Acts 19:21-26

Paul had it in his heart to go to Jerusalem and, on his way there, to revisit the places in Greece where he had ministered. “After that,” he said, “I have to go to Rome also.” So he sent ahead into Macedonia two of his ministry assistants, Timothy and Erastus, while he remained in western Turkey. At that time a major disturbance erupted in Ephesus over the people following God’s way. It began with a wealthy man named Demetrius, who had built a large business and enriched many craftsmen by manufacturing silver shrines for the Greek goddess Artemis. Demetrius called a meeting of his employees, along with all the various tradespeople of Ephesus, and said, “You know that our prosperous livelihood is being threatened by this Paul, who is persuading crowds of people to turn away from our gods. We make a good living by doing what we do, but everywhere Paul goes, not only here in Ephesus but throughout western Turkey, he convinces people that there’s no such thing as a god made with hands.