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ACTS 20
page 1001
Timothy and Erastus, ahead to Macedonia while
he stayed awhile longer in the province of Asia.
The Riot in Ephesus
23 About that time, serious trouble developed in
Ephesus concerning the Way. 24 It began with
Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek
goddess Artemis.* He kept many craftsmen
busy. 25 He called them together, along with
others employed in similar trades, and addressed them as follows:
“Gentlemen, you know that our wealth
comes from this business. 26 But as you have
seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded
many people that handmade gods aren’t really
gods at all. And he’s done this not only here in
Ephesus but throughout the entire province!
27 Of course, I’m not just talking about the loss
of public respect for our business. I’m also
concerned that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will lose its influence and that
Artemis—this magnificent goddess worshiped
throughout the province of Asia and all around
the world—will be robbed of her great prestige!”
28 At this their anger boiled, and they began
shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29 Soon the whole city was filled with confusion.
Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging
along Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Paul’s
traveling companions from Macedonia. 30 Paul
wanted to go in, too, but the believers wouldn’t
let him. 31 Some of the officials of the province,
friends of Paul, also sent a message to him,
begging him not to risk his life by entering the
amphitheater.
32 Inside, the people were all shouting, some
one thing and some another. Everything was
in confusion. In fact, most of them didn’t even
know why they were there. 33 The Jews in the
crowd pushed Alexander forward and told him
to explain the situation. He motioned for silence
and tried to speak. 34 But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again
and kept it up for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians!”
35 At last the mayor was able to quiet them
down enough to speak. “Citizens of Ephesus,”
he said. “Everyone knows that Ephesus is the
official guardian of the temple of the great Artemis, whose image fell down to us from heaven.
36 Since this is an undeniable fact, you should
stay calm and not do anything rash. 37 You have
brought these men here, but they have stolen
nothing from the temple and have not spoken
against our goddess.
19:24 Artemis is otherwise known as Diana. 19:41 Some
translations include verse 41 as part of verse 40. 20:1 Greek
disciples. 20:6 Greek the days of unleavened bread.
20:7 Greek to break bread. 20:11 Greek broke the bread.
20:15 Some manuscripts read and having stayed at Trogyllium.
38 “If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a
case against them, the courts are in session and
the officials can hear the case at once. Let them
make formal charges. 39 And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled
in a legal assembly. 40 I am afraid we are in danger of being charged with rioting by the Roman
government, since there is no cause for all this
commotion. And if Rome demands an explanation, we won’t know what to say.” 41*Then he
dismissed them, and they dispersed.
Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece
When the uproar was over, Paul sent for
the believers* and encouraged them.
Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia. 2 While there, he encouraged the believers
in all the towns he passed through. Then he
traveled down to Greece, 3 where he stayed for
three months. He was preparing to sail back to
Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews
against his life, so he decided to return through
Macedonia.
4 Several men were traveling with him. They
were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica;
Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and
Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 They
went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 After
the Passover* ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined
them in Troas, where we stayed a week.
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Paul’s Final Visit to Troas
7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with
the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper.* Paul was preaching to them, and since he
was leaving the next day, he kept talking until
midnight. 8 The upstairs room where we met was
lighted with many flickering lamps. 9 As Paul
spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus,
sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy.
Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three
stories to his death below. 10 Paul went down,
bent over him, and took him into his arms.
“Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they
all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper,* and ate together. Paul continued talking to
them until dawn, and then he left. 12 Meanwhile,
the young man was taken home alive and well,
and everyone was greatly relieved.
Paul Meets the Ephesian Elders
13 Paul went by land to Assos, where he had
arranged for us to join him, while we traveled
by ship. 14 He joined us there, and we sailed together to Mitylene. 15 The next day we sailed past
the island of Kios. The following day we crossed
to the island of Samos, and* a day later we arrived at Miletus.
16 Paul had decided to sail on past Ephesus,
for he didn’t want to spend any more time in