¹³Some Jews went around driving out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to set free those who were controlled by demons. They said, “In Jesus’ name I command you to come out. He is the Jesus that Paul is preaching about.” ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva were doing this. Sceva was a Jewish chief priest. ¹⁵One day the evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus. And I know about Paul. But who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on Sceva’s sons. He overpowered them all. He gave them a terrible beating. They ran out of the house naked and bleeding.

¹⁷The Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about this. They were all overcome with fear. They held the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor. ¹⁸Many who believed now came and openly admitted the evil they had done. ¹⁹A number of those who had practiced evil magic brought their scrolls together. They set them on fire out in the open. They added up the value of the scrolls. They found that it would take more than two lifetimes to earn what the scrolls were worth.

²⁰The word of the Lord spread everywhere. It became more and more powerful.

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