Episode 276: The first book burning

Acts 19-22

Paul re-baptizes twelve disciples in Ephesus

19 ¹ Paul came to Ephesus and said to the disciples, “Have you received the Holy Ghost?”

² They said, “We've never even heard of the Holy Ghost.”

³ Paul said, “How were you baptized?”

⁴ They said, “With the baptism of John.”

⁵ So they were re-baptized in the name of Jesus.

⁶ When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. ⁷ There were about twelve of them.

⁸ For three months Paul preached at the synagogue.

⁹ But some refused to believe. So Paul left the synagogue and argued every day in the school of Tyrannus.

¹⁰ And this continued for two years, until everyone in Asia had heard about Jesus.

Miraculous handkerchiefs and aprons

¹¹ God did special miracles with Paul's hands.

¹² Sick people were cured from handkerchiefs and aprons that had been touched by Paul. All the evil spirits came out of them.

Jewish exorcists try to cast out evil spirits (in Jesus's name)

¹³ Some vagabond Jewish exorcists tried to expel evil spirits in the name of Jesus by saying, “We command you by Jesus who is preached by Paul.”

¹⁵ The evil spirit said, “I know Jesus and Paul, but who are you?”

¹⁶ Then the man with the evil spirit assaulted them, causing them to flee out of the house naked and wounded.

¹⁷ When everyone in Ephesus heard about this, they were afraid. And the name of Jesus was magnified.

The first book burning

¹⁹ Many brought their books together and burned them in front of everyone. The books were worth a total of 50,000 pieces of silver.

²⁰ And so the word of God prevailed.

Diana is the great goddess of the Ephesians!

²³ After all this, there was some trouble in Ephesus.

²⁴ A silversmith named Demetrius made shrines for Diana.

²⁵ He called together other craftsmen and said,

²⁶ Paul is turning the people away from our gods.

²⁷ He is destroying our business and the worship of Diana.

²⁸ When the people heard this, they cried out:

Diana is the great goddess of the Ephesians!

²⁹ The whole city was thrown into confusion.

³⁴ Then everyone cried out with one voice for two hours:

Diana is the great goddess of the Ephesians!

Paul bores Eutychus to death (and then brings him back to life)

20 ^1-6 After the riot in Ephesus, we travelled through Macedonia and Greece.

⁷ While in Troas, on the first day of the week, Paul preached to the disciples until midnight.

⁹ A young man named Eutychus fell asleep while sitting on a third story windowsill. He fell from the window and died.

¹⁰ Paul fell on and embraced the young man's body, and said, “Don't worry. He's alive.”

¹¹ Then Paul ate and continued to talk until dawn the next day.

¹² The young man survived and everyone was glad.

The Holy Ghost's girdle message

21 ⁸ Then Paul visited Philip the evangelist in Caesarea.

⁹ Philip had seven virgin daughters who prophesied.

¹⁰ During our seven-day visit, a prophet named Agabus came by.

¹¹ He took off Paul's girdle, tied his hands and feet with it, and said to him,

This is what the Holy Ghost says,

The Jews will tie up the man that owns this girdle, and hand him over to the Gentiles.

¹³ Paul said, “I'm ready not just to be bound, but to die in Jerusalem for the name of Jesus.”

Four heads are shaved (to cover up Paul's teaching)

¹⁷ Sometime later, Paul visited James and the elders in Jerusalem.

^19-20 After Paul reported what he and God had done among the Gentiles, the elders said to him,

²¹ The Jewish believers have heard that you say that they should disobey the law of Moses, not circumcise their sons, or observe Jewish customs.

²² So this is what we'd like to do to take care of the problem.

²³ Four men will take a vow.

²⁴ And you will purify yourself with them, while they shave their heads. Then everyone will know that you keep the law of Moses.

²⁵ We've told the Gentile believers that they don't have to obey the law of Moses, but only abstain from things offered to idols, blood, strangled things, and fornication.

So the next day, Paul purified himself, and an offering was made for each of the men who shaved their heads.

Paul is arrested (by the Jews who try to kill him)

²⁷ When the seven-day ceremony was almost over, the Jews incited all the people to arrest Paul.

³⁰ So the people went to the temple and seized Paul.

³¹ Just as they were about to kill him, he was saved by Roman officers.

³³ The captain bound Paul in chains and asked him who he was and what he had done.

³⁴ The people cried out various accusations, which the captain couldn't understand. So he took him to the castle.

³⁹ As Paul was being led to the castle, he said to the captain, “May I speak to the people?” The captain allowed it, so he stood on the stairs and addressed the people in Hebrew, saying:

22 ³ I'm a Jew, who was born in Tarsus. I believed in and taught others to obey the law of Moses. ⁴ I persecuted, imprisoned, and killed believers. ^6-21 But I became a Christian after I heard the voice of Jesus on the way to Damascus.

^22-23 After Paul finished speaking, the crowd took off their clothes, threw dust in the air, and yelled out, "Kill this man. He's not fit to live."

Paul is whipped by the Romans (and released because he's a Roman citizen)

²⁴ The captain brought Paul to the castle and had him whipped.

²⁵ As they tied him up, Paul said to the centurion, “Is if lawful to scourge a Roman citizen without a trial?”

²⁶ The centurion went to the captain and said, “Be careful. This man is a Roman citizen.”

^29-30 So the captain decided to release Paul, since he was a Roman citizen, and have him tried the next day.