Paulub ge Efeses ǃnâ ra aoǁnâ
1 Ganupeb Apoloba Korintes ǃnâ hâ hîab ge Pauluba ǀgapiseb di ǀkhariga ge ǃgûǃnâ tsî Efeses tawa ge hā. ǁNāpab ge ǀnî ǁkhāǁkhāsabena* ge ǀhao-ū, 2 tsîb ge ǁîna ge dî: “ǂGom du geo, ǃAnu Gagaba ǃkhōǃoa du ge?”
On ge “Sida ge ǁnâus tsîna hî tama hâ, ǃAnu Gaga-i hâ ǃkhaisa” ti ge ǃeream bi.
3 “O du kha mâ ǁāǁnâǃnôasa ge ǃkhōǃoa?” tib ge ǁîna ǃaruǀî ge dî.
On ge “Johaneb di ǁāǁnâs” ti ge ǃeream.
4 Ob ge Pauluba ǁîna ge mîba: “Johaneb ge ǃhobasens di ǁāǁnâs ǀkha ra ǁāǁnâ tsî khoena ǁnāb ǁîb khaoǃgâ nî hāb, Jesub ǃnân nî ǂgom ǃkhaisa gere mîba.”
5 Nēsan ge ǁnâus khaoǃgân ge ǃKhūb Jesub di ǀons ǃnâ ge ǁāǁnâhe. 6 Tsî Paulub ge ǃomkha ǁîna ǁgui-ais khaoǃgâb ge ǃAnu Gagaba ǁîn ai ge hā tsîn ge ǃkharagaǃnâgu gowagu ǃnâ ǃhoa tsî ǃKhūb xa gere kēbo. 7 ǁNāpa gu ge ǁaubexa disiǀgamǀa aoga ge hâ i.
8 Tsîb ge Pauluba sinagogeb* ǃnâ ǂgâ tsî ǃnona ǁkhâgu di ǁaeba ǁkhoase aoǁnâ, ǂnoagu tsî ra Elob Gaosib ǂama hâ xūn xa ǃhoadanse. 9 Xawe ǀnîn ân ge ǂgom tama i tsî kaise ǃnâudanaxa tsî ǂkhabase ǁnāpa ge hâ in aiǃâ Daob xa gere ǃhoa, ob ge ǁîna xu ǃgûbē tsî ǀnî ǁkhāǁkhāsabena ǁîb ǀkha ū tsî tsēkorobe Tiranub di skoli tawa gere ǁkhāǁkhā. 10 Nēs ge ǀgam kurikha ǀgaiba ge aiǃgû, Asiab di hoaraga khoen, Jodeǁîn tsî Grikeǁîn nî ǃKhūb di ǂhôasa ǁnâuse.
Skevab ôagu
11 Tsîb ge Eloba Paulub ǃnâ-u ǁnaetisa tama buruxa dīga gere dī. 12 Tsî ǁnātikōse ī tsî aosenǃkhaigu tamas ka io ǃgaesenǃkhaigu ǁîb sorosa ga tsâǀkhāga ǁîn di ǀaesen hân tawa gere sī-ū tsîn ge ǀaesenain âna xu gere ǂuru tsî gu ge ǂkhaba gagagu hîa ǁîn ǃnâ hâga ǁîna xu gere ǂoa.
13 O gu ge ǃgûma tsî ǂkhaba gagaga gere ǃhaeǂui Jodeǁîga ǃKhūb Jesub ǀonsa sîsenūsa gere dītsâ. Tsî gu ge “Jesub hîab Pauluba ra aoǁnâb di ǀons ǃnâ ge ge ra mîmā go, ǂoaxa go nî ǃkhaisa!” ti gere mî. 14 Tsî nēsa gere dīgu ge Skevab ti ǀon hâ, Jodeǁî ǀgapipristeri* di hû ǀgôaga. 15 Ob ge ǂkhaba gagaba ǁîga ge ǃeream: “Jesuba ta ge a ǂan tsî Paulub tsîna ta ge a ǂan. O sago a tari?” 16 Tsîb ge ǁnā khoeb ǂkhaba gagaga ge ūhâ iba ǁîgu ai uri tsî ǁîga ge ǁnāǂam tsî ge dan. Tsî gu ge ǀōǀkhāse tsî tsuihe hâse omsa xu ge ǃkhoeǂoa.
17 Tsîs ge nē ǂhôasa hoaraga Jodeǁîn tsî Grikeǁîn hîa Efeses ǃnâ hân xa ge ǁnâuhe. O i ge ǃao-e hoaraga khoena ge hāǂam tsîn ge ǃKhūb Jesub di ǀonsa ge kaikai. 18 Tsîn ge ǂguin âna ǂgom tsî ǁguiǁnâ tsî ǁîn di dīga ǁguiǁnâ tsî gere ǂanǂan. 19 ǁKhātin ge ǂguin hîa gere ǃgaidīna ǁîn di xoamâi ǂkhanide hā-ū tsî ǁîde khoen hoan di mûǁae gere ǂhubi. ǁKhāsib nē ǂkhanidi dib ge ge korodisiǀoadisi ǀhai mari i. 20 Nē ǀgaisa ǀgaub ais ge ǂhôas ǃKhūb disa ǀomkhâi tsî ǃaruǀîǀgui ge ǀgai.
Efeses ǃnâ ge hâ khâikhâisens
21 Tsî nēn hoan ge īs khaoǃgâb ge Pauluba ge mîǁgui Masedoniab tsî Axajab tsîkha ǃnâ-u ǃkharu tsî Jerusalems ǁga ǃgûsa, mî raǃâ: “ǁNāpa ta ga sītoas khaoǃgâ i ge nî ǂhâbasaba te, Romes tsîn tawa ta nî sī ǃkhaisa.” 22 Tsîb ge ǁîb di ǀgam hui-aokha, Timoteub tsî Erastub hâkha Masedoniab ǁga sî tsî noxopa ǁaero-e Asiab ǃnâ ge hâ.
23 ǁNā ǁaeb ǃnâ i ge kai khâikhâisen-e ǃKhūb di daob xa ge hâ. 24 Ob ge ǂanǂansa khoeb, Demetriub ti ǀon hâb, ǀhaiǀuri xūkuru-aoba Grike elos Artemis di tempeli di ǁgaeǁgae-īgu, ǁîs khami ra mûsenga gere kuru tsî nē sîsenǃnôab ǃnâ-u gu ge kuruǁkhābega kai hōǂgāsa gere hōbasen. 25 Tsîb ge nē kuruǁkhābegu tsî sîsenaon hîa nē sîsenǃnôaba ra dīna ǂgaiǀhao tsî ǁîna nēti ge mîba:
“Ti khoedo, sadu kom ǂano sada di ûiǁkhāsib nē sîsenna xu ǀgui hâ ǃkhaisa. 26 Tsî du kom ǁkhāti mû tsî ra ǁnâuo, Efeses ǃnâ ǀgui tama i tsî ǁaubexa hoaraga Asiab ǃnâ, nē Paulub ra ǂgui khoena sada elogan ǃoaba tidese ǁnāǁgôa kai tsî ǃomgu ǀkha kurusa elogu a ǁauxū ti mî tsî ǃkhaisa. 27 Tsîs ge nēsa sada di sîsenni nî ǃgâi ǀons âba ǂoaǃnâ ǃkhais di ǃaorosasib ǀguiba ūhâ tama hâ, xawe sada kai elos, Artemis hîa hoaraga Asiab tsî ǃhūbaib ai ra ǀgoreǀîhes di tempeli nî ǁauxūse ǃgôahe tsîs nî kaisib âsa ǂoaǃnâ ǃkhais tsîn ge hâ!”
28 Nēsan ge ǁnâu on ge kaise ǂkhîoǃnâ tsî “Kais ge a Artemis, Efeseǁîn disa!” ti ge ǂgaiǂui. 29 Tsîs ge hoaraga ǃāsa ge gongonǃnâhe, on ge ǀguiǂâixase teaters ǁga ge ǃkhoe tsî Paulub ǀkha ge hâ i Masedoniaǁîkha Gajub tsî Aristarxub hâkha ge ǃkhō. 30 Paulub ge ǁnā ǀhaos khoen dis tawa ǂgâ ǂgao, on ge ǁkhāǁkhāsabena ǁîba mā-am tama ge i. 31 Tsî gu ge ǁkhāti ǂammâisagu Asiab ǀkharib digu, Paulub di horesaga ǁîb ǁga ge sîhe tsî gu ge ûib âbab teaters tawa sīs ǀkha ǃaorosasib ǃnâ mâi tide ǃkhaisa gere ǀkhoma bi.
32 Hoaraga khoen ge gere ǂkhupi tsîn ge ǀnîna nēti tsî nauna nauti gere ǃau. Xawen ge ǃnāsan âna tare-en go ǁnāpa ôasī ǃkhais tsîna ge ǀū i. 33 Tsîb ge Aleksandera ǂnubis di ǁaeguba xu aisǀkhāb ǃoa Jodeǁîn xa ge ǂoaxa kaihe. Ob ge mâsib ǃaromab nî ǂnoabasense, ǃommi âba ge ūkhâi, khoena ǃnōǃnōs ǃaroma. 34 Xawe ǁîb a Jodeǁî ǃkhaisan ge ǂan on ge ǂnubis di khoena ǀgam irkha di ǁaeba “Kais ge Artemis, Efeseǁîn disa!” ti gere ǂgaiǂui.
35 ǀAms aib ge ǃās di xoa-aoba ǂnubisa ǃnōǃnō tsî ge mî: “Efeseǁîdo, tari-e kha Efeses a Artemis di tempelǃûi-ao tsî ǁnā īb ǀhomma xu ge ǁnāb di sâu-ao ǃkhaisa a ǀū? 36 Tsî nēs a gowaǃoaheǁoasa ǃkhai amaga du ge nî ǃnō tsî ǁgauoǃnâse xū-e dī tide. 37 Sadu go nē khoekha, tempelǃnari-ao tamas ka io ǁkhāti sada di elosa ǃkhāǃkhā tamakha go hā-ū xui-ao. 38 ǁNā-amaga, Demetriub tsî ǁîb di kuruǁkhābegu ga khoe-i ǃoagu ǀanaǃgâxū-e ūhâo, ǁnâuǃgâǃkhaigu ge hâ tsî gu ge ǂhanuǂhanu-aogu tsîna ǁkhāti hâ, xuige a gu ǁîgu di ǀanaǃgân hîa gu ga ūhâna ǁnāpa sī-ū. 39 Tsî ǀnî xū-i hîa du ra ǂhâba-i ga hâo, a-i ǁnā-e ǂhanub din xa ǀhû hâse ǀgoraǃgâhe. 40 Sada kom nētsē go īn ǃaroma khâikhâisens ai ǃnuriǃgâhe ǁkhāo, tare-i ǃaroma da ra khâikhâisen ǃkhaisa da ǂnoasen ǁoa amaga.” 41 Tsî nēnab ge mîtoas khaoǃgâb ge ǁîna ge ǃgû kai.
Paul in Ephesus
1 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord's followers. 2 He asked them, “When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?”
“No!” they answered. “We have never even heard of the Holy Spirit.”
3 “Then why were you baptized?” Paul asked.
They answered, “Because of what John taught.”
4 Paul replied, “John baptized people so they would turn to God. But he also told them someone else was coming, and they should put their faith in him. Jesus is the one that John was talking about.” 5 After the people heard Paul say this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them, and they spoke unknown languages and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in this group.
8 For three months Paul went to the synagogue and talked bravely with the people about God's kingdom. He tried to win them over, 9 but some of them were stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone they said terrible things about God's Way. Paul left and took the followers with him to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He spoke there every day 10 for two years, until every Jew and Gentile in Asia had heard the Lord's message.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God gave Paul the power to work great miracles. 12 People even took handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul's body, and they carried them to everyone who was sick. All of the sick people were healed, and the evil spirits went out.
13 Some Jewish men started going around trying to force out evil spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, “Come out in the name of that same Jesus that Paul preaches about!”
14 Seven sons of a high priest named Sceva were doing this, 15 when an evil spirit said to them, “I know Jesus! And I have heard about Paul. But who are you?” 16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up. They ran out of the house, naked and bruised.
17 When the Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus heard about this, they were so frightened that they praised the name of the Lord Jesus. 18 Many who were followers now started telling everyone about the evil things they had been doing. 19 Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about 50,000 silver coins. 20 So the Lord's message spread and became even more powerful.
The Riot in Ephesus
21 After all this had happened, Paul decided to visit Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. Paul had said, “From there I will go on to Rome.” 22 So he sent his two helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But he stayed on in Asia for a while.
23 At that time there was serious trouble because of the Lord's Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius had a business that made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. Those who worked for him earned a lot of money. 25 Demetrius brought together everyone who was in the same business and said:
Friends, you know we make a good living at this. 26 But you have surely seen and heard how this man Paul is upsetting a lot of people, not only in Ephesus, but almost everywhere in Asia. He claims that the gods we humans make are not really gods at all. 27 Everyone will start saying terrible things about our business. They will stop respecting the temple of the goddess Artemis, who is worshiped in Asia and all over the world. Our great goddess will be forgotten!
28 When the workers heard this, they got angry and started shouting, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!” 29 Soon the whole city was in a riot, and some men grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, who had come from Macedonia with Paul. Then everyone in the crowd rushed to the place where the town meetings were held.
30 Paul wanted to go out and speak to the people, but the Lord's followers would not let him. 31 A few of the local officials were friendly to Paul, and they sent someone to warn him not to go.
32 Some of the people in the meeting were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Everyone was completely confused, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
33 Several of the Jewish leaders pushed a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd and started telling him what to say. He motioned with his hand and tried to explain what was going on. 34 But when the crowd saw that he was Jewish, they all shouted for two hours, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!”
35 Finally, a town official made the crowd be quiet. Then he said:
People of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that our city is the center for worshiping the great goddess Artemis? Who doesn't know that her image which fell from heaven is right here? 36 No one can deny this, and so you should calm down and not do anything foolish. 37 You have brought men in here who have not robbed temples or spoken against our goddess.
38 If Demetrius and his workers have a case against these men, we have courts and judges. Let them take their complaints there. 39 But if you want to do more than that, the matter will have to be brought before the city council. 40 We could easily be accused of starting a riot today. There is no excuse for it! We cannot even give a reason for this uproar.
41 After saying this, he told the people to leave.
