On Shore at Malta
1When we were safe on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2The people of the island were unusually kind. It was raining and cold. So they built a fire and welcomed all of us. 3Paul gathered some sticks and put them on the fire. A poisonous snake was driven out by the heat. It fastened itself on Paul’s hand. 4The people of the island saw the snake hanging from his hand. They said to one another, “This man must be a murderer. He escaped from the sea. But the female god Justice won’t let him live.” 5Paul shook the snake off into the fire. He was not harmed. 6The people expected him to swell up. They thought he would suddenly fall dead. They waited for a long time. But they didn’t see anything unusual happen to him. So they changed their minds. They said he was a god.
7Publius owned property nearby. He was the chief official on the island. He welcomed us to his home. For three days he took care of us. He treated us with kindness. 8His father was sick in bed. The man suffered from fever and dysentery. So Paul went in to see him. Paul prayed for him. He placed his hands on him and healed him. 9Then the rest of the sick people on the island came. They too were healed. 10The people of the island honored us in many ways. When we were ready to sail, they gave us the supplies we needed.
Paul Arrives in Rome
11After three months we headed out to sea. We sailed in a ship from Alexandria that had stayed at the island during the winter. On the front of the ship the figures of twin gods were carved. Their names were Castor and Pollux. 12We landed at Syracuse and stayed there for three days. 13From there we sailed to Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up. The day after that, we reached Puteoli. 14There we found some believers. They invited us to spend a week with them. At last we came to Rome. 15The believers there had heard we were coming. They traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw these people, he thanked God for them and was encouraged by them. 16When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself. But a soldier guarded him.
Paul Preaches in Rome
17Three days later Paul called a meeting of the local Jewish leaders. When they came, Paul spoke to them. He said, “My brothers, I have done nothing against our people. I have also done nothing against what our people of long ago practiced. But I was arrested in Jerusalem. I was handed over to the Romans. 18They questioned me. And they wanted to let me go. They saw I wasn’t guilty of any crime worthy of death. 19But the Jews objected, so I had to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not mean to bring any charge against my own people. 20I share Israel’s hope. That is why I am held with this chain. So I have asked to see you and talk with you.”
21They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea about you. None of our people here from Judea has reported or said anything bad about you. 22But we want to hear what your ideas are. We know that people everywhere are talking against those who believe as you do.”
23They decided to meet Paul on a certain day. At that time even more people came to the place where he was staying. From morning until evening, he told them about God’s kingdom. Using the Law of Moses and the Prophets, he tried to get them to believe in Jesus. 24Some believed what he said, and others did not. 25They didn’t agree with one another. They began to leave after Paul had made a final statement. He said, “The Holy Spirit was right when he spoke to your people long ago. Through Isaiah the prophet the Spirit said,
26“ ‘Go to your people. Say to them,
“You will hear but never understand.
You will see but never know what you are seeing.”
27These people’s hearts have become stubborn.
They can barely hear with their ears.
They have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes.
They might hear with their ears.
They might understand with their hearts.
They might turn, and then I would heal them.’ (Isaiah 6:9,10)
28-29“Here is what I want you to know. God has sent his salvation to the Gentiles. And they will listen!”
30For two whole years Paul stayed there in a house he rented. He welcomed all who came to see him. 31He preached boldly about God’s kingdom. He taught people about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one could keep him from teaching and preaching about these things.
ጳውሎስ በመላጥያ ደሴት
1በደኅና ወደ ምድር ከደረስን በኋላ፣ ደሴቲቱ መላጥያ ተብላ እንደምትጠራ ተረዳን። 2የደሴቲቱ ነዋሪዎችም የሚያስገርም ደግነት አሳዩን፤ ዝናብና ብርድ ነበርና እሳት አንድደው ሁላችንን ተቀበሉን። 3ጳውሎስም ጭራሮ ሰብስቦ ወደ እሳቱ ሲጨምር፣ ከሙቀቱ የተነሣ እፉኝት ወጥታ እጁ ላይ ተጣበቀች። 4የደሴቲቱ ነዋሪዎች እባብ በእጁ ላይ ተንጠልጥላ ባዩ ጊዜ፣ “ይህ ሰው በርግጥ ነፍስ ገዳይ ነው፤ ከባሕር ቢያመልጥ እንኳ የፍርድ አምላክ በሕይወት እንዲኖር አልፈቀደለትም” ተባባሉ። 5ጳውሎስ ግን እባቢቱን ወደ እሳቱ አራገፋት፤ አንዳችም ጕዳት አልደረሰበትም። 6ሰዎቹ ከአሁን አሁን ሰውነቱ ያብጣል ወይም ድንገት ሞቶ ይወድቃል ብለው ይጠባበቁ ነበር፤ ነገር ግን ብዙ ጊዜ ጠብቀው ምንም የተለየ ነገር እንዳልደረሰበት ባዩ ጊዜ፣ ሐሳባቸውን ለውጠው፣ “ይህስ አምላክ ነው” አሉ።
7በዚያም ስፍራ አጠገብ የደሴቲቱ አለቃ የፑፕልዮስ ርስት የሆነ መሬት ነበረ፤ እርሱም በቤቱ ተቀብሎን ሦስት ቀን በቸርነት አስተናገደን። 8የፑፕልዮስም አባት በትኵሳትና በተቅማጥ ሕመም ተይዞ ተኝቶ ነበር፤ ጳውሎስም ሊጠይቀው ገብቶ ከጸለየለት በኋላ፣ እጁን ጭኖ ፈወሰው። 9ይህም በሆነ ጊዜ፣ በደሴቲቱ የነበሩ ሌሎች ሕመምተኞችም እየመጡ ተፈወሱ። 10እኛንም በብዙ መንገድ አከበሩን፤ በመርከብም ለመሄድ በተዘጋጀን ጊዜ፣ የሚያስፈልገንን ሁሉ ጫኑልን።
ጳውሎስ ሮም ደረሰ
11ከሦስት ወር በኋላም፣ በደሴቲቱ ክረምቱን ቆሞ በሰነበተ በአንድ መርከብ ተነሥተን ጕዞ ጀመርን። ይህም መርከብ የእስክንድርያ ሲሆን፣ በላዩ ላይ የመንታ አማልክቱ የዲዮስቆሮስ አርማ ነበረበት። 12ወደ ሰራኩስ ከተማ ገብተን ሦስት ቀን በዚያ ተቀመጥን። 13ከዚያም በመርከብ ተጕዘን ሬጊዩም ደረስን፤ በማግስቱም የደቡብ ነፋስ ስለ ተነሣ ፑቲዮሉስ የደረስነው በሚቀጥለው ቀን ነበር። 14በዚያም ወንድሞችን አገኘን፤ እነርሱም ሰባት ቀን አብረናቸው እንድንቀመጥ ለመኑን፤ ከዚያም በኋላ ወደ ሮም ሄድን። 15በዚያ የነበሩ ወንድሞችም መምጣታችንን ስለ ሰሙ፣ እስከ አፍዩስ ፋሩስ እንዲሁም “ሦስት ማደሪያ” እስከሚባለው ቦታ ድረስ ሊቀበሉን ወጡ፤ ጳውሎስም ባያቸው ጊዜ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰገነ፤ ተጽናናም። 16ሮም በደረስን ጊዜም፣ ጳውሎስ ይጠብቀው ከነበረው ወታደር ጋር ለብቻው በዚያ እንዲቈይ ተፈቀደለት።
ጳውሎስ በጥበቃ ሥር ሆኖ ሰበከ
17ከሦስት ቀንም በኋላ፣ ጳውሎስ የአይሁድን መሪዎች በአንድነት ጠራ፤ በተሰበሰቡም ጊዜ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ እኔ፣ ሕዝባችንን ወይም የአባቶቻችንን ሥርዐት የሚቃረን ምንም ሳላደርግ፣ በኢየሩሳሌም አስረው ለሮማውያን አሳልፈው ሰጥተውኛል። 18እነርሱም መርምረው ለሞት የሚያበቃ በደል ስላላገኙብኝ፣ ሊፈቱኝ ፈልገው ነበር፤ 19አይሁድ በተቃወሙ ጊዜ ግን፣ ለቄሳር ይግባኝ ማለት ግድ ሆነብኝ እንጂ ሕዝቤን የምከስስበት ምክንያት ኖሮኝ አይደለም። 20እናንተንም ለማየትና ለማነጋገር የጠራኋችሁ በዚሁ ምክንያት ነው፤ በዚህ ሰንሰለት የታሰርሁትም ለእስራኤል በተሰጠው ተስፋ ምክንያት ነው።”
21እነርሱም እንዲህ አሉት፤ “ስለ አንተ ከይሁዳ ምድር የተጻፈ አንድም ደብዳቤ አልደረሰንም፤ ከዚያ የመጡ ወንድሞችም ስለ አንተ ያቀረቡት ወይም የተናገሩት አንዳች መጥፎ ነገር የለም። 22ይሁን እንጂ፣ ሰዎች ስለዚህ የእምነት ክፍል በየቦታው ክፉ እንደሚያወሩበት እናውቃለን፤ የአንተ አስተያየት ደግሞ ምን እንደ ሆነ መስማት እንፈልጋለን።”
23ቀን ከቀጠሩለትም በኋላ፣ ብዙ ሆነው ወደ ማረፊያ ስፍራው መጡ፤ እርሱም ከጧት ጀምሮ እስከ ማታ ስለ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት እየመሰከረ ያብራራላቸው ነበር፤ ከሙሴ ሕግና ከነቢያትም በመጥቀስ ስለ ኢየሱስ ሊያሳምናቸው ሞከረ። 24አንዳንዶቹ እርሱ የሚለውን አምነው ተቀበሉ፤ ሌሎቹ ግን አላመኑበትም፤ 25እርስ በርሳቸውም አልተስማሙም፤ ጳውሎስም እንዲህ የሚል የመጨረሻ ቃል ከተናገራቸው በኋላ ሄዱ፤ “መንፈስ ቅዱስ በነቢዩ በኢሳይያስ አማካይነት ለአባቶቻችሁ በትክክል እንዲህ ብሎ ተናግሯል፤
26“ ‘ወደዚህ ሕዝብ ሂድ፤ እንዲህም በላቸው፤
“መስማትን ትሰማላችሁ፤ ነገር ግን አታስተውሉም፤
ማየትን ታያላችሁ፤ ነገር ግን አትመለከቱም።”
27የዚህ ሕዝብ ልብ ደንድኗልና፤
ጆሯቸውም ተደፍኗል፤
ዐይናቸውንም ጨፍነዋል።
አለዚያማ፣ በዐይናቸው አይተው፣
በጆሯቸው ሰምተው፣
በልባቸው አስተውለው፣
ይመለሱና እፈውሳቸዋለሁ።’
28“ስለዚህ የእግዚአብሔር ማዳን ለአሕዛብ እንደ ተላከ እንድታውቁ እፈልጋለሁ፤ እነርሱም ይሰሙታል።” 29ይህንም ከተናገረ በኋላ፣ አይሁድ እርስ በርሳቸው እጅግ እየተከራከሩ ሄዱ።28፥29 አንዳንድ የጥንት ትርጕሞች ይህ ቍጥር የላቸውም።
30ጳውሎስም ራሱ በተከራየው ቤት ሁለት ዓመት ሙሉ ተቀመጠ፤ ወደ እርሱ የሚመጡትንም ሁሉ በደስታ ይቀበል ነበር፤ 31ማንም ሳይከለክለው የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት እየሰበከ፣ ስለ ጌታ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በፍጹም ግልጽነት ያስተምር ነበር።
