Paul Goes to Ephesus
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road to Ephesus. When he arrived, he found some believers there. 2He asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”
“No,” they answered. “We haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4Paul said, “John baptized people, calling them to turn away from their sins. He told them to believe in the one who was coming after him. Jesus is that one.” 5After hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6Paul placed his hands on them. Then the Holy Spirit came on them. They spoke in languages they had not known before. They also prophesied. 7There were about 12 men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue. There he spoke boldly for three months. He gave good reasons for believing the truth about God’s kingdom. 9But some of them wouldn’t listen. They refused to believe. In public they said evil things about the Way of Jesus. So Paul left them. He took the believers with him. Each day he talked with people in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years. So all the Jews and Greeks who lived in Asia Minor heard the word of the Lord.
11God did amazing miracles through Paul. 12Even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to those who were sick. When this happened, their sicknesses were healed and evil spirits left them.
13Some Jews went around driving out evil spirits. They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to set free those who were controlled by demons. They said, “In Jesus’ name I command you to come out. He is the Jesus that Paul is preaching about.” 14Seven sons of Sceva were doing this. Sceva was a Jewish chief priest. 15One day the evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus. And I know about Paul. But who are you?” 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on Sceva’s sons. He overpowered them all. He gave them a terrible beating. They ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17The Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about this. They were all overcome with fear. They held the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor. 18Many who believed now came and openly admitted what they had done. 19A number of those who had practiced evil magic brought their scrolls together. They set them on fire out in the open. They added up the value of the scrolls. The scrolls were worth more than someone could earn in two lifetimes. 20The word of the Lord spread everywhere. It became more and more powerful.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem. He went through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been to Jerusalem,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22He sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia. But he stayed a little longer in Asia Minor.
Trouble in Ephesus
23At that time many people became very upset about the Way of Jesus. 24There was a man named Demetrius who made things out of silver. He made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. He brought in a lot of business for the other skilled workers there. 25One day he called them together. He also called others who were in the same kind of business. “My friends,” he said, “you know that we make good money from our work. 26You have seen and heard what this fellow Paul is doing. He has talked to large numbers of people here in Ephesus. Almost everywhere in Asia Minor he has led people away from our gods. He says that the gods made by human hands are not gods at all. 27Our work is in danger of losing its good name. People’s faith in the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be weakened. Now she is worshiped all over Asia Minor and the whole world. But soon she will be robbed of her greatness.”
28When they heard this, they became very angry. They began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29Soon people were making trouble in the whole city. They all rushed into the theater. They dragged Gaius and Aristarchus along with them. These two men had come with Paul from Macedonia. 30Paul wanted to appear in front of the crowd. But the believers wouldn’t let him. 31Some of the officials in Asia Minor were friends of Paul. They sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater.
32The crowd didn’t know what was going on. Some were shouting one thing and some another. Most of the people didn’t even know why they were there. 33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front. They tried to tell him what to say. But he motioned for them to be quiet. He was about to give the people reasons for his actions. 34But then they realized that he was a Jew. So they all shouted the same thing for about two hours. “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” they yelled.
35The city clerk quieted the crowd down. “People of Ephesus!” he said. “The city of Ephesus guards the temple of the great Artemis. The whole world knows this. They know that Ephesus guards her statue, which fell from heaven. 36These facts can’t be questioned. So calm down. Don’t do anything foolish. 37These men haven’t robbed any temples. They haven’t said evil things against our female god. But you have brought them here anyhow. 38Demetrius and the other skilled workers may feel they have been wronged by someone. Let them bring charges. The courts are open. We have our governors. 39Is there anything else you want to bring up? Settle it in a court of law. 40As it is, we are in danger of being charged with a crime. We could be charged with causing all this trouble today. There is no reason for it. So we wouldn’t be able to explain what has happened.” 41After he said this, he sent the people away.
保羅在以弗所傳道
1當亞波羅在哥林多時，保羅已取道內陸重回以弗所，在那裡遇見幾個門徒。 2保羅問他們：「你們信的時候有沒有領受聖靈？」
他們說：「沒有！我們從來沒有聽過聖靈的事。」
3保羅說：「那麼，你們受的是什麼洗禮呢？」
他們說：「是約翰的洗禮。」
4保羅說：「約翰的洗禮是悔改的洗禮，約翰告訴百姓要信在他以後來的那位——耶穌。」
5他們聽後，立刻奉主耶穌的名受了洗。 6保羅把手按在他們身上時，聖靈便降在他們身上，他們就說方言，講上帝的信息。 7這次共有十二個人。
8保羅一連三個月勇敢地在會堂裡傳道，與人辯論上帝國的事，勸導他們。 9可是有些人仍然頑固不信，還當眾毀謗上帝的道。保羅便帶著門徒離開他們，天天在推喇奴的學堂辯論。 10這樣持續了兩年，亞細亞全境的居民，無論是猶太人還是希臘人，都聽見了主的道。 11上帝又藉著保羅的手行了一些非凡的神蹟， 12甚至只要將保羅身上的手帕或圍裙放在病人身上，病人就痊癒了，邪靈也會離開所附的人。
13那時，有幾個走江湖的猶太術士也想用耶穌的名趕鬼，他們向那些被邪靈附身的人說：「我奉保羅所傳講的耶穌之名，命令你們出來！」 14做這事的有猶太祭司長士基瓦的七個兒子。
15邪靈回答說：「耶穌，我認識；保羅，我也知道。但你們是誰？」 16被邪靈附身的人隨即撲向他們，攻擊他們，制伏了他們，使他們赤著身子帶著傷從屋裡逃走了。
17全以弗所的猶太人和希臘人知道了這件事，都驚懼不已。主耶穌的名因此大受尊崇。 18許多已經信耶穌的人都前來認罪，公開承認自己的惡行。 19又有許多行邪術的人把他們的書堆在一起，當眾焚燒。根據當時的估價，這些書約值五萬銀幣。 20主的道就這樣傳開了，大大興旺起來。
21這些事以後，保羅決定經過馬其頓和亞該亞回到耶路撒冷。他說：「到了那裡之後，我必須去羅馬看看。」 22於是，他派提摩太和以拉都兩位同工先去馬其頓，自己暫時留在亞細亞。
以弗所的騷亂
23就在這時，由於主的道，以弗所又起了很大的騷亂。 24一個名叫底米丟的銀匠以製造亞底米女神銀龕為業，使從事這門生意的工匠獲利豐厚。 25他召集了工匠和同行的人，說：「各位都知道我們靠這一行發財， 26可是你們都看到了，也聽見了，那個保羅在以弗所和亞細亞全境說服、誤導了許多人，說什麼人手所造的不是神。 27這樣下去，不但我們的行業會遭人貶抑，連亞底米女神廟也會被人輕看，甚至全亞細亞及普世尊崇的女神也會威嚴掃地！」
28眾人聽後，怒氣填胸，高聲喊叫：「以弗所人的亞底米女神真偉大！」 29全城陷入一片混亂。眾人抓住保羅的兩個同伴——馬其頓人該猶和亞里達古，拖著他們衝進戲院。 30保羅想進去，但門徒不許他去。 31他的好友——亞細亞的幾位官員也派人勸他別冒險進入戲院。
32這時，戲院裡面的人都在大喊大叫，混亂不堪。其實大部分人根本不知道自己為什麼聚在那裡。 33這時，人群中的猶太人把亞歷山大推到前面，請他解釋。亞歷山大舉手示意大家安靜，聽他發言。 34但眾人認出他是個猶太人，便又開始一起高呼：「以弗所人的亞底米女神真偉大！」這樣喊了兩個小時。
35最後，城裡的書記官出面調停，說：「各位以弗所市民，誰不知道以弗所城守護著亞底米女神廟和從宙斯那裡掉下來的神像呢？ 36既然這是無可否認的事實，你們就該安靜，不可魯莽行事。 37你們帶來的這些人既沒有偷廟裡的東西，也沒有褻瀆我們的女神。 38如果底米丟和他的同行要控告誰，大可到法庭或總督那裡提出訴訟。 39倘若你們還有其他的要求，也可以通過合法的會議解決。 40今天的騷亂實在沒有道理，難免會被查問，到時候我們很難交代。」 41說完，便叫眾人散去。
