32 Meanwhile the whole meeting was in an uproar: some people were shouting one thing, others were shouting something else, because most of them did not even know why they had come together.
33 Some of the people concluded that Alexander was responsible, since the Jews made him go up to the front. Then Alexander motioned with his hand for the people to be silent, and he tried to make a speech of defence.
34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they all shouted together the same thing for two hours: “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”
35 At last the town clerk was able to calm the crowd. “Fellow-Ephesians!” he said. “Everyone knows that the city of Ephesus is the keeper of the temple of the great Artemis and of the sacred stone that fell down from heaven.
36 Nobody can deny these things. So then, you must calm down and not do anything reckless.
37 You have brought these men here even though they have not robbed temples or said evil things about our goddess.
38 If Demetrius and his workers have an accusation against anyone, we have the authorities and the regular days for court; charges can be made there.