1 And it came to passe, while Apollos was at Corinthus, that Paul when he passed thorow the vpper coasts, came to Ephesus, and found certaine disciples, 2 And saide vnto them, Haue ye receiued the holy Ghost since ye beleeued? And they saide vnto him, Wee haue not so much as heard whether there be an holy Ghost. 3 And he said vnto them, Vnto what were ye then baptized? And they saide, Vnto Iohns baptisme. 4 Then saide Paul, Iohn verely baptized with the baptisme of repentance, saying vnto the people, that they shoulde beleeue in him, which should come after him, that is, in Christ Iesus. 5 And when they heard it, they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Iesus. 6 So Paul layde his handes vpon them, and the holy Ghost came on them, and they spake the tongues, and prophecied. 7 And all the men were about twelue. 8 Moreouer he went into the Synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three moneths, disputing and exhorting to the things that appertaine to the kingdome of God. 9 But when certaine were hardened, and disobeyed, speaking euill of the way of God before the multitude, hee departed from them, and separated the disciples, and disputed dayly in the schoole of one Tyrannus. 10 And this was done by the space of two yeeres, so that all they which dwelt in Asia, heard the word of ye Lord Iesus, both Iewes and Grecians. 11 And God wrought no small miracles by the handes of Paul, 12 So that from his body were brought vnto the sicke, kerchefs or handkerchefs, and the diseases departed from them, and the euill spirits went out of them. 13 Then certaine of the vagabond Iewes, exorcistes, tooke in hand to name ouer them which had euil spirits, the Name of the Lord Iesus, saying, We adiure you by Iesus, whom Paul preacheth. 14 (And there were certaine sonnes of Sceua a Iewe, the Priest, about seuen which did this) 15 And the euil spirit answered, and said, Iesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know: but who are ye? 16 And the man in whome the euil spirit was, ranne on them, and ouercame them, and preuailed against them, so that they fledde out of that house, naked, and wounded. 17 And this was knowen to all the Iewes and Grecians also, which dwelt at Ephesus, and feare came on them all, and the Name of the Lord Iesus was magnified, 18 And many that beleeued, came and confessed, and shewed their workes. 19 Many also of them which vsed curious artes, brought their bookes, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fiftie thousand pieces of siluer. 20 So the worde of God grewe mightily, and preuailed. 21 Nowe when these things were accomplished, Paul purposed by the Spirite to passe through Macedonia and Achaia, and to goe to Hierusalem, saying, After I haue bene there, I must also see Rome. 22 So sent hee into Macedonia two of them that ministred vnto him, Timotheus and Erastus, but he remained in Asia for a season. 23 And the same time there arose no small trouble about that way. 24 For a certaine man named Demetrius a siluersmith, which made siluer temples of Diana, brought great gaines vnto the craftesmen, 25 Whom he called together, with the workemen of like things, and saide, Syrs, ye knowe that by this craft we haue our goods: 26 Moreouer ye see and heare, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia this Paul hath perswaded, and turned away much people, saying, That they be not gods which are made with handes. 27 So that not onely this thing is dangerous vnto vs, that this our portion shall be reproued, but also that the temple of the great goddesse Diana should be nothing esteemed, and that it would come to passe that her magnificence, which all Asia and the world worshippeth, should be destroyed. 28 Now when they heard it, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And the whole citie was full of confusion, and they rushed into the common place with one assent, and caught Gaius, and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, and Pauls companions of his iourney. 30 And when Paul would haue entred in vnto the people, the disciples suffred him not. 31 Certaine also of the chiefe of Asia which were his friendes, sent vnto him, desiring him that hee woulde not present him selfe in the Common place. 32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assemblie was out of order, and the more part knewe not wherefore they were come together. 33 And some of the company drew foorth Alexander, the Iewes thrusting him forwards. Alexander then beckened with the hande, and woulde haue excused the matter to the people. 34 But when they knew that he was a Iewe, there arose a shoute almost for the space of two houres, of all men crying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. 35 Then the towne clearke when hee had stayed the people, saide, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is it that knoweth not howe that the citie of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddesse Diana, and of the image, which came downe from Iupiter? 36 Seeing then that no man can speake against these things, ye ought to be appeased, and to doe nothing rashly. 37 For yee haue brought hither these men, which haue neither committed sacrilege, neither doe blaspheme your goddesse. 38 Wherefore, if Demetrius and the craftes men which are with him, haue a matter against any man, the lawe is open, and there are Deputies: let them accuse one another. 39 But if ye inquire any thing cocerning other matters, it may be determined in a lawful assembly. 40 For we are euen in ieopardie to be accused of this dayes sedition, for as much as there is no cause, whereby we may giue a reason of this concourse of people. 41 And when he had thus spoken, hee let the assembly depart.
Paul in Ephesus
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior of the province and arrived in Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
“We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered.
3 “Well, then, what kind of baptism did you receive?” Paul asked.
“The baptism of John,” they answered.
4 Paul said, “The baptism of John was for those who turned from their sins; and he told the people of Israel to believe in the one who was coming after him—that is, in Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them; they spoke in strange tongues and also proclaimed God's message. 7 They were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly with the people, holding discussions with them and trying to convince them about the Kingdom of God. 9 But some of them were stubborn and would not believe, and before the whole group they said evil things about the Way of the Lord. So Paul left them and took the believers with him, and every day he held discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the people who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, heard the word of the Lord.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God was performing unusual miracles through Paul. 12 Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and the evil spirits would go out of them. 13 Some Jews who traveled around and drove out evil spirits also tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to do this. They said to the evil spirits, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.” 14 Seven brothers, who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but you—who are you?”
16 The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off. 17 All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this; they were all filled with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was given greater honor. 18 Many of the believers came, publicly admitting and revealing what they had done. 19 Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins. 20 In this powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing stronger.
The Riot in Ephesus
21 After these things had happened, Paul made up his mind to travel through Macedonia and Achaia and go on to Jerusalem. “After I go there,” he said, “I must also see Rome.” 22 So he sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia, while he spent more time in the province of Asia.
23 It was at this time that there was serious trouble in Ephesus because of the Way of the Lord. 24 A certain silversmith named Demetrius made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, and his business brought a great deal of profit to the workers. 25 So he called them all together with others whose work was like theirs and said to them, “Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this work. 26 Now, you can see and hear for yourselves what this fellow Paul is doing. He says that hand-made gods are not gods at all, and he has succeeded in convincing many people, both here in Ephesus and in nearly the whole province of Asia. 27 There is the danger, then, that this business of ours will get a bad name. Not only that, but there is also the danger that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will come to mean nothing and that her greatness will be destroyed—the goddess worshiped by everyone in Asia and in all the world!”
28 As the crowd heard these words, they became furious and started shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!” 29 The uproar spread throughout the whole city. The mob grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were traveling with Paul, and rushed with them to the theater. 30 Paul himself wanted to go before the crowd, but the believers would not let him. 31 Some of the provincial authorities, who were his friends, also sent him a message begging him not to show himself in the theater. 32 Meanwhile the whole meeting was in an uproar: some people were shouting one thing, others were shouting something else, because most of them did not even know why they had come together. 33 Some of the people concluded that Alexander was responsible, since the Jews made him go up to the front. Then Alexander motioned with his hand for the people to be silent, and he tried to make a speech of defense. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted together the same thing for two hours: “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”
35 At last the city clerk was able to calm the crowd. “Fellow Ephesians!” he said. “Everyone knows that the city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell down from heaven. 36 Nobody can deny these things. So then, you must calm down and not do anything reckless. 37 You have brought these men here even though they have not robbed temples or said evil things about our goddess. 38 If Demetrius and his workers have an accusation against anyone, we have the authorities and the regular days for court; charges can be made there. 39 But if there is something more that you want, it will have to be settled in a legal meeting of citizens. 40 For after what has happened today, there is the danger that we will be accused of a riot. There is no excuse for all this uproar, and we would not be able to give a good reason for it.” 41 After saying this, he dismissed the meeting.