Acts 19:34

An Understandable Version (2005 edition)

But when the crowd realized that he was a Jew, they all joined together for about two hours shouting, “Great is [the goddess] Artemis, of the Ephesians.”

Cross References

Matthew 6:7

And when you pray, do not use worthless repetitions like the [unconverted] Gentiles, for they think their lengthy, repetitious wording [in prayer] is more likely to be heard [by God].

Acts 16:20

And when they brought them before the city officials, they made this charge [against them]: “These Jewish men are causing too much trouble in our city,

Acts 19:24

[Here is what happened]: A certain manufacturer of silver objects named Demetrius, who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis [i.e., a Greek goddess], brought much business to his workmen.

Acts 19:26

And now you have seen and heard, not only here in Ephesus, but throughout almost the entire [province of] Asia, that this Paul has been convincing people, [even] to the point of turning many away [from idol worship]. [He is] saying that hand-made gods [like we make] are not real [gods at all].

Acts 19:28

When they heard this they became extremely angry and shouted out, “Great is [the goddess] Artemis, of the Ephesians.”

Acts 19:33

[It appears that] Alexander was appointed out of the crowd by the Jews [i.e., to be their spokesman in defending them from the charges being made against Paul]. He motioned with his hand [to get attention] and attempted to speak to the assembly in defense [of the Jewish viewpoint].

Acts 19:35

When the town clerk had quieted down the crowd, he said, “You people of Ephesus, who among you does not know that the city of Ephesus is caretaker of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell down from the sky?

Romans 2:22

You say that a person should not commit adultery [i.e., sexual unfaithfulness to their mate], [but] do you commit adultery? You [claim to] hate idols, [but] do you rob [their] temples? [Note: It is difficult to determine how the Jews were doing this. Perhaps they were guilty of the “spirit” of idolatry by devoting their efforts and affections to material things instead of to God].

Revelation 13:4

And they [all] worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast. And they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to wage war against him?”