በርናባስና ሳውል ተላኩ
1በአንጾኪያ ባለችው ቤተ ክርስቲያን ነቢያትና መምህራን ነበሩ፤ እነርሱም፦ በርናባስ፣ ኔጌር የተባለው ስምዖን፣ የቀሬናው ሉክዮስ፣ የአራተኛው ክፍል ገዥ የሄሮድስ አብሮ አደግ የነበረው ምናሔና ሳውል ነበሩ። 2እነዚህም ጌታን እያመለኩና እየጾሙ ሳሉ፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ፣ “በርናባስንና ሳውልን እኔ ለጠራኋቸው ሥራ ለዩልኝ” አለ። 3እነርሱም ከጾሙና ከጸለዩ በኋላ እጃቸውን ጭነው አሰናበቷቸው።
በርናባስና ሳውል በቆጵሮስ
4በርናባስና ሳውልም በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ተልከው ወደ ሴሌውቅያ ወረዱ፤ ከዚያም በመርከብ ወደ ቆጵሮስ ሄዱ። 5ስልማና በደረሱም ጊዜ በአይሁድ ምኵራቦች የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ሰበኩ፤ ዮሐንስም አብሯቸው ሆኖ ይረዳቸው ነበር።
6የቆጵሮስን ደሴት ከዳር እስከ ዳር አቋርጠው ጳፉ በደረሱ ጊዜ፣ በርያሱስ የተባለ አንድ አይሁዳዊ ጠንቋይና ሐሰተኛ ነቢይ አገኙ፤ 7እርሱም ሰርግዮስ ጳውሎስ ከተባለው አስተዋይ አገረ ገዥ ጋር ነበረ። ይህ አገረ ገዥ፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ለመስማት ፈልጎ በርናባስንና ሳውልን አስጠራቸው። 8ጠንቋዩ ኤልማስ ግን፣ የስሙ ትርጕም እንዲህ ነበርና፣ አገረ ገዥው እንዳያምን ለማደናቀፍ ስለ ፈለገ ተቃወማቸው። 9ጳውሎስ የተባለውም ሳውል በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ተሞልቶ፣ ትኵር ብሎ ተመለከተውና እንዲህ አለው፤ 10“አንተ የጽድቅ ሁሉ ጠላት፣ ተንኰልንና ክፋትን ሁሉ የተሞላህ የዲያብሎስ ልጅ፣ የጌታን ቀና መንገድ ከማጣመም አታርፍምን? 11አሁንም የጌታ እጅ በአንተ ላይ ነው፤ ዕውር ትሆናለህ፤ ከእንግዲህ የፀሓይን ብርሃን ለአንድ አፍታ እንኳ አታይም።”
ወዲያውም ጭጋግና ጨለማ በላዩ ወረደ፤ እጁን ይዞ የሚመራውንም ሰው ለመፈለግ ወዲያ ወዲህ ይል ጀመር። 12አገረ ገዥውም የሆነውን ነገር ባየ ጊዜ፣ በጌታ ትምህርት በመደነቅ አመነ።
በርናባስና ጳውሎስ በጲስድያ
13ጳውሎስና ጓደኞቹ ከጳፉ ተነሥተው በጵንፍልያ ወደምትገኘው ወደ ጴርጌን ሄዱ፤ ዮሐንስም ከእነርሱ ተለይቶ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሰ። 14እነርሱ ግን ከጴርጌን ተነሥተው በጲስድያ ውስጥ ወዳለችው ወደ አንጾኪያ ሄዱ፤ በሰንበት ቀንም ወደ ምኵራብ ገብተው ተቀመጡ። 15የሕግና የነቢያት መጻሕፍት ከተነበቡ በኋላ፣ የምኵራብ አለቆች፣ “ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ሕዝቡን የሚመክር ቃል ካላችሁ ተናገሩ” ሲሉ ላኩባቸው።
16ጳውሎስም ተነሥቶ በእጁ በመጥቀስ እንዲህ አለ፤ “የእስራኤል ሰዎች ሆይ፤ ደግሞም እናንት እግዚአብሔርን የምትፈሩ ሁሉ፤ አድምጡ! 17የዚህ የእስራኤል ሕዝብ አምላክ፣ አባቶቻችንን መረጣቸው፤ በግብፅ ምድር እያሉም ከፍ ከፍ አደረጋቸው፤ በኀያል ክንዱም ከዚያ አወጣቸው። 18አርባ ዓመት ያህልም በበረሓ ታገሣቸው13፥18 አንዳንድ ቅጆች ተንከባከባቸውም ይላሉ።፤ 19በከነዓን ምድር የነበሩትንም ሰባት መንግሥታት አጥፍቶ፣ ምድራቸውን ለገዛ ሕዝቡ ርስት አድርጎ አወረሳቸው። 20ይህም ሁሉ የተፈጸመው በአራት መቶ አምሳ ዓመት ያህል ጊዜ ውስጥ ነበር።
“ከዚህ በኋላ፣ እስከ ነቢዩ ሳሙኤል ዘመን ድረስ መሳፍንትን ሰጣቸው። 21ከዚያም ሕዝቡ ንጉሥ እንዲያነግሥላቸው ለመኑት፤ እግዚአብሔርም ከብንያም ወገን፣ የቂስን ልጅ ሳኦልን ሰጣቸው፤ እርሱም አርባ ዓመት ገዛቸው። 22ሳኦልንም ከሻረው በኋላ፣ ዳዊትን አነገሠላቸው፤ ስለ እርሱም፣ ‘እንደ ልቤ የሆነና እኔ የምሻውን ሁሉ የሚያደርግ የእሴይን ልጅ ዳዊትን አገኘሁ’ ሲል መሰከረለት።
23“እግዚአብሔርም በገባው ቃል መሠረት ከዚህ ሰው ዘር አዳኝ የሆነውን ኢየሱስን ለእስራኤል አመጣ። 24ኢየሱስ ከመምጣቱ በፊት፣ ዮሐንስ የእስራኤል ሕዝብ ሁሉ ንስሓ ገብተው እንዲጠመቁ ሰብኮላቸው ነበር። 25ዮሐንስ ተልእኮውን በማጠናቀቅ ላይ ሳለ፣ ‘እኔ ማን መሰልኋችሁ? እኔ እኮ እርሱ አይደለሁም፤ ነገር ግን የእግሩን ጫማ እንኳ መፍታት የማይገባኝ ከእኔ በኋላ ይመጣል’ ይል ነበር።
26“እናንት ከአብርሃም ዘር የተወለዳችሁ ወንድሞች፤ ደግሞም በመካከላችሁ እግዚአብሔርን የሚፈሩ ሁሉ፤ ይህ የድነት መልእክት የተላከው ለሁላችንም ነው። 27የኢየሩሳሌም ሰዎችና አለቆቻቸው ኢየሱስን አላወቁትም፤ ይሁን እንጂ በየሰንበቱ የሚነበበው የነቢያት ቃል እንዲፈጸም በእርሱ ፈረዱበት። 28ለሞት የሚያበቃው አንድም ምክንያት ባያገኙበትም እንኳ ጲላጦስ የሞት ፍርድ እንዲፈርድበት ተማጸኑት። 29ስለ እርሱ የተጻፈውን ሁሉ ከፈጸሙ በኋላ ከተሰቀለበት ዕንጨት አውርደው በመቃብር ውስጥ አስገቡት። 30እግዚአብሔር ግን ከሙታን አስነሣው። 31ከገሊላ ጀምሮ እስከ ኢየሩሳሌም ከእነርሱ ጋር ለነበሩትም ብዙ ቀን ታያቸው፤ እነርሱም አሁን ለሕዝቡ ምስክሮቹ ናቸው።
32“እኛም እግዚአብሔር ለአባቶች ቃል የገባውን የምሥራች ቃል ለእናንተ እንሰብካለን፤ 33ኢየሱስንም ከሙታን በማስነሣቱ ለእነርሱ የገባውን ቃል ለእኛ ለልጆቻቸው ፈጽሟል፤ ይኸውም በሁለተኛው መዝሙር እንዲህ ተብሎ ተጽፏል፤
“ ‘አንተ ልጄ ነህ፤
እኔ ዛሬ ወለድሁህ።’13፥33 ወይም አባትህ ሆንሁ
34ደግሞም፣ እርሱ እንዳልበሰበሰና እግዚአብሔርም ከሙታን እንዳስነሣው ለማረጋገጥ እንዲህ ብሏል፤
“ ‘የተቀደሰውንና የታመነውን፣ የዳዊትን በረከት እሰጣችኋለሁ።’
35ስለዚህ በሌላም ስፍራ፣
“ ‘ቅዱስህ መበስበስን እንዲያይ አትፈቅድም’
ይላል።
36“ዳዊት በራሱ ዘመን የእግዚአብሔርን ፈቃድ ካገለገለ በኋላ አንቀላፍቷል፤ ከአባቶቹም ጋር ተቀብሮ ሥጋው በስብሷል። 37እግዚአብሔር ከሙታን ያስነሣው እርሱ ግን መበስበስን አላየም።
38“እንግዲህ ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ የኀጢአት ይቅርታ የሚገኘው በኢየሱስ በኩል መሆኑ እንደ ተሰበከላችሁ ዕወቁ፤ 39በእርሱ የሚያምን ሁሉ በሙሴ ሕግ በኩል ማግኘት ያልተቻለውን ጽድቅ ያገኛል። 40ስለዚህ ነቢያት እንዲህ ብለው የተናገሩት እንዳይደርስባችሁ ተጠንቀቁ፤
41“ ‘እናንት ፌዘኞች፤ ተመልከቱ፤
ተደነቁ፤ ጥፉም፤
ማንም ቢነግራችሁ፣
የማታምኑትን ሥራ፣
እኔ በዘመናችሁ እሠራለሁና።’ ”
42ጳውሎስና በርናባስ ከምኵራብ ሲወጡ፣ ሰዎቹ ስለዚሁ ነገር በሚቀጥለው ሰንበት እንዲነግሯቸው ለመኗቸው። 43ጉባኤው ከተበተነ በኋላም፣ ብዙ አይሁድና ወደ ይሁዲ ሃይማኖት ገብተው በመንፈሳዊ ነገር የበረቱ ሰዎች፣ ጳውሎስንና በርናባስን ተከተሏቸው፤ እነርሱም አነጋገሯቸው፤ በእግዚአብሔርም ጸጋ ጸንተው እንዲኖሩ መከሯቸው።
44በሚቀጥለውም ሰንበት የከተማው ሕዝብ፣ ጥቂቱ ሰው ብቻ ሲቀር፣ በሙሉ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ለመስማት ተሰበሰቡ። 45አይሁድም ብዙ ሕዝብ ባዩ ጊዜ፣ በቅናት ተሞሉ፤ የጳውሎስንም ንግግር እየተቃወሙ ይሰድቡት ነበር።
46ጳውሎስና በርናባስም በድፍረት እንዲህ አሏቸው፤ “የእግዚአብሔር ቃል በመጀመሪያ ለእናንተ መነገር አለበት፤ እናንተ ግን ናቃችሁት፤ በዚህም የዘላለም ሕይወት እንደማይገባችሁ በራሳችሁ ላይ ስለ ፈረዳችሁ፣ እኛም ወደ አሕዛብ ዞር ለማለት እንገደዳለን። 47ደግሞም ጌታ እንዲህ ብሎ አዝዞናል፤
“ ‘ድነትን እስከ ምድር ዳርቻ ታደርስ ዘንድ፣13፥47 ታደርስ ዘንድ የሚለው በግሪኩ ነጠላ ቍጥር ነው።
ለአሕዛብ ብርሃን አድርጌሃለሁ።’ ”
48አሕዛብ ይህን በሰሙ ጊዜ ደስ አላቸው፤ ለእግዚአብሔርም ቃል ክብርን ሰጡ፤ ለዘላለም ሕይወት የተዘጋጁትም ሁሉ አመኑ።
49የጌታም ቃል በአካባቢው ባለው አገር ሁሉ ተስፋፋ። 50አይሁድ ግን በመንፈሳዊ ነገር የተጉትንና የከበሩትን ሴቶች፣ እንዲሁም የከተማውን ታላላቅ ወንዶች ቀስቅሰው በጳውሎስና በበርናባስ ላይ ስደትን አስነሡ፤ ከአገራቸውም አስወጧቸው። 51ጳውሎስና በርናባስም ተቃውሟቸውን ለመግለጽ የእግራቸውን ትቢያ አራግፈው ወደ ኢቆንዮን ሄዱ። 52ደቀ መዛሙርቱም በደስታና በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ተሞሉ።
1In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers. Among them were Barnabas, Simeon, and Lucius from Cyrene. Simeon was also called Niger. Another was Manaen. He had been brought up with Herod, the ruler of Galilee. Saul was among them too. 2While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit spoke. “Set apart Barnabas and Saul for me,” he said. “I have appointed them to do special work.” 3The prophets and teachers fasted and prayed. They placed their hands on Barnabas and Saul. Then they sent them off.
Events on Cyprus
4Barnabas and Saul were sent on their way by the Holy Spirit. They went down to Seleucia. From there they sailed to Cyprus. 5They arrived at Salamis. There they preached God’s word in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper.
6They traveled all across the island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jew named Bar-Jesus. He was an evil magician and a false prophet. 7He was an attendant of Sergius Paulus, the governor. Paulus was a man of understanding. He sent for Barnabas and Saul. He wanted to hear God’s word. 8But the evil magician named Elymas opposed them. The name Elymas means Magician. He tried to keep the governor from becoming a believer. 9Saul was also known as Paul. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked straight at Elymas. He said to him, 10“You are a child of the devil! You are an enemy of everything that is right! You cheat people. You use all kinds of tricks. Won’t you ever stop twisting the right ways of the Lord? 11Now the Lord’s hand is against you. You are going to go blind. For a while you won’t even be able to see the light of the sun.”
Right away mist and darkness came over him. He tried to feel his way around. He wanted to find someone to lead him by the hand. 12When the governor saw what had happened, he believed. He was amazed at what Paul was teaching about the Lord.
Paul Preaches in Pisidian Antioch
13From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia. There John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they entered the synagogue and sat down. 15The Law and the Prophets were read aloud. Then the leaders of the synagogue sent word to Paul and his companions. They said, “Brothers, do you have any words of instruction for the people? If you do, please speak.”
16Paul stood up and motioned with his hand. Then he said, “Fellow Israelites, and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me! 17The God of Israel chose our people who lived long ago. He blessed them greatly while they were in Egypt. With his mighty power he led them out of that country. 18He put up with their behavior for about 40 years in the desert. 19And he destroyed seven nations in Canaan. Then he gave the land to his people as their rightful share. 20All this took about 450 years.
“After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21Then the people asked for a king. He gave them Saul, son of Kish. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He ruled for 40 years. 22God removed him and made David their king. Here is God’s witness about him. ‘David, son of Jesse, is a man dear to my heart,’ he said. ‘David will do everything I want him to do.’
23“From this man’s family line God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus. This is what he had promised. 24Before Jesus came, John preached that we should turn away from our sins and be baptized. He preached this to all Israel. 25John was coming to the end of his work. ‘Who do you suppose I am?’ he said. ‘I am not the one you are looking for. But there is someone coming after me. I am not good enough to untie his sandals.’
26“Listen, fellow children of Abraham! Listen, you Gentiles who worship God! This message of salvation has been sent to us. 27The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus. By finding him guilty, they made the prophets’ words come true. These are read every Sabbath day. 28The people and their rulers had no reason at all for sentencing Jesus to death. But they asked Pilate to have him killed. 29They did everything that had been written about Jesus. Then they took him down from the cross. They laid him in a tomb. 30But God raised him from the dead. 31For many days he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. Now they are telling our people about Jesus.
32“We are telling you the good news. What God promised our people long ago 33he has done for us, their children. He has raised up Jesus. This is what is written in the second Psalm. It says,
“ ‘You are my son.
Today I have become your father.’ (Psalm 2:7)
34God raised Jesus from the dead. He will never rot in the grave. As God has said,
“ ‘Holy and sure blessings were promised to David.
I will give them to you.’ (Isaiah 55:3)
35In another place it also says,
“ ‘You will not let your holy one rot away.’ (Psalm 16:10)
36“David carried out God’s purpose while he lived. Then he died. He was buried with his people. His body rotted away. 37But the one whom God raised from the dead did not rot away.
38“My friends, here is what I want you to know. I announce to you that your sins can be forgiven because of what Jesus has done. 39Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin. Moses’ law could not make you right in God’s eyes. 40Be careful! Don’t let what the prophets spoke about happen to you. They said,
41“ ‘Look, you who make fun of the truth!
Wonder and die!
I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe.
You wouldn’t believe it even if someone told you.’ ” (Habakkuk 1:5)
42Paul and Barnabas started to leave the synagogue. The people invited them to say more about these things on the next Sabbath day. 43The people were told they could leave the service. Many Jews followed Paul and Barnabas. Many Gentiles who faithfully worshiped the God of the Jews did the same. Paul and Barnabas talked with them. They tried to get them to keep living in God’s grace.
44On the next Sabbath day, almost the whole city gathered. They gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45When the Jews saw the crowds, they became very jealous. They began to disagree with what Paul was saying. They said evil things against him.
46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly. “We had to speak God’s word to you first,” they said. “But you don’t accept it. You don’t think you are good enough for eternal life. So now we are turning to the Gentiles. 47This is what the Lord has commanded us to do. He said,
“ ‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles.
You will bring salvation to the whole earth.’ ” (Isaiah 49:6)
48When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad. They honored the word of the Lord. All who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49The word of the Lord spread through the whole area. 50But the Jewish leaders stirred up the important women who worshiped God. They also stirred up the men who were leaders in the city. The Jewish leaders tried to get the women and men to attack Paul and Barnabas. They threw Paul and Barnabas out of that area. 51Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet. This was a warning to the people who had opposed them. Then Paul and Barnabas went on to Iconium. 52The believers were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
