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1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the inland road over to Ephesus. When he arrived there, he found some disciples.
2But he had to ask them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
“No,” they answered. “We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4Paul explained, “John baptized people, calling them to turn away from their sins. He told them to believe in the one who was coming after him, meaning Jesus.”
5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6Then Paul placed his hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came on them. They spoke in unknown languages and they prophesied.
7There were about 12 men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months. He gave good reasons for believing the truth about the kingdom of God.
9But some there wouldn’t listen, and they refused to believe. They said insulting things in public about the Way of Jesus. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and talked with people each day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11God did amazing miracles through Paul.
12People took clothes he’d worn or towels he’d used and brought them to the sick, and their sicknesses were cured and evil spirits left them.
13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to set free those who were controlled by demons. They said, “In the name of the Jesus that Paul is preaching about, I command you to come out.”
14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15One day an evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on Sceva’s sons, overpowered them all, and gave them a terrible beating. They ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17When the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about this, they were all overcome with fear. It led them to hold the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor.
18Many who believed now came and openly admitted the wrong things they’d been doing.
19A number of those who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them in public. When they figured out how much these scrolls were worth, it turned out to be more than someone could earn in two lifetimes.
20In this way the word of the Lord spread everywhere and became more and more powerful.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go over to Macedonia and Achaia and then on to Jerusalem. “And after I’ve been there,” he said, “I must also visit Rome.”
22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But he stayed a little longer in the province of Asia.
23Then many people in Ephesus became very upset about the Way of Jesus.
24There was a man named Demetrius who made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. He brought in a lot of business for the other skilled workers there.
25One day he called them together, with others who were in similar businesses. “My friends,” he said, “you know that we make good money from our work.
26But you’ve seen and heard what this man Paul is doing. Here in Ephesus and almost everywhere in the province of Asia he has led large numbers of people away from our gods. He says that gods made by human hands aren’t gods at all.
27Our work is in danger of losing its good name, and the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be abandoned. Now she is worshiped all over our province and in the whole world, but soon people may not treat her as a goddess anymore.”
28When the workers heard this, they became very angry. They began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29Soon the whole city was upset. The people dragged Gaius and Aristarchus, two men who’d come with Paul from Macedonia, into the assembly hall.
30Paul wanted to appear in front of the crowd himself, but the disciples wouldn’t let him.
31Paul had some friends who were officials in the province, and they also sent him a message begging him not to go into the hall.
32Everyone was confused. Some were shouting one thing while others were shouting something else. Most of the people didn’t even know why they were there.
33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. He got the people to quiet down by waving his hands. He was about to present his side of things,
34but then the people realized he was a Jew. So they all started shouting together, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This went on for about two hours.
35Finally the city clerk quieted down the crowd. “People of Ephesus!” he said. “The whole world knows that our city guards the temple of the great Artemis and the statue of her that fell from heaven.
36No one can question that, so calm down and don’t do anything foolish.
37You’ve brought these men here, but they haven’t robbed any temples or insulted our goddess.
38If Demetrius and the other skilled workers think that someone has wronged them, they can bring charges. The courts are open, and we have judges available.
39If there’s anything else you want to bring up, it can be settled in a legal assembly.
40But what’s going on today is a riot, and we could be charged with a crime for having one. We wouldn’t be able to explain what has happened, because there’s been no reason for it.”
41This convinced all the people to leave and go home.