Paulus naSilas muTessalonika
1 Paulus naSilas oya pitile muAmfipolis nomuApollonia e taye ya muTessalonika, moka mwa li mu na osinagoga yAajuda. 2 Paulus okwa yi mosinagoga, ngaashi i igilila, moka a kala nokutompa aantu nOmanyolo mOmasabati gatatu. 3 Oye okwe ya fatululile e te ya ulukile kutya Kristus okwa li e na okuhepekwa nokuyumuka kuusi. “Jesus nguka tandi mu mu uvithile, oye Kristus,” osho a ti. 4 Aajuda yamwe oya tompwa noyi itaale oohapu dhaPaulus naSilas e taa gama kuyo, osho wo ongundu onene yAagreka mboka haa simaneke Kalunga, naakiintu aanamadhina.
5 Ihe Aajuda oya kwatwa kefupa. Oyo oya gongele aalumentu aakolokoshi yomomapandaanda noya kongolola aantu e taa lundaganitha ombuyagano moshilando. Oya ponokele egumbo lyaJason noya kongo Paulus naSilas, ye ya ete komeho gongundu yaantu. 6 Ihe sho ya nyengwa oku ya mona, oya kookololele Jason nooitaali ooyakwawo koshipala shaaleli yoshilando noyi igidha taa ti: “Aalumentu mbaka oya taandelitha epiyagano apehepehe. Ngashingeyi oye li moshilando shetu. 7 NaJason nguka okwe ya edhilile megumbo lye. Oyo ya yono oompango dhomupangeli Omuroma, oshoka otaa longo aantu kutya oku na omukwaniilwa gulwe, edhina lye Jesus.” 8 Oohapu ndhika odha piyaganeke aantu ayehe yomoshilando, naapangeli wo. 9 Aaleli yoshilando oya futitha Jason nooyakwawo noye ya etha, ya ye.
MuBerea
10 Ano uusiku sho we ya, ooitaali oya laleke Paulus naSilas, ya ye kuBerea. Oyo sho ya thiki ko, oya yi mosinagoga yAajuda. 11 Aantu yomoshilando shika oya li ye na ehalo ewanawa lyokutaamba ye vule mbeyaka yomuTessalonika. Oyo oya kala ya hokwa okupulakena oohapu dhaKalunga, nesiku kehe oya kala nokukonakona Omanyolo, opo ya tale, ngele shono tashi popiwa kuPaulus, oshoshili tuu. 12 Oyendji yomuyo oya ningi ooitaali; mokati kawo omwa li mu na aakiintu aanamadhina naalumentu Aagreka oyendji.
13 Ihe Aajuda yokuTessalonika sho yu uvu kutya Paulus oku uvithile wo oohapu dhaKalunga muBerea, oye ya ko noya tameke okupiyaganeka nokutsitha aantu ondumbo. 14 Nena ooitaali oya laleke mbala Paulus, e ye komunkulo gwefuta, ihe Silas naTimoteus oya kala manga muBerea. 15 Aalumentu mboka ya thindikile Paulus, oye mu fala sigo okuAtena. Opo ihe oya galukile kuBerea nelaka lya zi kuPaulus tali ti, Silas naTimoteus naa ye mbala kuye.
MuAtena
16 Ano Paulus manga a li a tegelela Silas naTimoteus muAtena, okwa li u uvite nayi, sho a dhimbulula, nkene oshilando shu udha iikalunga. 17 Onkee okwa kala ta ludhike nAajuda naapagani mboka oonakusimaneka Kalunga mosinagoga, nokwa ludhike wo esiku kehe pehalandjandja lyoshilando naantu mboka haa kala po. Onkee okwa kala ta ludhike nAajuda naapagani mboka oonakusimaneka Kalunga mosinagoga… 18 Nena aalongi yamwe yomongundu yaaepikuri noyaastoa oya ludhike wo naye. Yamwe oye mu popi ya ti: “Omupopyagani nguno okwa hala okufatulula shike ano?”
Ooyakwawo oya ti: “Oye okwa fa ta popi kombinga yookalunga aakwiilongo.” Oya popi ngeyi, oshoka Paulus okwa li ta hokolola Jesus neyumuko. 19 Onkee oya kutha Paulus e taye mu fala moshigongi shaatokoli kuAreopagi noya ti: “Tse otwa hala okutseya elongo ndyoka epe to li longo. 20 Otu uvu to popi iinima yimwe kaatu yi shi, onkee otwa hala okutseya shoka tayi ti.” 21 Oshoka aantu ayehe yomuAtena pamwe naakwiilongo mboka ya kala mo, oya li ye hole okuhokolola nokuuva iinima iipe ethimbo alihe.
22 Nena Paulus okwa thikama komeho goshigongi shaAreopagi e ta popi ta ti: “Aalumentu ne Aayatena! Ngame ondi wete kutya one aadhiginini miinima ayihe yopalongelokalunga. 23 Oshoka ngame sho nda li tandi endaenda noshilando sheni nonda tala omahala geni omayapuki, ondi itsu oshiyambelo shimwe sha nyolwa ngeyi: ‘Oshiyambelo shaKalunga kee shiwike.’ Ano Kalunga ngoka hamu mu galikana, nando kamu mu shi, oye naanaa ngoka tandi mu uvithile. 24 Kalunga ngoka a shiti uuyuni niinima ayihe yi li mo, oye Omuwa gwegulu nogwevi. Oye iha kala mootempeli dha tungwa kaantu. 25 Moku mu longela ina pumbwa, a pewe ando sha kaantu, oshoka oye mwene ha pe aantu ayehe omwenyo nomufudho niinima ayihe. 26 Mokushita kwe Kalunga okwa kutha omihoko adhihe dhaantu momulumentu gumwe nokwe ya tula kombanda yevi alihe. Oye okwe ya uthile wo nale omathimbo gawo noongamba dhomahala gokukala kwawo. 27 Kalunga okwa hala, aantu ya kale taye mu kongo, pamwe taye mu mono mokupampadhala kwawo. Ihe Kalunga ke li kokule nomuntu nando ogumwe; 28 ngaashi gumwe a tile: ‘Muye tse otu na omwenyo, tatu inyenge notu li po.’ Ngaashi wo yamwe yomaatoti yiitewo yeni oya tumbula taa ti: ‘Natse wo aana yaKalunga.’ 29 Onkee ano ngele tse aana yaKalunga, nena inatu dhiladhileni kutya olupe lwe olwa fa efano lyoshisiliveli nenge lyemanya lya hongwa paunkulungu nopamayele gomuntu.
30 “Kalunga okwa li i idhidhimikile nale aantu pomathimbo ngeyaka, sho ya li yaa na owino, ihe ngashingeyi ota lombwele aantu ayehe shaa mpoka ye li, yi itedhulule yo ya ethe oondjila dhawo oombwinayi. 31 Nokuli oye oku utha nale esiku, uuna ndoka ta ka pangula uuyuni pauyuuki, note ke u pangulitha omulumentu ngoka e mu hogolola. Oye okwa hololele aantu ayehe oshinima shika puuyelele, sho a yumudha omulumentu ngoka kuusi.”
32 Ano sho yu uvu Paulus ta popi kombinga yeyumuko lyaasi, yamwe oye mu yolo, ihe ooyakwawo oye mu lombwele ya ti: “Otse otwa hala natango okuuva iinima mbyoka to yi popi esiku lilwe.” 33 Nena Paulus okwa zi mo moshigongi. 34 Ihe aantu yamwe oyi igameke kuye noya ningi ooitaali. Mokati kawo omwa li Dionisius, oshilyo shoshigongi shaAreopagi nomukiintu gumwe, edhina lye Damaris, nooyakwawo yalwe.
Trouble in Thessalonica
1 After Paul and his friends had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they went on to Thessalonica. A synagogue was in that city. 2 So as usual, Paul went there to worship, and on three Sabbaths he spoke to the people. He used the Scriptures 3 to show them that the Messiah had to suffer, but that he would rise from death. Paul also told them that Jesus is the Messiah he was preaching about. 4 Some of them believed what Paul had said, and they became followers with Paul and Silas. Some Gentiles and many important women also believed the message.
5 The Jewish leaders were jealous and got some troublemakers who hung around the marketplace to start a riot in the city. They wanted to drag Paul and Silas out to the mob, and so they went straight to Jason's home. 6 But when they did not find them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the Lord's followers. They took them to the city authorities and shouted, “Paul and Silas have been upsetting things everywhere. Now they have come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his home. All of them break the laws of the Roman Emperor by claiming that someone named Jesus is king.”
8 The officials and the people were upset when they heard this. 9 So they made Jason and the other followers pay bail before letting them go.
People in Berea Welcome the Message
10 That same night the Lord's followers sent Paul and Silas on to Berea, and after they arrived, they went to the synagogue. 11 The people in Berea were much nicer than those in Thessalonica, and they gladly accepted the message. Day after day they studied the Scriptures to see if these things were true. 12 Many of them put their faith in the Lord, including some important Greek women and several men.
13 When the Jewish leaders in Thessalonica heard that Paul had been preaching God's message in Berea, they went there and caused trouble by turning the crowds against Paul.
14 At once the followers sent Paul down to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea. 15 Some men went with Paul as far as Athens, and then returned with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.
Paul in Athens
16 While Paul was waiting in Athens, he was upset to see all the idols in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to speak to the Jews and to anyone who worshiped with them. Day after day he also spoke to everyone he met in the market. 18 Some of them were Epicureans and some were Stoics, and they started arguing with him.
People were asking, “What is this know-it-all trying to say?”
Some even said, “Paul must be preaching about foreign gods! That's what he means when he talks about Jesus and about people rising from death.”
19 They brought Paul before a council called the Areopagus, and said, “Tell us what your new teaching is all about. 20 We have heard you say some strange things, and we want to know what you mean.”
21 More than anything else the people of Athens and the foreigners living there loved to hear and to talk about anything new. 22 So Paul stood up in front of the council and said:
People of Athens, I see that you are very religious. 23 As I was going through your city and looking at the things you worship, I found an altar with the words, “To an Unknown God.” You worship this God, but you don't really know him. So I want to tell you about him. 24 This God made the world and everything in it. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he doesn't live in temples built by human hands. 25 He doesn't need help from anyone. He gives life, breath, and everything else to all people. 26 From one person God made all nations who live on earth, and he decided when and where every nation would be.
27 God has done all this, so that we will look for him and reach out and find him. He isn't far from any of us, 28 and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. “We are his children,” just as some of your poets have said.
29 Since we are God's children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't like anything that humans have thought up and made. 30 In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him. 31 He has set a day when he will judge the world's people with fairness. And he has chosen the man Jesus to do the judging for him. God has given proof of this to all of us by raising Jesus from death.
32 As soon as the people heard Paul say a man had been raised from death, some of them started laughing. Others said, “We will hear you talk about this some other time.” 33 When Paul left the council meeting, 34 some of the men put their faith in the Lord and went with Paul. One of them was a council member named Dionysius. A woman named Damaris and several others also put their faith in the Lord.
