American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
And this is the witness of John, when the Jews sent unto him from Jerusalem priests and Levites to ask him, Who art thou?
And he confessed, and denied not; and he confessed, I am not the Christ.
And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he saith, I am not. Art thou the prophet? And he answered, No.
They said therefore unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as {Isaiah 40:3.}said Isaiah the prophet.
{Or, And certain had been sent from among the Pharisees.}And they had been sent from the Pharisees.
And they asked him, and said unto him, Why then baptizest thou, if thou art not the Christ, neither Elijah, neither the prophet?
John answered them, saying, I baptize {Or, with}in water: in the midst of you standeth one whom ye know not,
even he that cometh after me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to unloose.
These things were done in {Many ancient authorities read Bethabarah, some Betharabah. Compare Joshua 15:6, 61; 18:22.}Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
And he answered and said, Elijah indeed cometh, and shall restore all things:
but I say unto you, that Elijah is come already, and they knew him not, but did unto him whatsoever they would. Even so shall the Son of man also suffer of them.
And if ye are willing to receive {Or, him}it, this is Elijah, that is to come.
For, behold, the day cometh, it burneth as a furnace; and all the proud, and all that work wickedness, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith Jehovah of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in its {Or, beams}wings; and ye shall go forth, and gambol as calves of the stall.
And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I {Or, do this}make, saith Jehovah of hosts.
Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers {Or, with}to the children, and the heart of the children {Or, with}to their fathers; lest I come and smite the {Or, land}earth with a {Or, ban Or, devoting to destruction}curse.
The priests the Levites, {Or, and}even all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of Jehovah made by fire, and his inheritance.
And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren: Jehovah is their inheritance, as he hath spoken unto them.
And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.
The first-fruits of thy grain, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.
For Jehovah thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of Jehovah, him and his sons for ever.
And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourneth, and come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah shall choose;
then he shall minister in the name of Jehovah his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before Jehovah.
They shall have like portions to eat, besides that which cometh of the sale of his patrimony.
When thou art come into the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.
There shall not be found with thee any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, one that practiseth augury, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,
or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto Jehovah: and because of these abominations Jehovah thy God doth drive them out from before thee.
Thou shalt be perfect with Jehovah thy God.
For these nations, that thou shalt dispossess, hearken unto them that practise augury, and unto diviners; but as for thee, Jehovah thy God hath not suffered thee so to do.
Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
according to all that thou desiredst of Jehovah thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Jehovah my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
And Jehovah said unto me, They have well said that which they have spoken.
I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.
And if thou say in thy heart, How shall we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken?
when a prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jehovah hath not spoken: the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him.
And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper country came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples:
and he said unto them, Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed? And they said unto him, Nay, we did not so much as hear whether {Or, there is a Holy Spirit}the Holy Spirit was given.
And he said, Into what then were ye baptized? And they said, Into John's baptism.
And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him that should come after him, that is, on Jesus.
And when they heard this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.
And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.
And they were in all about twelve men.
And he entered into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, reasoning and persuading as to the things concerning the kingdom of God.
But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
And this continued for the space of two years; so that all they that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
And God wrought special {Greek: powers.}miracles by the hands of Paul:
insomuch that unto the sick were carried away from his body handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out.
But certain also of the strolling Jews, exorcists, took upon them to name over them that had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.
And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest, who did this.
And the evil spirit answered and said unto them, Jesus I {Or, recognize}know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and mastered both of them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
And this became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, that dwelt at Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Many also of them that had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
And not a few of them that practised magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all; and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver.
So mightily grew the word of the Lord and prevailed.
Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome.
And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of {Greek: Artemis.}Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen;
whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth.
And ye see and hear; that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands:
and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess {Greek: Artemis.}Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and {Greek: the inhabited earth.}the world worshippeth.
And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is {Greek: Artemis.}Diana of the Ephesians.
And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.
And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
And certain also of the {That is, officers having charge of festivals &c. In the Roman province of Asia.}Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre.
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
{Or, And some of the multitude instructed Alexander}And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defense unto the people.
But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is {Greek: Artemis.}Diana of the Ephesians.
And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great {Greek: Artemis.}Diana, and of the image which fell down from {Or, heaven}Jupiter?
Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
For ye have brought hither these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess.
If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, {Or, court days are kept}the courts are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another.
But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly.
For indeed we are in danger to be {Or, accused of riot concerning this day}accused concerning this day's riot, there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse.
And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.