Acts 19:8–41

⁸And he entered ^athe synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them ^babout the kingdom of God.

⁹But when ^asome were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^bthe Way before the ¹people, he withdrew from them and took away ^cthe disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰This took place for ^atwo years, so that all who lived in ^1bAsia heard ^cthe word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

Miracles at Ephesus

¹¹God was performing ^aextraordinary ¹miracles by the hands of Paul,

^12aso that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^bthe evil spirits went out.

¹³But also some of the Jewish ^aexorcists, 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.”

¹⁴Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

¹⁵And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶And 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.

¹⁷This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in ^aEphesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

¹⁸Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.

¹⁹And 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 ¹fifty thousand ^apieces of silver.

²⁰So ^1athe word of the Lord ^bwas growing mightily and prevailing.

²¹Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the ¹Spirit to ^ago to Jerusalem ^bafter he had passed through ^cMacedonia and ^dAchaia, saying, “After I have been there, ^eI must also see Rome.”

²²And having sent into ^aMacedonia two of ^bthose who ministered to him, ^cTimothy and ^dErastus, he himself stayed in ^1eAsia for a while.

²³About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning ^athe Way.

²⁴For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of ¹Artemis, ^awas bringing no little ²business to the craftsmen;

²⁵these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ¹depends upon this business.

²⁶“You see and hear that not only in ^aEphesus, but in almost all of ^1bAsia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^2cgods made with hands are no gods at all.

²⁷“Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ¹Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of ^2aAsia and ^bthe ³world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

²⁸When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is ¹Artemis of the ^aEphesians!”

²⁹The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed ¹with one accord into the theater, dragging along ^aGaius and ^bAristarchus, Paul’s traveling ^ccompanions from ^dMacedonia.

³⁰And when Paul wanted to go into the ¹assembly, ^athe disciples would not let him.

³¹Also some of the ¹Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to ²venture into the theater.

^32aSo then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the ¹assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know ²for what reason they had come together.

³³Some of the crowd ¹concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^amotioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the ²assembly.

³⁴But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is ¹Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, “Men of ^aEphesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great ¹Artemis and of the image which fell down from ²heaven?

³⁶“So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash.

³⁷“For you have brought these men here who are neither ^arobbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.

³⁸“So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and ^1aproconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another.

³⁹“But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the ¹lawful ²assembly.

⁴⁰“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.”

⁴¹After saying this he dismissed the ¹assembly.