No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." 3 So
Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" "John's
baptism," they replied. 4 Paul said, "John's baptism
was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming
after him, that is, in Jesus." 5 On hearing this, they
were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul
placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in
tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all. 8 Paul
entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing
persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them
became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So
Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the
lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so
that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word
of the Lord. 11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so
that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick,
and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. 13 Some
Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the
Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the
name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." 14 Seven
sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 [One
day] the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul,
but who are you?" 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit
jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they
ran out of the house naked and bleeding. 17 When this became
known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear,
and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many
of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19 A
number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them
publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to
fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord
spread widely and grew in power. 21After all this had happened,
Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia.
"After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome
also." 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and
Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer. 23 About
that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A
silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no
little business for the craftsmen. 25 He called them together,
along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we
receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear
how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here
in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made
gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our
trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess
Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped
throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine
majesty." 28 When they heard this, they were furious and
began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 29 Soon
the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus,
Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the
theater. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the
disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of
the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture
into the theater. 32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were
shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they
were there. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and
some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order
to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized
he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is
Artemis of the Ephesians!" 35 The city clerk quieted the
crowd and said: "Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city
of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image,
which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are
undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash. 37 You
have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor
blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow
craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are
proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything
further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As
it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's
events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since
there is no reason for it." 41 After he had said this, he
dismissed the assembly.
