Acts 19
American Standard Version
19 And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples: 2 and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether [a]the Holy Spirit was given. 3 And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism. 4 And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus. 5 And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied. 7 And they were in all about twelve men.
8 And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 11 And God wrought special [b]miracles by the hands of Paul: 12 insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out. 13 But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. 14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this. 15 And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I [c]know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? 16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds. 19 And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.
21 Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
23 And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [d]Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen; 25 whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth. 26 And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands: 27 and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess [e]Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and [f]the world worshippeth. 28 And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is [g]Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel. 30 And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31 And certain also of the [h]Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre. 32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33 [i]And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defence unto the people. 34 But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is [j]Diana of the Ephesians. 35 And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great [k]Diana, and of the image which fell down from [l]Jupiter? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash. 37 For ye have brought hither these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, [m]the courts are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another. 39 But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For indeed we are in danger to be [n]accused concerning this day’s riot, there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse. 41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
Footnotes
- Acts 19:2 Or, there is a Holy Spirit
- Acts 19:11 Greek powers.
- Acts 19:15 Or, recognize
- Acts 19:24 Greek Artemis.
- Acts 19:27 Greek Artemis.
- Acts 19:27 Greek the inhabited earth.
- Acts 19:28 Greek Artemis.
- Acts 19:31 That is, officers having charge of festivals etc. in the Roman province of Asia.
- Acts 19:33 Or, And some of the multitude instructed Alexander
- Acts 19:34 Greek Artemis.
- Acts 19:35 Greek Artemis.
- Acts 19:35 Or, heaven
- Acts 19:38 Or, court days are kept
- Acts 19:40 Or, accused of riot concerning this day
Acts 19
Worldwide English (New Testament)
19 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul went over land and came to the city of Ephesus. There he met some disciples.
2 Paul asked them, `Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' They said, `No. We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.'
3 Paul asked them, `How were you baptised?' They said, `We were baptised in John's way.'
4 Then Paul said, `John baptised people when they stopped their wrong ways. He told people that they should believe on the one who would follow him. That one is Jesus.'
5 When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 Paul put his hands on them. Then the Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke in tongues of other lang-uages and spoke words from God.
7 In all, there were about twelve men.
8 Paul went into the meeting place. For three months he talked without fear to the people there. He tried to talk so that people would obey God.
9 Some of them were fixed in their minds and would not believe. They said, `The Christian way is not good' They said this in front of all the people. So Paul left them and took the disciples away. He talked and answered the questions of the people every day in the school of a man named Tyrannus.
10 This went on for two years, and all the people who lived in the province of Asia, both the Jews and the Greeks, heard the Lord's word.
11-12 od did big works through Paul. Even some pieces of cloth he had touched were carried to sick people and they were healed. Also, people who had bad spirits in them were made free.
13 Some Jews were there who travelled about from place to place. They had power over bad spirits like witch-doctors. They tried to make people free from bad spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, `I tell you, in the name of Jesus, the one Paul talks about, come out!'
14 There was a Jew named Sceva. He was a chief priest. He had seven sons who did this.
15 But the bad spirit answered, `I know Jesus and I know Paul. But who are you?'
16 And the man who had the bad spirit in him jumped on them. He beat them all because he was stronger than they were. Their bodies were bleeding and their clothes were torn. They ran out of the house.
17 When all the Jews and the Greeks at Ephesus knew about this, they all feared. And they had great respect for the name of the Lord Jesus.
18 Many of the people who believed, told God all the bad things they used to do.
19 Many had been witch-doctors. They brought their books and burned them in front of all the people. All the books together had cost about 50,000 silver coins.
20 God's word spread with power. It reached more and more people.
21 After this, Paul decided he would go through Macedonia and Achaia and then to Jerusalem. `After I have been there,' he said, `l must go to see the city of Rome also.'
22 He sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, into Macedonia. But he himself stayed in Asia Minor for a while.
23 About that time there was much trouble because of the Christian way.
24 A man named Demetrius made things from silver. He made little silver houses like the big house of the idol-god Diana. He and other men got much money from this work.
25 Demetrius called them all together. He said, `Men, you know that we get our money from this work.
26 Now you see and hear how this man Paul has talked. He has turned away many people in Ephesus. Not only that, but he has turned away the hearts of many people in almost all of Asia Minor. He says that things made by men's hands are not really gods.
27 This will spoil our work. Not only that, but people will not respect the house of the great idol goddess Diana any more. All the people in Asia and in the whole world worship her now. But they will despise her!'
28 When they heard this, the men were very angry and shouted, `Great is Diana of Ephesus!'
29 All the people in the city were excited. They caught two men from Macedonia. Their names were Gaius and Aristarchus. They had travelled with Paul. Then they all rushed to the big meeting place with them.
30 Paul wanted to go in and talk to the people, but the disciples would not let him.
31 Some of the leaders in Asia Minor liked Paul. They sent word to him and begged him not to go into the meeting place.
32 Some of the people were shouting one thing and some another. They were all stirred up. Most of the people did not know why they had come together.
33 The Jews pushed Alexander forward. Some of the people put him in front. He put up his hand and wanted to talk to the people.
34 But when they saw that he was a Jew, they all shouted together for two hours, `Great is Diana of Ephesus!'
35 At last the city chief stopped the shouting. He said, `Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that all the people of Ephesus take care of the house of the great Diana. And they take care of the stone which fell from the sky.
36 No person can say it is not true. So you should be quiet and not do anything foolish.
37 The men whom you have brought here have not taken anything from the house. They have not even said anything wrong about our goddess.
38 Now then, if Demetrius and the men who work with him have any complaint, let them take it to law. We have a court and we have judges.
39 If you want anything more than that, it must be done in a meeting which has been called by law.
40 We may have trouble because of what has happened today. There is not one good reason for it.'
41 When he had said this, he closed the meeting.
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