THE BOOK OF ACTS

 

Acts Chapter 19

1 ¶ Now it so happened, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper inland districts arrived in Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

2 He asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you came to faith? And they said to him, We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.

3 So Paul asked them, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, Into John’s baptism.

4 Then Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people, that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus.

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

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

7 And there were about twelve men in all.

8 ¶ Now Paul went into the synagogue, and spoke boldly there for three months, disputing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

9 But when some became hardened, and refused to believe, speaking evil of the way before the congregation, he left them, separating the disciples from them, and had daily discussions in the school of Tyrannus.

10 And this continued for two years; so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus.

11 And God did unusual miracles through the hands of Paul:

12 So that handkerchiefs or aprons that he had touched were taken to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

13 ¶ Then certain itinerant Jewish exorcists, presumed to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, We command you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.

14 And there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish high priest, who did this.

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

16 And the man who had the evil spirit in him jumped on them, and overpowered them, giving them all such a beating that they ran out of that house naked and wounded.

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

18 And many who now believed openly confessed their evil deeds.

19 Also many of those who had used dark arts brought their books together, and burned them in front of everyone: and they figured up the value of the books, and it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.

20 So the word of God grew mightily and prevailed.

21 ¶ After all these things had taken place, Paul determined in the spirit, to go to Jerusalem after he had gone through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

22 But after sending two of his assistants, Timothy and Erastus, into Macedonia; he stayed in Asia for a time.

23 And at that time a major uproar arose concerning the way of the Lord.

24 For a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Diana, provided a big income for the craftsmen;

25 He called them together along with workmen in related trades, and said, Men, you know that we derive our wealth from this business.

26 And you see and hear, that not only at Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods at all:

27 So there is a danger not only that our craft will fall into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana will be despised, and her magnificence fall into contempt, she whom all Asia and the world worships.

28 And when they heard this, they were furious, and began shouting, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

29 Soon the entire city was in an uproar: and having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, they all rushed into the theater together.

30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the crowd, the disciples would not let him.

31 Even some officials of the province of Asia, who were his friends, sent to him, and urged him not to risk going into the theatre.

32 The assembly was in confusion. Some shouted one thing, and some another; and most of them did not know why they had come together.

33 Then the Jews pushed Alexander to the front. And Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made his defense before the people.

34 But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

35 And when the city clerk had calmed the people, he said, Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the people of Ephesus are worshippers of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

36 Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

37 For you have brought these men here, who have not robbed temples, or blasphemed your goddess.

38 Therefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a grievance against anyone, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them bring charges.

39 But if you require anything beyond this, it must be settled in a lawful assembly.

40 For we are in danger of being called to account for this day’s uproar, and there is no reason we can give to account for this disorder.

41 And after saying that, he dismissed the assembly.

[Note: Verses 1-7 Do not assume that these men had been baptized by John the Baptist. Apollos was baptized by John, as were the Apostles, and they were never rebaptized. The fact that they did not know what John taught about Christ, or the Holy Spirit, suggests that they were baptized by an imitator of John, who never understood the salvation message. We know that such imitators existed in the first century, and one group (the Mandeans) still exists.