1 Now while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came down to Ephesus and found some disciples,

2 And he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they said to him, On the contrary, we did not even hear whether there is a Holy Spirit.

3 And he said, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.

4 And Paul said, John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe into the One coming after him, that is, into Jesus.

5 And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

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

7 And there were in all about twelve men.

8 And he entered into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them in the things concerning the kingdom of God.

9 But when some were hardened and would not be persuaded, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

10 And this took place for two years, so that all those dwelling in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God did works of power of no ordinary kind through the hands of Paul,

12 So that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and their diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out.

13 But some of the Jewish exorcists who also went about took it upon themselves to name over those who had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.

14 And there were seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, doing this.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said to them, Jesus I know, and with Paul I am acquainted; but who are you?

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped upon them, subdued both of them, and overpowered them, so that they escaped out of that house naked and wounded.

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

18 And many of those who had believed came, confessing and making known their practices.

19 And a considerable number of those who practiced magic brought their books together and burned them before all; and they counted up the price of them and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.

20 Thus, the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

21 And when these things were fulfilled, Paul purposed in his spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

22 And having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a time.

23 And about that time no small disturbance took place concerning the Way.

24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, afforded no little business to the craftsmen.

25 These he assembled together with the workmen of similar trades as well and said, Men, you know that from this business we have our prosperity.

26 And you observe and hear that not only at Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and perverted a considerable number, saying that the gods being made by hands are no gods at all.

27 And not only is there danger that our trade will come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing and that the magnificence of her whom the whole of Asia and the inhabited earth worship will also be overthrown.

28 And when they heard this, they became full of rage and began to cry out, saying, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

29 And the city was filled with confusion; and they rushed with one accord into the theater, seizing Gaius and Aristarchus of Macedonia, Paul’s traveling companions.

30 And when Paul intended to enter into the populace, the disciples would not allow him.

31 And some of the Asiarchs also, who were his friends, sent to him and entreated him not to venture into the theater.

32 So then some were crying out one thing, and some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority did not know for what cause they had come together.

33 And they drew Alexander out of the crowd, the Jews having pushed him forward; and Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the populace.

34 But when they realized that he was a Jew, one voice arose from all for about two hours, crying out, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!

35 And the town clerk, having quieted the crowd, said, Men of Ephesus, which of you men is there then who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great Artemis and of the image fallen from Zeus?

36 Since these things therefore cannot be disputed, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash;

37 For you have brought forth these men who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess.

38 If then Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a matter against anyone, courts are being conducted and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another.

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

40 For indeed we are in danger of being charged with insurrection for today’s affair, since there is no reason for it; and with reference to it we will not be able to give an account concerning this disorderly gathering.

41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.