Gerninger 19

1 Men det skte, der Apollos var i Corinth, at Paulus drog igjennem de øverste Egne af landet og kom til Ephesus.2 Og han fandt nogle Disciple og sagde til dem: fik I den Hellig Aand der I bleve troende?Men de sagde til ham: vi have ikke engang hørt, at der er en Hellig Aand.3 Og han sagde til dem: med hvilken Daab bleve I da døbte? Men de sagde: med Johannes' Daab.4 Men Paulus sagde: Johannes døbte vel med Omvendelsens Daab og sagde til folket, at de skulde troe paa den, som kom efter ham, det er, paa Christus Jesus.5 Men der de hørte det, lode de sig døbe i den Herres Jesu Navn.6 Og der Paulus havde lagt Hænderne paa dem, som den Hellig Aand over dem, og de talede med fremmede Tungemaal og propheterede.7 Men disse Mænd vare i Alt ved tolv i Tallet.8 Men han gik ind i Synagogen og prædikede frit i tre Maaneder, talede med dem og indskærpede det, som hører til Guds Rige.9 Og der Nogle vare forhærdede og vantroe og talede ilde om denne Lære for Mængden, forlod ham dem og skilte Disciplene fra dem, og talede daglig i en Mands Skole, som hedte Tyrannus.10 Men dette varede i to Aar, saa at Alle, som boede i Asia, baade Jøder og Græker, hørte den Herres Jesu Ord.11 Og Gud gjorde ikke ringe Undergjerninger ved Paulus' Hænder,12 saa at man endog bragte Svededuge og Haandklæder fra hans Legeme til de Syge, og at Sygdommene voge fra dem, og de onde Aander fore ud af dem.13 Men nogle omløbende jødiske besværgere dristede sig til at nævne den Herres Jesu Navn over dem, som havde de onde Aander, sigende: vi besværge Eder ved Jesus, hvilken Paulus prædiker.14 Men de, som dette gjorde, vare syv Sønner af Skeva, en Jødisk Ypperstepræst.15 Men den onde Aand svarede og og sagde: Jesus kjender jeg, og om Paulus veed jeg; men I, hvo ere I?16 Og det Menneske, i hvem den onde Aand var, sprang ind paa dem og overvældede dem og fik saadan Magt over dem, at de undflyede nøgne og faarede ud af samme Huus.17 Men dette blev vitterligt for alle dem, som boede i Ephesus, baade Jøder og Græker; og der faldt en Frygt over dem alle, og den Herres Jesu Navn blev højligen priset.18 Der kom og mange af dem, som vare blevne troende, hvilke bekjendte og aabenbarede deres Gjerninger.19 Men Mange, som havde drevet ulovlige Kunster, bare Bøgerne sammen og opbrædnte dem for Alles Øine; og de beregnede deres Værdi og befandt dem at være halvtredsindstyve tusinde Sølvpenninge værd.20 Saa krafeligen voxte Herrens Ord og fik Magt.21 Men der dette var fuldkommet, satte Paulus sig for i Aanden at reise igjennem Macedonien og Achaia og at drage til Jerusalem og sagde: efterat jeg har været der, bør det mig og at se Rom.22 Men han sendte to af dem, som gik ham tilhaande, Thimotheus og Erastus, til Macedonien; selv blev han nogen Tid i Asia.23 Men paa den samme Tid skete, et ikke lidte oprør om denne Lære.24 Thi en Guldsmed ved Navn Demetrius gjorde Dianas Sølvtempler og skaffede Kunstnerne ikke liden Fortjeneste.25 Disse samlede han tilligemed de andre Arbeidere og sagde: I Mænd! I vide, at vi have vor Næring af denne Fortjeneste.26 Og I see og høre, at denne Paulus ikke aleneste i Ephesus, men næsten i det ganske Asia, har ved sin overtalelse afvendt en stor Mængde, sigende: at de ikke ere Guder, som gjøres med Hænder.27 Men der er ikke aleneste Fare for at denne vor Haandtering skal geraade i Foragt, men ogsaa, at den store Gudinde Dianas Tempel skal blive agtet intet, og at hendes Majestæt, hvilken ganske Asia og Jorderige dyrker, skal nedstyrtes.28 Men der de dette hørte, bleve de fulde af Vrede, raabte og sagde: stor er de Ephesers Diana!29 Og den ganske Stad blev fuld af Forvirring, og de stormede samdrægteligen til Skuepladsen og reve med sig marcedonerne Cajus og Aristarchus, som reiste med Paulus.30 Men der Paulus vilde gaae frem iblandt Folket, tilstedte Disciplene ham det ikke.31 Men nogle af Asiens Øverster, som vare hans Venner, sendte til ham og formanede ham, ikke at begive sig paa Skuepladsen.32 Da skreg den Ene det, den Anden det; thi Forsamlingen var i Forvirring, og de Fleste vidste ikke, af hvad Aarsag de var komne sammen.33 Men de droge Alexander, hvem Jøderne stødte frem, ud af Hoben; men Alexander slog til Lyd med Haanden og vilde holde en Forsvarstale til Folket.34 Men der de fik at vide, at han var Jøde, raabte de alle som med een Røst, henved to Timer: stor er de Ephesers Diana!35 Men der Stadskantsleren havde stillet Folket, sagde han: I Mænd I Ehpesus! hvilket Mennesket er der vel, som ikke veed, at de Ephesers Stad er Tempelvogterske for den store Gudinde Diana og de himmelfaldne Billede?36 Efterdi da dette er uimodsigeligt, bør det Eder at være stille, og Intet fortager Eder fremfusende.37 Thi I have ført disse Mænd hid, som hverken ere Tempelrøvere, ei heller have bespottet Eders Gudinde.38 Dersom Demetrius og de kunstnere, som ere med ham, have Klage imod Nogen, da holdes Thingdage, og der ere Landshøvdinger; lader dem kalde hverandre for Retten.39 Men have I ellers Noget med hinanden at skaffe, maa det afgjøres i en lovlig Forsamling;40 thi vi staae og i Fare for at anklages for dette Oprør i Dag, da her Intet er, hvormed vi kunne forsvare dette opløb. Og der han dette havde sagt, lod ham Forsamlingen gaae.

Acts 19

Disciples of John the Baptist at Ephesus

1 Whilet Apollos was in Corinth,s Paul went through the inlandt regionst and came to Ephesus.s Het found some disciples theret2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”t They replied,t “No, we have not event heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”3 So Pault said, “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they replied.t4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,s that is, in Jesus.”5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus,6 and when Paul placedt his hands on them, the Holy Spirit cames upon them, and they began to speakt in tongues and to prophesy.t

7 (Now there were about twelve men in all.)s

Paul Continues to Minister at Ephesus

8 So Pault enteredt the synagogues and spoke out fearlesslyt for three months, addressingt and convincingt them about the kingdom of God.s9 But whent some were stubbornt and refused to believe, revilingt the Ways before the congregation, he leftt them and took the disciples with him,t addressingt them every dayt in the lecture hallt of Tyrannus.

10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia,ts both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.s

The Seven Sons of Sceva

11 God was performing extraordinaryt miracles by Paul’s hands,12 so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his bodyt were broughtt to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.t13 But some itinerantt Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the namet of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed byt evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warns you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”14 (Now seven sons of a man namedt Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.)s15 But the evil spirit replied to them,t “I know about Jesust and I am acquainted witht Paul, but who are you?”s16 Then the man who was possessed byt the evil spirit jumped ont them and beat them all into submission.t He prevailedt against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus,s both Jews and Greeks; fear came overt them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.t18 Many of those who had believed came forward,t confessing and making their deeds known.ts19 Large numberst of those who had practiced magict collected their bookst and burned them up in the presence of everyone.t Whent the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins.t

20 In this way the word of the Lords continued to grow in powert and to prevail.s

A Riot in Ephesus

21 Now after all these things had taken place,t Paul resolvedt to go to Jerusalem,s passing through Macedonias and Achaia.s He said,t “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”ss

22 So after sendingt two of his assistants,t Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia,s he himself stayed on for a while in the province of Asia.t
23 Att that timet a great disturbancet took place concerning the Way.s24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrinest of Artemis,s brought a great dealt of businesss to the craftsmen.25 He gatheredt theset together, along with the workmen in similar trades,s and said, “Men, you know that our prosperityt comes from this business.26 And you see and hear that this Paul has persuadedt and turned awayt a large crowd,t not only in Ephesuss but in practically all of the province of Asia,t by sayingt that gods made by hands are not gods at all.ts

27 There is danger not only that this business of ours will come into disrepute,t but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemiss will be regarded as nothing,t and she whom all the province of Asiat and the world worship will suffer the loss of her greatness.”ts
28 Whent they heardt this they became enragedt and began to shout,t “Great is Artemiss of the Ephesians!”29 Thet city was filled with the uproar,t and the crowdt rushed to the theaters together,t dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, the Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions.30 But when Paul wanted to enter the public assembly,t the disciples would not let him.31 Even some of the provincial authoritiest who were his friends sentt a messaget to him, urging him not to venturet into the theater.32 So then some were shouting one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had met together.t33 Some of the crowd concludedt it was aboutt Alexander because the Jews had pushed him to the front.t Alexander, gesturingt with his hand, was wanting to make a defenses before the public assembly.t34 But when they recognizedt that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison,t “Great is Artemiss of the Ephesians!” for about two hours.s35 After the city secretaryt quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what persont is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the keepert of the temple of the great Artemiss and of her image that fell from heaven?ts36 So because these factst are indisputable,t you must keep quiett and not do anything reckless.t37 For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robberst nor blasphemers of our goddess.s38 If then Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaintt against someone, the courts are opent and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another there.t39 But if you want anything in addition,t it will have to be settledt in a legal assembly.t40 Fort we are in danger of being charged with riotingt today, since there is no cause we can give to explaint this disorderly gathering.”t

41 Aftert he had saidt this,t he dismissed the assembly.s