Gevurot 19

1 And it came about while Rav Apollos was in Corinth that Rav Sha'ul traveled through the upper regions and arrived at Ephesus, finding some of [Moshiach's] talmidim there.2 And Rav Sha'ul said to them, "Did you receive the Ruach Hakodesh when you came to emunah?" But they said to Rav Sha'ul, "But we never heard that there is a Ruach Hakodesh!"3 And Rav Sha'ul said, "Into what then were you given tevilah?" And they said, "Into the tevilah of Yochanan."4 And Rav Sha'ul said, "Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva to the people, saying that they should have emunah in Hu HaBah [Moshiach], the one coming after him, that is, in Yehoshua." [Lk 3:16]5 And having heard this, they were given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva in haShem of the Moshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua.6 And when Rav Sha'ul placed his hands upon them, the Ruach Hakodesh came upon them, and they were speaking in leshonot and they were speaking dvarim hanevu'ah.7 And the anashim were about sheneym asar in number.8 And having joined the minyan at the shul, Rav Sha'ul was speaking with ometz lev during the course of shloshah chodashim, debating and persuading concerning the things of the Malchut Hashem.9 But when some unbelievers in the shul were being hardened and were disobeying, speaking Chillul Hashem of the Derech Hashem before the multitude, Rav Sha'ul withdrew from them. Rav Sha'ul took the Moshiach's talmidim and yom yom was saying shiurim in the [Messianic] yeshiva of Tyrannus.10 And this happened over a period of two years with the intended result that all the ones inhabiting [the Roman Province of] Asia heard the dvar Hashem, both Yehudim and Yevanim.11 And gevaltike moftim and niflaot Hashem effected at the hands of Rav Sha'ul,12 so that when a handkerchief or an apron touched the skin of Rav Sha'ul and was brought to the cholim, the machlot (sicknesses) and the shedim (demons) left them.13 And some traveling Jewish exorcists attempted to use haShem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua over the ones possessed of ruchot ra'ot, saying, "I exorcize and cast you out by the Yehoshua whom Rav Sha'ul preaches!"14 And there were doing this very thing shivat banim of a certain Skeva, a Jewish "Kohen Gadol."15 And in reply the ruach hara'ah (the shed, demon) said to them, "I am acquainted with Yehoshua, I have da'as of Sha'ul, but, you, who are you?!"16 And the ish in whom was the ruach hara'ah leaped upon them and subdued all [shivah] of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled, naked and wounded, from the bais.17 And this became known to all the Yehudim and also the Yevanim inhabiting Ephesus, and pachad (terror) fell upon all of them, and they were exalting haShem of Adoneinu Yehoshua.18 And many of the ones having come to emunah were making vidduy of their ma'asim, disclosing them.19 And a number of the ones who had practiced kishshuf (magic, sorcery) brought together their occult sfarim and were burning them publicly; and they added up the price of these occult sfarim, and they found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces.20 So the dvar Hashem, the Besuras HaGeulah, was growing with ko'ach and was prevailing.21 And when these things were fulfilled, Rav Sha'ul resolved in his ruach to travel through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Yerushalayim, saying "After I have gone there, it is necessary for me also to see Rome."22 So Rav Sha'ul sent to Macedonia two of the mesharetim (ministers, servants) with him --Timotiyos and Erastus, while he stayed a little while longer in [the Province of] Asia.23 Now during that time there was no small disturbance concerning the Derech Hashem.24 For a certain one, Demetrius by name, a silversmith and maker of silver idol shrines for Artemis, was providing no small revach (profit) for the craftsmen.25 Demetrius also assembled the craftsmen occupied with that trade and he said, "Anashim, you have da'as that our prosperity is from this trade,26 "And you see and hear that not only here in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Rav Sha'ul has persuaded and drawn away a large multitude saying, 'Elilim made with human hands are not Elohim.' [Dt 4:28; Ps 115:4; Isa 44:10-20; Jer 10:3-5]27 "And this is not only a danger to us, that our part, our trade, will fall into disrepute, but also the temple of the elah hagedolah Artemis may be considered as nothing, and also may be about to suffer the loss of her majesty, which all Asia and the Olam Hazeh worship."28 And having listened and having become full of ka'as, the idol makers were crying out, saying, "Gedolah is Artemis of the Ephesians!"29 And the city was filled with tohu, and they rushed with one impulse into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Macedonians and traveling fellow po'alim of Rav Sha'ul.30 And Rav Sha'ul desired to enter into the crowd in the theater, but the talmidim were not allowing him.31 And also some of the Asiarchs who were his chaverim, sent to him, begging him not to venture into the theater.32 Then some began shouting one thing, some another, in the theater, for the kahal was in confusion, and most had no da'as of the purpose of the kahal (assembly).33 And from the multitude Alexander was pushed forward by Yehudim and some prompted him with shouts, while Alexander waved his hand, wanting to defend himself to the kahal.34 But having known what the man was, that he was a Yehudi, all in the theater shouted in unison for lav davka two hours crying out, "Gedolah is Artemis of the Ephesians."35 And the town clerk, when he had restrained the crowd, said, "Anashim, citizens of Ephesus, who indeed is there among Bnei Adam who does not have da'as that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the tzelem (image) that fell from Shomayim?36 "Since these things are undeniable, it is necessary for you to calm down and to do nothing reckless.37 "For you brought these anashim here who are neither temple robbers nor speakers of evil against our religion.38 "Therefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a tainah (grievance) against anyone, the civil courts are in session and there are proconsuls. Let it be there that they bring charges against one another.39 "And if you seek anything further, let your settlement be obtained in the lawful assembly.40 "For indeed we are in danger of being indicted for an intifadah (uprising) today, for there is no justification we can render to excuse this disorder and commotion."41 And having said these things, the town clerk dismissed the kahal (assembly).

ACTS 19

Paul in Ephesus

1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord's followers.

2 He asked them, “When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?”
“No!” they answered. “We have never even heard of the Holy Spirit.”

3 “Then why were you baptized?” Paul asked.
They answered, “Because of what John taught.”t
4  t Paul replied, “John baptized people so they would turn to God. But he also told them someone else was coming, and they should put their faith in him. Jesus is the one that John was talking about.” 5 After the people heard Paul say this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them, and they spoke unknown languages and prophesied.

7 There were about twelve men in this group.
8 For three months Paul went to the synagogue and talked bravely with the people about God's kingdom. He tried to win them over, 9 but some of them were stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone they said terrible things about God's Way. Paul left and took the followers with him to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He spoke there every day

10 for two years, until every Jew and Gentilet in Asia had heard the Lord's message.

The Sons of Sceva

12 People even took handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul's body, and they carried them to everyone who was sick. All of the sick people were healed, and the evil spirits went out.

13 Some Jewish men started going around trying to force out evil spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, “Come out in the name of that same Jesus that Paul preaches about!”
14 Seven sons of a high priest named Sceva were doing this, 15 when an evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus! And I have heard about Paul. But who are you?”

16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up. They ran out of the house, naked and bruised.
17 When the Jews and Gentilest in Ephesus heard about this, they were so frightened that they praised the name of the Lord Jesus. 18 Many who were followers now started telling everyone about the evil things they had been doing. 19 Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.

20 So the Lord's message spread and became even more powerful.

The Riot in Ephesus

22 So he sent his two helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But he stayed on in Asia for a while.
23 At that time there was serious trouble because of the Lord's Way.t 24 A silversmith named Demetrius had a business that made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. Those who worked for him earned a lot of money.

25 Demetrius brought together everyone who was in the same business and said:
Friends, you know we make a good living at this. 26 But you have surely seen and heard how this man Paul is upsetting a lot of people, not only in Ephesus, but almost everywhere in Asia. He claims that the gods we humans make are not really gods at all.

27 Everyone will start saying terrible things about our business. They will stop respecting the temple of the goddess Artemis, who is worshiped in Asia and all over the world. Our great goddess will be forgotten!
28 When the workers heard this, they got angry and started shouting, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!”

29 Soon the whole city was in a riot, and some men grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, who had come from Macedonia with Paul. Then everyone in the crowd rushed to the place where the town meetings were held.
30 Paul wanted to go out and speak to the people, but the Lord's followers would not let him.

31 A few of the local officials were friendly to Paul, and they sent someone to warn him not to go.

32 Some of the people in the meeting were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Everyone was completely confused, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
33 Several of the Jewish leaders pushed a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd and started telling him what to say. He motioned with his hand and tried to explain what was going on.

34 But when the crowd saw that he was Jewish, they all shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!”

35 Finally, a town official made the crowd be quiet. Then he said:
People of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that our city is the center for worshiping the great goddess Artemis? Who doesn't know that her image which fell from heaven is right here? 36 No one can deny this, and so you should calm down and not do anything foolish.

37 You have brought men in here who have not robbed temples or spoken against our goddess.
38 If Demetrius and his workers have a case against these men, we have courts and judges. Let them take their complaints there. 39 But if you want to do more than that, the matter will have to be brought before the city council.

40 We could easily be accused of starting a riot today. There is no excuse for it! We cannot even give a reason for this uproar.
41 After saying this, he told the people to leave.