Acts, 19

1. It happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus, where he found a number of disciples.

1. While Apol'los was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

2. When he asked, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' they answered, 'No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit.'

2. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

3. He asked, 'Then how were you baptised?' They replied, 'With John's baptism.'

3. And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism."

4. Paul said, 'John's baptism was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him -- namely Jesus.'

4. 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."

5. When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus,

5. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6. and the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy.

6. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

7. There were about twelve of these men in all.

7. There were about twelve of them in all.

8. He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out fearlessly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. He did this for three months,

8. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God;

9. till the attitude of some of the congregation hardened into unbelief. As soon as they began attacking the Way in public, he broke with them and took his disciples apart to hold daily discussions in the lecture room of Tyrannus.

9. but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyran'nus.

10. This went on for two years, with the result that all the inhabitants of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, were able to hear the word of the Lord.

10. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11. So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul's hands

11. And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,

12. that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick, and they were cured of their illnesses, and the evil spirits came out of them.

12. so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

13. But some itinerant Jewish exorcists too tried pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus over people who were possessed by evil spirits; they used to say, 'I adjure you by the Jesus whose spokesman is Paul.'

13. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."

14. Among those who did this were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest.

14. Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.

15. The evil spirit replied, 'Jesus I recognise, and Paul I know, but who are you?'

15. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"

16. and the man with the evil spirit hurled himself at them and overpowered first one and then another, and handled them so violently that they fled from that house stripped of clothing and badly mauled.

16. And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17. Everybody in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard about this episode; everyone was filled with awe, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in great honour.

17. And this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled.

18. Some believers, too, came forward to admit in detail how they had used spells

18. Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

19. and a number of them who had practised magic collected their books and made a bonfire of them in public. The value of these was calculated to be fifty thousand silver pieces.

19. And a number of those who 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.

20. In this powerful way the word of the Lord spread more and more widely and successfully.

20. So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily.

21. When all this was over Paul made up his mind to go back to Jerusalem through Macedonia and Achaia. 'After I have been there,' he said, 'I must go on to see Rome as well.'

21. Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedo'nia and Acha'ia and go to Jerusalem, saying, "After I have been there, I must also see Rome."

22. So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, ahead of him to Macedonia, while he remained for a time in Asia.

22. And having sent into Macedo'nia two of his helpers, Timothy and Eras'tus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

23. It was during this time that a serious disturbance broke out in connection with the Way.

23. About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way.

24. A silversmith called Demetrius, who provided work for a large number of craftsmen making silver shrines of Diana,

24. For a man named Deme'trius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Ar'temis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.

25. called a general meeting of them with others in the same trade. 'As you know,' he said, 'it is on this industry that we depend for our prosperity.

25. These he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, "Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.

26. Now you must have seen and heard how, not just in Ephesus but nearly everywhere in Asia, this man Paul has persuaded and converted a great number of people with his argument that gods made by hand are not gods at all.

26. And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.

27. This threatens not only to discredit our trade, but also to reduce the sanctuary of the great goddess Diana to unimportance. It could end up by taking away the prestige of a goddess venerated all over Asia, and indeed all over the world.'

27. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Ar'temis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship."

28. This speech roused them to fury, and they started to shout, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!'

28. When they heard this they were enraged, and cried out, "Great is Ar'temis of the Ephesians!"

29. The whole town was filled with the uproar and the mob made a concerted rush to the theatre, dragging along two of Paul's Macedonian travelling companions, Gaius and Aristarchus.

29. So the city was filled with the confusion; and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Ga'ius and Aristar'chus, Macedo'nians who were Paul's companions in travel.

30. Paul wanted to make an appeal to the people, but the disciples refused to let him;

30. Paul wished to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him;

31. in fact, some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent messages urging him not to take the risk of going into the theatre.

31. some of the A'si-archs also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.

32. By now everybody was shouting different things, till the assembly itself had no idea what was going on; most of them did not even know why they had gathered together.

32. Now some cried 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 prevailed upon Alexander, whom the Jews pushed forward; he raised his hand for silence with the intention of explaining things to the people.

33. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make a defense to the people.

34. As soon as they realised he was a Jew, they all started shouting in unison, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!' and they kept this up for two hours.

34. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, "Great is Ar'temis of the Ephesians!"

35. When the town clerk eventually succeeded in calming the crowd, he said, 'Citizens of Ephesus! Is there anybody who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the guardian of the temple of great Diana and of her statue that fell from heaven?

35. And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Ar'temis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?

36. Nobody can contradict this and there is no need for you to get excited or do anything rash.

36. Seeing then that these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.

37. These men you have brought here are not guilty of any sacrilege or blasphemy against our goddess.

37. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess.

38. If Demetrius and the craftsmen he has with him want to complain about anyone, there are the assizes and the proconsuls; let them take the case to court.

38. If therefore Deme'trius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against any one, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another.

39. And if you want to ask any more questions you must raise them in the regular assembly.

39. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.

40. We could easily be charged with rioting for today's happenings: there is no ground for it all, and we can give no justification for this gathering.' When he had finished this speech he dismissed the assembly.

40. For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no cause that we can give to justify this commotion."

41.

41. And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.