Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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Paul in Ephesus
1 While Apollos was in Corinth,
Paul traveled through
the interior of the province and arrived
in Ephesus. There he found
some disciples
2 and asked them,
“Did you receive the Holy Spirit
when you became believers?”
2 “We have not even heard that
there is a Holy Spirit,” they answered.
3 “Well, then, what kind of baptism
did you receive?” Paul asked.
3 “The baptism of John,” they answered.
-- --
4 Paul said, “The baptism of John
was for those who turned from their
sins; and he told the people of Israel
to believe in the one who was coming
after him—that is, in Jesus.” note
5 When they heard this, they were
baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus.
6 Paul placed his hands on
them, and the Holy Spirit came upon
them; they spoke in strange tongues
and also proclaimed God's message.
7 They were about twelve men in all.
8 Paul went into the synagogue
and for three months spoke boldly
with the people, holding discussions
with them and trying to convince
them about the Kingdom of God.
9 But some of them were stubborn
and would not believe, and before
the whole group they said evil things
about the Way of the Lord. So Paul
left them and took the believers with
him, and every day note he held discussions
in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 This went on for two years, so that
all the people who lived in the province
of Asia, both Jews and Gentiles,
heard the word of the Lord.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God was performing unusual
miracles through Paul.
12 Even handkerchiefs
and aprons he had used
were taken to the sick, and their diseases
were driven away, and the evil
spirits would go out of them.
13 Some
Jews who traveled around and drove
out evil spirits also tried to use the
name of the Lord Jesus to do this.
They said to the evil spirits, “I command
you in the name of Jesus,
whom Paul preaches.”
14 Seven
brothers, who were the sons of a
Jewish High Priest named Sceva,
were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit said to them,
“I know Jesus, and I know about
Paul; but you—who are you?”
16 The man who had the evil spirit
in him attacked them with such violence
that he overpowered them all.
They ran away from his house,
wounded and with their clothes torn
off.
17 All the Jews and Gentiles who
lived in Ephesus heard about this;
they were all filled with fear, and the
name of the Lord Jesus was given
greater honor.
18 Many of the believers
came, publicly admitting and revealing
what they had done.
19 Many
of those who had practiced magic
brought their books together and
burned them in public. They added
up the price of the books, and the
total came to fifty thousand silver
coins. note
20 In this powerful way the
word of the Lord note kept spreading
and growing stronger.
The Riot in Ephesus
21 After these things had happened,
Paul made up his mind note to
travel through Macedonia and Achaia
and go on to Jerusalem. “After I
go there,” he said, “I must also see
Rome.”
22 So he sent Timothy and
Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia,
while he spent more time in
the province of Asia.
23 It was at this time that there was
serious trouble in Ephesus because
of the Way of the Lord.
24 A certain
silversmith named Demetrius made
silver models of the temple of the
goddess Artemis, and his business
brought a great deal of profit to the
workers.
25 So he called them all together
with others whose work was
like theirs and said to them, “Men,
you know that our prosperity comes
from this work.
26 Now, you can see
and hear for yourselves what this
fellow Paul is doing. He says that
man-made gods are not gods at all,
and he has succeeded in convincing
many people, both here in Ephesus
and in nearly the whole province of
Asia.
27 There is the danger, then,
that this business of ours will get a
bad name. Not only that, but there is
also the danger that the temple of
the great goddess Artemis will come
to mean nothing and that her greatness
-- --
will be destroyed—the goddess
worshiped by everyone in Asia and
in all the world!”
28 As the crowd heard these words,
they became furious and started
shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”
29 The uproar spread throughout
the whole city. The mob grabbed
Gaius and Aristarchus, two Macedonians
who were traveling with Paul,
and rushed with them to the theater.
30 Paul himself wanted to go before
the crowd, but the believers would
not let him.
31 Some of the provincial
authorities, who were his friends,
also sent him a message begging
him not to show himself in the theater.
32 Meanwhile the whole meeting
was in an uproar: some people
were shouting one thing, others
were shouting something else, because
most of them did not even
know why they had come together.
33 Some of the people concluded that
Alexander was responsible, since
the Jews made him go up to the
front. Then Alexander motioned
with his hand for the people to be
silent, and he tried to make a speech
of defense.
34 But when they recognized
that he was a Jew, they all
shouted together the same thing
for two hours: “Great is Artemis of
Ephesus!”
35 At last the city clerk was able to
calm the crowd. “Fellow Ephesians!”
he said. “Everyone knows
that the city of Ephesus is the keeper
of the temple of the great Artemis
and of the sacred stone that fell
down from heaven.
36 Nobody can
deny these things. So then, you must
calm down and not do anything
reckless.
37 You have brought these
men here even though they have not
robbed temples or said evil things
about our goddess.
38 If Demetrius
and his workers have an accusation
against anyone, we have the authorities
and the regular days for court;
charges can be made there.
39 But if
there is something more that you
want, it will have to be settled in a
legal meeting of citizens.
40 For after
what has happened today, there is
the danger that we will be accused
of a riot. There is no excuse for all
this uproar, and we would not be
able to give a good reason for it.”
41 After saying this, he dismissed the
meeting.
Good News [1976], GOOD NEWS BIBLE WITH DEUTEROCANONICALS / APOCRYPHA Today's English Version (AMERICAN BIBLE SOCIETY, New York) [word count] [B15000].
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