1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul travelled through the inland regions till he came to Ephesus. 2There he found a number of converts, to whom he said, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' 'No,' they replied, 'we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.' 3He said, 'Then what baptism were you given?' 'John's baptism', they answered. 4Paul then said, 'The baptism that John gave was a baptism in token of repentance, and he told the people to put their trust in one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.' 5On hearing this they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus; 6and when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke in tongues of ecstasy and prophesied. 7Altogether they were about a dozen men.
8During the next three months he attended the synagogue and, using argument and persuasion, spoke boldly and freely about the kingdom of God. 9But when some proved obdurate and would not believe, speaking evil of the new way before the whole congregation, he left them, withdrew his converts, and continued to hold discussions daily in the lecture-hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, with the result that the whole population of the province of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles, heard the word of the Lord.
13But some strolling Jewish exorcists tried their hand at using the name of the Lord Jesus on those possessed by evil spirits; they would say, 'I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul proclaims.' 14There were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who were using this method, 15when the evil spirit answered back and said, 'Jesus I acknowledge, and I know about Paul, but who are you?' 16And the man with the evil spirit flew at them, overpowered them all, and handled them with such violence that they ran out of the house stripped and battered. 17This became known to everybody in Ephesus, whether Jew or Gentile; they were all awestruck, and the name of the Lord Jesus gained in honour. 18Moreover many of those who had become believers came and openly confessed that they had been using magical spells. 19And a good many of those who formerly practised magic collected their books and burnt them publicly. The total value was reckoned up and it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20In such ways the word of the Lord showed its power, spreading more and more widely and effectively.
21When things had reached this stage, Paul made up his mind to visit Macedonia and Achaia and then go on to Jerusalem; and he said, 'After I have been there, I must see Rome also.' 22So he sent two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed some time longer in the province of Asia.
23Now about that time, the Christian movement gave rise to a serious disturbance. 24There was a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Diana and provided a great deal of employment for the craftsmen. 25He called a meeting of these men and the workers in allied trades, and addressed them. 'Men,' he said, 'you know that our high standard of living depends on this industry. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul with his propaganda has perverted crowds of people, not only at Ephesus but also in practically the whole of the province of Asia. He is telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all. 27There is danger for us here; it is not only that our line of business will be discredited, but also that the sanctuary of the great goddess Diana will cease to command respect; and then it will not be long before she who is worshipped by all Asia and the civilized world is brought down from her divine pre-eminence.'
28When they heard this they were roused to fury and shouted, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!' 29The whole city was in confusion; they seized Paul's travelling-companions, the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, and made a concerted rush with them into the theatre. 30Paul wanted to appear before the assembly but the other Christians would not let him. 31Even some of the dignitaries of the province, who were friendly towards him, went and urged him not to venture into the theatre. 32Meanwhile some were shouting one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion and most of them did not know what they had all come for. 33But some of the crowd explained the trouble to Alexander, whom the Jews had pushed to the front, and he, motioning for silence, attempted to make a defence before the assembly. 34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single cry arose from them all: for about two hours they kept on shouting, 'Great is Diana of the Ephesians!'
35The town clerk, however, quieted the crowd. 'Men of Ephesus,' he said, 'all the world knows that our city of Ephesus is temple-warden of the great Diana and of that symbol of her which fell from heaven. 36Since these facts are beyond dispute, your proper course is to keep quiet and do nothing rash. 37These men whom you have brought here as culprits have committed no sacrilege and uttered no blasphemy against our goddess. 38If therefore Demetrius and his craftsmen have a case against anyone, assizes are held and there are such people as proconsuls; let the parties bring their charges and countercharges. 39If, on the other hand, you have some further question to raise, it will be dealt with in the statutory assembly. 40We certainly run the risk of being charged with riot for this day's work. There is no justification for it, and if the issue is raised we shall be unable to give any explanation of this uproar.' 41With that he dismissed the assembly.
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