Act 19:1, 23-41, 2Cor 1:8-10 | ESV | STEP | And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth , Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus . There he found some disciples .

1 And it happened that while ^aApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^bthrough the inland ^{▼▼Greek upper (that is, highland)} country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.

Acts 19:23-41

23 About that time ^dthere arose no little disturbance concerning ^ethe Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^fbrought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 ^gThese he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, ^hsaying that ⁱgods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ^jgreat goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, ^k“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and ^lAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s ^mcompanions in travel. 30 But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31 And even some of the Asiarchs, ^{▼▼That is, high-ranking officers of the province of Asia} who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. 32 ^oNow some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, ^pmotioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ^q“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

35 And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from ^rthe sky? ^{▼▼The meaning of the Greek is uncertain} 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought ^tthese men here who are neither ^usacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are ^vproconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you seek anything further, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts seek about other matters} it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41 And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, ^{▼▼Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God’s family, the church} of ^ythe affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us ^zrely not on ourselves ^aabut on God ^abwho raises the dead. 10 ^acHe delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. ^adOn him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.