16
The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off.
17
All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this; they were all filled with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was given greater honor.
18
Many of the believers came, publicly admitting and revealing what they had done.
19
Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins.
20
In this powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing stronger.
21
After these things had happened, Paul made up his mind to travel through Macedonia and Achaia and go on to Jerusalem. "After I go there," he said, "I must also see Rome."
22
So he sent Timothy and Erastus, two of his helpers, to Macedonia, while he spent more time in the province of Asia.
23
It was at this time that there was serious trouble in Ephesus because of the Way of the Lord.
24
A certain silversmith named Demetrius made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, and his business brought a great deal of profit to the workers.
25
So he called them all together with others whose work was like theirs and said to them, "Men, you know that our prosperity comes from this work.
26
Now, you can see and hear for yourselves what this fellow Paul is doing. He says that hand-made gods are not gods at all, and he has succeeded in convincing many people, both here in Ephesus and in nearly the whole province of Asia.