31 Also, some leaders of Asia who were friends of Paul sent him a message, begging him not to go into the theater.
32 Some people were shouting one thing, and some were shouting another. The meeting was completely confused; most of them did not know why they had come together.
33 They put a man named Alexander in front of the people, and some of them told him what to do. Alexander waved his hand so he could explain things to the people.
34 But when they saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all shouted the same thing for two hours: “Great is Artemis of Ephesus!”
35 Then the city clerk made the crowd be quiet. He said, “People of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis and her holy stone that fell from heaven.
36 Since no one can say this is not true, you should be quiet. Stop and think before you do anything.
37 You brought these men here, but they have not said anything evil against our goddess or stolen anything from her temple.