And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the higher districts, came to Ephesus and found some disciples.
And he said to them, “Did you receive holy spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard that there is holy spirit.”
And he said, “Then with what kind of baptism were you baptized?” And they said, “With John’s baptism.”
And Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism that was a sign of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in him who was coming after him, that is, on Jesus.”
And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the holy spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
And there were about 12 men in all.
And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the Kingdom of God.
But when some were becoming hardened and defiant, speaking evil of the Way in front of the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
And this continued for two years, so that all those who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
The Sons of Sceva
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
so that handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.
But also some of the Jews, exorcists who traveled from place to place, attempted to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I charge you under oath by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overpowered all of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
And this became known to everyone who lived at Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Many also of those who had believed were coming forward and openly confessing and divulging their practices.
And a number of those who practiced the magic arts brought their scrolls together and burned them in the sight of everyone, and they counted the price of them, and found it 50,000 pieces of silver.
In this mighty way the word of the Lord continued to grow and prevail.
A Riot at Ephesus
Now when these things were accomplished, Paul resolved in the spirit, after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in the province of Asia for a while.
And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.
He gathered them together along with the workmen of similar trades and said, “Men, you know that by this business we get our wealth.
And you see and hear, that not only at Ephesus, but almost throughout the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that things that are made with hands are not gods.
And so not only is there danger that this trade of ours will be discredited, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and that she to whom all the province of Asia and the world shows devotion will even be pulled down from her magnificence.”
And when they heard this they were filled with rage, and began crying out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”
And the city was filled with confusion, and having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater.
And when Paul was planning to enter in to the people, the disciples did not allow him to go.
And certain also of the Asiarchs, who were his friends, sent to him and urged him not to take the risk of going into the theater.
Meanwhile, some cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know the reason that they had come together.
And some of the crowd gave advice to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed to the front. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wanting to make a defense to the people.
But when they realized that he was a Jew, for about two hours everyone was crying out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Now when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men, Ephesians, what person is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great Artemis, and of the image that fell down from Zeus?
Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you must quiet down and not do anything rash.
For you have brought here these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor defamers of our goddess.
So if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open and there are proconsuls available, let them bring charges against one another.
But if you seek anything further, it will have to be settled in the regular legal assembly.
For indeed we are in danger of being charged with rioting for what happened today, since there is no reason that we can give as a justification for this disorderly gathering.”
And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.