1 ULB “ወንድሞችና አባቶች ሆይ፣ አሁን ስለ ራሴ ለእናንተ የማቀርበውን መከላከያ አድምጡኝ።” BSB BSB: “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense before you.”
2 ULB ሕዝቡም ጳውሎስ በዕብራይስጥ ቋንቋ ሲያናግራቸው በሰሙ ጊዜ፣ ጸጥ አሉ። ጳውሎስም ንግግሩን በመቀጠል እንዲህ አለ፤ BSB BSB: When they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, they became even more quiet. Then Paul declared,
3 ULB “እኔ በኪልቅያዋ ጠርሴስ የተወለድሁ አይሁዳዊ ነኝ፤ የተማርሁትም በዚሁ ከተማ በገማልያል እግር ሥር ተቀምጬ ነው። የአባቶቻችንንም ጥብቅ የሕግ መንገድ በሚገባ ተምሬአለሁ። ዛሬ እናንተ ሁላችሁ እንደ ሆናችሁት፣ እኔም ለእግዚአብሔር ቀናተኛ ነኝ። BSB BSB: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but raised in this city. I was educated at the feet of Gamaliel in strict conformity to the law of our fathers. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.
4 ULB ይህን መንገድ እስከ ሞት አሳድጄዋለሁ፤ ሴቶችንና ወንዶችን አስሬ ለወኅኒ አሳልፌ ሰጠኋቸው። BSB BSB: I persecuted this Way even to the death, detaining both men and women and throwing them into prison,
5 ULB ደግሞም ከእነርሱ ደብዳቤ ተቀብዬ፣ በደማስቆ ስለሚገኙ ወንድሞች ወደዚያ ለመጓዝ እንደ ተነሣሁ፣ ሊቀ ካህናቱና ሽማግሌዎች ሁሉ መመስከር ይችላሉ። ከዚያ መንገድ የሆኑትን አስሬ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ለመምጣትና ለማስቀጣት ስንቀሳቀስም ነበር። BSB BSB: as the high priest and the whole Council can testify about me. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and I was on my way to apprehend these people and bring them to Jerusalem to be punished.
6 ULB እየተጓዝሁ ወደ ደማስቆ ስቃረብ፣ ቀትር ላይ ድንገት ታላቅ ብርሃን ከሰማይ በዙሪያዬ በራ፤ BSB BSB: About noon as I was approaching Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.
7 ULB እኔም መሬት ላይ ወደቅሁ፤ ከዚያም፣ 'ሳውል፣ ሳውል፣ ለምን ታሳድደኛለህ?' የሚለኝን ድምፅ ሰማሁ። BSB BSB: I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?’
8 ULB እኔም፣ 'ጌታ ሆይ፣ አንተ ማን ነህ?' ብዬ መለስሁለት። እርሱም፣ 'አንተ የምታሳድደኝ፣ የናዝሬቱ ኢየሱስ ነኝ' አለኝ። BSB BSB: ‘Who are You, Lord?’ I asked. ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ He replied.
9 ULB ከእኔ ጋር የነበሩትም ብርሃኑን አዩ፤ ነገር ግን የተናገረኝን ድምፅ አልሰሙም። BSB BSB: My companions saw the light, but they could not understand the voice of the One speaking to me.
10 ULB እኔም፣ ‘ጌታ ሆይ፣ ምን ላድረግ?’ አልሁ። ጌታም፣ ‘ተነሥና ወደ ደማስቆ ሂድ፤ ማድረግ የሚገባህን ሁሉ እዚያ ይነግሩሃል’ አለኝ። BSB BSB: Then I asked, ‘What should I do, Lord?’ ‘Get up and go into Damascus,’ He told me. ‘There you will be told all that you have been appointed to do.’
11 ULB ከዚያ ብርሃን ድምቀት የተነሣም አንዳች ማየት አልቻልሁም፤ ስለዚህ ከእኔ ጋር በነበሩት ሰዎች እጅ እየተመራሁ ወደ ደማስቆ ገባሁ። BSB BSB: Because the brilliance of the light had blinded me, my companions led me by the hand into Damascus.
12 ULB ለሕጉ በትጋት የሚታዘዝና በዚያ የሚኖሩ አይሁድ ሁሉ መልካምነቱን የመሰከሩለት፣ ሐናንያ የሚባል አንድ ሰው አገኘሁ። BSB BSB: There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,
13 ULB እርሱም ወደ እኔ መጥቶ አጠገቤ በመቆም፣ ‘ወንድሜ ሳውል፣ ዐይንህን ገልጠህ እይ’ አለኝ። እኔም በዚያው ቅጽበት አየሁት። BSB BSB: came and stood beside me. ‘Brother Saul,’ he said, ‘receive your sight.’ And at that moment I could see him.
14 ULB እርሱም እንዲህ አለኝ፤ ‘ቅዱሱን እንድታይና ከገዛ አፉ የሚወጣውን ድምፅ እንድትሰማ፣ የአባቶቻችን አምላክ ፈቃዱን እንድታውቅ መርጦሃል፤ BSB BSB: Then he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear His voice.
15 ULB ምክንያቱም ስለ አየኸውና ስለ ሰማኸው ነገር ለሰዎች ሁሉ ምስክር ትሆንለታለህ። BSB BSB: You will be His witness to everyone of what you have seen and heard.
16 ULB ስለዚህ አሁን ለምን ታመነታለህ? ተነሥ፤ ስሙን እየጠራህ ተጠመቅና ከኃጢአትህ ታጠብ።’ BSB BSB: And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling on His name.’
17 ULB ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ከተመለስሁ በኋላም፣ በቤተ መቅደስ እየጸለይሁ ሳለሁ፣ ሸለብ አድርጎኝ ሰመመን ውስጥ ገባሁ። BSB BSB: Later, when I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
18 ULB እርሱም፣ ‘ከኢየሩሳሌም ቶሎ ብለህ ውጣ፤ ምክንያቱም ስለ እኔ የምትናገረውን ምስክርነትህን አይቀበሉህም’ ሲለኝ አየሁ። BSB BSB: and saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem quickly, because the people here will not accept your testimony about Me.’
19 ULB እኔም እንዲህ አልሁ፤ ‘ጌታ ሆይ፣ በምኵራብ ሁሉ በአንተ ያመኑትን ሳስርና ስደበድብ እንደ ነበርሁ እነርሱ ራሳቸው ያውቃሉ። BSB BSB: ‘Lord,’ I answered, ‘they know very well that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in You.
20 ULB የሰማዕትህን የእስጢፋኖስንም ደም በሚያፈሱበት ጊዜ፣ በመስማማት እዚያው ቆሜ ነበር፤ የገዳዮቹንም ልብሶች እጠብቅ ነበር።’ BSB BSB: And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and watching over the garments of those who killed him.’
21 ULB እርሱ ግን፣ ‘ተነሥተህ ሂድ፤ ምክንያቱም ወደ አሕዛብ እልክሃለሁ’ አለኝ።” BSB BSB: Then He said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”
22 ULB ሕዝቡም እስከዚህ ድረስ እንዲናገር ፈቀዱለት፤ ከዚህ በኋላ ግን፣ “እንደዚህ ያለ ሰው ከምድር ይወገድ፤ በሕይወትም ይኖር ዘንድ አይገባውም” እያሉ ይጮኹ ጀመር። BSB BSB: The crowd listened to Paul until he made this statement. Then they lifted up their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He is not fit to live!”
23 ULB እየጮኹም ሳለ፣ ልብሳቸውን እያወለቁና አቧራም ወደ ላይ ይበትኑ ነበር፤ BSB BSB: As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and tossing dust into the air,
24 ULB ሻለቃውም ጳውሎስን ወደ ወታደራዊው ምሽግ እንዲወስዱት አዘዘ። እርሱ ራሱ ሕዝቡ ለምን እንደዚያ እንደ ጮኹበት ለማወቅ ስለ ፈለገ፣ እየገረፉ ጳውሎስን እንዲመረምሩት ትእዛዝ ሰጠ። BSB BSB: the commander ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks. He directed that Paul be flogged and interrogated to determine the reason for this outcry against him.
25 ULB ሰዎቹ በጠፍር ወጥረው ባሰሩት ጊዜ፣ ጳውሎስ በአጠገቡ የቆመውን መቶ አለቃ፣ “ሮማዊ የሆነን ሰው፣ ገና ሳይፈረድበት እንዲህ መግረፍህ ሕጋዊ ነው ወይ?” አለው። BSB BSB: But as they stretched him out to strap him down, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it lawful for you to flog a Roman citizen without a trial?”
26 ULB መቶ አለቃውም ይህን ሲሰማ፣ ወደ ሻለቃው ሄዶ፣ “ምን ማድረግህ ነው? ሰውየውኮ የሮማ ዜጋ ነው” በማለት ነገረው። BSB BSB: On hearing this, the centurion went and reported it to the commander. “What are you going to do?” he said. “This man is a Roman citizen.”
27 ULB ሻለቃውም መጥቶ፣ “አንተ የሮማ ዜጋ ነህን? እስቲ ንገረኝ” አለው። ጳውሎስም፣ “አዎ፣ ነኝ” አለ። BSB BSB: The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes,” he answered.
28 ULB ሻለቃውም፣ “እኔኮ ይህን ዜግነት ያገኘሁት በብዙ ገንዘብ ነው” ብሎ መለሰለት። ጳውሎስም፣ “እኔ ግን ከመወለዴ ጀምሮ ሮማዊ ነኝ” አለ። BSB BSB: “I paid a high price for my citizenship,” said the commander. “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied.
29 ULB ሊመረምሩት የመጡ ሰዎችም ወዲያው ትተውት ሄዱ። ሻለቃውም ጳውሎስ የሮም ዜጋ መሆኑን ባወቀ ጊዜ ፈራ፤ ምክንያቱም ጳውሎስን አሳስሮት ነበር። BSB BSB: At once those who were about to interrogate Paul stepped back, and the commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put a Roman citizen in chains.
30 ULB በማግስቱም ሻለቃው፣ አይሁድ ጳውሎስን የከሰሱበትን ትክክለኛ ምክንያት ለማወቅ ፈለገ። ስለዚህ ጳውሎስን ከእስራት አስፈታውና የካህናት አለቆችና ሸንጎው በሙሉ እንዲሰበሰቡ አዘዘ። ከዚያም ጳውሎስን አስመጥቶ በመካከላቸው አቆመው። BSB BSB: The next day the commander, wanting to learn the real reason Paul was accused by the Jews, released him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul down and had him stand before them.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.