³⁰ Paul wants to go confront the crowd and protect his friends, but the disciples hold him back. ³¹ Even some provincial officials of Asia who are friendly to Paul send him an urgent message, warning him to stay away from the theater.

³² Enraged voices are shouting on top of each other, some saying one thing, some saying something else. The crowd is completely out of control. Most of the people don’t even know what caused the commotion in the first place.