the Fourth Week of Advent
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Bishop's Bible
Acts 19
1 And it came to passe, yt whyle Apollo was at Corinth, Paul passed through the vpper coastes, and came to Ephesus, and founde certaine disciples,2 And sayde vnto them: Haue ye receaued the holy ghost sence ye beleued? And they saide vnto hym: We haue not hearde whether there be any holy ghost or no.3 And he sayde vnto them: Unto what then were ye baptized? And they sayde: vnto Iohns baptisme.4 Then sayde Paul: Iohn veryly baptized with the baptisme of repentaunce, saying vnto the people, that they should beleue on hym which shoulde come after hym, that is, on Christe Iesus.5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lorde Iesu.6 And whe Paul had layde his handes vpon them, the holy ghost came on the, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.7 And all the men were about twelue.
8 And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldlye for the space of three monethes, disputyng & perswadyng those thynges that appertayne to the kyngdome of God. 9 But when diuers waxed harde hearted, and beleued not, but spake euyll of the way [of the Lorde) and that before the multitude, he departed from them, & seperated ye disciples. And he disputed dayly in the scoole of one called Tyrannus.10 And this continued by the space of two yeres, so that all they whiche dwelt in Asia, hearde the worde of the Lord Iesu, both Iewes and Grekes.11 And God wrought speciall miracles by the handes of Paul.12 So that from his body, were brought vnto the sicke, napkins, and partlettes, and the diseases departed from them, & the euyll spirites went out of them.
13 Then certaine of the vagabounde Iewes, exorcistes, toke vpon them to call ouer them which had euyll spirites, the name of the Lorde Iesus, saying: We adiure you by Iesus, whom Paul preacheth.14 And there were seuen sonnes of one Sceua a Iewe, and chiefe of ye priestes, which dyd so.15 And the euyll spirite aunswered, and sayde, Iesus I knowe, and Paul I knowe: but who are ye?16 And the man in whom the euyll spirite was, ran on them, & ouercame the, & preuayled agaynst them, so that they fled out of that house naked & wouded.17 And this was knowen to all ye Iewes & Grekes also which dwelt at Ephesus, and feare came on them all, & the name of the Lorde Iesus was magnified.18 And many that beleued, came & confessed, and shewed their workes.19 Many also of the whiche vsed curious craftes, brought their bookes, & burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them, & founde it fiftie thousande peeces of syluer.20 So myghtyly grew the word of God, and preuayled.
21 After these thinges were ended, Paul purposed in the spirite, when he had passed ouer Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Hierusalem, saying: After I haue ben there, I must also see Rome.22 So sent he into Macedonia two of them that ministred vnto hym, Timotheus and Erastus, but he hym selfe remayned in Asia for a season.23 And the same time there arose no litle a do about that way.24 For a certaine man, named Demetrius, a syluer smyth, which made shrines for Diana, was not a litle beneficiall vnto the craftes men.25 Whom he called together, with the workemen of like occupation, and sayde: Sirs, ye knowe that by this craft we haue aduauntage.26 Moreouer, ye see and heare, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath perswaded and turned away much people, saying that they be not gods which are made with handes.27 So that not only this our craft commeth into peryll to be set at naught, but also that the temple of ye great goddesse Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the worlde worshippeth.28 And when they hearde these sayinges, they were full of wrath, and cryed out, saying: great is Diana of ye Ephesians.29 And all the citie was on a rore, & they russhed into the common hall with one assent, and caught Gaius & Aristarcus, men of Macedonia, Paules companions.30 When Paule woulde haue entred in vnto ye people, the disciples suffred hym not.31 But certaine of ye chiefe of Asia, which were his friendes, sent vnto hym, desiryng hym that he would not preasse into the common hall.32 Some therfore cryed one thyng, and some another, and the assemblie was all out of quiet, and the more part knew not wherfore they were come together.33 And they drewe Alexander out of the multitude, the Iewes thrustyng hym forwardes. And Alexander beckened with the hande, and would haue geuen the people an aunswere.34 But when they knewe that he was a Iewe, there arose a shoute almost for the space of two houres, of all men, crying: great is Diana of the Ephesians.35 And when the towne clarke had pacified the people, he sayde: Ye men of Ephesus, what man is it that knoweth not how that the citie of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddesse Diana, and of the [image] whiche came downe from Iupiter?36 Seing then that these thinges can not be spoken against, ye ought to be contet, and to do nothyng rasshely.37 For ye haue brought hyther these men, which are neither robbers of Churches nor yet despisers of your goddesse.38 Wherfore, yf Demetrius & the craftes men which are with hym, haue a matter agaynst any man, the lawe is open, and there are deputies, let them accuse one another.39 But yf ye inquire any thyng concernyng other matters, it shalbe determined in a lawfull assemblie.40 For we are in ieopardie to be accused of this dayes vprore, forasmuch as there is no cause, wherby we may geue a reckenyng of this concourse of people.41 And when he had thus spoken, he let the assemblie depart.