Acts 19:23-41

Living Bible

²³But about that time, a big blowup developed in Ephesus concerning the Christians. ²⁴It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who employed many craftsmen to manufacture silver shrines of the Greek goddess Diana. ²⁵He called a meeting of his men, together with others employed in related trades, and addressed them as follows:

“Gentlemen, this business is our income. ²⁶As you know so well from what you’ve seen and heard, this man Paul has persuaded many, many people that handmade gods aren’t gods at all. As a result, our sales volume is going down! And this trend is evident not only here in Ephesus, but throughout the entire province! ²⁷Of course, I am not only talking about the business aspects of this situation and our loss of income, but also of the possibility that the temple of the great goddess Diana will lose its influence, and that Diana—this magnificent goddess worshiped not only throughout this part of Turkey but all around the world—will be forgotten!”

²⁸At this their anger boiled and they began shouting, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

²⁹A crowd began to gather, and soon the city was filled with confusion. Everyone rushed to the amphitheater, dragging along Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions, for trial. ³⁰Paul wanted to go in, but the disciples wouldn’t let him. ³¹Some of the Roman officers of the province, friends of Paul, also sent a message to him, begging him not to risk his life by entering.

³²Inside 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.

³³Alexander was spotted among the crowd by some of the Jews and dragged forward. He motioned for silence and tried to speak. ³⁴But when the crowd realized he was a Jew, they started shouting again and kept it up for two hours: “Great is Diana of the Ephesians! Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”

³⁵At last the mayor was able to quiet them down enough to speak. “Men of Ephesus,” he said, “everyone knows that Ephesus is the center^[a] of the religion of the great Diana, whose image fell down to us from heaven. ³⁶Since this is an indisputable fact, you shouldn’t be disturbed no matter what is said, and should do nothing rash. ³⁷Yet you have brought these men here who have stolen nothing from her temple and have not defamed her. ³⁸If Demetrius and the craftsmen have a case against them, the courts are currently in session and the judges can take the case at once. Let them go through legal channels. ³⁹And if there are complaints about other matters, they can be settled at the regular City Council meetings; ⁴⁰for we are in danger of being called to account by the Roman government for today’s riot, since there is no cause for it. And if Rome demands an explanation, I won’t know what to say.”