19:1 While 1 Apollos was in Corinth, 2 Paul went through the inland 3 regions 4 and came to Ephesus. 5 He 6 found some disciples there 7 19:2 and said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” 8 They replied, 9 “No, we have not even 10 heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 19:3 So Paul 11 said, “Into what then were you baptized?” “Into John’s baptism,” they replied. 12 19:4 Paul said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, 13 that is, in Jesus.” 19:5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, 19:6 and when Paul placed 14 his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came 15 upon them, and they began to speak 16 in tongues and to prophesy. 17 19:7 (Now there were about twelve men in all.) 18
19:8 So Paul 19 entered 20 the synagogue 21 and spoke out fearlessly 22 for three months, addressing 23 and convincing 24 them about the kingdom of God. 25 19:9 But when 26 some were stubborn 27 and refused to believe, reviling 28 the Way 29 before the congregation, he left 30 them and took the disciples with him, 31 addressing 32 them every day 33 in the lecture hall 34 of Tyrannus. 19:10 This went on for two years, so that all who lived in the province of Asia, 35 both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord. 36
19:11 God was performing extraordinary 37 miracles by Paul’s hands, 19:12 so that when even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body 38 were brought 39 to the sick, their diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 40 19:13 But some itinerant 41 Jewish exorcists tried to invoke the name 42 of the Lord Jesus over those who were possessed by 43 evil spirits, saying, “I sternly warn 44 you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 19:14 (Now seven sons of a man named 45 Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were doing this.) 46 19:15 But the evil spirit replied to them, 47 “I know about Jesus 48 and I am acquainted with 49 Paul, but who are you?” 50 19:16 Then the man who was possessed by 51 the evil spirit jumped on 52 them and beat them all into submission. 53 He prevailed 54 against them so that they fled from that house naked and wounded. 19:17 This became known to all who lived in Ephesus, 55 both Jews and Greeks; fear came over 56 them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. 57 19:18 Many of those who had believed came forward, 58 confessing and making their deeds known. 59 19:19 Large numbers 60 of those who had practiced magic 61 collected their books 62 and burned them up in the presence of everyone. 63 When 64 the value of the books was added up, it was found to total fifty thousand silver coins. 65