[19:11] God was performing unusual miracles through Paul.
[19:12] Even handkerchiefs and aprons he had used were taken to the sick, and their diseases were driven away, and the evil spirits would go out of them.
[19:13] Some Jews who traveled around and drove out evil spirits also tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus to do this. They said to the evil spirits, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches.”
[19:14] Seven brothers, who were the sons of a Jewish High Priest named Sceva, were doing this.
[19:15] But the evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus, and I know about Paul; but you—who are you?”
[19:16] The man who had the evil spirit in him attacked them with such violence that he overpowered them all. They ran away from his house, wounded and with their clothes torn off.
[19:17] All the Jews and Gentiles who lived in Ephesus heard about this; they were all filled with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was given greater honor.
[19:18] Many of the believers came, publicly admitting and revealing what they had done.
[19:19] Many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in public. They added up the price of the books, and the total came to fifty thousand silver coins.
[19:20] In this powerful way the word of the Lord kept spreading and growing stronger.