19 Some of them had used magic. These believers brought their magic books and burned them before everyone. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins.
20 This is how the word of the Lord was spreading in a powerful way, causing more and more people to believe.
21 After this, Paul made plans to go to Jerusalem. He planned to go through the regions of Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. He thought, “After I visit Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome.”
22 Timothy and Erastus were two of his helpers. Paul sent them ahead to Macedonia. But he stayed in Asia for a while.
23 But during that time there was some trouble in Ephesus about the Way. This is how it all happened:
24 There was a man named Demetrius. He worked with silver. He made little silver models that looked like the temple of the goddess Artemis. The men who did this work made a lot of money.
25 Demetrius had a meeting with these men and some others who did the same kind of work. He told them, “Men, you know that we make a lot of money from our business.