ሐናንያና ሰጲራ
1ሐናንያ የተባለ ሰው፣ ከሚስቱ ከሰጲራ ጋር መሬት ሸጠ፤ 2ሚስቱም በሚገባ እያወቀች ከሽያጩ የተወሰነ ገንዘብ በማስቀረት፣ የተረፈውን አምጥቶ በሐዋርያት እግር ሥር አስቀመጠ።
3ጴጥሮስ ግን እንዲህ አለ፤ “ሐናንያ ሆይ፤ መንፈስ ቅዱስን ትዋሽና ከመሬቱ ሽያጭ ታስቀር ዘንድ ሰይጣን ልብህን ለምን ሞላው? 4ሳትሸጠው በፊት የአንተው አልነበረምን? ከሸጥኸውስ በኋላ ቢሆን ገንዘቡ በእጅህ አልነበረምን? ለመሆኑ ይህን ነገር እንዴት በልብህ አሰብህ? የዋሸኸው እኮ እግዚአብሔርን እንጂ ሰውን አይደለም።”
5ሐናንያም ይህን እንደ ሰማ ወድቆ ሞተ፤ ይህን የሰሙትም ሁሉ ታላቅ ፍርሀት ያዛቸው። 6ጕልማሶችም ተነሥተው አስከሬኑን ገነዙት፤ ወስደውም ቀበሩት።
7ሦስት ሰዓት ያህልም ካለፈ በኋላ፣ ሚስቱ የሆነውን ሳታውቅ መጥታ ገባች። 8ጴጥሮስም፣ “እስቲ ንገሪኝ፤ መሬታችሁን የሸጣችሁት በዚህ ዋጋ ነውን?” አላት።
እርሷም፣ “አዎን፤ በዚሁ ዋጋ ነው” አለች።
9ጴጥሮስም፣ “የጌታን መንፈስ ትፈታተኑ ዘንድ እንዴት እንዲህ ተስማማችሁ? እነሆ፤ ባልሽን የቀበሩት ሰዎች ተመልሰው እግራቸው ደጃፍ ላይ ነው፤ አንቺንም ይዘው ይወጣሉ” አላት።
10እርሷም ወዲያውኑ እግሩ ሥር ወድቃ ሞተች፤ ጕልማሶቹም ሲገቡ ሞታ አገኟት፤ አውጥተውም በባሏ አጠገብ ቀበሯት። 11መላዪቱን ቤተ ክርስቲያንና ይህን የሰሙትን ሁሉ ታላቅ ፍርሀት ያዛቸው።
በሐዋርያት እጅ ብዙ ሰው ተፈወሰ
12ሐዋርያትም በሕዝቡ መካከል ብዙ ታምራዊ ምልክቶችንና ድንቅ ሥራዎችን አደረጉ፤ አማኞቹም ሁሉ “የሰሎሞን ደጅ” በተባለው መመላለሻ ይሰበሰቡ ነበር። 13ከእነርሱ ጋር ሊቀላቀል የደፈረ ማንም አልነበረም፤ ሆኖም ሕዝቡ እጅግ ያከብሯቸው ነበር፤ 14ብዙ ወንዶችና ሴቶችም ከጊዜ ወደ ጊዜ በጌታ እያመኑ ወደ እነርሱ ይጨመሩ ነበር። 15ከዚህም የተነሣ፣ ጴጥሮስ በዚያ ሲያልፍ፣ ቢያንስ ጥላው እንኳ በጥቂቶች ላይ እንዲያርፍባቸው በማለት ሕመምተኞችን ወደ ውጭ እያወጡ በዐልጋና በቃሬዛ በመንገድ ላይ ያስተኙ ነበር። 16በኢየሩሳሌም አካባቢ ከሚገኙ ከተሞች፣ ሕመምተኞችንና በርኩሳን5፥16 ወይም በክፉ መናፍስት የሚሠቃዩትን ይዘው የሚመጡት ሰዎች አካባቢውን ያጨናንቁት ነበር፤ የመጡትም ሁሉ ይፈወሱ ነበር።
ሐዋርያት መከራና ስደት ደረሰባቸው
17ከዚህም የተነሣ ሊቀ ካህናቱና አብረውት የነበሩት የሰዱቃውያን ወገን ሁሉ በቅናት ተሞሉ፤ 18ሐዋርያትንም ይዘው ማረፊያ ቤት ከተቷቸው። 19ይሁን እንጂ የጌታ መልአክ በሌሊት የእስር ቤቱን ደጆች ከፍቶ አወጣቸውና፣ 20“ሂዱ፤ በቤተ መቅደሱም አደባባይ ቁሙ፤ የዚህንም ሕይወት ቃል ሁሉ ለሕዝብ ንገሩ” አላቸው።
21እንደ ነጋም፣ በተነገራቸው መሠረት ወደ ቤተ መቅደሱ አደባባይ ገብተው ሕዝቡን ማስተማር ጀመሩ።
ሊቀ ካህናቱና ከእርሱ ጋር የነበሩት መጥተው የአይሁድን ሸንጎና የእስራኤልን ሽማግሌዎች ጉባኤ በሙሉ በአንድነት ሰበሰቡ፤ ሐዋርያትንም እንዲያመጡ ሰዎችን ወደ እስር ቤት ላኩ። 22የተላኩትም ወደ እስር ቤቱ ሄደው በዚያ አላገኟቸውም፤ ተመልሰውም እንዲህ አሏቸው፤ 23“እስር ቤቱ በሚገባ ተቈልፎ፣ ጠባቂዎቹም በበሩ ላይ ቆመው አገኘን፤ ከፍተን ስንገባ ግን በውስጡ ማንም አልነበረም።” 24የቤተ መቅደሱ ጥበቃ ሹምና የካህናት አለቆችም ይህን በሰሙ ጊዜ በነገሩ ተገረሙ፤ ግራም ተጋቡ።
25በዚህ ጊዜ አንድ ሰው መጥቶ፣ “እነሆ፤ እስር ቤት ያስገባችኋቸው ሰዎች በቤተ መቅደሱ አደባባይ ቆመው ሕዝቡን እያስተማሩ ናቸው” አላቸው። 26የጥበቃ ሹሙም ከወታደሮቹ ጋር ሄዶ፣ ይዞ አመጣቸው፤ ያመጧቸው ግን ሕዝቡ በድንጋይ እንዳይወግሯቸው ስለ ፈሩ በኀይል ሳያስገድዱ ነበር።
27ሐዋርያትንም አምጥተው በሸንጎው ፊት አቆሟቸው፤ ሊቀ ካህናቱም እንዲህ ሲል ጠየቃቸው፤ 28“በዚህ ስም እንዳታስተምሩ በጥብቅ አስጠንቅቀናችሁ ነበር፤ እናንተ ግን ኢየሩሳሌምን በትምህርታችሁ ሞላችኋት፤ ደግሞም እኛን ለዚህ ሰው ደም ተጠያቂዎች ልታደርጉን ቈርጣችሁ ተነሣችሁ።”
29ጴጥሮስና ሌሎች ሐዋርያትም መልሰው እንዲህ አሉ፤ “ከሰው ይልቅ ለእግዚአብሔር ልንታዘዝ ይገባል! 30እናንተ በዕንጨት ላይ ሰቅላችሁ የገደላችሁትን ኢየሱስን፣ የአባቶቻችን አምላክ ከሙታን አስነሣው፤ 31እርሱም ለእስራኤል ንስሓንና የኀጢአትን ስርየት ይሰጥ ዘንድ፣ እግዚአብሔር የሁሉ ራስና አዳኝ አድርጎ በቀኙ ከፍ ከፍ አደረገው። 32እኛም ለእነዚህ ነገሮች ምስክር ነን፤ ደግሞም እግዚአብሔር ለሚታዘዙት የሰጠው መንፈስ ቅዱስ ምስክር ነው።”
33ሰዎቹም ይህን በሰሙ ጊዜ ክፉኛ ተቈጡ፤ ሊገድሏቸውም ፈለጉ። 34ነገር ግን በሕዝቡ ሁሉ ዘንድ የተከበረ አንድ የሕግ መምህር፣ እርሱም ገማልያል የሚሉት ፈሪሳዊ ተነሥቶ በሸንጎው መካከል ቆመና ሐዋርያትን ወደ ውጭ አውጥተው ለጥቂት ጊዜ እንዲያዩአቸው አዘዘ፤ 35ለሸንጎውም እንዲህ አለ፤ “የእስራኤል ሰዎች ሆይ፤ በእነዚህ ሰዎች ላይ ልታደርጉ ስላሰባችሁት ነገር በጥንቃቄ ልታጤኑ ይገባችኋል። 36ከዚህ ቀደም፣ ቴዎዳስ ራሱን ትልቅ አድርጎ በመቍጠር ተነሥቶ፣ አራት መቶ ያህል ሰዎች ተባበሩት፤ ነገር ግን እርሱም ተገደለ፤ ተከታዮቹም ሁሉ ተበታተኑ፤ ነገሩም እንዳልነበር ሆነ። 37ከእርሱም በኋላ፣ በሕዝብ ቈጠራው ወቅት ገሊላዊው ይሁዳ ተነሥቶ ብዙ ሕዝብ አሸፈተ፤ ተከታይም አግኝቶ ነበር፤ እርሱም ጠፋ፤ ተከታዮቹም ተበተኑ። 38ስለዚህ አሁንም የምላችሁ፦ እነዚህን ሰዎች ተዉአቸው፤ አትንኳቸው፤ ሐሳባቸው ወይም አድራጎታቸው ከሰው ከሆነ ይጠፋልና፤ 39ከእግዚአብሔር ከሆነ ግን ልትገቷቸው አትችሉም፤ እንዲያውም ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር ስትጣሉ ትገኙ ይሆናል።”
40እነርሱም ምክሩን ተቀብለው ሐዋርያትን አስጠርተው አስገረፏቸው፤ ዳግመኛም በኢየሱስ ስም እንዳይናገሩ አዝዘው ለቀቋቸው።
41ሐዋርያትም፣ ስለ ስሙ ውርደትን ለመቀበል በመብቃታቸው ደስ እያላቸው ከሸንጎው ወጥተው ሄዱ፤ 42በየዕለቱም፣ በቤተ መቅደስም ሆነ በየቤቱ፣ ኢየሱስ እርሱ ክርስቶስ5፥42 ወይም መሲሕ መሆኑን ከማስተማርና ከመስበክ ከቶ ወደ ኋላ አላሉም ነበር።
Ananias and Sapphira
1Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.
3Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.’
5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. 6Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.
7About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8Peter asked her, ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?’
‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that is the price.’
9Peter said to her, ‘How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.’
10At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. 11Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.
The apostles heal many
12The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13No-one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15As a result, people brought those who were ill into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing those who were ill and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
The apostles persecuted
17Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people all about this new life.’
21At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin – the full assembly of the elders of Israel – and sent to the jail for the apostles. 22But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23‘We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no-one inside.’ 24On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.
25Then someone came and said, ‘Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.’ 26At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.
27The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,’ he said. ‘Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.’
29Peter and the other apostles replied: ‘We must obey God rather than human beings! 30The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead – whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.’
33When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honoured by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while. 35Then he addressed the Sanhedrin: ‘Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. 36Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing. 37After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered. 38Therefore, in the present case I advise you: leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.’
40His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
41The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 42Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
