2 There he found some disciples, of whom he
asked:
“Did you, when you became believers in Christ, receive the
Holy Spirit?”
“No,” they answered, “we did not even hear that there
was a Holy Spirit.”
3 “What then was your baptism?” Paul asked.
“John's baptism,” was their answer.
4 “John's baptism was a baptism upon repentance,” rejoined
Paul, “and John told the people (speaking of the ‘One
Coming’ after him) that they should believe in him—that is in
Jesus.” note
5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the Faith of the Lord
Jesus,
6 and, after Paul had placed his hands on them, the Holy
Spirit descended upon them, and they began to speak with
‘tongues’ and to preach.
7 There were about twelve of them
in all.
8 Paul went to the Synagogue there, and for three months
spoke out fearlessly, giving addresses and trying to convince
-- --
his hearers, about the kingdom of God.
9 Some of them, however,
hardened their hearts and refused to believe, denouncing
the Cause before the people. So Paul left them and withdrew
his disciples, and gave daily addresses in the lecture-hall of
Tyrannus.
10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in
Roman Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the Lord's Message.
11 God did miracles of no ordinary kind by Paul's hands; so
12 that people would carry home to the sick handkerchiefs or
aprons that had touched his body, and their diseases would
leave them and the wicked spirits go out of them. ⪆⪆
13 An
attempt was made by some itinerant Jews, who were
exorcists, to use the Name of the Lord Jesus over those who
had wicked spirits in them.
“I adjure you,” they would say, “by the Jesus, whom Paul
preaches.”
14 The seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish Chief Priest, were doing
this; but the wicked spirit answered them:
15
“Jesus I acknowledge, and Paul I know, but you—who are
you?”
16 Then the man, in whom this wicked spirit was, sprang upon
them, mastered both of them, and so completely overpowered
them, that they fled out of the house, stripped of their clothes,
and wounded.
17 This incident came to the knowledge of all
the Jews and Greeks living at Ephesus; they were all awe-struck,
and the Name of the Lord Jesus was held in the
highest honour.
18 Many, too, of those who had become
believers in Christ came with a full confession of their
practices;
19 while a number of people, who had practised
magic, collected their books and burnt them publicly; and on
reckoning up the price of these, they found it amounted to
five thousand pounds. ⪆⪆
20 So irresistibly did the Lord's
Message spread and prevail.
note
21 Sometime after these events Paul resolved to
go through Macedonia and Greece, and then
make his way to Jerusalem. “And after I have
been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.”
22 So he sent to Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus,
while he himself stayed for some time longer in Roman Asia.
note
23 Just about that time a great disturbance arose
about the Cause.
24 A silversmith named Demetrius,
who made silver models of the shrine of Artemis,
and so gave a great deal of work to the artisans,
25 got these
men together, as well as the workmen engaged in similar
occupations, and said:
“Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this
-- --
work,
26 and you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but
in almost the whole of Roman Asia, this Paul has convinced
and won over great numbers of people, by his assertion that
those Gods which are made by hands are not Gods at all.
27 So that not only is this business of ours likely to fall into discredit,
but there is the further danger that the Temple of
the great Goddess Artemis will be thought nothing of, and
that she herself will be deprived of her splendour—though all
Roman Asia and the whole world worship her.”
28 When they heard this, the men were greatly enraged, and
began shouting—“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 The
commotion spread through the whole city, and the people
rushed together into the amphitheatre, dragging with them
Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians who were Paul's
travelling companions.
30 Paul wished to go into the amphitheatre
and face the people, but the disciples would not let
him,
31 while some of the chief religious officials of the province,
who were friendly to him, sent repeated entreaties to him not
to trust himself inside.
32 Meanwhile some were shouting one
thing and some another, for the Assembly was all in confusion,
most of those present not even knowing why they had
met.
33 But some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the
Jews had pushed to the front, and he waved his hand to show
that he wanted to speak in their defence to the people.
34 However,
when they recognised him as a Jew, one cry broke from
them all, and they continued shouting for two hours—“Great
is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35 When the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he
said:
“Men of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be
told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of
the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from
Zeus?
36 As these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep
calm and do nothing rash;
37 for you have brought these men
here, though they are neither robbers of Temples nor blasphemers
of our Goddess.
38 If, however, Demetrius and the
artisans who are acting with him have a charge to make
against any one, there are Court Days and there are Magistrates;
let both parties take legal proceedings.
39 But if you
want anything more, it will have to be settled in the regular
Assembly.
40 For I tell you that we are in danger of being proceeded
against for to-day's riot, there being nothing to account
for it; and in that case we shall be at a loss to give any reason
for this disorderly gathering.”
41 With these words he dismissed the Assembly.
Twentieth Century [1904], THE TWENTIETH CENTURY NEW TESTAMENT A TRANSLATION INTO MODERN ENGLISH Made from the Original Greek (Westcott & Hort's Text) (The Fleming H. Revell Company, NEW YORK & CHICAGO) [word count] [B14200].