^19:1While¹ Apollos was in Corinth,² Paul went through the inland³ regions⁴ and came to Ephesus.⁵ He⁶ found some disciples there⁷^19:2and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”⁸ They replied,⁹ “No, we have not even¹⁰ heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” ^19:3So Paul¹¹ said, “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.¹²^19:4Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,¹³ that is, in Jesus.” ^19:5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, ^19:6and when Paul placed¹⁴ his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came¹⁵ upon them, and they began to speak¹⁶ in tongues and to prophesy.¹⁷

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Footnotes

1 Grk “It happened that while.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
2 For location see ; ; ; .
3 Or “interior.”
4 ἀνωτερικός has “upper τὰ ἀ. μέρη the upper (i.e. inland) country, the interior Ac 19:1.”
5 For location see ; ; ; .
6 Grk “and found.” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the sequencing with the following verse the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun.
7 The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
8 The participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusantes) is taken temporally.
9 Grk “they [said] to him” (the word “said” is implied in the Greek text).
10 This use of ἀλλά (alla) is ascensive and involves an ellipsis ( ἀλλά 3): “No, [not only did we not receive the Spirit,] but also we have not heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” However, this is lengthy and somewhat awkward in English, and the ascensive meaning can be much more easily represented by including the word “even” after the negation. Apparently these disciples were unaware of the provision of the Spirit that is represented in baptism. The language sounds like they did not know about a Holy Spirit, but this seems to be only linguistic shorthand for not knowing about the Spirit’s presence (Luke 3:15–18). The situation is parallel to that of Apollos. Apollos and these disciples represent those who “complete” their transition to messianic faith as Jews.
11 Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 Grk “they said.”
13 These disciples may have had their contact with John early on in the Baptist’s ministry before Jesus had emerged. This is the fifth time Luke links John the Baptist and Jesus (Acts 1:5; 11:16; 13:25; 18:25).
14 Or “laid.”
15 The coming of the Holy Spirit here is another case where the Spirit comes and prophesy results in Acts (see Acts 2). Paul’s action parallels that of Peter (Acts 8) and not just with Gentiles.
16 The imperfect verb ἐλάλουν (elaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
17 The imperfect verb ἐπροφήτευον (eprophēteuon) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 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.”

So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

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.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions and came to Ephesus. He found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”

“No,” they told him, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

“Into what then were you baptized?” he asked them.

“Into John’s baptism,” they replied.

Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”

When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

NLTNew Living Translation

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus, on the coast, where he found several believers. “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them.

“No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

“Then what baptism did you experience?” he asked.

And they replied, “The baptism of John.”

Paul said, “John’s baptism called for repentance from sin. But John himself told the people to believe in the one who would come later, meaning Jesus.”

As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in other tongues and prophesied.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “But we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into the baptism of John.” And Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who was to come after him—that is, in Jesus.” And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

KJV 1900King James Version

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

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