The Holy Spirit Received at Ephesus (Acts 10:44–48)
1 UDB While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul left Phrygia and Galatia and went through Asia, and he came back to Ephesus. He met some people who said that they were believers. BSB BSB: While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples
2 UDB He asked them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed God's message?" They answered, "No, we did not. We have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." BSB BSB: and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” “No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3 UDB So Paul asked, "So when you were baptized, what did you know?" They replied, "We believed what John the Baptizer taught." BSB BSB: “Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked. “The baptism of John,” they replied.
4 UDB Paul said, "John's baptism was a sign that people were turning to God and away from their evil thoughts and deeds. He also told them to believe in someone else, one who is coming after him, and that person is Jesus." BSB BSB: Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5 UDB So when those men heard that, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. BSB BSB: On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
6 UDB After that, Paul placed his hands on their heads one by one, and the power of the Holy Spirit came upon each of them. The Holy Spirit gave them power to speak in languages that they had not learned, and they also spoke messages that the Holy Spirit told them. BSB BSB: And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied.
7 UDB There were about twelve men whom Paul baptized and who received the Holy Spirit. BSB BSB: There were about twelve men in all.
Paul Ministers in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:1–2; Revelation 2:1–7)
8 UDB For three months after that, Paul entered the Jewish meeting place in Ephesus on each Sabbath and taught and persuaded people about Jesus and how God would show himself as king. BSB BSB: Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
9 UDB But some of the Jews would not believe the message and did not want to hear it anymore. They said many bad things about what Paul was teaching. So Paul left them and took the believers with him to meet in the meeting place of Tyrannus. BSB BSB: But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.
10 UDB For two years Paul taught people there. In this way most of the Jews and Greeks who lived in the region of Asia heard the message about the Lord Jesus. BSB BSB: This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.
11 UDB God also gave Paul the power to do miracles. BSB BSB: God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul,
12 UDB If those who were sick could not come to Paul, pieces of cloth that Paul touched would be taken and placed on the sick people. As a result, the sick people would become well, and the evil spirits would leave them. BSB BSB: so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.
Seven Sons of Sceva 13 UDB There were also some Jews who walked from town to town, and they commanded the evil spirits in those places to depart from people. Some of those Jews told the evil spirits to come out of people by saying, "I command you to come out by the power of the Lord Jesus, the man about whom Paul teaches!" BSB BSB: Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”
14 UDB There were seven men who were doing this. They were sons of a man named Sceva, a Jew who called himself a chief priest. BSB BSB: Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.
15 UDB But one day as they were doing that, the evil spirit did not come out of that person. Instead, the evil spirit said to them, "I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but no one has given you power to do anything to me!" BSB BSB: But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
16 UDB After saying that, suddenly the man who had the evil spirit jumped on the sons of Sceva. He knocked all of them down and hurt each of them. He tore off their clothes and wounded them. They became frightened and ran out of the house. BSB BSB: Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.
17 UDB All the people who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard what had happened. They became afraid because they saw that the man with the evil spirit was very strong. At the same time, they honored the name of the Lord Jesus. BSB BSB: This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor.
19 UDB Some of the people who were sorcerers took their scrolls that told how to work magic and burned them in a place where everyone could see them. When people added up how much the scrolls cost, it came to fifty thousand silver coins. BSB BSB: And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.
20 UDB In this way, many people heard the message about the Lord Jesus and believed in him. BSB BSB: So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.
The Riot in Ephesus 21 UDB After Paul completed his work in Ephesus, the Spirit led him to decide to go to Jerusalem, but first he planned to go and see the believers in the regions of Macedonia and Achaia. Paul said, "After I have been to Jerusalem, I will also go to Rome." BSB BSB: After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.”
22 UDB He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But Paul stayed in the city of Ephesus, in the province of Asia. BSB BSB: He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.
23 UDB Soon after that, people in Ephesus began to make a great amount of trouble because of Jesus and the teaching about him. BSB BSB: About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.
25 UDB Demetrius called together the workmen who made the idols. He said to them, "Men, you know that we make a lot of money doing our work. BSB BSB: Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity.
26 UDB You know that Paul has taught many people who live in Ephesus to no longer buy the statues that we make. Now even the people from many other towns in our province no longer want to buy what we make. Paul tells people that the gods that we worship are not gods and that we should not worship them. BSB BSB: And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all.
27 UDB So now people may see our idol business as dishonorable. Not only that, but they might reject the temple of the great goddess Artemis as a place that has no meaning at all and they might forget her, even though many people in the province of Asia and all over the world worship her. BSB BSB: There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed—she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”
28 UDB All the men there became angry at Paul when they heard what Demetrius said. They began to shout, "The goddess Artemis of the Ephesians is great!" BSB BSB: When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
30 UDB Paul wanted to go into the theater to talk to the people, but the other believers would not let him go there. BSB BSB: Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him.
31 UDB Some city rulers who were friends of Paul heard what was happening. They sent someone to tell Paul not to go into the theater. BSB BSB: Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.
32 UDB The crowd of people in the theater kept shouting. Some shouted one thing, and some shouted something else. But most of them did not even know why they were meeting! BSB BSB: Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
33 UDB Some of the Jews advised a Jewish man named Alexander, and they pushed him to the front of the crowd. So Alexander waved his hands to make the people stop shouting. He wanted to give a defense before the people there. BSB BSB: The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people.
34 UDB But many of the people knew that Alexander was a Jew and knew that the Jews did not worship the goddess Artemis. So the people shouted for two hours, "Great is the goddess Artemis of the Ephesians!" BSB BSB: But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
36 UDB Everyone knows that, and no one can say that these things are not true. So you should be quiet now. Do not do anything stupid. BSB BSB: Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash.
37 UDB You should not have brought these two men here, because they have not done anything evil. They have not gone into our temples and taken things from there, and they have not spoken evil of our goddess. BSB BSB: For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.
38 UDB Therefore, if Demetrius and his fellow workmen want to accuse anyone of doing anything bad, they should do it in the right way. There are courts that they can go to if they want to, and there are judges who have been chosen by the government. You can accuse anyone there. BSB BSB: So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there.
39 UDB But if you want to ask about anything else, you should ask for your rulers to take care of it when those rulers come together. BSB BSB: But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly.
40 UDB This is not a good meeting! Take care of this trouble the right way because we do not want to go against the government. If the rulers asked me what you were all shouting about, I would not be able to give them a good answer." BSB BSB: For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”
41 UDB That is what the city ruler said to the crowd. Then he told them all to go home, and they did go to their homes. BSB BSB: After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.