If he called those to whom a message from God came "gods' (and the Scripture cannot be disregarded),

They told Aaron, "Make gods for us who will lead us. This Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt we don't know what happened to him!'

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have become like men and have come down to us!"

Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also debated with him. Some asked, "What is this blabbermouth trying to say?" while others said, "He seems to be preaching about foreign gods." This was because Paul was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

You also see and hear that, not only in Ephesus, but almost all over Asia, this man Paul has won over and taken away a large crowd by telling them that gods made by human hands are not gods at all.

For even if there are "gods" in heaven and on earth (as indeed there are many so-called "gods" and "lords"),

However, in the past, when you did not know God, you were slaves to things that are not really gods at all.