ወደ ዓለም ምንም እንኳ አላመጣንምና፥ አንዳችንም ልንወስድ አይቻለንም፤ ምግብና ልብስ ከኖረን ግን፥ እርሱ ይበቃናል። ዳሩ ግን ባለ ጠጎች ሊሆኑ የሚፈልጉ በጥፋትና በመፍረስ ሰዎችን በሚያሰጥምና በሚያሰንፍ በሚጎዳም በብዙ ምኞትና በፈተና በወጥመድም ይወድቃሉ። ገንዘብን መውደድ የክፋት ሁሉ ሥር ነውና፥ አንዳንዶች ይህን ሲመኙ፥ ከሃይማኖት ተሳስተው በብዙ ሥቃይ ራሳቸውን ወጉ። አንተ ግን፥ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ሆይ፥ ከዚህ ሽሽ፤ ጽድቅንና እግዚአብሔርን መምሰል እምነትንም ፍቅርንም መጽናትንም የዋህነትንም ተከታተል። መልካሙን የእምነት ገድል ተጋደል፥ የተጠራህለትንም በብዙም ምስክሮች ፊት በመልካም መታመን የታመንህለትን የዘላለምን ሕይወት ያዝ። ሁሉን በሕይወት በሚጠብቅ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት፥ በጴንጤናዊውም በጲላጦስ ዘንድ መልካሙን መታመን በመሰከረ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ፊት አዝሃለሁ፤ ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ እስኪገለጥ ድረስ ያለ እድፍና ያለ ነቀፋ ሆነህ ትእዛዙን ጠብቅ፤ ያንም መገለጡን በራሱ ጊዜ ብፁዕና ብቻውን የሆነ ገዥ፥ የነገሥታት ንጉሥና የጌቶች ጌታ፥ ያሳያል። እርሱ ብቻ የማይሞት ነው፤ ማንም ሊቀርበው በማይችል ብርሃን ይኖራል፤ አንድ ሰው እንኳ አላየውም ሊያይም አይቻለውም፤ ለእርሱ ክብርና የዘላለም ኃይል ይሁን፤ አሜን። በአሁኑ ዘመን ባለ ጠጎች የሆኑት የትዕቢትን ነገር እንዳያስቡ፥ ደስም እንዲለን ሁሉን አትርፎ በሚሰጠን በሕያው እግዚአብሔር እንጂ በሚያልፍ ባለ ጠግነት ተስፋ እንዳያደርጉ እዘዛቸው። እውነተኛውን ሕይወት ይይዙ ዘንድ፥ ለሚመጣው ዘመን ለራሳቸው መልካም መሠረት የሚሆንላቸውን መዝገብ እየሰበሰቡ፥ መልካምን እንዲያደርጉ በበጎም ሥራ ባለ ጠጎች እንዲሆኑ፥ ሊረዱና ሊያካፍሉም የተዘጋጁ እንዲሆኑ ምከራቸው። ጢሞቴዎስ ሆይ፥ በውሸት እውቀት ከተባለ ለዓለም ከሚመች ከከንቱ መለፍለፍና መከራከር እየራቅህ፥ የተሰጠህን አደራ ጠብቅ፤ ይህ እውቀት አለን ብለው፥ አንዳንዶች ስለ እምነት ስተዋልና። ጸጋ ከአንተ ጋር ይሁን።
ሁለት አሳብ ላለው በመንገዱም ሁሉ ለሚወላውል ለዚያ ሰው ከጌታ ዘንድ አንዳች እንዲያገኝ አይምሰለው። የተዋረደው ወንድም ግን በከፍታው፥ ባለ ጠጋም በውርደቱ ይመካ፤ እንደ ሣር አበባ ያልፋልና። ፀሐይ ከትኵሳት ጋር ይወጣልና፥ ሣርንም ያጠወልጋልና፥ አበባውም ይረግፋልና፥ የመልኩም ውበት ይጠፋልና፤ እንዲሁ ደግሞ ባለ ጠጋው በመንገዱ ይዝላል። በፈተና የሚጸና ሰው የተባረከ ነው፤ ከተፈተነ በኋላ ለሚወዱት ተስፋ ስለ እርሱ የሰጣቸውን የሕይወትን አክሊል ይቀበላልና። ማንም ሲፈተን፡— በእግዚአብሔር እፈተናለሁ አይበል፤ እግዚአብሔር በክፉ አይፈተንምና፤ እርሱ ራሱስ ማንንም አይፈትንም። ነገር ግን እያንዳንዱ በራሱ ምኞት ሲሳብና ሲታለል ይፈተናል። ከዚህ በኋላ ምኞት ፀንሳ ኃጢአትን ትወልዳለች፤ ኃጢአትም ካደገች በኋላ ሞትን ትወልዳለች። የተወደዳችሁ ወንድሞቼ ሆይ፥ አትሳቱ። በጎ ስጦታ ሁሉ ፍጹምም በረከት ሁሉ ከላይ ናቸው፥ መለወጥም በእርሱ ዘንድ ከሌለ በመዞርም የተደረገ ጥላ በእርሱ ዘንድ ከሌለ ከብርሃናት አባት ይወርዳሉ።
በአንጾኪያም ባለችው ቤተ ክርስቲያን ነቢያትና መምህራን ነበሩ፤ እነርሱም በርናባስ፥ ኔጌር የተባለው ስምዖንም፥ የቀሬናው ሉክዮስም፥ የአራተኛው ክፍል ገዥ የሄሮድስም ባለምዋል ምናሔ፥ ሳውልም ነበሩ። እነዚህም ጌታን ሲያመልኩና ሲጦሙ መንፈስ ቅዱስ፡— በርናባስንና ሳውልን ለጠራኋቸው ሥራ ለዩልኝ፡ አለ። በዚያን ጊዜም ከጦሙ ከጸለዩም እጃቸውንም ከጫኑ በኋላ አሰናበቱአቸው። እነርሱም በመንፈስ ቅዱስ ተልከው ወደ ሴሌውቅያ ወረዱ፤ ከዚያም በመርከብ ወደ ቆጵሮስ ሄዱ። በስልማናም በነበሩ ጊዜ በአይሁድ ምኵራቦች የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ሰበኩ፤ አገልጋይም ዮሐንስ ነበራቸው። ደሴቲቱንም ሁሉ እስከ ጳፉ በዞሩ ጊዜ፥ በርያሱስ የሚሉትን ጠንቋይና ሐሰተኛ ነቢይ የሆነውን አንድ አይሁዳዊ ሰው አገኙ፤ እርሱም አስተዋይ ሰው ከሆነው ሰርግዮስ ጳውሎስ ከሚባለው አገረ ገዥ ጋር ነበረ። ይህም በርናባስንና ሳውልን ወደ እርሱ ጠርቶ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ሊሰማ ፈለገ። ጠንቋዩ ግን ኤልማስ፥ ስሙ እንዲሁ ይተረጐማልና፥ አገረ ገዡን ከማመን ሊያጣምም ፈልጎ ተቃወማቸው። ጳውሎስ የተባለው ሳውል ግን መንፈስ ቅዱስን ተሞልቶ ትኵር ብሎ ሲመለከተው፡— አንተ ተንኰል ሁሉ ክፋትም ሁሉ የሞላብህ፥ የዲያብሎስ ልጅ፥ የጽድቅም ሁሉ ጠላት፥ የቀናውን የጌታን መንገድ ከማጣመም አታርፍምን? አሁንም፥ እነሆ፥ የጌታ እጅ በአንተ ላይ ናት፥ ዕውርም ትሆናለህ እስከ ጊዜውም ፀሐይን አታይም፡ አለው። ያን ጊዜም ጭጋግና ጨለማ ወደቀበት፥ በእጁም የሚመራውን እየዞረ ፈለገ። በዚያን ጊዜ አገረ ገዡ የተደረገውን ባየ ጊዜ ከጌታ ትምህርት የተነሣ ተገርሞ አመነ። ጳውሎስም ከጓደኞቹ ጋር ከጳፉ ተነሥቶ የጵንፍልያ ወደምትሆን ወደ ጴርጌን መጣ፤ ዮሐንስም ከእነርሱ ተለይቶ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሰ።
የእውነትህን መንገድ መረጥሁ፥ ፍርድህንም አልረሳሁም። አቤቱ፥ ምስክርህን ተጠጋሁ፤ አታሳፍረኝ።
ብልና ዝገት በሚያጠፉት ሌቦችም ቆፍረው በሚሠርቁት ዘንድ ለእናንተ በምድር ላይ መዝገብ አትሰብስቡ፤ ነገር ግን ብልም ዝገትም በማያጠፉት ሌቦችም ቆፍረው በማይሠርቁት ዘንድ ለእናንተ በሰማይ መዝገብ ሰብስቡ፤ መዝገብህ ባለበት ልብህ ደግሞ በዚያ ይሆናልና። የሰውነት መብራት ዓይን ናት። ዓይንህ እንግዲህ ጤናማ ብትሆን፥ ሰውነትህ ሁሉ ብሩህ ይሆናል፤ ዓይንህ ግን ታማሚ ብትሆን፥ ሰውነትህ ሁሉ የጨለመ ይሆናል። እንግዲህ በአንተ ያለው ብርሃን ጨለማ ከሆነ፥ ጨለማውስ እንዴት ይበረታ! ለሁለት ጌቶች መገዛት የሚቻለው ማንም የለም፤ ወይም አንዱን ይጠላል ሁለተኛውንም ይወዳል፤ ወይም ወደ አንዱ ይጠጋል ሁለተኛውንም ይንቃል፤ ለእግዚአብሔርና ለገንዘብ መገዛት አትችሉም። ስለዚህ እላችኋለሁ፥ ስለ ነፍሳችሁ በምትበሉትና በምትጠጡት፥ ወይም ስለ ሰውነታችሁ በምትለብሱት አትጨነቁ፤ ነፍስ ከመብል ሰውነትም ከልብስ አይበልጥምን? ወደ ሰማይ ወፎች ተመልከቱ፤ አይዘሩም አያጭዱምም በጎተራም አይከቱም፥ የሰማዩ አባታችሁም ይመግባቸዋል፤ እናንተ ከእነርሱ እጅግ አትበልጡምን? ከእናንተ ተጨንቆ በቁመቱ ላይ አንድ ክንድ መጨመር የሚችል ማን ነው? ስለ ልብስስ ስለ ምን ትጨነቃላችሁ? የሜዳ አበቦች እንዴት እንዲያድጉ ልብ አድርጋችሁ ተመልከቱ፤ አይደክሙም አይፈትሉምም፤ ነገር ግን እላችኋለሁ፥ ሰሎሞንስ እንኳ በክብሩ ሁሉ ከነዚህ እንደ አንዱ አልለበሰም። እግዚአብሔር ግን ዛሬ ያለውን ነገም ወደ እቶን የሚጣለውን የሜዳን ሣር እንዲህ የሚያለብሰው ከሆነ፥ እናንተ እምነት የጎደላችሁ፥ እናንተንማ ይልቁን እንዴት? እንግዲህ፡— ምን እንበላለን? ምንስ እንጠጣለን? ምንስ እንለብሳለን? ብላችሁ አትጨነቁ፤ ይህንስ ሁሉ አሕዛብ ይፈልጋሉ፤ ይህ ሁሉ እንዲያስፈልጋችሁ የሰማዩ አባታችሁ ያውቃልና። ነገር ግን አስቀድማችሁ የእግዚአብሔርን መንግሥት ጽድቁንም ፈልጉ፥ ይህም ሁሉ ይጨመርላችኋል። ነገ ለራሱ ይጨነቃልና ለነገ አትጨነቁ፤ ለቀኑ ክፋቱ ይበቃዋል።
7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. 9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: 15 Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen. 17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; 18 That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; 19 Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. 20 O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:
7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that he is exalted: 10 But the rich, in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away. 11 For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it withereth the grass, and the flower thereof falleth, and the grace of the fashion of it perisheth: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways. 12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. 13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. 16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. 4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. 6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus: 7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. 13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me. 31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. 23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! 24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.