The Word Spreads in Ephesus

⁸Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. ⁹But when some became hardened and refused to believe, speaking evil of the Way before the crowd, Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and held daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This continued for two years, so that everyone living in the province of Asia — both Jews and Greeks — heard the word of the Lord Jesus. ¹¹God performed extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul. ¹²Even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his body were carried to the sick, and their diseases left them and evil spirits went out of them. ¹³Some itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." ¹⁴Seven sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva were doing this. ¹⁵But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about — but who are you?" ¹⁶Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. ¹⁷This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus. Fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. ¹⁸Many who had believed came forward, confessing and revealing their deeds. ¹⁹A large number of those who had practiced sorcery brought their books together and burned them in front of everyone. When they calculated the value, it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. ²⁰So the word of God grew mightily and prevailed.