New Testament in a Year

19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Sha’ul completed his travels through the inland country and arrived at Ephesus, where he found a few talmidim. ² He asked them, “Did you receive the Ruach HaKodesh when you came to trust?” “No,” they said to him, “we have never even heard that there is such a thing as the Ruach HaKodesh.” ³ “In that case,” he said, “into what were you immersed?” “The immersion of Yochanan,” they answered. ⁴ Sha’ul said, “Yochanan practiced an immersion in connection with turning from sin to God; but he told the people to put their trust in the one who would come after him, that is, in Yeshua.” ⁵ On hearing this, they were immersed into the name of the Lord Yeshua; ⁶ and when Sha’ul placed his hands on them, the Ruach HaKodesh came upon them; so that they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. ⁷ In all, there were about twelve of these men.

⁸ Sha’ul went into the synagogue; and for three months he spoke out boldly, engaging in dialogue and trying to persuade people about the Kingdom of God. ⁹ But some began hardening themselves and refusing to listen; and when these started defaming the Way before the whole synagogue, Sha’ul withdrew, took the talmidim with him, and commenced holding daily dialogues in Tyrannus’s yeshivah. ¹⁰ This went on for two years; so that everyone, both Jews and Greeks, living in the province of Asia heard the message about the Lord.

¹¹ God did extraordinary miracles through Sha’ul. ¹² For instance, handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were brought to sick people; they would recover from their ailments; and the evil spirits would leave them.

¹³ Then some of the Jewish exorcists who traveled from place to place tried to make use of the name of the Lord Yeshua in connection with people who had evil spirits. They would say, “I exorcise you by the Yeshua that Sha’ul is proclaiming!” ¹⁴ One time, seven sons of a Jewish cohen gadol named Skeva were doing this; ¹⁵ and the evil spirit answered them. It said, “Yeshua I know. And Sha’ul I recognize. But you? Who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit fell upon them, overpowered them and gave them such a beating that they ran from the house, naked and bleeding.

¹⁷ When all this became known to the residents of Ephesus, fear fell on all of them, Jews and Greeks alike; and the name of the Lord Yeshua came to be held in high regard. ¹⁸ Many of those who had earlier made professions of faith now came and admitted publicly their evil deeds; ¹⁹ and a considerable number of those who had engaged in occult practices threw their scrolls in a pile and burned them in public. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, it came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰ Thus the message about the Lord continued in a powerful way to grow in influence.