Acts 19:23-34
23About that time athere arose no little disturbance concerning bthe Way. 24For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, cbrought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 dThese he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26And 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, esaying that fgods made with hands are not gods. 27And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the ggreat 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.”28When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, h“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and iAristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s jcompanions in travel. 30But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. 31And 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 lNow 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. 33Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, mmotioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. 34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, n“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
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