Acts 19
19
Paul Goes to Ephesus
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road to Ephesus. When he arrived, he found some believers there. 2He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
“No,” they answered. “We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4Paul said, “John baptized people, calling them to turn away from their sins. He told them to believe in the one who was coming after him. Jesus is that one.” 5After hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6Paul placed his hands on them. Then the Holy Spirit came on them. They spoke in languages they had not known before. They also prophesied. 7There were about 12 men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue. There he spoke boldly for three months. He gave good reasons for believing the truth about God’s kingdom. 9But some of them wouldn’t listen. They refused to believe. In public they said evil things about the Way of Jesus. So Paul left them. He took the believers with him. Each day he talked with people in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years. So all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Asia Minor heard the word of the Lord.
11God did amazing miracles through Paul. 12Even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to those who were sick. When this happened, their sicknesses were healed and evil spirits left them.
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 what 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. The scrolls were worth more than someone could earn in two lifetimes. 20The word of the Lord spread everywhere. It became more and more powerful.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem. He went through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been to Jerusalem,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22He sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia. But he stayed a little longer in Asia Minor.
Trouble in Ephesus
23At that time many people became very upset about the Way of Jesus. 24There was a man named Demetrius who made things out of silver. He made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. He brought in a lot of business for the other skilled workers there. 25One day he called them together. He also called others who were in the same kind of business. “My friends,” he said, “you know that we make good money from our work. 26You have seen and heard what this fellow Paul is doing. He has talked to large numbers of people here in Ephesus. Almost everywhere in Asia Minor he has led people away from our gods. He says that the gods made by human hands are not gods at all. 27Our work is in danger of losing its good name. People’s faith in the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be weakened. Now she is worshiped all over Asia Minor and the whole world. But soon she will be robbed of her greatness.”
28When they heard this, they became very angry. They began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29Soon people were making trouble in the whole city. They all rushed into the theater. They dragged Gaius and Aristarchus along with them. These two men had come with Paul from Macedonia. 30Paul wanted to appear in front of the crowd. But the believers wouldn’t let him. 31Some of the officials in Asia Minor were friends of Paul. They sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater.
32The crowd didn’t know what was going on. Some were shouting one thing and some another. Most of the people didn’t even know why they were there. 33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. They tried to tell him what to say. But he motioned for them to be quiet. He was about to give the people reasons for his actions. 34But then they realized that he was a Jew. So they all shouted the same thing for about two hours. “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” they yelled.
35The city clerk quieted the crowd down. “People of Ephesus!” he said. “The city of Ephesus guards the temple of the great Artemis. The whole world knows this. They know that Ephesus guards her statue, which fell from heaven. 36These facts can’t be questioned. So calm down. Don’t do anything foolish. 37These men haven’t robbed any temples. They haven’t said evil things against our female god. But you have brought them here anyhow. 38Demetrius and the other skilled workers may feel they have been wronged by someone. Let them bring charges. The courts are open. We have our governors. 39Is there anything else you want to bring up? Settle it in a court of law. 40As it is, we are in danger of being charged with a crime. We could be charged with causing all this trouble today. There is no reason for it. So we wouldn’t be able to explain what has happened.” 41After he said this, he sent the people away.
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Acts 19: NIrV
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Acts 19
19
Paul in Ephesus
1While Apollos was in the city of Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on his way to Ephesus. In Ephesus he found some other followers of the Lord. 2He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
These followers said to him, “We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit!”
3Paul asked them, “So what kind of baptism did you have?”
They said, “It was the baptism that John taught.”
4Paul said, “John told people to be baptized to show they wanted to change their lives. He told people to believe in the one who would come after him, and that one is Jesus.”
5When these followers heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6Then Paul laid his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them. They began speaking different languages and prophesying. 7There were about twelve men in this group.
8Paul went into the synagogue and spoke very boldly. He continued doing this for three months. He talked with the Jews, trying to persuade them to accept what he was telling them about God’s kingdom. 9But some of them became stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone, they said bad things about the Way. So Paul left these Jews and took the Lord’s followers with him. He went to a place where a man named Tyrannus had a school. There Paul talked with people every day. 10He did this for two years. Because of this work, everyone in Asia, Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
The Sons of Sceva
11God used Paul to do some very special miracles. 12Some people carried away handkerchiefs and clothes that Paul had used and put them on those who were sick. The sick people were healed, and evil spirits left them.
13-14Some Jews also were traveling around forcing evil spirits out of people. The seven sons of Sceva, one of the leading priests, were doing this. These Jews tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to make the evil spirits go out of people. They all said, “By the same Jesus that Paul talks about, I order you to come out!”
15But one time an evil spirit said to these Jews, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16Then the man who had the evil spirit inside him jumped on these Jews. He was much stronger than all of them. He beat them up and tore their clothes off. They all ran away from that house.
17All the people in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks, learned about this. They were all filled with fear and gave great honor to the Lord Jesus. 18Many of the believers began to confess, telling about all the evil things they had done. 19Some of them had used magic. These believers brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.#19:19 silver coins Probably Greek drachmas. One coin was worth the average pay for one day’s work. 20This is how the word of the Lord was spreading in a powerful way, causing more and more people to believe.
Paul Plans a Trip
21After this, Paul made plans to go to Jerusalem. He planned to go through the regions of Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. He thought, “After I visit Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome.” 22Timothy and Erastus were two of his helpers. Paul sent them ahead to Macedonia. But he stayed in Asia for a while.
Trouble in Ephesus
23But during that time there was some trouble in Ephesus about the Way. This is how it all happened: 24There was a man named Demetrius. He worked with silver. He made little silver models that looked like the temple of the goddess Artemis. The men who did this work made a lot of money.
25Demetrius had a meeting with these men and some others who did the same kind of work. He told them, “Men, you know that we make a lot of money from our business. 26But look at what this man Paul is doing. Listen to what he is saying. He has convinced many people in Ephesus and all over Asia to change their religion. He says the gods that people make by hand are not real. 27I’m afraid this is going to turn people against our business. But there is also another problem. People will begin to think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is not important. Her greatness will be destroyed. And Artemis is the goddess that everyone in Asia and the whole world worships.”
28When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus!” 29The whole city was thrown into confusion. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, men from Macedonia who were traveling with Paul, and rushed all together into the stadium. 30Paul wanted to go in and talk to the people, but the Lord’s followers did not let him go. 31Also, some leaders of the country who were friends of Paul sent him a message telling him not to go into the stadium.
32Some people were shouting one thing and others were shouting something else. The meeting was very confused. Most of the people did not know why they had come there. 33Some Jews made a man named Alexander stand before the crowd, and they told him what to say. Alexander waved his hand, trying to explain things to the people. 34But when the people saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all began shouting the same thing. For two hours they continued shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis …!”
35Then the city clerk persuaded the people to be quiet. He said, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis. Everyone knows that we also keep her holy rock.#19:35 holy rock Probably a meteorite or rock that the people thought looked like Artemis and worshiped. 36No one can deny this, so you should be quiet. You must stop and think before you do anything else.
37“You brought these men#19:37 men Gaius and Aristarchus, the men traveling with Paul. here, but they have not said anything bad against our goddess. They have not stolen anything from her temple. 38We have courts of law and there are judges. Do Demetrius and those men who work with him have a charge against anyone? They should go to the courts. Let them argue with each other there.
39“Is there something else you want to talk about? Then come to the regular town meeting of the people. It can be decided there. 40I say this because someone might see this trouble today and say we are rioting. We could not explain all this trouble, because there is no real reason for this meeting.” 41After the city clerk said this, he told the people to go home.
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