1 W hile Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul went through the hill country to get to the city of Ephesus. He found a few followers there.

It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples.

2 H e asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you put your trust in Christ?” They said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

He said to them, “ Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 H e asked them, “How were you baptized?” They answered, “The way John baptized.”

And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “ Into John’s baptism.”

4 P aul said, “John baptized those who were sorry for their sins and turned from them. He told the people to put their trust in Jesus Who was coming later.”

Paul said, “ John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

5 T he people there were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus when they heard this.

When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6 W hen Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them. They started to talk in special sounds and to speak God’s Word.

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying.

7 T here were about twelve men. Paul Preaches in a Place of Worship and in a School in Ephesus

There were in all about twelve men.

8 F or three months Paul went into the Jewish place of worship and spoke without fear. He taught them things about the holy nation of God.

And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

9 S ome let their hearts grow hard. They would not put their trust in Christ. These spoke against the Christian religion in front of other people. Then Paul took the followers away from the others. He taught them each day in the school of Tyrannus.

But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

10 H e did this for two years. All the Jews and the Greeks in the countries of Asia heard the Word of the Lord. Paul Does Powerful Works

This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. Miracles at Ephesus

11 G od used Paul to do powerful special works.

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

12 P ieces of cloth and parts of his clothes that had been next to his body were put on sick people. Then they were healed of their diseases and demons came out of them.

so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out.

13 T here were Jews who went from city to city trying to put demons out of people. Some of these tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had demons. They said, “I speak to you in the name of Jesus, the One Paul preaches about.”

But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

14 A Jewish leader of the people by the name of Sceva had seven sons. These sons were trying to do this.

Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

15 T he demon said, “I know Jesus. I know about Paul. But who are you?”

And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

16 T hen the man with the demon jumped on the sons. He had power over them and beat them. They ran out of the house with no clothes on and they were hurt.

And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 A ll the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about it. Because of this all the people became afraid. And the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor.

This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

18 M any Christians came and told of the wrong things they were doing.

Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

19 M any of those who did witchcraft gathered their books together and burned them in front of everyone. These books were worth 50, 000 pieces of silver money.

And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

20 T he Word of the Lord became well-known.

So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.

21 A fter this, Paul thought he would go through the countries of Macedonia and Greece. Then he would go to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have been there, I must go to the city of Rome also.”

Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

22 H e sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. Paul stayed in the countries of Asia awhile longer. The Meeting of the Silver Workmen in Ephesus

And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

23 D uring that time there was much trouble about the Christians.

About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way.

24 A man named Demetrius made small silver buildings for the worship of Diana. His workmen received much money for their work.

For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen;

25 H e called his workmen together and other men who made these small silver buildings. He said to them, “Men, you know we make much money from this work.

these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this business.

26 N ow you hear that Paul has turned away many people in Ephesus as well as in Asia. He tells them that gods made with hands are not gods.

You see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all.

27 I t could be that our work will not be respected. Not only that, the house of worship for the god of Diana will be worth nothing and her greatness will be destroyed. All the countries of Asia and the world worship her.”

Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of Asia and the world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

28 T hey became angry when they heard this and cried out, “Great is Diana of Ephesus.”

When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

29 T he whole city was filled with loud cries. They caught Gaius and Aristarchus. These two men from Macedonia were with Paul. They gathered around them at the meeting place in the city.

The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

30 P aul wanted to stand in front of all the people but his followers would not let him.

And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, the disciples would not let him.

31 S ome of the city leaders who were his friends told him not to go to the meeting.

Also some of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture into the theater.

32 A ll this time some were crying out one thing and some another. The meeting was all noise. Most of the people did not know why they had come together.

So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for what reason they had come together.

33 T hen the Jews pushed Alexander to the front. Alexander held his hand up and was going to speak.

Some of the crowd concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.

34 A s soon as they saw he was a Jew, they cried out with a loud voice for two hours, “Great is Diana of Ephesus!”

But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 O ne of the city leaders stopped the noise. He spoke, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows our city is where the god of Diana is kept. That is the stone god that fell from the sky.

After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the image which fell down from heaven?

36 E veryone knows this is true, so you must not cry out or do anything foolish.

So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

37 T he men you brought here do not rob houses of worship or talk against our god.

For you have brought these men here who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

38 I f Demetrius and his workmen have something against anyone, we have special days for courts. Let them go to court.

So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another.

39 I f you want anything else, it should be done in another meeting.

But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the lawful assembly.

40 W e are in danger of being asked about this trouble today. There is no good reason we can give for this meeting.”

For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.”

41 W hen he had said this, he told them to leave.

After saying this he dismissed the assembly.