Through Macedonia and Greece
1When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia. 2He travelled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, 3where he stayed three months. Because some Jews had plotted against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.
Eutychus raised from the dead at Troas
7On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third storey and was picked up dead. 10Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms round him. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘He’s alive!’ 11Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders
13We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
17From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18When they arrived, he said to them: ‘You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 20You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
22‘And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.
25‘Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God,20:28 Many manuscripts of the Lord which he bought with his own blood.20:28 Or with the blood of his own Son 29I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.
32‘Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” ’
36When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.
ወደ መቄዶንያና ወደ ግሪክ ጕዞ
1ሁከቱም እንደ በረደ፣ ጳውሎስ ደቀ መዛሙርትን አስጠርቶ መከራቸው፤ ተሰናብቷቸውም ወደ መቄዶንያ ለመሄድ ተነሣ። 2ባለፈባቸውም ስፍራዎች ሕዝቡን በብዙ ቃል እየመከረ ግሪክ አገር ደረሰ፤ 3በዚያም ሦስት ወር ተቀመጠ። ወደ ሶርያ በመርከብ ለመሄድ ሲዘጋጅም አይሁድ አሢረውበት ስለ ነበር፣ በመቄዶንያ በኩል አድርጎ ለመመለስ ወሰነ። 4የጳይሮስ ልጅ የቤርያው ሱሲጴጥሮስ፣ የተሰሎንቄዎቹ አርስጥሮኮስና ሲኮንዱስ፣ የደርቤኑ ጋይዮስ፣ ከእስያ አውራጃ የመጡት ቲኪቆስና ጥሮፊሞስ እንዲሁም ጢሞቴዎስ አብረውት ሄዱ። 5እነዚህም ሰዎች ወደ ፊት ቀድመውን በጢሮአዳ ጠበቁን። 6እኛ ግን የቂጣ በዓል ካለፈ በኋላ፣ ከፊልጵስዩስ በመርከብ ተነሣን፤ ከአምስት ቀንም በኋላ ከሌሎቹ ጋር በጢሮአዳ ተገናኘን፤ በዚያም ሰባት ቀን ተቀመጥን።
አውጤኪስ በጢሮአዳ ከሞት ተነሣ
7በሳምንቱ መጀመሪያ ቀን እንጀራ ለመቍረስ ተሰብስበን ሳለን፣ ጳውሎስ በማግስቱም ለመሄድ ስላሰበ፣ ከእነርሱ ጋር ይነጋገር ነበር፤ ንግግሩንም እስከ እኩለ ሌሊት ድረስ አራዘመ። 8በተሰበሰብንበትም ሰገነት ላይ ብዙ መብራት ነበር። 9አውጤኪስ የተባለ አንድ ጐበዝም በመስኮት ላይ ተቀምጦ ነበር፤ ጳውሎስ ንግግሩን ባስረዘመ ጊዜ፣ እንቅልፍ እንቅልፍ አለውና ጭልጥ ብሎ ተኛ፤ ከሦስተኛውም ፎቅ ቍልቍል ወደቀ፤ ሞቶም አነሡት። 10ጳውሎስም ወርዶ በላዩ ተጋድሞ ዐቀፈውና፣ “ሕይወቱ በውስጡ ስላለች ሁከት አትፍጠሩ” አላቸው። 11ተመልሶም እንደ ገና ወደ ፎቁ ወጣ፤ እንጀራውንም ቈርሶ በላ፤ እስኪነጋም ድረስ ብዙ ከተናገረ በኋላ ተነሥቶ ሄደ። 12ሰዎችም ያን ጐበዝ ሕያው ሆኖ ወሰዱት፤ በዚህም እጅግ ተጽናኑ።
ጳውሎስ የኤፌሶንን ሽማግሌዎች ተሰናበተ
13እኛ ግን ጳውሎስን ለመቀበል ቀድመን ወደ መርከቡ ሄድን፤ ከዚያም በመርከብ ወደ አሶን ተጓዝን፤ ይህን ያደረግነውም ጳውሎስ በየብስ በእግሩ ሊሄድ ስላሰበ ነበር። 14በአሶን ከተገናኘንም በኋላ፣ ተቀብለነው አብረን በመርከብ ወደ ሚጢሊኒ ሄድን። 15በማግስቱም በመርከብ ተጕዘን ከኪዩ ደሴት ትይዩ ደረስን። በሚቀጥለውም ቀን ወደ ሳሞን ተሻገርን፤ በማግስቱም ሚሊጢን ደረስን። 16ጳውሎስም በእስያ አውራጃ ብዙ መቈየት ስላልፈለገ፣ ወደ ኤፌሶን ሳይገባ ዐልፎ ለመሄድ ወሰነ፤ ቢቻል በዓለ አምሳን በኢየሩሳሌም ለመዋል ቸኵሎ ነበርና።
17ከሚሊጢንም ወደ ኤፌሶን ሰው ልኮ የቤተ ክርስቲያኒቱን ሽማግሌዎች አስጠራ። 18በመጡም ጊዜ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ወደ እስያ አውራጃ ከገባሁባት ከመጀመሪያዋ ዕለት አንሥቶ ዘወትር ከእናንተ ጋር እንዴት እንደ ኖርሁ ታውቃላችሁ። 19ምንም እንኳ ከአይሁድ ሤራ የተነሣ መከራ ቢያደርሱብኝም፣ ጌታን በታላቅ ትሕትናና በእንባ ከማገልገል አልተቈጠብሁም፤ 20በአደባባይም ሆነ ከቤት ቤት በመዘዋወር፣ እናንተን ከማስተማርና ይጠቅማችኋል ብዬ ያሰብሁትን ከመስበክ ወደ ኋላ አላልሁም። 21በንስሓ ወደ እግዚአብሔር እንዲመለሱና በጌታችን በኢየሱስ እንዲያምኑ፣ ለአይሁድም ለግሪክ ሰዎችም አጥብቄ መስክሬላቸዋለሁ።
22“አሁንም እዚያ ስደርስ የሚደርስብኝን ባላውቅም፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም እንድሄድ ግድ እያለኝ ነው። 23ነገር ግን በምሄድባቸው ከተሞች ሁሉ እስራትና መከራ እንደሚጠብቀኝ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ይመሰክርልኛል። 24ይሁን እንጂ፣ ከጌታ ከኢየሱስ የተቀበልሁትን ሩጫዬንና የእግዚአብሔርን የጸጋ ወንጌል የመመስከር አገልግሎቴን ብፈጽም፣ ለእኔ ሕይወቴ ከምንም እንደማይቈጠር እንደ ከንቱ ነገር ናት።
25“አሁንም ቢሆን፣ በመካከላችሁ ተዘዋውሬ የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት የሰበክሁላችሁ፣ እናንተ ሁላችሁ ከእንግዲህ ወዲያ ፊቴን እንደማታዩ ዐውቃለሁ። 26ስለዚህ ከሰው ሁሉ ደም ንጹሕ መሆኔን በዚህች ቀን እመሰክርላችኋለሁ፤ 27የእግዚአብሔርን ፈቃድ ሁሉ ለእናንተ ከመግለጽ የተቈጠብሁበት ጊዜ የለምና። 28ለራሳችሁና መንፈስ ቅዱስ ኤጲስቆጶሳት20፥28 ወይም በትውፊት “ጳጳሳት” ይባል ነበር። አድርጎ በላዩ ለሾማችሁ መንጋ ሁሉ ተጠንቀቁ፤ በገዛ ደሙ የዋጃትን የእግዚአብሔርን20፥28 ብዙ የጥንት ቅጆች የጌታን ይላሉ። ቤተ ክርስቲያን ጠብቁ። 29እኔ ከሄድሁ በኋላ፣ ነጣቂ ተኵላዎች መጥተው በመካከላችሁ ሰርገው እንደሚገቡና ለመንጋውም እንደማይራሩ ዐውቃለሁ። 30ከእናንተው መካከል እንኳ የራሳቸውን ደቀ መዛሙርት ለማፍራት እውነትን የሚያጣምሙ ይነሣሉ። 31ስለዚህ ተጠንቀቁ፤ ሦስት ዓመት ሙሉ ሌሊትና ቀን ምንም ያህል ሳላቋርጥ በእንባ እያንዳንዳችሁን እንደ መከርኋችሁ አስታውሱ።
32“አሁንም ለእግዚአብሔር፣ እንዲሁም ሊያንጻችሁና በቅዱሳኑ ሁሉ መካከል ርስት ሊያወርሳችሁ ለሚችለው ለጸጋው ቃል ዐደራ እሰጣችኋለሁ። 33የማንንም ብር ወይም ወርቅ ወይም ልብስ አልተመኘሁም፤ 34እነዚህ እጆቼ ለእኔና ከእኔ ጋር ላሉት በሚያስፈልገን ነገር እንዳገለገሉን እናንተ ራሳችሁ ታውቃላችሁ። 35በጕልበታችን ደክመን ችግረኞችን መርዳት እንዳለብን ባደረግሁት ሁሉ አሳይቻችኋለሁ፤ ‘ከሚቀበል ይልቅ የሚሰጥ ብፁዕ ነው’ ያለውን የጌታ የኢየሱስን ቃል እናስታውስ።”
36ይህን ካለ በኋላ፣ ተንበርክኮ ከሁሉም ጋር ጸለየ። 37ሁሉም እጅግ አለቀሱ፤ ጳውሎስንም ዐንገቱን ዐቅፈው ሳሙት። 38ከሁሉም በላይ ልባቸውን የነካው፣ ከእንግዲህ ወዲህ ፊቱን እንደማያዩ የተናገራቸው ቃል ነበር። ከዚያም እስከ መርከቡ ድረስ ሸኙት።
