Paul in Ephesus
1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when19:2 Or after you believed?’
They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’
3So Paul asked, ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’
‘John’s baptism,’ they replied.
4Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ 5On hearing this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues19:6 Or other languages and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
8Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to those who were ill, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.
13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, ‘In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.’ 14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15One day the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?’ 16Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
17When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honour. 18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.19:19 A drachma was a silver coin worth about a day’s wages. 20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.
21After all this had happened, Paul decided19:21 Or decided in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. ‘After I have been there,’ he said, ‘I must visit Rome also.’ 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer.
The riot in Ephesus
23About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in a lot of business for the craftsmen there. 25He called them together, along with the workers in related trades, and said: ‘You know, my friends, that we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that gods made by human hands are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.’
28When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’ 29Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s travelling companions from Macedonia, and all of them rushed into the theatre together. 30Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theatre.
32The assembly was in confusion: some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defence before the people. 34But when they realised he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!’
35The city clerk quietened the crowd and said: ‘Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. 37You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.’ 41After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
ጳውሎስ በኤፌሶን
1አጵሎስ በቆሮንቶስ በነበረበት ጊዜ፣ ጳውሎስ በላይኛው አገር ዐልፎ ወደ ኤፌሶን መጣ፤ በዚያም አንዳንድ ደቀ መዛሙርትን አግኝቶ፣ 2“ባመናችሁ19፥2 ወይም ካመናችሁ በኋላ ጊዜ መንፈስ ቅዱስን ተቀበላችሁን?” አላቸው።
እነርሱም፣ “አልተቀበልንም፤ እንዲያውም መንፈስ ቅዱስ መኖሩን እንኳ አልሰማንም” አሉት።
3ጳውሎስም፣ “ታዲያ፣ በምን ተጠመቃችሁ?” አላቸው።
እነርሱም፣ “የዮሐንስን ጥምቀት” አሉት።
4ጳውሎስም፣ “የዮሐንስ ጥምቀትማ የንስሓ ጥምቀት ነበር፤ ዮሐንስም ራሱ ሰዎች ከእርሱ በኋላ በሚመጣው በኢየሱስ እንዲያምኑ ተናግሯል” አላቸው። 5እነርሱም ይህን በሰሙ ጊዜ በጌታ በኢየሱስ ስም ተጠመቁ። 6ጳውሎስም እጁን በላያቸው በጫነ ጊዜ፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ወረደባቸው፤ በሌሎች ቋንቋዎች19፥6 ወይም ልሳን ተናገሩ፤ ትንቢትም ተናገሩ። 7ሰዎቹም በአጠቃላይ ዐሥራ ሁለት ያህል ነበሩ።
8ጳውሎስም ወደ ምኵራብ እየገባ፣ ስለ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት እየተነጋገረና እያሳመናቸው ሦስት ወር ሙሉ ምንም ሳይፈራ ፊት ለፊት ይናገር ነበር። 9አንዳንዶቹ ግን ግትር በመሆን፣ ለማመን ፈቃደኞች አልነበሩም፤ የጌታንም መንገድ በገሃድ ያጥላሉ ነበር። ስለዚህ ጳውሎስ ትቷቸው ሄደ፤ ደቀ መዛሙርትንም ለብቻቸው ወስዶ በጢራኖስ የትምህርት አዳራሽ ውስጥ በየዕለቱ ያነጋግራቸው ነበር። 10ይህን ማድረጉንም ሁለት ዓመት ስለ ቀጠለ፣ በእስያ አውራጃ ይኖሩ የነበሩት የአይሁድና የግሪክ ሰዎች ሁሉ የጌታን ቃል ለመስማት ቻሉ።
11እግዚአብሔርም በጳውሎስ እጅ እጅግ የሚያስደንቅ ታምራትን ያደርግ ነበር፤ 12መሐረብ ወይም ሰውነቱን የነካ ጨርቅ እንኳ ወደ ሕመምተኞች ሲወስዱ በሽታቸው ይለቅቃቸው ነበር፤ ርኩሳን መናፍስትም ይወጡ ነበር።
13እየዞሩ አጋንንትን ያስወጡ ከነበሩት አይሁድ አንዳንዶቹ፣ “ጳውሎስ በሚሰብከው በኢየሱስ ስም እንድትወጡ አዝዛችኋለሁ” እያሉ የጌታን የኢየሱስን ስም ርኩሳን መናፍስት በያዟቸው ሰዎች ላይ ለመጥራት ሞከሩ፤ 14የአይሁዳዊው የካህናቱ አለቃ የአስቄዋ ሰባት ወንዶች ልጆችም ይህንኑ ያደርጉ ነበር። 15ርኩስ መንፈሱም፣ “ኢየሱስን ዐውቀዋለሁ፤ ጳውሎስንም ዐውቀዋለሁ፤ እናንተ ግን እነማን ናችሁ?” አላቸው። 16ከዚያም ርኩስ መንፈስ ያደረበት ሰው ዘልሎ ያዛቸው፤ በረታባቸውም፤ እጅግ ስላየለባቸውም ቤቱን ጥለው ዕራቍታቸውን ሸሹ።
17ይህም በኤፌሶን በሚኖሩት፣ በአይሁድና በግሪክ ሰዎች ሁሉ ዘንድ በታወቀ ጊዜ፣ ሁሉም ፍርሀት ያዛቸው፤ በዚህም የጌታ የኢየሱስ ስም ተከበረ። 18ካመኑትም ሰዎች ብዙዎቹ እየቀረቡ ክፉ ሥራቸውን በግልጥ ተናዘዙ፤ 19ሲጠነቍሉ ከነበሩትም መካከል ብዙዎች መጽሐፋቸውን ሰብስበው በማምጣት በሕዝብ ፊት አቃጠሉ፤ ዋጋቸውም ሲሰላ አምሳ ሺሕ ብር ያህል ሆኖ ተገኘ። 20በዚህ ሁኔታ የጌታ ቃል በኀይል እያደገና እያሸነፈ ሄደ።
21ይህ ሁሉ ከሆነ በኋላ፣ ጳውሎስ በመቄዶንያና በአካይያ በኩል ዐልፎ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ለመሄድ በመንፈሱ ወስኖ፣ “እዚያ ከደረስሁ በኋላ ሮምን ደግሞ ማየት አለብኝ” አለ። 22ከረዳቶቹም ሁለቱን፣ ጢሞቴዎስንና ኤርስጦንን፣ ወደ መቄዶንያ ልኮ እርሱ ራሱ ግን በእስያ አውራጃ ጥቂት ቀን ተቀመጠ።
በኤፌሶን የተነሣው ሁከት
23በዚህ ጊዜ፣ ስለ ጌታ መንገድ ታላቅ ሁከት ተፈጠረ። 24ድሜጥሮስ የተባለ አንድ የብር አንጥረኛ የአርጤምስን ቤተ መቅደስ ምስሎች ከብር ቀጥቅጦ እየሠራ ለሠራተኞቹ የሚያስገኘው ገቢ ቀላል አልነበረም። 25እርሱም እነዚህን ሠራተኞችና በተመሳሳይ ሙያ የሚተዳደሩትን ሌሎቹን ሰዎች በአንድነት ሰብስቦ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ሰዎች ሆይ፤ ይህ ሥራ ጥሩ ገቢ እንደሚያስገኝልን ታውቃላችሁ። 26ይህ ጳውሎስ የተባለ ሰው በኤፌሶን ብቻ ሳይሆን፣ በመላው የእስያ አውራጃ የሚገኘውን በርካታ ሕዝብ እያሳመነ እንዳሳታቸው ይኸው የምታዩትና የምትሰሙት ነገር ነው፤ በሰው እጅ የተሠሩ አማልክት በፍጹም አማልክት እንዳልሆኑ ይናገራልና። 27የዚህ የሥራችን መልካም ስም ከመጕደፉም በላይ፣ መላው እስያና ዓለም የሚያመልካት የታላቋ አርጤምስ ቤተ መቅደስም ዋጋ ቢስ ይሆናል፤ ደግሞም ገናናው ክብሯ ይዋረዳል።”
28ሰዎቹም ይህን በሰሙ ጊዜ ክፉኛ ተቈጥተው፣ “የኤፌሶኗ አርጤምስ ታላቅ ናት!” እያሉ ይጮኹ ጀመር። 29ወዲያውም በከተማው ሁሉ ሁከት ተነሣ፤ ሕዝቡም አንድ ላይ በማበር የመቄዶንያ ተወላጅ የሆኑትንና ከጳውሎስ ጋር ይጓዙ የነበሩትን ጓደኞቹን፣ ጋይዮስንና አርስጥሮኮስን ይዘው ወደ ጨዋታ ማሳያው ስፍራ እየሮጡ ገቡ። 30ጳውሎስም ወጥቶ ሕዝቡ ፊት ለመቅረብ ፈልጎ ነበር፤ ደቀ መዛሙርት ግን ከለከሉት። 31ከአውራጃው ባለ ሥልጣናት አንዳንድ ወዳጆቹ እንኳ፣ ጳውሎስ ወደ ጨዋታ ማሳያው ስፍራ ደፍሮ እንዳይገባ ሰው ልከው ለመኑት።
32ጉባኤውም ተበጣብጦ፣ አንዱ አንድ ነገር ሲናገር ሌላውም ሌላ እየተናገረ ይጯጯኽ ነበር፤ አብዛኛውም ሰው ለምን እዚያ እንደ ተሰበሰበ እንኳ አያውቅም ነበር። 33አይሁድም እስክንድሮስን ከሕዝቡ መካከል ገፍተው ወደ ፊት ባወጡት ጊዜ፤ አንዳንዶቹ እንዲናገርላቸው ጮኹ፤ እርሱም ሊከራከርላቸው ፈልጎ ዝም እንዲሉ በምልክት ጠቀሳቸው። 34ነገር ግን እርሱ አይሁዳዊ መሆኑን ባወቁ ጊዜ ሁሉም በአንድ ድምፅ፣ “የኤፌሶኗ አርጤምስ ታላቅ ናት” እያሉ ሁለት ሰዓት ያህል ጮኹ።
35የከተማዪቱም ዋና ጸሓፊ ሕዝቡን ጸጥ አሰኝቶ እንዲህ አለ፤ “የኤፌሶን ሰዎች ሆይ፤ የታላቋ የአርጤምስ ቤተ መቅደስና ከሰማይ የወረደው ምስሏ ጠባቂ የኤፌሶን ከተማ ሕዝብ መሆኑን የማያውቅ ማን አለ? 36ስለዚህ፣ ይህ ሐቅ የማይካድ እንደ መሆኑ መጠን፣ ልትረጋጉና አንዳች ነገር በጥድፊያ ከመፈጸም ልትቈጠቡ ይገባችኋል። 37እነዚህን ሰዎች ቤተ መቅደስን ሳይዘርፉ ወይም አምላካችን በሆነችው ላይ የስድብ ቃል ሳይሰነዝሩ ይዛችሁ እዚህ ድረስ እንዲያው አምጥታችኋቸዋል። 38እንግዲህ፣ ድሜጥሮስና ከእርሱ ጋር ያሉት አንጥረኞች በማንም ላይ አቤቱታ ካላቸው፣ ፍርድ ቤቱ ክፍት ነው፤ ዳኞችም አሉ፤ ክስ ማቅረብ ይችላሉ። 39ከዚህ ሌላ ልታቀርቡ የፈለጋችሁት ነገር ካለ በሕጋዊ ጉባኤ ይታያል። 40አለዚያ ዛሬ ስለ ሆነው ነገር፣ በሁከት አነሣሽነት እንዳንከሰስ ያሠጋናል፤ አጥጋቢ ምክንያት ስለሌለንም፣ ስለ ሁከቱ ብንጠየቅበት መልስ መስጠት አንችልም።” 41ይህን ከተናገረ በኋላም ጉባኤው እንዲበተን አደረገ።
