Book of Common Prayer
21 Once all this had been finished, Paul decided in his spirit to go back through Macedonia and Achaea and, from there, on to Jerusalem.
“After I’ve been there,” he said, “I really must go and see Rome.”
22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, on ahead to Macedonia, while he himself spent a little more time in Asia.
“Great is Ephesian Artemis!”
23 Around that time there was a major disturbance because of the Way. 24 There was a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver statues of Artemis, which brought the workmen a tidy income. 25 He got them all together, along with other workers in the same business.
“Gentlemen,” he began. “You know that the reason we are doing rather well for ourselves is quite simply this business of ours. 26 And now you see, and hear, that this fellow Paul is going around not only Ephesus but pretty well the whole of Asia, persuading the masses to change their way of life, telling them that gods made with hands are not gods after all! 27 This not only threatens to bring our proper business into disrepute, but it might make people disregard the temple of the great goddess Artemis. Then she—and, after all, the whole of Asia, indeed the whole world, worships her!—she might lose her great majesty.”
28 When they heard this, they were filled with rage.
“Great is Ephesian Artemis!” they shouted. “Great is Ephesian Artemis!”
29 The whole city was filled with the uproar; everyone rushed together into the theater, dragging along with them the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, two of Paul’s companions. 30 Paul wanted to go in to speak to the people, but his followers wouldn’t let him. 31 Indeed, some of the local magistrates, who were friendly towards him, sent him a message urging him not to risk going into the theater. 32 Meanwhile, some people were shouting one thing, some another. In fact, the whole assembly was thoroughly confused, and most of them had no idea why they had come there in the first place. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander forward, and some of the crowd informed him what was going on. He motioned with his hand, and was going to make a statement to the people to explain things. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted together, for about two hours, “Great is Ephesian Artemis!”
35 The town clerk quietened the crowd.
“Men of Ephesus,” he said, “is there anyone who doesn’t know that our city of Ephesus is the place which has the honor of being the home of Artemis the Great, and of the statue that fell from heaven? 36 Nobody can deny it! So you should be quiet, and not do anything rash. 37 You’ve brought these men here, but they haven’t stolen from the temple, or blasphemed our goddess. 38 If Demetrius and his colleagues have a charge they want to bring against anyone, the courts are open and we have magistrates. People can present their cases against one another. 39 But if you are wanting to know anything beyond that, it must be sorted out in the authorized assembly. 40 Let me remind you that we ourselves are risking legal proceedings because of this riot today, since there is no reason we could give which would enable us to present a satisfactory explanation for this uproar.”
41 With these words, he dismissed the assembly.
The demon-possessed boy
14 The four of them made their way back to the other disciples. There they saw a large crowd surrounding them, and legal experts arguing with them. 15 As soon as the crowd saw Jesus they were astounded, and they all ran up to greet him.
16 “What’s all the fuss about?” he asked.
17 “Teacher,” said someone from the crowd, “I brought my son to you. He’s got a spirit that stops him speaking. 18 Whenever it takes hold of him it throws him on the ground; he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth, and goes rigid. I spoke to your disciples about casting it out, but they couldn’t.”
19 “You unbelieving generation!” replied Jesus. “How much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.”
20 They brought him to him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth.
21 “How long has it been like this with him?” asked Jesus.
“Since childhood,” replied the man. 22 “Often it even throws him into the fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything . . . please, please help us! Have pity on us!”
23 “What d’you mean, ‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible to someone who believes.”
24 At this the father gave a great shout. “I do believe!” he roared. “Help me in my unbelief!”
25 Jesus saw that the crowd was getting bigger by the minute. He scolded the unclean spirit: “Speechless and deaf spirit,” he said, “I command you—come out of him, and never go back again!”
26 The spirit yelled, gave the boy a huge convulsion, and came out. The boy seemed to be dead; in fact, several people did say “He’s dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and helped him to his feet, and he stood up.
28 “Why couldn’t we cast it out?” asked his disciples, once they were back in the house by themselves.
29 “This sort,” replied Jesus, “can only be cast out by prayer.”
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.