Paul in Ephesus
1 And it happened that while rApollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland1 country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2 And he said to them, “Did you sreceive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3 And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into tJohn’s baptism.” 4 And Paul said, “John baptized with the ubaptism of repentance, telling the people vto believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in2 the wname of the Lord Jesus. 6 And when Paul had xlaid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began yspeaking in tongues and zprophesying. 7 There were about twelve men in all.
8 And he entered the asynagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. 9 But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the bWay before the congregation, he cwithdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.3
10 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
The Sons of Sceva
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that deven handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits ecame out of them. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the fname of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul gproclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, h“Jesus I know, iand Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all1 of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the jname of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced kmagic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the lword of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
A Riot at Ephesus
21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, m“After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself nstayed in Asia for a while.
