11God was performing1extraordinarymiracles by the hands of Paul,
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2so that handkerchiefsoraprons were evencarried from his body to the sick, and the diseasesleft them and 3the evilspiritswent out.
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But alsosome of the Jewish4exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to nameoverthose who had the evilspirits the name of the LordJesus, saying, "I adjure you by JesuswhomPaulpreaches."
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Sevensons of oneSceva, a Jewishchiefpriest, were doingthis.
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And the evilspiritanswered and said to them, "I recognizeJesus, and I knowaboutPaul, but who are you?"
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And the man, in whom was the evilspirit, leaped on them and subduedall of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that housenaked and wounded.
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Thisbecameknown to all, bothJews and Greeks, who lived in 5Ephesus; and fearfell upon them all and the name of the LordJesus was being magnified.
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Manyalso of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.
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And many of those who practicedmagicbrought their bookstogether and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty*thousand6pieces of silver.
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So7the word of the Lord8was growingmightily and prevailing.
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Nowafterthesethings were finished, Paulpurposed in the Spirit to 9go to Jerusalem10after he had passedthrough11Macedonia and 12Achaia, saying, "After I have beenthere, 13I mustalsoseeRome."
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And having sent into 14Macedoniatwo of 15those who ministered to him, 16Timothy and 17Erastus, he himselfstayed in 18Asia for a while.
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About that time there occurrednosmalldisturbanceconcerning19the Way.
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For a mannamedDemetrius, a silversmith, who madesilvershrines of Artemis, 20was bringingnolittlebusiness to the craftsmen;
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these he gatheredtogether with the workmen of similar trades, and said, "Men, you know that our prosperitydepends* upon thisbusiness.
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"You see and hear that not only in 21Ephesus, but in almostall of 22Asia, thisPaul has persuaded and turnedaway a considerablenumber of people, saying that 23gods made with hands are nogods at all.
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"Not only is there danger that thistrade of oursfall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the greatgoddessArtemis be regarded as worthless and that she whomall of 24Asia and 25the worldworship will even be dethroned from her magnificence."
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When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, "Great is Artemis of the 26Ephesians!"
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The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed with oneaccord into the theater, draggingalong27Gaius and 28Aristarchus, Paul'straveling29companions from 30Macedonia.
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And when Paulwanted to go into the assembly, 31the disciples would not let him.
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Alsosome of the Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to venture* into the theater.
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32Sothen, some were shoutingone thing and someanother, for the assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know for whatreason they had cometogether.
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Some of the crowdconcluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having 33motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the assembly.
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But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcryarose from them all as they shouted for abouttwohours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
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Afterquieting the crowd, the townclerksaid, "Men of 34Ephesus, whatman is there afterallwho does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the greatArtemis and of the image whichfelldown from heaven?
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"So, since these are undeniablefacts, you ought to keepcalm and to donothingrash.
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"For you have broughtthesemen here who are neither35robbers of templesnorblasphemers of our goddess.
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"Sothen, ifDemetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaintagainstanyman, the courts are in session and 36proconsuls are available; let them bringchargesagainstoneanother.
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"But if you wantanythingbeyond this, it shall be settled in the lawfulassembly.
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"For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today's events, since there is no real cause for it, and in thisconnection we will be unable* to account* for thisdisorderlygathering."