Acts 19:21–27

The Riot in Ephesus

²¹When these events were over, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem. “After I’ve been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well!” ^z22So after sending two of those who assisted him, Timothy and Erastus, ^ato Macedonia, he himself stayed in Asia for a while. ^b

²³During that time there was a major ^cdisturbance about the Way. ^d24For a person named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^eprovided a great deal of ^fbusiness for the craftsmen. ²⁵When he had assembled them, as well as the workers engaged in this type of business, he said: “Men, you know that our prosperity is derived from this business. ²⁶You both see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and misled a considerable number of people by saying that gods made by hand are not gods! ^g27So not only do we run a risk that our business may be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be despised and her magnificence come to the verge of ruin—the very one all of Asia and the world adore.”