1 AND it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples,

2 He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. [Why had they not received the Holy Ghost? Well for one they did not know of the Holy Ghost so we can assume that they were not given the Gift of the Holy Ghost - as one in authority to baptise would have done. ]

3 And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? [ In otherwords what authority did they that baptised you have? ] And they said, Unto John’s baptism.

4 Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, [ The covenant that they would change their character. It was not to cleanse them but to get them to change their character. ] saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.

5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. [ They were baptised again by the proper authority. As a covenant that they will follow after the ways of Christ. ]

6 And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, [ Paul has the proper authority to give them the Gift of the Holy Ghost and does so by the Laying on of Hands] the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

7 And all the men were about twelve.

8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.

9 But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, [ Paul just goes a different way. Like OK if you do not want to listen, and only want to argue then I will spend my time with those who are interested. ] and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.

10 And this continued by the space of two years; [ So Paul establishes this as his base to teach the gospel, and he used Ephesus as the base for two years. ] so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:

12 so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.

13 ¶ Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.

14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.

15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?

16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.

18 And many that believed came, and confessed, and shewed their deeds.

19 Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, [their books that detailed their pagan beliefs, books on scorcery and witchcraft...] and burned them before all men: [What example is this that they are trying to set? Do we need to do anything like this today? Do we have books that we need to burn? Do we show our committment in an outward example?] and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.

20 so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed.

21 ¶ After these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.

22 so he sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.

23 And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. [sometimes in the conversion process it requires even greater sacrifice. sometimes following the gospel is not easy and can be the source of great conflict. As we will see]

24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines [he was making little statues of sort - idols?] for Diana, brought no small gain [he was doing pretty well at it as well as it was the source of a good deal of money] unto the craftsmen;

25 Whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. [we make our money selling these statues]

26 Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: [See Acts 7:48 ]

27 so that not only this our craft is in danger [Pauls message is getting out - in fact it is getting out enough that it has started to cause them to loose income. I suppose this was the real reason - they were going to lose their income stream - big trouble for them - need to put an end to the bleeding] to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, [This Temple to Diana was one of the seven wonders of the world, as it was a very large structure] whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.

28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, [they were pretty angry] and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

29 And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre.

30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.

31 And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theatre.

32 some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. [most of those attending did not even know why theye were there. But since everyone else was there, they came - LIke a line, nad everyone is getting in line so you get in line cause the line must be for something good - right?]

33 And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made his defence unto the people.

34 But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is Diana of the Ephesians. [Think about the emotional inpact that would have on the people that were present? What impact do you think that had on Paul? What impact would it have on you?]

35 And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rashly.

37 For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.

38 Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another.

39 But if ye enquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.

40 For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse.

41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.