1  And it came to pass, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper districts, came to Ephesus, and finding certain disciples,[1]

2  he said to them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit[2] when ye had believed? And they said to him, We did not even hear if the Holy Spirit was come .

3  And he said, To what then were ye baptised? And they said, To the baptism of John.

4  And Paul said, John indeed baptised with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe on him that was coming after him, that is, on Jesus.

5  And when they heard that, they were baptised to the name of the Lord Jesus.

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

7  And all the men were about twelve.

8  And entering into the synagogue, he spoke boldly during three months, reasoning and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

9  But when some were hardened and disbelieved, speaking evil of the way before the multitude, he left them and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.

10  And this took place for two years, so that all that inhabited Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.[3]

11  And God wrought no ordinary miracles[4] by the hands of Paul,

12  so that even napkins or aprons were brought from his body and put upon the sick, and the diseases left them, and the wicked spirits went out.

13  And certain of the Jewish exorcists[5] also, who went about, took in hand to call upon those who had wicked spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches.

14  And there were certain men , seven sons of Sceva[6], Jewish high priest, who were doing this.

15  But the wicked spirit answering said to them, Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with; but *ye*, who are ye?

16  And the man in whom the wicked spirit was leaped upon them, and having mastered both, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

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

18  And many of those that believed came confessing and declaring their deeds.

19  And many of those that practised curious arts brought their books of charms and burnt them before all. And they reckoned up the prices of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver[7].

20  Thus with might the word of the Lord increased and prevailed.

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

22  And having sent into Macedonia two of those ministering to him, Timotheus and Erastus, he remained himself awhile in Asia.

23  And there took place at that time no small disturbance about the way.

24  For a certain man by name Demetrius, a silver-beater, making silver temples of Artemis, brought no small gain to the artisans;

25  whom having brought together, and those who wrought in such things, he said, Men, ye know that our well-living arises from this work,

26  and ye see and hear that this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great crowd, not only of Ephesus, but almost of all Asia, saying that they are no gods which are made with hands.

27  Now not only there is danger for us that our business come into discredit, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis[8] be counted for nothing, and that her greatness should be destroyed whom the whole of Asia and the world reveres.[9]

28  And having heard this , and being filled with rage, they cried out, saying, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

29  And the whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord to the theatre[10], having seized and carried off with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, fellow-travellers of Paul.

30  But Paul intending to go in to the people, the disciples suffered him not;

31  and some of the Asiarchs also, who were his friends, sent to him and urged him not to throw himself into the theatre.

32  Different persons therefore cried out some different thing; for the assembly was tumultuous, and the most did not know for what cause they had come together.

33  But from among the crowd they put forward Alexander, the Jews pushing him forward. And Alexander, beckoning with his hand, would have made a defence to the people.

34  But, recognising that he was a Jew, there was one cry from all, shouting for about two hours, Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.

35  And the townclerk, having quieted the crowd, said, Ephesians, what man is there then who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of Artemis the great, and of the image which fell down from heaven?

36  These things therefore being undeniable, it is necessary that ye should be calm and do nothing headlong.

37  For ye have brought these men, who are neither temple-plunderers, nor speak injuriously of your goddess.

38  If therefore Demetrius and the artisans who are with him have a matter against any one, the courts are being held, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another.

39  But if ye inquire anything concerning other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly.

40  For also we are in danger to be put in accusation for sedition for this affair of to-day, no cause existing in reference to which we shall be able to give a reason for this concourse.

41  And having said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

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[1] (19:1). Paul’s third missionary journey begins.

[2] (19:2). received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is received at the moment of conversation.

[3] (19:10). It was an amazing achievement that the gospel reached the ears of everyone in Asia Minor, although not everyone necessarily accepted it. This was largely due to believers sharing their faith while conducting their daily activities across the area. During this two to three-year period, congregations in Colossae, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and possibly a few mentioned in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 were formed.

[4] (19:11). ordinary miracles. At times, Paul lacked this ability (2 Cor. 12:8; Phil. 2:27; 2 Tim. 4:20).

[5] (19:13). exorcists. These exorcists were sorcerers capable of expelling demons. The moral of this tale (vv. 13–17) is that to invoke the name of Jesus successfully during an exorcism, one must be fully committed to Him. Unlike the beliefs about magic prevalent at the time, the name alone held no power; this improper application ultimately boomeranged (v. 16).

[6] (19:14). Sceva. The Book of Acts is the sole reference that mentions this individual. While some writers contest whether he was a chief priest, it’s noteworthy that there was no high priest in Jerusalem by that name. Some scholars suggest that it was relatively common for certain members of the Zadokite family (Sons of Zadok) to assume an unofficial high-priestly position, which could clarify this title. Nevertheless, it seems more probable that he was a traveling exorcist.

[7] (19:19). fifty thousand pieces of silver. May refer to drachmas or denarii, which are two distinct types of silver coins. Since both were used as a labourers daily pay, this sum would be roughly equivalent to 135 years of earnings.

[8] (19:27). Artemis or Diana. This is the Latin name of one of the main goddesses worshipped by the Greeks and Romans: her Greek name is Artemis. It was believed that an image of her either descended from the sky or was crafted from wood or ebony that came from the clouds. She was venerated throughout Asia. Her temple, constructed from exquisite marble, was located in Ephesus. A Roman coin displayed in the British Museum features a depiction of the temple with the goddess’s image at its centre. Although Ephesus was otherwise an enlightened city, it lacked religious understanding, with the frenzied crowd able to shout for two hours, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”

[9] (19:27). The gospel posed a threat to the trade of the idol-makers. To incite resistance against the Christians, the artisans invoked the civic pride of the Ephesians. The temple of Artemis, recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, was an impressive edifice featuring 127 columns, each 60 feet tall, and covering a space of 425 feet in length and 220 feet in width. The Temple of Artemis, also referred to as Artemision or the Temple of Diana, was a Greek structure dedicated to an ancient, localized version of the goddess Artemis, who is aligned with the Roman goddess Diana. It was situated in Ephesus, close to the current town of Selçuk in modern Turkey. It is believed to have been able to host about 25,000 people. It is thought to have been damaged or demolished by AD 401. Today, only the foundations and remnants of the final temple are present at the location.

[10] (19:29). theatre. This construction was carved into the flank of Mount Pion and oriented westward, overlooking the harbour. The remaining structures suggest that it had the capacity to accommodate approximately 24,000 people. As it underwent expansion during the first century, its capacity might have been slightly less during Paul’s time.