Jesus Taken Up Into Heaven
1In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with1:5 Or in water, but in a few days you will be baptized with1:5 Or in the Holy Spirit.”
6Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk1:12 That is, about 5/8 mile or about 1 kilometer from the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16and said, “Brothers and sisters,1:16 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 6:3; 11:29; 12:17; 16:40; 18:18, 27; 21:7, 17; 28:14, 15. the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
18(With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms:
“ ‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’1:20 Psalm 69:25
and,
“ ‘May another take his place of leadership.’1:20 Psalm 109:8
21Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 22beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
ኢየሱስ ወደ ሰማይ ዐረገ
1ቴዎፍሎስ ሆይ፤ ኢየሱስ ለማድረግና ለማስተማር የጀመረውን ሁሉ ቀደም ባለው መጽሐፌ ጽፌልሃለሁ፤ 2ይኸውም እስከ ዐረገበት ቀን ድረስ ለመረጣቸው ሐዋርያት በመንፈስ ቅዱስ አማካይነት የሰጣቸው ትእዛዝ ነው። 3ከሕማማቱም በኋላ ራሱ ቀርቦ ሕያው መሆኑን፣ ለእነዚሁ በብዙ ማስረጃ እያረጋገጠላቸው አርባ ቀንም ዐልፎ ዐልፎ እየታያቸው ስለ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት ነገራቸው። 4ከእነርሱም ጋር በማእድ ተቀምጦ ሳለ እንዲህ ሲል አዘዛቸው፤ “ከኢየሩሳሌም አትውጡ፤ ነገር ግን እኔ ስናገር የሰማችሁትን፣ አብ የሰጠውን ተስፋ ጠብቁ፤ 5ዮሐንስ በውሃ አጥምቆ ነበርና፣ እናንተ ግን ከጥቂት ቀን በኋላ በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ትጠመቃላችሁ።”
6እነርሱም ተሰብስበው ሳሉ፣ “ጌታ ሆይ፤ የእስራኤልን መንግሥት መልሰህ የምታቋቁምበት ጊዜው አሁን ነውን? ብለው ጠየቁት።
7እርሱም እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “አብ በገዛ ሥልጣኑ የወሰነውን ጊዜ ወይም ወቅት ማወቁ ለእናንተ አልተሰጣችሁም፤ 8ነገር ግን መንፈስ ቅዱስ በእናንተ ላይ በሚወርድበት ጊዜ ኀይልን ትቀበላላችሁ፤ በኢየሩሳሌም፣ በይሁዳና በሰማርያ ሁሉ፣ እስከ ምድር ዳርቻ ድረስ ምስክሮቼ ትሆናላችሁ።”
9ይህን ካለ በኋላ እያዩት ወደ ላይ ዐረገ፤ ደመናም ከዐይናቸው ሰወረችው።
10እርሱም በሚሄድበት ጊዜ ትኵር ብለው ወደ ሰማይ ሲመለከቱ፣ እነሆ፤ ነጫጭ ልብስ የለበሱ ሁለት ሰዎች ድንገት አጠገባቸው ቆሙ፤ 11እንዲህም አሏቸው፤ “እናንት የገሊላ ሰዎች ሆይ፤ ወደ ሰማይ እየተመለከታችሁ እዚህ የቆማችሁት ለምንድን ነው? ይህ ከእናንተ ዘንድ ወደ ሰማይ ሲያርግ ያያችሁት ኢየሱስ፣ ልክ ወደ ሰማይ ሲወጣ እንዳያችሁት በዚሁ ሁኔታ ይመለሳል።”
ማትያስ በይሁዳ ምትክ ተመረጠ
12ከዚያም ደብረ ዘይት ከተባለው ተራራ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሱ፤ ይህም ተራራ ከኢየሩሳሌም የሰንበት መንገድ ያህል1፥12 አንድ ሺህ አንድ መቶ ሜትር ገደማ ነው። ይርቅ ነበር። 13ወደ ከተማዪቱም በገቡ ጊዜ ወደሚኖሩበት ሰገነት ወጡ፤ እነዚህም ጴጥሮስ፣ ዮሐንስ፣ ያዕቆብ፣ እንድርያስ፣ ፊልጶስ፣ ቶማስ፣ በርተሎሜዎስ፣ ማቴዎስ፣ የእልፍዮስ ልጅ ያዕቆብ፣ ቀናኢ የተባለው ስምዖንና የያዕቆብ ልጅ ይሁዳ ነበሩ። 14እነዚህ ሁሉ ከሴቶቹና ከኢየሱስ እናት ከማርያም ጋር እንዲሁም ከወንድሞቹ ጋር በአንድ ልብ ሆነው ያለ ማቋረጥ ተግተው ይጸልዩ ነበር።
15በእነዚያም ቀናት፣ ጴጥሮስ መቶ ሃያ በሚሆኑ ወንድሞች1፥15 ወይም አማኞች መካከል ቆሞ፣ 16እንዲህ አለ፤ “ወንድሞች ሆይ፤ ኢየሱስን ለያዙት ሰዎች መሪ ስለ ሆናቸው ስለ ይሁዳ፣ መንፈስ ቅዱስ አስቀድሞ በዳዊት አፍ የተናገረው የመጽሐፉ ቃል መፈጸም ስላለበት፣ 17እርሱ ከእኛ እንደ አንዱ ተቈጥሮ በዚህ አገልግሎት የመሳተፍ ዕድል አግኝቶ ነበር።”
18ይህ ሰው ስለ ክፉ ሥራው በተከፈለው ዋጋ መሬት ገዛ፤ በዚያም በግንባሩ ተደፍቶ ሰውነቱ እመካከሉ ላይ ፈነዳ፤ ሆድ ዕቃውም ተዘረገፈ፤ 19ይህም በኢየሩሳሌም በሚኖሩት ሁሉ ዘንድ ተሰማ፤ መሬቱም በቋንቋቸው ‘አኬልዳማ’ ተብሎ ተጠራ፤ ትርጓሜውም ‘የደም መሬት’ ማለት ነው።
20ጴጥሮስም በመቀጠል እንዲህ አለ፤
“በመዝሙር መጽሐፍ፣
‘መኖሪያው ባዶ ትሁን፤
የሚኖርባትም ሰው አይገኝ’ ደግሞም፣
‘ሹመቱን ሌላ ሰው ይውሰደው’ ተብሎ ተጽፎአል።
21ስለዚህ ጌታ ኢየሱስ በመካከላችን በገባበትና በወጣበት ጊዜ ሁሉ፣ ከእኛ ጋር ከነበሩት መካከል አንድ ሰው መምረጥ ያስፈልጋል፤ 22ይኸውም፣ ከዮሐንስ ጥምቀት ጀምሮ ኢየሱስ ከእኛ ተለይቶ እስካረገበት ቀን ድረስ የነበረ መሆን አለበት፤ ምክንያቱም ከእነዚህ ሰዎች አንዱ ከእኛ ጋር የትንሣኤው ምስክር እንዲሆን ያስፈልጋል።”
23ስለዚህ ኢዮስጦስ የሚሉትን፣ በርስያን የተባለውን ዮሴፍንና ማቲያስን ሁለቱን አቀረቡ፤ 24እንዲህም ብለው ጸለዩ፤ “ጌታ ሆይ፤ አንተ የሰውን ሁሉ ልብ ታውቃለህ፤ ከእነዚህ ከሁለቱ መካከል የመረጥኸውን ሰው አመልክተንና 25ይሁዳ ወደ ገዛ ራሱ ስፍራ ትቶት በሄደው በዚህ አገልግሎትና በሐዋርያዊነት ቦታ ላይ ሹመው።” 26ከዚያም ዕጣ ጣሉላቸው፤ ዕጣውም ለማትያስ ወጣ፤ እርሱም ከዐሥራ አንዱ ሐዋርያት ጋር ተቈጠረ።
