Acts 19:1-20

Acts 19

Paul Goes to Ephesus

¹ While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul traveled through the interior districts and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples ² and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that the Holy Spirit was given.”

³ Paul asked, “What were you baptized into then?”

They replied, “Into John’s baptism.”

⁴ Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus. ^{[1] 5} When they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.” ^[2]

⁶ When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in other languages and to prophesy. ⁷ There were about twelve men in all.

⁸ Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, leading discussions and trying to persuade them about ^[3] the kingdom of God. ⁹ But when some became hardened and refused to believe, even slandering the Way in front of the crowd, he left them. He took the disciples with him and led discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰ This went on for two years, with the result that all who lived in the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹ God was doing extraordinary miracles through Paul, ¹² so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick; their illnesses left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

The Seven Sons of Sceva

¹³ Then some Jewish exorcists who went from place to place tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits. They said, “I command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches to come out!” ¹⁴ It was the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who were doing this. ¹⁵ But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them, and exercised such complete domination over all of them that they fled from that house naked and wounded.

¹⁷ This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. They were all overcome with fear, and they held the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor. ¹⁸ Also many of those who had become believers came forward, confessing and admitting their actions. ¹⁹ And a large number of those who had practiced magic arts ^[4] collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. ^{[5] 20} In this way the word of the Lord was growing and gaining strength.