Now it happened that while ^aApollos was in ^bCorinth, Paul passed through the ^cupper country and came to ^dEphesus, and found some disciples. 2 He said to them, “^aDid you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “On the contrary, ^bwe have not even heard if there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “^aInto John’s baptism.” 4 Paul said, “^aJohn baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people ^bto believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 When they heard this, they were ^abaptized ¹in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had ^alaid hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they began ^bspeaking with tongues and ^cprophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And he entered ^athe synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, having discussions and persuading them ^babout the kingdom of God. 9 But when ^asome were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of ^1bthe Way before the ²people, he withdrew from them and took ^cthe disciples away with him, and had discussions daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 This took place for ^atwo years, so that all who lived in ^1bAsia heard ^cthe word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11 God was performing ^aextraordinary ¹miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 ^aso that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and ^bthe evil spirits went out. 13 But also some of the Jewish ^aexorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to ¹use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had the evil spirits, saying, “I order you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches!” 14 Now there were seven sons of ¹Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this. 15 But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit, pounced on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to all who lived in ^aEphesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. 18 Also many of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. 19 And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they added up the prices of ¹the books and found it to be fifty thousand ^2apieces of silver. 20 So ^1athe word of the Lord ^bwas growing and prevailing mightily.

21 Now after these things were finished, Paul resolved in ¹the Spirit to ^ago to Jerusalem ^bafter he had passed through ^cMacedonia and ^dAchaia, saying, “After I have been there, ^eI must also see Rome.” 22 And after he sent into ^aMacedonia two of ^bthose who assisted him, ^cTimothy and ^dErastus, he himself stayed in ^1eAsia for a while.

23 About that time ¹a major disturbance occurred in regard to ^2athe Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of ¹Artemis, ^awas bringing ²considerable ³business to the craftsmen; 25 he gathered these men together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity ¹depends upon this business. 26 You see and hear that not only in ^aEphesus, but in almost all of ^1bAsia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that ^2cgods made by hands are not gods at all. 27 Not only is there danger that this trade of ours will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess ¹Artemis will be regarded as worthless, and that she whom all of ^2aAsia and ^bthe ³world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”

28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began shouting, saying, “Great is ¹Artemis of the ^aEphesians!” 29 The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging along ^aGaius and ^bAristarchus, Paul’s ^cMacedonian traveling ^dcompanions. 30 And when Paul wanted to go into the assembly, ^athe disciples would not let him. 31 Also some of the ¹Asiarchs who were friends of his sent word to him and repeatedly urged him not to ²venture into the theater. 32 ^aSo then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the ¹assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know ²for what reason they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd ¹concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having ^amotioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is ¹Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of ^aEphesus, what person is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great ¹Artemis and of the image which fell down from ²the sky? 36 So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither ^atemple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are in session and ^1aproconsuls are available; have them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the ¹lawful ²assembly. 40 For indeed, we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real reason for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.” 41 After saying this he dismissed the ¹assembly.