And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
Parallel translations
- WEB The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”
- BSB Eventually, one of the evil spirits answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”
- NKJV And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
- NASB But the evil spirit responded and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know of Paul, but who are you?”
- NLT But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The evil spirit replied that it knew Jesus and Paul, but did not recognize these men.
Overview
The demon acknowledged the real authority of Jesus and the genuine commission of Paul, but saw the exorcists as imposters with no standing. The scene shows that Christ's name has power only for those who truly belong to Him. It is a sober reminder that spiritual authority cannot be borrowed or faked.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Acts 16:17–18The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.
- Mark 1:34And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
- Luke 4:33–35And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
- Mark 5:9–13And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
- Mark 1:24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God.
- Luke 8:28–32When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
- Matt 8:29–31And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
- Gen 3:1–5Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
- 1 Kgs 22:21–23And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 19:15 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.