Acts 19
19
1 Now it happened that, while Apollo was at Corinth, Paul, after he had journeyed through the upper regions, arrived at Ephesus. And he met with certain disciples.
2 And he said to them, "After believing, have you received the Holy Spirit?" But they said to him, "We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."
3 Yet truly, he said, "Then with what have you been baptized?" And they said, "With the baptism of John."
4 Then Paul said: "John baptized the people with the baptism of repentance, saying that they should believe in the One who is to come after him, that is, in Jesus."
5 Upon hearing these things, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 And when Paul had imposed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came over them. And they were speaking in tongues and prophesying.
7 Now the men were about twelve in all.
8 Then, upon entering the synagogue, he was speaking faithfully for three months, disputing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.
9 But when certain ones became hardened and would not believe, cursing the Way of the Lord in the presence of the multitude, Paul, withdrawing from them, separated the disciples, disputing daily in a certain school of Tyrannus.
10 Now this was done throughout two years, so that all who were living in Asia listened to the Word of the Lord, both Jews and Gentiles.
11 And God was accomplishing powerful and uncommon miracles by the hand of Paul,
12 so much so that even when small cloths and wrappings were brought from his body to the sick, the illnesses withdrew from them and the wicked spirits departed.
13 Then, even some of the traveling Jewish exorcists had attempted to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I bind you by oath through Jesus, whom Paul preaches."
14 And there were certain Jews, the seven sons of Sceva, leaders among the priests, who were acting in this way.
15 But a wicked spirit responded by saying to them: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know. But who are you?"
16 And the man, in whom there was a wicked spirit, leaping at them and getting the better of them both, prevailed against them, so that they fled from that house, naked and wounded.
17 And so, this became known to all the Jews and Gentiles who were living at Ephesus. And a fear fell over them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18 And many believers were arriving, confessing, and announcing their deeds.
19 Then many of those who had followed odd sects brought together their books, and they burned them in the sight of all. And after determining the value of these, they found the price to be fifty thousand denarii.
20 In this way, the Word of God was increasing strongly and was being confirmed.
21 Then, when these things were completed, Paul decided in the Spirit, after crossing through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, "Then, after I have been there, it is necessary for me to see Rome also."
22 But sending two of those who were ministering to him, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia, he himself remained for a time in Asia.
23 Now at that time, there occurred no small disturbance concerning the Way of the Lord.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith making silver shrines for Diana, was providing no small profit to craftsmen.
25 And calling them together, with those who were employed in the same way, he said: "Men, you know that our income is from this craft.
26 And you are seeing and hearing that this man Paul, by persuasion, has turned away a great multitude, not only from Ephesus, but from nearly all of Asia, saying, 'These things are not gods which have been made by hands.'
27 Thus, not only is this, our occupation, in danger of being brought into repudiation, but also the temple of the great Diana will be reputed as nothing! Then even her majesty, whom all of Asia and the world worships, will begin to be destroyed."
28 Upon hearing this, they were filled with anger, and they cried out, saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"
29 And the city was filled with confusion. And having seized Gaius and Aristarchus of Macedonia, companions of Paul, they rushed violently, with one accord, into the amphitheatre.
30 Then, when Paul wanted to enter to the people, the disciples would not permit him.
31 And some of the leaders from Asia, who were his friends, also sent to him, requesting that he not present himself in the amphitheatre.
32 But others were crying out various things. For the assembly was in confusion, and most did not know the reason they had been called together.
33 So they dragged Alexander from the crowd, while the Jews were propelling him forward. And Alexander, gesturing with his hand for silence, wanted to give the people an explanation.
34 But as soon as they realized him to be a Jew, all with one voice, for about two hours, were crying out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"
35 And when the scribe had calmed the crowds, he said: "Men of Ephesus, now what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is in the service of the great Diana and of the offspring of Jupiter?
36 Therefore, since these things are not able to be contradicted, it is necessary for you to be calm and to do nothing rash.
37 For you have brought forward these men, who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers against your goddess.
38 But if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a case against anyone, they can convene in the courts, and there are proconsuls. Let them accuse one another.
39 But if you would inquire about other things, this can be decided in a lawful assembly.
40 For now we are in peril of being convicted of sedition over today's events, since there is no one guilty (against whom we are able to provide evidence) in this gathering." And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
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Acts 19
19
1-2Now, it happened that while Apollos was away in Corinth, Paul made his way down through the mountains, came to Ephesus, and happened on some disciples there. The first thing he said was, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Did you take God into your mind only, or did you also embrace him with your heart? Did he get inside you?”
“We’ve never even heard of that—a Holy Spirit? God within us?”
3“How were you baptized, then?” asked Paul.
“In John’s baptism.”
4“That explains it,” said Paul. “John preached a baptism of radical life-change so that people would be ready to receive the One coming after him, who turned out to be Jesus. If you’ve been baptized in John’s baptism, you’re ready now for the real thing, for Jesus.”
5-7And they were. As soon as they heard of it, they were baptized in the name of the Master Jesus. Paul put his hands on their heads and the Holy Spirit entered them. From that moment on, they were praising God in tongues and talking about God’s actions. Altogether there were about twelve people there that day.
8-10Paul then went straight to the meeting place. He had the run of the place for three months, doing his best to make the things of the kingdom of God real and convincing to them. But then resistance began to form as some of them began spreading evil rumors through the congregation about the Christian way of life. So Paul left, taking the disciples with him, and set up shop in the school of Tyrannus, holding class there daily. He did this for two years, giving everyone in the province of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks, ample opportunity to hear the Message of the Master.
Witches Came out of the Woodwork
11-12God did powerful things through Paul, things quite out of the ordinary. The word got around and people started taking pieces of clothing—handkerchiefs and scarves and the like—that had touched Paul’s skin and then touching the sick with them. The touch did it—they were healed and whole.
13-16Some itinerant Jewish exorcists who happened to be in town at the time tried their hand at what they assumed to be Paul’s “game.” They pronounced the name of the Master Jesus over victims of evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus preached by Paul!” The seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were trying to do this on a man when the evil spirit talked back: “I know Jesus and I’ve heard of Paul, but who are you?” Then the possessed man went berserk—jumped the exorcists, beat them up, and tore off their clothes. Naked and bloody, they got away as best they could.
17-20It was soon news all over Ephesus among both Jews and Greeks. The realization spread that God was in and behind this. Curiosity about Paul developed into reverence for the Master Jesus. Many of those who thus believed stepped out into the light and made a clean break with their secret sorceries. All kinds of witches and warlocks came out of the woodwork with their books of spells and incantations and made a huge bonfire of them. Someone estimated their worth at fifty thousand silver coins. In such ways it became evident that the Word of the Master was now sovereign and prevailed in Ephesus.
The Goddess Artemis
21-22After all this had reached its peak, Paul decided it was time to move on to Macedonia and Achaia provinces, and from there to Jerusalem. “Then,” he said, “I’m off to Rome. I’ve got to see Rome!” He sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, on to Macedonia and then stayed for a while and wrapped things up in Asia.
23-26But before he got away, a huge ruckus occurred over what was now being referred to as “the Way.” A certain silversmith, Demetrius, conducted a brisk trade in the manufacture of shrines to the goddess Artemis, employing a number of artisans in his business. He rounded up his workers and others similarly employed and said, “Men, you well know that we have a good thing going here—and you’ve seen how Paul has barged in and discredited what we’re doing by telling people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands. A lot of people are going along with him, not only here in Ephesus but all through Asia province.
27“Not only is our little business in danger of falling apart, but the temple of our famous goddess Artemis will certainly end up a pile of rubble as her glorious reputation fades to nothing. And this is no mere local matter—the whole world worships our Artemis!”
28-31That set them off in a frenzy. They ran into the street yelling, “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!” They put the whole city in an uproar, stampeding into the stadium, and grabbing two of Paul’s associates on the way, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus. Paul wanted to go in, too, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. Prominent religious leaders in the city who had become friendly to Paul concurred: “By no means go near that mob!”
32-34Some were yelling one thing, some another. Most of them had no idea what was going on or why they were there. As the Jews pushed Alexander to the front to try to gain control, different factions clamored to get him on their side. But he brushed them off and quieted the mob with an impressive sweep of his arms. But the moment he opened his mouth and they knew he was a Jew, they shouted him down: “Great Artemis of the Ephesians! Great Artemis of the Ephesians!”—on and on and on, for over two hours.
35-37Finally, the town clerk got the mob quieted down and said, “Fellow citizens, is there anyone anywhere who doesn’t know that our dear city Ephesus is protector of glorious Artemis and her sacred stone image that fell straight out of heaven? Since this is beyond contradiction, you had better get hold of yourselves. This is conduct unworthy of Artemis. These men you’ve dragged in here have done nothing to harm either our temple or our goddess.
38-41“So if Demetrius and his guild of artisans have a complaint, they can take it to court and make all the accusations they want. If anything else is bothering you, bring it to the regularly scheduled town meeting and let it be settled there. There is no excuse for what’s happened today. We’re putting our city in serious danger. Rome, remember, does not look kindly on rioters.” With that, he sent them home.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.