PAUL AT EPHESUS.

believed the gospel, and found how
foolish and sinful their arts were,
brought their books, and burnt them
before all men. 'Those books were
full of what was wicked, and could
do good to no one; so the Ephesians
did right to burn them.

But after a time, there was great
trouble in the city of Ephesus; for
the enemies of the truth began to
_ persecute the disciples there, as in
other places. There was a man
named Demetrius, a_ silversmith,
who made silver images of Diana,
the idol-goddess of the Ephesians.
Demetrius was an idolator, and he
gained his living by this wicked
trade of image-making. But when
the people of Ephesus became be-
hevers in the Lord Jesus Christ,
they gave up their idolatry, and
wanted no more silver images from
Demetrius. Then the silversmith
began to fear that he should lose his
business; so he called together all
the other silversmiths in the place,
and said to them, “Sirs, you know
that by this trade we have our wealth.
Now this Paul, who preaches here,
is turning away the people from the
worship of Diana, and telling them
that those are no gods which are
made with hands. So now our
trade is thought nothing of; no one
comes to buy our silver images ; and
the temple of our great goddess
Diana is despised.” Then those
who heard what Demetrius said
were very angry, and cred out,
“Great is Diana of the Ephesians.”
All the people in the city, when they
heard the noise, came together ; and
some of them caught hold of two of
the friends of Paul, and hurried
them away. Paul wished to go to

them; but his other friends would
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not let him put himself into danger:
so they kept him safely.

The tumult in the city lasted a
long time. Some cried one thing,
and some another ; and many did not
know why they had come together
at all Then a Jew, named Alex-
ander, tried to defend himself; but —
as soon as he began to speak, the
people cried out again, “Great is
Diana of the Ephesians ;” and they
would not attend to any thing he
said, because he was a Jew. At
last, the town-clerk came out to
quiet the people. He said to them,
“Ye men of Ephesus, all the world
knows that the people of this city
worship the great goddess Diana,
and the image which fell down from
our god Jupiter; you need not cry
out so loudly what every one be-
lieves. You ought to be quiet, and
do nothing hastily ; for these men,
whom you accuse, have done you
no hurt; they are not robbers of
churches, nor blasphemers of your
goddess. If Demetrius has any
thing to say against them, let the
matter be decided by law; for we
are in danger of being called in
question ourselves about this day’s
uproar.” And when the town-clerk
had said this, he sent away the
multitude. So all was quiet; and
then Paul called the disciples, and.
took leave of them, and departed.

The Ephesians were wise in many
things; yet they were so foolish and
so ignorant, that they could believe
the silly stories which they were
taught about the goddess Diana,
and the image which fell down from
Jupiter. There are many heathen
nations as foolish now. Let us pray
that God would send His gospel to
them, and turn their hearts from