²³ About that time ^(A)there arose no little disturbance concerning ^(B)the Way. ²⁴ For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^(C)brought no little business to the craftsmen. ^25 (D)These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. ²⁶ And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, ^(E)saying that ^(F)gods made with hands are not gods. ²⁷ And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ^(G)great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

²⁸ When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, ^(H)“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹ So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and ^(I)Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's ^(J)companions in travel. ³⁰ But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. ³¹ And even some of the Asiarchs,^[a] who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. ^32 (K)Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. ³³ Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, ^(L)motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. ³⁴ But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ^(M)“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵ And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from ^(N)the sky?^{[b] 36} Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. ³⁷ For you have brought ^(O)these men here who are neither ^(P)sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. ³⁸ If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are ^(Q)proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. ³⁹ But if you seek anything further,^[c] it shall be settled in the regular assembly. ⁴⁰ For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” ⁴¹ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

20 After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and ^(R)departed for Macedonia. ² When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

Greeting

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of Christ Jesus ^(B)by the will of God, and ^(C)Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, ^(D)with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia:

^2 (E)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

God of All Comfort

^3 (F)Blessed be the ^(G)God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and ^(H)God of all comfort, ^4 (I)who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in ^(J)Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.^{[a] 6 (K)}If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you ^(L)share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers,^[b] of ^(M)the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us ^(N)rely not on ourselves ^(O)but on God ^(P)who raises the dead. ^10 (Q)He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. ^(R)On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. ^11 (S)You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf ^(T)for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

Paul's Change of Plans

¹² For our boast is this, ^(U)the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity^[c] and ^(V)godly sincerity, ^(W)not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. ¹³ For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— ¹⁴ just as you did ^(X)partially understand us—that ^(Y)on the day of our Lord Jesus ^(Z)you will boast of us as ^(AA)we will boast of you.

¹⁵ Because I was sure of this, ^(AB)I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have ^(AC)a second ^(AD)experience of grace. ¹⁶ I wanted to visit you ^(AE)on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. ¹⁷ Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans ^(AF)according to the flesh, ready to say “Yes, yes” and “No, no” at the same time? ¹⁸ As surely as ^(AG)God is faithful, ^(AH)our word to you has not been Yes and No. ¹⁹ For ^(AI)the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, ^(AJ)Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but ^(AK)in him it is always Yes. ²⁰ For ^(AL)all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our ^(AM)Amen to God for his glory. ²¹ And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and ^(AN)has anointed us, ²² and who has also ^(AO)put his seal on us and ^(AP)given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.^[d]

²³ But ^(AQ)I call God to witness against me—it was ^(AR)to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. ²⁴ Not that we ^(AS)lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm ^(AT)in your faith.

2 For I made up my mind ^(AU)not to make another painful visit to you. ² For ^(AV)if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? ³ And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, ^(AW)for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. ⁴ For ^(AX)I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Forgive the Sinner

⁵ Now ^(AY)if anyone has caused pain, ^(AZ)he has caused it not to me, but ^(BA)in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. ⁶ For such a one, ^(BB)this punishment by the majority is enough, ⁷ so ^(BC)you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. ⁸ So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. ⁹ For this is why I wrote, that I might ^(BD)test you and know ^(BE)whether you are obedient in everything. ¹⁰ Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, ¹¹ so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for ^(BF)we are not ignorant of his designs.

Triumph in Christ

¹² When ^(BG)I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, even though ^(BH)a door was opened for me in the Lord, ¹³ my spirit ^(BI)was not at rest because I did not find my brother Titus there. So I took leave of them and went on to Macedonia.

¹⁴ But ^(BJ)thanks be to God, who in Christ always ^(BK)leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads ^(BL)the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. ¹⁵ For we are the aroma of Christ to God among ^(BM)those who are being saved and among ^(BN)those who are perishing, ^16 (BO)to one a fragrance from death to death, ^(BP)to the other a fragrance from life to life. ^(BQ)Who is sufficient for these things? ¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.