¹Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying, a complaint arose from the Hellenists The Hellenists used Greek language and culture, even though they were also of Hebrew descent. against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily service.

¹በዚህም ወራት ደቀ መዛሙርት እየበዙ ሲሄዱ ከግሪክ አገር መጥተው የነበሩት አይሁድ በይሁዳ ኖረው በነበሩት አይሁድ አንጐራጐሩባቸው፥ በየቀኑ በተሠራው አገልግሎት መበለቶቻቸውን ችላ ይሉባቸው ነበርና።

²The twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “It is not appropriate for us to forsake the word of God and serve tables.

²አሥራ ሁለቱም ደቀ መዛሙርት ሁሉን ጠርተው እንዲህ አሉአቸው። የእግዚአብሔር ቃል ትተን ማዕድን እናገለግል ዘንድ የሚገባ ነገር አይደለም።

³Therefore select from among you, brothers, seven men of good report, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

³ወንድሞች ሆይ፥ በመልካም የተመሰከረላቸውን መንፈስ ቅዱስና ጥበብም የሞላባቸውን ሰባት ሰዎች ከእናንተ ምረጡ፥ ለዚህም ጉዳይ እንሾማቸዋለን፤

⁴But we will continue steadfastly in prayer and in the ministry of the word.”

⁴እኛ ግን ለጸሎትና ቃሉን ለማገልገል እንተጋለን።

⁵These words pleased the whole multitude. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch;

⁵ይህም ቃል ሕዝብን ሁሉ ደስ አሰኛቸው፤ እምነትና መንፈስ ቅዱስም የሞላበትን ሰው እስጢፋኖስን ፊልጶስንም ጵሮኮሮስንም ኒቃሮናንም ጢሞናንም ጳርሜናንም ወደ ይሁዲነት ገብቶ የነበረውን የአንጾኪያውን ኒቆላዎስንም መረጡ።

⁶whom they set before the apostles. When they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

⁶በሐዋርያትም ፊት አቆሙአቸው፥ ከጸለዩም በኋላ እጃቸውን ጫኑባቸው።

⁷The word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly. A great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.

⁷የእግዚአብሔርም ቃል እየሰፋ ሄደ፥ በኢየሩሳሌምም የደቀ መዛሙርት ቍጥር እጅግ እየበዛ ሄደ፤ ከካህናትም ብዙ ሰዎች ለሃይማኖት የታዘዙ ሆኑ።

⁸Stephen, full of faith and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people.

⁸እስጢፋኖስም ጸጋንና ኃይልን ተሞልቶ በሕዝቡ መካከል ድንቅንና ታላቅ ምልክትን ያደርግ ነበር።

⁹But some of those who were of the synagogue called “The Libertines,” and of the Cyrenians, of the Alexandrians, and of those of Cilicia and Asia arose, disputing with Stephen.

⁹የነፃ ወጪዎች ከተባለችው ምኵራብም ከቀሬናና ከእስክንድርያም ሰዎች ከኪልቅያና ከእስያም ከነበሩት አንዳንዶቹ ተነሥተው እስጢፋኖስን ይከራከሩት ነበር፤

¹⁰They weren’t able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke.

¹⁰ይናገርበት የነበረውንም ጥበብና መንፈስ ይቃወሙ ዘንድ አልቻሉም።

¹¹Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.”

¹¹በዚያን ጊዜ። በሙሴ ላይ በእግዚአብሔርም ላይ የስድብን ነገር ሲናገር ሰምተነዋል የሚሉ ሰዎችን አስነሡ።

¹²They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council,

¹²ሕዝቡንና ሽማግሌዎችንም ጻፎችንም አናደዱ፥ ቀርበውም ያዙት ወደ ሸንጎም አመጡትና።

¹³and set up false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.

¹³ይህ ሰው በዚህ በተቀደሰው ስፍራ በሕግም ላይ የስድብን ነገር ለመናገር አይተውም፤

¹⁴For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place, and will change the customs which Moses delivered to us.”

¹⁴ይህ የናዝሬቱ ኢየሱስ ይህን ስፍራ ያፈርሰዋል ሙሴም ያስተላለፈልንን ሥርዓት ይለውጣል ሲል ሰምተነዋልና የሚሉ የሐሰት ምስክሮችን አቆሙ።

¹⁵All who sat in the council, fastening their eyes on him, saw his face like it was the face of an angel.

¹⁵በሸንጎም የተቀመጡት ሁሉ ትኵር ብለው ሲመለከቱት እንደ መልአክ ፊት ሆኖ ፊቱን አዩት።