but then the people realized he was a Jew. So they all started shouting together, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This went on for about two hours.
People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast. They asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can fight it?”
And when you pray, don’t keep talking on and on like the people who worship other gods. They think their prayers will be answered because they’ve talked so much.
But you’ve seen and heard what this man Paul is doing. Here in Ephesus and almost everywhere in the province of Asia he has led large numbers of people away from our gods. He says that gods made by human hands aren’t gods at all.
There was a man named Demetrius who made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. He brought in a lot of business for the other skilled workers there.
Finally the city clerk quieted down the crowd. “People of Ephesus!” he said. “The whole world knows that our city guards the temple of the great Artemis and the statue of her that fell from heaven.