And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed
through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some
disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit
when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that
there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you
baptized?” They said, “Into John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John
baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to
believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On
hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And
when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them,
and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were
about twelve men in all.
And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly,
reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when
some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of
the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the
disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This
continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard
the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so
that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were
carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil
spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish
exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those
who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul
proclaims.” Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were
doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and
Paul I recognize, but who are you?” And the man in whom was the
evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered
them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And
this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and
Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus
was extolled. Also many of those who were now believers came,
confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who
had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned
them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and
found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of
the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass
through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I
have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into
Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself
stayed in Asia for a while.
About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the
Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver
shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.
These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and
said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.
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,
saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger
not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also
that the temple of the 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.”
When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out,
“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with
the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging
with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's
companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the
crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the
Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him
not to venture into the theater. 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. Some of the crowd prompted
Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning
with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they
recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried
out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
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 the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot
be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have
brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers
of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him
have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are
proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you
seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
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.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the
assembly.
