Acts 19

And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

1Apollos was in the city of Corinth at this time. Paul traveled through the hill country. He came to the city of Ephesus. There he found some followers of Jesus.

2He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.

2Paul asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" They said, "We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit."

3And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

3Paul asked, "Then what baptism did you receive?" Baptism means being dipped in water to show a fresh start. They said, "The baptism John taught."

4Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

4Paul said, "John baptized people who were turning away from wrong. He told them to believe in the one coming after him. That one is Jesus."

5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

6Paul put his hands on them. The Holy Spirit came on them. They spoke in other languages. They also spoke messages from God.

7And all the men were about twelve.

7There were about twelve men in all.

8And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

8Paul went into the synagogue, the Jewish meeting place. For three months he spoke there bravely. He gave reasons about God's kingdom to win people over.

9But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

9But some men grew stubborn and would not believe. In front of the crowd they said bad things about the Way, which is what the followers of Jesus were called. So Paul left them and took the followers with him. Every day he talked with them in the lecture hall of a man named Tyrannus.

10And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

10This went on for two years. So everyone living in the province of Asia heard the message about the Lord Jesus. Both Jews and Greeks heard it.

11And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

11God did amazing miracles through Paul's hands.

12So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

12People took cloths and aprons that had touched Paul to sick people. Their sicknesses went away. Evil spirits came out of them too.

13Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the LORD Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

13Some Jewish men traveled around trying to drive evil spirits out of people. They tried using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said, "I command you to come out, by Jesus, the one Paul preaches about."

14And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

14Seven sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva were doing this.

15And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

15One evil spirit answered them, "I know Jesus. I know about Paul. But who are you?"

16And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

16Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them. He was too strong for them and beat them. They ran out of that house with no clothes on and hurt.

17And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

17All the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about this. Fear came over all of them. And they gave great honor to the name of the Lord Jesus.

18And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

18Many people who had believed came and told out loud the wrong things they had done.

19Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

19Many who had done magic brought their magic books together. They burned them in front of everyone. They added up what the books were worth. It came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.

NoteOne piece of silver was about one day's pay for a worker. So the burned books were worth a huge amount of money.

20So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

20In this way the word of God kept spreading and growing strong.

21After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

21After all this, Paul made up his mind what to do next. He would travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then go to Jerusalem. He said, "After I have been there, I must see Rome too."

22So he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. Paul himself stayed in Asia a while longer.

23And the same time there arose no small stir about that way.

23About that same time, big trouble started over the Way.

24For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen;

24A man named Demetrius worked with silver. He made little silver models of the temple of the goddess Diana. His work brought in a lot of money for the other silver workers.

NoteDiana is the Roman name for the goddess the Greeks called Artemis. Her large temple stood in Ephesus.

25Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.

25He called those workers together, along with others in the same kind of trade. He said, "Men, you know this work is how we make our money."

26Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands:

26"You can see and hear what is happening. This man Paul has talked many people into changing. He says gods made by human hands are not gods at all. He has done this here in Ephesus and almost all over Asia."

27So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

27"So our trade may lose its good name. Worse, people may stop caring about the temple of the great goddess Diana. She may lose her greatness, even though all Asia and the whole world worship her."

28And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

28When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

29And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

29Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, two men from Macedonia who traveled with Paul. Then they all rushed into the theater together.

30And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

30Paul wanted to go in and speak to the crowd. But the followers would not let him.

31And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

31Some important leaders of Asia were Paul's friends. They sent him a message. They begged him not to risk going into the theater.

32Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.

32Some people shouted one thing and some another. The whole crowd was mixed up. Most of them did not even know why they had come.

33And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.

33The Jews pushed a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd. He waved his hand for quiet. He wanted to explain things to the people.

34But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

34But then they saw that he was a Jew. So they all shouted together for about two hours. They kept saying, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians!"

35And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

35At last the city clerk, the town's chief officer, quieted the crowd. He said, "Men of Ephesus, everyone knows our city guards the temple of the great goddess Diana. Everyone knows we guard her image that fell from the sky."

NoteThe King James wording says the image "fell down from Jupiter." Jupiter was the chief god of the sky, so this means the image fell from the sky.

36Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

36"No one can say these things are untrue. So you should stay calm. Do not do anything foolish."

37For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

37"You brought these men here. But they have not robbed our temple. They have not said bad things about our goddess."

38Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

38"If Demetrius and his workers have a complaint, the courts are open. There are judges to hear it. Let them take each other to court."

39But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

39"If you want to ask about anything else, it must be settled in a proper meeting."

40For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.

40"We could be blamed for the riot today. We have no good reason to give for this noisy crowd."

41And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.

41After he said this, he sent the crowd home.