Act 18:19-23, Act 19 | ESV | STEP | And they came to Ephesus , and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews .

19 And they came to ^aEphesus, and he left them there, but ^bhe himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined. 21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you ^cif God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.

22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he ^dwent up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time there, he departed and ^ewent from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, ^fstrengthening all the disciples.

Acts 19

Paul in Ephesus

1 And it happened that while ^gApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed ^hthrough the inland ^{▼▼Greek upper (that is, highland)} country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, ^j“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, ^kwe have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, ^l“Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into ^mJohn’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, ⁿ“John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people ^oto believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, ^pthey were baptized in ^{▼▼Or into} the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 And ^rwhen Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and ^sthey began speaking in tongues and ^tprophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

8 And ^uhe entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them ^vabout the kingdom of God. 9 ^wBut when some became stubborn and ^xcontinued in unbelief, speaking evil of ^ythe Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. ^{▼▼Some manuscripts add from the fifth hour to the tenth (that is, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.)} 10 This continued for ^aatwo years, so that ^aball the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

The Sons of Sceva

11 And ^acGod was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 ^adso that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and ^aethe evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish ^afexorcists ^agundertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ^ah“I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, ^ai“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all ^{▼▼Or both} of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and ^akthe name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, ^alconfessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord ^amcontinued to increase and prevail mightily.

A Riot at Ephesus

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit ^anto pass through ^aoMacedonia and Achaia and ^apgo to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, ^aqI must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of ^arhis helpers, ^asTimothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia ^atfor a while.

23 About that time ^authere arose no little disturbance concerning ^avthe Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, ^awbrought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 ^axThese 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, ^aysaying that ^azgods 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 ^bagreat 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, ^bb“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 ^bcAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s ^bdcompanions 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 ^bfNow 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, ^bgmotioning 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, ^bh“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 ^bithe 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 ^bkthese men here who are neither ^blsacrilegious 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 ^bmproconsuls. 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.