1አጵሎስም በቆሮንቶስ ሳለ ጳውሎስ በላይኛው አገር አልፎ ወደ ኤፌሶን መጣ፥
1It happened that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper country, came to Ephesus, and found certain disciples.
2አንዳንድ ደቀ መዛሙርትንም አገኘ። ባመናችሁ ጊዜ መንፈስ ቅዱስን ተቀበላችሁን? አላቸው። እነርሱም። አልተቀበልንም መንፈስ ቅዱስ እንዳለ ስንኳ አልሰማንም አሉት።
2He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They said to him, “No, we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3እንኪያ በምን ተጠመቃችሁ? አላቸው። እነርሱም። በዮሐንስ ጥምቀት አሉት።
3He said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.”
4ጳውሎስም። ዮሐንስስ ከእርሱ በኋላ በሚመጣው በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ያምኑ ዘንድ ለሕዝብ እየተናገረ በንስሐ ጥምቀት አጠመቀ አላቸው።
4Paul said, “John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in the one who would come after him, that is, in Jesus.”
5ይህንም በሰሙ ጊዜ በጌታ በኢየሱስ ስም ተጠመቁ፤
5When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
6ጳውሎስም እጁን በጫነባቸው ጊዜ መንፈስ ቅዱስ ወረደባቸው በልሳኖችም ተናገሩ፥ ትንቢትም ተናገሩ።
6When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with other languages and prophesied.
7ሰዎቹም ሁሉ አሥራ ሁለት ያህሉ ነበር።
7They were about twelve men in all.
8ወደ ምኵራብም ገብቶ ስለ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥት እየተነጋገረና እያስረዳቸው ሦስት ወር ያህል በግልጥ ይናገር ነበር።
8He entered into the synagogue, and spoke boldly for a period of three months, reasoning and persuading about the things concerning the Kingdom of God.
9አንዳንዶች ግን እልከኞች ሆነው በሕዝብ ፊት መንገዱን እየሰደቡ ባላመኑ ጊዜ፥ ከእነርሱ ርቆ ደቀ መዛሙርትን ለየ፥ ጢራኖስም በሚሉት በትምህርት ቤት ዕለት ዕለት ይነጋገር ነበር።
9But when some were hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus.
10በእስያም የኖሩት ሁሉ አይሁድም የግሪክ ሰዎችም የጌታን ቃል እስኪሰሙ ድረስ ሁለት ዓመት ያህል እንዲህ ሆነ።
10This continued for two years, so that all those who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
11እግዚአብሔርም በጳውሎስ እጅ የሚያስገርም ተአምራት ያደርግ ነበር፤ ስለዚህም ከአካሉ ጨርቅ ወይም ልብስ ወደ ድውዮች ይወስዱ ነበር፥
11God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul,
12ደዌያቸውም ይለቃቸው ነበር ክፉዎች መናፍስትም ይወጡ ነበር።
12so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the evil spirits went out.
13አጋንንትንም እያወጡ ይዞሩ ከነበሩት አይሁድ አንዳንዶች። ጳውሎስ በሚሰብከው በኢየሱስ እናምላችኋለን እያሉ ክፉዎች መናፍስት ባሉባቸው ላይ የጌታን የኢየሱስን ስም ይጠሩባቸው ዘንድ ሞከሩ።
13But some of the itinerant Jews, exorcists, took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14የካህናትም አለቃ ለሆነ አስቄዋ ለሚሉት ለአንድ አይሁዳዊ ይህን ያደረጉ ሰባት ልጆች ነበሩት።
14There were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did this.
15ክፉው መንፈስ ግን መልሶ። ኢየሱስንስ አውቀዋለሁ ጳውሎስንም አውቀዋለሁ፤ እናንተሳ እነማን ናችሁ? አላቸው።
15The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?”
16ክፉው መንፈስም ያለበት ሰው ዘለለባቸው ቆስለውም ከዚያ ቤት ዕራቁታቸውን እስኪሸሹ ድረስ በረታባቸው አሸነፋቸውም።
16The man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
17ይህም በኤፌሶን በሚኖሩት ሁሉ በአይሁድና በግሪክ ሰዎች ዘንድ የታወቀ ሆነ፥ በሁላቸውም ላይ ፍርሃት ወደቀባቸው፥ የጌታም የኢየሱስ ስም ተከበረ፤
17This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived at Ephesus. Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
18አምነውም ከነበሩት እጅግ ሰዎች ያደረጉትን እየተናዘዙና እየተናገሩ ይመጡ ነበር።
18Many also of those who had believed came, confessing, and declaring their deeds.
19ከአስማተኞችም ብዙዎቹ መጽሐፋቸውን ሰብስበው በሰው ሁሉ ፊት አቃጠሉት፤ ዋጋውም ቢታሰብ አምሳ ሺህ ብር ሆኖ ተገኘ።
19Many of those who practiced magical arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. They counted their price, and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver. The 50,000 pieces of silver here probably referred to 50,000 drachmas. If so, the value of the burned books was equivalent to about 160 man-years of wages for agricultural laborers
20እንዲህም የጌታ ቃል በኃይል ያድግና ያሸንፍ ነበር።
20So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty.
21ይህም በተፈጸመ ጊዜ ጳውሎስ። ወደዚያ ደርሼ ሮሜን ደግሞ አይ ዘንድ ይገባኛል ብሎ በመቄዶንያና በአካይያ አልፎ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም እንዲሄድ በመንፈስ አሰበ።
21Now after these things had ended, Paul determined in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
22ከሚያገለግሉትም ሁለቱን ጢሞቴዎስንና ኤርስጦንን ወደ መቄዶንያ ልኮ ራሱ በእስያ ጥቂት ቀን ቆየ።
22Having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
23በዚያም ጊዜ ስለዚህ መንገድ ብዙ ሁከት ሆነ።
23About that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way.
24ብር ሠሪ የሆነ ድሜጥሮስ የሚሉት አንድ ሰው የአርጤምስን ቤተ መቅደስ ምስሎች በብር እየሠራ ለአንጥረኞች እጅግ ትርፍ ያገኝ ነበርና፤
24For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen,
25እነዚህንም ይህንም የሚመስለውን ሥራ የሠሩትን ሰብስቦ እንዲህ አላቸው። ሰዎች ሆይ፥ ትርፋችን በዚህ ሥራ እንደ ሆነ ታውቃላችሁ።
25whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, you know that by this business we have our wealth.
26ይህም ጳውሎስ። በእጅ የተሠሩቱ አማልክት አይደሉም ብሎ፥ በኤፌሶን ብቻ ሳይሆን ከጥቂት ክፍል በቀር በእስያ ሁሉ ብዙ ሕዝብን እንደ አስረዳና እንደ አሳተ አይታችኋል ሰምታችሁማል።
26You see and hear, that not at Ephesus alone, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands.
27ሥራችንም እንዲናቅ ብቻ አይደለም፥ እስያ ሁሉ ዓለሙም የሚያመልካት የታላቂቱ አምላክ የአርጤምስ መቅደስ ምናምን ሆኖ እንዲቆጠር እንጂ፥ ታላቅነትዋም ደግሞ እንዳይሻር ያስፈራል።
27Not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be counted as nothing, and her majesty destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worships.”
28ይህንም በሰሙ ጊዜ ቍጣ ሞላባቸው። የኤፌሶን አርጤምስ ታላቅ ናት እያሉም ጮኹ።
28When they heard this they were filled with anger, and cried out, saying, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
29ከተማውም በሙሉው ተደባለቀ፥ የመቄዶንያም ሰዎች የጳውሎስን ጓደኞች ጋይዮስንና አርስጥሮኮስን ከእነርሱ ጋር ነጥቀው በአንድ ልብ ሆነው ወደ ጨዋታ ስፍራ ሮጡ።
29The whole city was filled with confusion, and they rushed with one accord into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel.
30ጳውሎስም ወደ ሕዝቡ ይገባ ዘንድ በፈቀደ ጊዜ ደቀ መዛሙርት ከለከሉት።
30When Paul wanted to enter in to the people, the disciples didn’t allow him.
31ከእስያም አለቆች ወዳጆቹ የሆኑት አንዳንዶች ደግሞ ወደ እርሱ ልከው ወደ ጨዋታ ስፍራ ራሱን እንዳይሰጥ ለመኑት።
31Certain also of the Asiarchs, being his friends, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater.
32ወዲያና ወዲህም እያሉ ይጮኹ ነበር፤ በጉባኤው ድብልቅልቅ ሆኖ የሚበልጡት ስንኳ ስለ ምን እንደተሰበሰቡ አላወቁም ነበርና።
32Some therefore cried one thing, and some another, for the assembly was in confusion. Most of them didn’t know why they had come together.
33አይሁድም ሲያቀርቡት፥ እስክንድሮስን ከሕዝቡ መካከል ወደ ፊት ገፉት፤ እስክንድሮስም በእጁ ጠቅሶ በሕዝብ ፊት እንዲምዋገትላቸው ወደደ።
33They brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made a defense to the people.
34አይሁዳዊ ግን እንደ ሆነ ባወቁ ጊዜ፥ ሁሉ በአንድ ድምፅ። የኤፌሶን አርጤምስ ታላቅ ናት እያሉ ሁለት ሰዓት ያህል ጮኹ።
34But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for a time of about two hours cried out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
35የከተማይቱም ጸሐፊ ሕዝቡን ጸጥ አሰኝቶ እንዲህ አለ። የኤፌሶን ሰዎች ሆይ፥ የኤፌሶን ከተማ ለታላቂቱ አርጤምስ ከሰማይም ለወረደው ጣዖትዋ የመቅደስ ጠባቂ መሆንዋን የማያውቅ ሰው ማን ነው?
35When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
36ይህንም የሚክደው ከሌለ፥ ጸጥ እንድትሉና አንዳች በችኮላ እንዳታደርጉ ይገባል።
36Seeing then that these things can’t be denied, you ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.
37የመቅደስን ዕቃ ያልሰረቁ አምላካችንንም ያልሰደቡ እነዚህን ሰዎች አምጥታችኋቸዋልና።
37For you have brought these men here, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of your goddess.
38ድሜጥሮስና ከእርሱ ጋር ያሉት አንጥረኞች ግን በሰው ላይ ነገር እንዳላቸው፥ የመጋቢያ ቀንና አገረ ገዢዎች አሉ፤ እርስ በርሳቸው ይምዋገቱ።
38If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them press charges against one another.
39ስለ ሌላ ነገር እንደ ሆነ ግን አንዳች ብትፈልጉ፥ በተደነገገው ጉባኤ ይፈታል።
39But if you seek anything about other matters, it will be settled in the regular assembly.
40ዛሬ ስለ ተደረገው። ሁከት ነው ሲሉ እንዳይከሱን ያስፈራልና፤ ስለዚህም ስብሰባ ምላሽ መስጠት አንችልም፥ ምክንያት የለምና።
40For indeed we are in danger of being accused concerning this day’s riot, there being no cause. Concerning it, we wouldn’t be able to give an account of this commotion.”
41ይህንም ብሎ ጉባኤውን ፈታው።
41When he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.