Paul in Ephesus
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when19:2 Or after you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not 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’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues19:6 Or other languages and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?” 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.19:19 A drachma was a silver coin worth about a day’s wages. 20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided19:21 Or decided in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must visit Rome also.” 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
The Riot in Ephesus
23About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: “You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.”
28When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theater together. 30Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
32The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” 41After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
保罗在以弗所传道
1当亚波罗在哥林多时，保罗已取道内陆重回以弗所，在那里遇见几个门徒。 2保罗问他们：“你们信的时候有没有领受圣灵？”
他们说：“没有！我们甚至都没有听过有圣灵。”
3保罗说：“那么，你们受的是什么洗礼呢？”
他们说：“是约翰的洗礼。”
4保罗说：“约翰的洗礼是悔改的洗礼，他告诉百姓要信在他以后来的那一位，就是耶稣。”
5他们听后，立刻奉主耶稣的名受了洗。 6保罗把手按在他们身上时，圣灵便降在他们身上，他们就说方言，讲预言。 7他们约有十二个人。
8保罗一连三个月勇敢地在会堂里传道，与人辩论上帝国的事，劝导他们。 9可是有些人仍然硬着心不信，还当众毁谤主的道。保罗便带着门徒离开他们，天天在推喇奴的学堂讲论。 10这样持续了两年，亚细亚所有的居民，无论是犹太人还是希腊人，都听见了主的道。 11上帝又借着保罗的手行了一些非凡的神迹， 12甚至只要将保罗身上的手帕或围裙放在病人身上，病人就痊愈了，邪灵也会离开所附的人。
13那时，有几个走江湖的犹太术士也想用耶稣的名赶鬼，他们向那些被邪灵附身的人说：“我奉保罗所传讲的耶稣之名，命令你们出来！” 14做这事的有犹太祭司长士基瓦的七个儿子。
15邪灵回答说：“耶稣，我认识；保罗，我也知道。但你们是谁？” 16被邪灵附身的人随即扑向他们，攻击他们，制服了他们，使他们赤着身子带着伤从屋里逃走了。
17住在以弗所的犹太人和希腊人知道了这件事，都惊惧不已。主耶稣的名因此大受尊崇。 18许多已经信耶稣的人都前来认罪，公开承认自己的恶行。 19又有许多行邪术的人把他们的书堆在一起，当众焚烧。根据当时的估价，这些书约值五万银币。 20主的道就这样传开了，大大兴旺起来。
21这些事以后，保罗决定经过马其顿和亚该亚回到耶路撒冷。他说：“到了那里之后，我必须去罗马看看。” 22于是，他派提摩太和以拉都两位同工先去马其顿，自己暂时留在亚细亚。
以弗所的骚乱
23就在这时，由于主的道，以弗所起了很大的骚乱。 24一个名叫底米丢的银匠以制造亚底米女神银龛为业，使从事这门生意的工匠获利丰厚。 25他召集了工匠和同行的人，说：“各位都知道我们靠这一行发财， 26可是你们都耳闻目睹那个保罗在以弗所和亚细亚全境说服、误导了许多人，说什么人手所造的不是神。 27这样下去，不但我们的行业会遭人贬抑，连亚底米女神庙也会被人轻看，甚至全亚细亚及普世尊崇的女神也会威严扫地！”
28众人听后，怒气填胸，高声喊叫：“以弗所人的亚底米真伟大！” 29全城陷入一片混乱。众人抓住保罗的两个同伴马其顿人该犹和亚里达古，拖着他们冲进戏院。 30保罗想进去，但门徒不许他去。 31他的好友——亚细亚的几位官员也派人劝他别冒险进入戏院。
32这时，戏院里面有人这样喊，有人那样喊，混乱不堪。其实大部分人根本不知道自己为什么聚在那里。 33这时，人群中的犹太人把亚历山大推到前面，请他解释。亚历山大举手示意大家安静，听他发言。 34但众人认出他是个犹太人，便又开始一起高呼：“以弗所人的亚底米真伟大！”这样喊了大约两个小时。
35最后，城里的书记官使民众安静下来，说：“各位以弗所市民，谁不知道以弗所城守护着亚底米神庙和从宙斯那里掉下来的神像呢？ 36既然这是无可否认的事实，你们就该安静，不可鲁莽行事。 37你们带来的这些人既没有偷庙里的东西，也没有亵渎我们的女神。 38底米丢和他的同行如果要控告谁，大可到法庭或总督那里提出诉讼。 39你们若还有其他要求，也可以通过合法的会议解决。 40今天的骚乱实在没有道理，难免会被查问，到时候我们很难交代。” 41说完，便叫众人散去。
