About that time a great disturbance arose over the Christian way of
teaching and living. A silversmith, by the name of Demetrius, made
silver models of the temple of Artemis which brought much profit to his
workmen. He gathered the workmen together, and others who were in the
same kind of business, and said to them, "Men, you know that we get our
wealth from this business of ours. You also see and hear that, not only
at Ephesus but throughout the whole province of Asia, this Paul has
drawn away many people by telling them that gods made by human hands are
not gods at all. There is danger not only that this business will be
hurt, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be
neglected, and that she will even lose her importance in all the
province of Asia and throughout the world."
When they heard this they were greatly enraged, and shouted, "Great is
Artemis of the Ephesians!" The uproar spread throughout the whole city
until the people all rushed into the theatre, dragging along Gaius and
Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, who were Paul's travelling companions.
Paul wanted to enter the assembly, but the disciples would not let him.
Some of the leading religious officers of the province of Asia, who were
friends of his, also sent messages begging him not to risk going into
the theatre.
Some of the people shouted one thing and some another, for the assembly
was all in confusion, and most of those present did not know why they
had come together. For about two hours they shouted, "Great is Artemis
of the Ephesians!" When the city recorder had quieted the mob, he said:
"Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that this city is
the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the statue that
fell from heaven? As these facts cannot be denied, you should keep calm
and do nothing reckless. You have brought these men here who are
neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. If Demetrius
and his fellow workers have a complaint against anybody, there are the
courts and the Roman officials; let both sides state their charges. But
if there is anything else you want, it must be settled in the regular
assembly. We are indeed in danger of being charged with riot because of
what we have done to-day, for there is no good reason that we can give
for this gathering." With these words he dismissed the assembly.
When the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and encouraged
them. Then, after bidding them good-by, he started for Macedonia.
PAUL WRITES TO THE CHRISTIANS AT ROME
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart to
tell God's good news about Jesus Christ our Lord, to all God's loved
ones who are in Rome and have been called to be his people: Love to you,
and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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