1The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: 3To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: 4And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. 6When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judæa, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. 12Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey. 13And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James. 14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
15¶ And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) 16Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. 17For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. 18Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. 21Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, 25That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. 26And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
ኢየሱስ ወደ ሰማይ ዐረገ
1ቴዎፍሎስ ሆይ፤ ኢየሱስ ለማድረግና ለማስተማር የጀመረውን ሁሉ ቀደም ባለው መጽሐፌ ጽፌልሃለሁ፤ 2ይኸውም እስከ ዐረገበት ቀን ድረስ ለመረጣቸው ሐዋርያት በመንፈስ ቅዱስ አማካይነት የሰጣቸው ትእዛዝ ነው። 3ከሕማማቱም በኋላ ራሱ ቀርቦ ሕያው መሆኑን፣ ለእነዚሁ በብዙ ማስረጃ እያረጋገጠላቸው አርባ ቀንም ዐልፎ ዐልፎ እየታያቸው ስለ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት ነገራቸው። 4ከእነርሱም ጋር በማእድ ተቀምጦ ሳለ እንዲህ ሲል አዘዛቸው፤ “ከኢየሩሳሌም አትውጡ፤ ነገር ግን እኔ ስናገር የሰማችሁትን፣ አብ የሰጠውን ተስፋ ጠብቁ፤ 5ዮሐንስ በውሃ አጥምቆ ነበርና፣ እናንተ ግን ከጥቂት ቀን በኋላ በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ትጠመቃላችሁ።”
6እነርሱም ተሰብስበው ሳሉ፣ “ጌታ ሆይ፤ የእስራኤልን መንግሥት መልሰህ የምታቋቁምበት ጊዜው አሁን ነውን?” ብለው ጠየቁት።
7እርሱም እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “አብ በገዛ ሥልጣኑ የወሰነውን ጊዜ ወይም ወቅት ማወቁ ለእናንተ አልተሰጣችሁም፤ 8ነገር ግን መንፈስ ቅዱስ በእናንተ ላይ በሚወርድበት ጊዜ ኀይልን ትቀበላላችሁ፤ በኢየሩሳሌም፣ በይሁዳና በሰማርያ ሁሉ፣ እስከ ምድር ዳርቻ ድረስ ምስክሮቼ ትሆናላችሁ።”
9ይህን ካለ በኋላ እያዩት ወደ ላይ ዐረገ፤ ደመናም ከዐይናቸው ሰወረችው።
10እርሱም በሚሄድበት ጊዜ ትኵር ብለው ወደ ሰማይ ሲመለከቱ፣ እነሆ፤ ነጫጭ ልብስ የለበሱ ሁለት ሰዎች ድንገት አጠገባቸው ቆሙ፤ 11እንዲህም አሏቸው፤ “እናንት የገሊላ ሰዎች ሆይ፤ ወደ ሰማይ እየተመለከታችሁ እዚህ የቆማችሁት ለምንድን ነው? ይህ ከእናንተ ዘንድ ወደ ሰማይ ሲያርግ ያያችሁት ኢየሱስ፣ ልክ ወደ ሰማይ ሲወጣ እንዳያችሁት በዚሁ ሁኔታ ይመለሳል።”
ማትያስ በይሁዳ ምትክ ተመረጠ
12ከዚያም ደብረ ዘይት ከተባለው ተራራ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሱ፤ ይህም ተራራ ከኢየሩሳሌም የሰንበት መንገድ ያህል1፥12 አንድ ሺሕ አንድ መቶ ሜትር ገደማ ነው። ይርቅ ነበር። 13ወደ ከተማዪቱም በገቡ ጊዜ ወደሚኖሩበት ሰገነት ወጡ፤ እነዚህም ጴጥሮስ፣ ዮሐንስ፣ ያዕቆብ፣ እንድርያስ፣ ፊልጶስ፣ ቶማስ፣ በርተሎሜዎስ፣ ማቴዎስ፣ የእልፍዮስ ልጅ ያዕቆብ፣ ቀናኢ የተባለው ስምዖንና የያዕቆብ ልጅ ይሁዳ ነበሩ። 14እነዚህ ሁሉ ከሴቶቹና ከኢየሱስ እናት ከማርያም ጋር እንዲሁም ከወንድሞቹ ጋር በአንድ ልብ ሆነው ያለ ማቋረጥ ተግተው ይጸልዩ ነበር።
15በእነዚያም ቀናት፣ ጴጥሮስ መቶ ሃያ በሚሆኑ ወንድሞች1፥15 ወይም አማኞች መካከል ቆሞ፣ 16እንዲህ አለ፤ “ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ኢየሱስን ለያዙት ሰዎች መሪ ስለ ሆናቸው ስለ ይሁዳ፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ አስቀድሞ በዳዊት አፍ የተናገረው የመጽሐፉ ቃል መፈጸም ስላለበት፣ 17እርሱ ከእኛ እንደ አንዱ ተቈጥሮ በዚህ አገልግሎት የመሳተፍ ዕድል አግኝቶ ነበር።”
18ይህ ሰው ስለ ክፉ ሥራው በተከፈለው ዋጋ መሬት ገዛ፤ በዚያም በግንባሩ ተደፍቶ ሰውነቱ እመካከሉ ላይ ፈነዳ፤ ሆድ ዕቃውም ተዘረገፈ። 19ይህም በኢየሩሳሌም በሚኖሩት ሁሉ ዘንድ ተሰማ፤ መሬቱም በቋንቋቸው “አኬልዳማ” ተብሎ ተጠራ፤ ትርጓሜውም “የደም መሬት” ማለት ነው።
20ጴጥሮስም በመቀጠል እንዲህ አለ፤
“በመዝሙር መጽሐፍ፣
‘መኖሪያው ባዶ ትሁን፤
የሚኖርባትም ሰው አይገኝ’ ደግሞም፣
‘ሹመቱን ሌላ ሰው ይውሰደው’
ተብሎ ተጽፏል። 21ስለዚህ ጌታ ኢየሱስ በመካከላችን በገባበትና በወጣበት ጊዜ ሁሉ፣ ከእኛ ጋር ከነበሩት መካከል አንድ ሰው መምረጥ ያስፈልጋል፤ 22ይኸውም፣ ከዮሐንስ ጥምቀት ጀምሮ ኢየሱስ ከእኛ ተለይቶ እስካረገበት ቀን ድረስ የነበረ መሆን አለበት፤ ምክንያቱም ከእነዚህ ሰዎች አንዱ ከእኛ ጋር የትንሣኤው ምስክር እንዲሆን ያስፈልጋል።”
23ስለዚህ ኢዮስጦስ የሚሉትን፣ በርስያን የተባለውን ዮሴፍንና ማትያስን ሁለቱን አቀረቡ፤ 24እንዲህም ብለው ጸለዩ፤ “ጌታ ሆይ፤ አንተ የሰውን ሁሉ ልብ ታውቃለህ፤ ከእነዚህ ከሁለቱ መካከል የመረጥኸውን ሰው አመልክተንና 25ይሁዳ ወደ ገዛ ራሱ ስፍራ ትቶት በሄደው በዚህ አገልግሎትና በሐዋርያዊነት ቦታ ላይ ሹመው።” 26ከዚያም ዕጣ ጣሉላቸው፤ ዕጣውም ለማትያስ ወጣ፤ እርሱም ከዐሥራ አንዱ ሐዋርያት ጋር ተቈጠረ።
