When they heard this, they were
furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians!" Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people
seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from
Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater.
Paul
wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let
him. Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul,
sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.
The assembly was in
confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the
people did not even know why they were there. The Jews pushed
Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions
to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before
the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in
unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the
Ephesians!"
A voice of reason
The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Men of
Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the
guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which
fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you
ought to be quiet and not do anything rash.
You have brought these men here, though they have neither
robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then, Demetrius and
his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts
are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges.
If there is anything further you want to
bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. As it is, we are
in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events.
In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion,
since there is no reason for it."
After he had said this, he dismissed the
assembly.
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