Acts 19 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
~AD 53-55
Location
Ephesus, capital of the Roman province of Asia (western Turkey)
Audience
Original readers of Luke's account documenting the expansion of the early church
Situation
Paul arrives in Ephesus during his third missionary journey and ministers there for approximately three years. This becomes one of his longest and most significant ministry periods in any single city.
Key Background
Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire and home to the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The city was a major center of commerce, magic, and pagan religious practice, with significant economic interests tied to idol-making and the Artemis cult. Paul's preaching directly threatened these established religious and economic systems, leading to major conflict.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland regions and arrived in There he found some
and asked them, "Did you receive the of when you in him?" They said, "We've never even heard that there is a of
So Paul asked, "Then what kind of did you go through?" They answered, "John's
Paul explained, "John's submersion was about — he told the people to put their trust in the one coming after him, and that's Jesus."
When they heard this, they were in the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul placed his hands on them, the Breath of came on them, and they began in other and from
There were about twelve men in all.
Paul went into the and spoke boldly for three months, having discussions and making a convincing case about
But when some of them became stubborn and refused to believe, publicly trashing the in front of everyone, Paul left them. He took the followers with him and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of
This went on for two years, so that everyone living in the of — both Jewish and — heard the Lord's message.
God was doing extraordinary things through Paul —
to the point that even and that had touched his skin were carried to sick people, and their diseases left them and evil spirits came out of them.
Some traveling Jewish also tried using the name of the Lord Jesus on people who had evil spirits. They would say, "I command you by the Jesus that Paul talks about."
Seven sons of a Jewish named Sceva were doing this.
But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I and Paul I've heard of — but who are you?"
Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them all, and beat them so badly that they ran out of that house naked and bleeding.
When word of this got around to everyone in Ephesus — both Jewish and non-Jewish people — fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in the highest respect.
Many who had already put their trust in Jesus came forward, openly and exposing their past practices.
A large number of those who had practiced gathered their scrolls together and burned them in front of everyone. When they calculated the total value, it came to
That's how powerfully the Lord's message kept spreading and
After all this, Paul made up his mind through the to go to Jerusalem by way of and Achaia. He said, "After I've been there, I have to see Rome too."
He sent two of his assistants, and ahead to Macedonia while he stayed in the province of Asia a bit longer.
Around that time, a major uproar broke out about the
A silversmith named Demetrius, who made of was bringing in a lot of business for the local craftsmen.
He gathered them together along with workers in related trades and said, "Men, you know that our wealth comes from this business.
And you can see and hear for yourselves that this Paul has persuaded a huge number of people — not just in Ephesus but across practically the whole province of Asia — telling them that gods made by human hands aren't really gods at all.
There's a real danger here — not just that our trade will lose its reputation, but that the temple of the will be considered worthless, and she herself will be stripped of her greatness, she whom all of Asia and the whole world worship."
When they heard this, they were furious and started shouting, is of the
The whole city was thrown into chaos. The mob grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed together into the
Paul wanted to go in and face the crowd, but the other followers wouldn't let him.
Even some of the who were friendly toward Paul sent him a message, begging him not to risk going into the theater.
Meanwhile, the was total chaos — some were shouting one thing, others something else. Most of the people didn't even know why they were there.
Some in the crowd pushed Alexander forward — the Jewish community had put him up front. Alexander motioned for silence, trying to make a defense to the crowd.
But when they realized he was Jewish, they all started chanting in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
Finally, the managed to calm the crowd down. "People of Ephesus," he said, "everyone knows that the of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the that from the
Since nobody can deny this, you need to calm down and not do anything reckless.
You've brought these men here, but they haven't robbed any temples and they haven't insulted our goddess.
So if Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and there are — they can press charges there.
But if you have anything else you want resolved, it will have to be settled in a
As it stands, we're actually at risk of being charged with over what happened today — since there's no real reason we can give to justify this commotion."
After saying this, he dismissed the assembly.