አሥራ ሁለቱን ደቀ መዛሙርቱን ወደ እርሱ ጠርቶ፥ እንዲያወጡአቸው በርኩሳን መናፍስት ላይ ደዌንና ሕማምንም ሁሉ እንዲፈውሱ ሥልጣን ሰጣቸው። የአሥራ ሁለቱም ሐዋርያት ስም ይህ ነው፤ መጀመሪያው ጴጥሮስ የተባለው ስምዖን ወንድሙ እንድርያስም፥ የዘብዴዎስ ልጅ ያዕቆብም ወንድሙ ዮሐንስም፥ ፊልጶስም በርተሎሜዎስም፥ ቶማስም ቀራጩ ማቴዎስም፥ የእልፍዮስ ልጅ ያዕቆብም ታዴዎስም የተባለው ልብድዮስ፥ ቀነናዊውም ስምዖን ደግሞም አሳልፎ የሰጠው የአስቆሮቱ ይሁዳ። እነዚህን አሥራ ሁለቱን ኢየሱስ ላካቸው፥ አዘዛቸውም፥ እንዲህም አለ፡— በአሕዛብ መንገድ አትሂዱ፥ ወደ ሳምራውያንም ከተማ አትግቡ፤ ይልቅስ የእስራኤል ቤት ወደሚሆኑ ወደ ጠፉት በጎች ሂዱ እንጂ። ሄዳችሁም፡— መንግሥተ ሰማያት ቀርባለች፡ ብላችሁ ስበኩ። ድውዮችን ፈውሱ፤ ሙታንን አስነሡ፤ ለምጻሞችን አንጹ፤ አጋንንትን አውጡ፤ በከንቱ ተቀበላችሁ፥ በከንቱ ስጡ። ወርቅ ወይም ብር ወይም ናስ በመቀነታችሁ፥ ወይም ለመንገድ ከረጢት ወይም ሁለት እጀ ጠባብ ወይም ጫማ ወይም በትር አታግኙ፤ ለሠራተኛ ምግቡ ይገባዋልና። በምትገቡባትም በማናቸይቱም ከተማ ወይም መንደር፥ በዚያ የሚገባው ማን እንደ ሆነ በጥንቃቄ መርምሩ፤ እስክትወጡም ድረስ በዚያ ተቀመጡ። ወደ ቤትም ስትገቡ ሰላምታ ስጡ፤ ቤቱም የሚገባው ቢሆን ሰላማችሁ ይድረስለት፤ ባይገባው ግን ሰላማችሁ ይመለስላችሁ። ከማይቀበላችሁም ቃላችሁንም ከማይሰሙ ሁሉ፥ ከዚያ ቤት ወይም ከዚያች ከተማ ስትወጡ የእግራችሁን ትቢያ አራግፉ። እውነት እላችኋለሁ፥ በፍርድ ቀን ከዚያች ከተማ ይልቅ ለሰዶምና ለገሞራ አገር ይቀልላቸዋል። እነሆ፥ እኔ እንደ በጎች በተኵላዎች መካከል እልካችኋለሁ፤ ስለዚህ እንደ እባብ ልባሞች እንደ ርግብም የዋሆች ሁኑ።
አንተ ግን ሕይወት ለሚገኝበት ትምህርት የሚገባውን ተናገር። ሽማግሌዎች ልከኞች፥ ጭምቶች፥ ራሳቸውን የሚገዙ፥ በእምነትና በፍቅር በመጽናትም ጤናሞች እንዲሆኑ ምከራቸው፤ እንዲሁም አሮጊቶች ሴቶች አካሄዳቸው ለቅዱስ አገልግሎት የሚገባ፥ የማያሙ፥ ለብዙ ወይን ጠጅ የማይገዙ፥ በጎ የሆነውን ነገር የሚያስተምሩ ይሁኑ፤ ቆነጃጅትም የእግዚአብሔር ቃል እንዳይሰደብ፥ ባሎቻቸውን የሚወዱ፥ ልጆቻቸውን የሚወዱ፥ ራሳቸውን የሚገዙ፥ ንጹሖች፥ በቤት የሚሠሩ፥ በጎዎች፥ ለባሎቻቸው የሚታዘዙ እንዲሆኑ ይምከሩአቸው። ጎበዞችም እንዲሁ ራሳቸውን እንዲገዙ ምከራቸው። የሚቃወም ሰው ስለ እኛ የሚናገረውን መጥፎ ነገር ሲያጣ እንዲያፍር፥ በነገር ሁሉ መልካምን በማድረግህ ምሳሌ የሚሆን ራስህን አሳይ፤ በትምህርትህም ደኅንነትን፥ ጭምትነትን፥ ጤናማና የማይነቀፍ ንግግርን ግለጥ። ባሪያዎች ስለ መድኃኒታችን ስለ እግዚአብሔር የሚሆነውን ትምህርት በሁሉ ነገር ያስመሰግኑ ዘንድ፥ ለገዛ ጌቶቻቸው እንዲገዙ በሁሉም ደስ እንዲያሰኙ፥ ሳይቃወሙና ሳይሰርቁም በጎ ታማኝነትን ሁሉ እንዲያሳዩ ምከራቸው። ሰዎችን ሁሉ የሚያድን የእግዚአብሔር ጸጋ ተገልጦአልና፤ ይህም ጸጋ፥ ኃጢአተኝነትንና ዓለማዊን ምኞት ክደን፥ የተባረከውን ተስፋችንን እርሱም የታላቁን የአምላካችንንና የመድኃኒታችንን የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ክብር መገለጥ እየጠበቅን፥ ራሳችንን በመግዛትና በጽድቅ እግዚአብሔርንም በመምሰል በአሁኑ ዘመን እንድንኖር ያስተምረናል፤ መድኃኒታችንም ከዓመፅ ሁሉ እንዲቤዠን፥ መልካሙንም ለማድረግ የሚቀናውን ገንዘቡም የሚሆነውን ሕዝብ ለራሱ እንዲያነጻ፥ ስለ እኛ ነፍሱን ሰጥቶአል። ይህን በሙሉ ሥልጣን ተናገርና ምከር ገሥጽም፤ ማንም አይናቅህ።
እናንተ ግን፥ ወዳጆች ሆይ፥ በጌታችን በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ሐዋርያት ቀድሞ የተነገረውን ቃል አስቡ፤ እነርሱ፡— በመጨረሻው ዘመን በኃጢአተኝነት እንደ ገዛ ምኞታቸው እየሄዱ ዘባቾች ይሆናሉ፥ ብለዋችኋልና። እነዚህ የሚያለያዩ ሥጋውያንም የሆኑ መንፈስም የሌላቸው ሰዎች ናቸው። እናንተ ግን፥ ወዳጆች ሆይ፥ ከሁሉ ይልቅ በተቀደሰ ሃይማኖታችሁ ራሳችሁን ለማነጽ እየተጋችሁ በመንፈስ ቅዱስም እየጸለያችሁ፥ ወደ ዘላለም ሕይወት የሚወስደውን የጌታችንን የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስን ምሕረት ስትጠባበቁ በእግዚአብሔር ፍቅር ራሳችሁን ጠብቁ። አንዳንዶች ተከራካሪዎችንም ውቀሱ፥ አንዳንዶችንም ከእሳት ነጥቃችሁ አድኑ፥ አንዳንዶችንም በሥጋ የረከሰውን ልብስ እንኳ እየጠላችሁ በፍርሃት ማሩ። ሳትሰናከሉም እንዲጠብቃችሁ፥ በክብሩም ፊት በደስታ ነውር የሌላችሁ አድርጎ እንዲያቆማችሁ ለሚችለው ብቻውን ለሆነ አምላክና መድኃኒታችን ከዘመን ሁሉ በፊት አሁንም እስከ ዘላለምም ድረስ በጌታችን በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ክብርና ግርማ ኃይልም ሥልጣንም ይሁን፤ አሜን።
ፊልጶስም ወደ ሰማርያ ከተማ ወርዶ ክርስቶስን ሰበከላቸው። ሕዝቡም የፊልጶስን ቃል በሰሙ ጊዜ ያደርጋት የነበረውንም ምልክት ባዩ ጊዜ፥ የተናገረውን በአንድ ልብ አደመጡ። ርኵሳን መናፍስት በታላቅ ድምፅ እየጮኹ ከብዙ ሰዎች ይወጡ ነበርና፤ ብዙም ሽባዎችና አንካሶች ተፈወሱ፤ በዚያችም ከተማ ታላቅ ደስታ ሆነ። ሲሞን የሚሉት አንድ ሰው ግን፡— እኔ ታላቅ ነኝ፥ ብሎ፥ እየጠነቈለ የሰማርያንም ወገን እያስገረመ ቀድሞ በከተማ ነበረ። ከታናናሾችም ጀምሮ እስከ ታላላቆቹ ድረስ፡— ታላቁ የእግዚአብሔር ኃይል ይህ ነው፥ እያሉ ሁሉ ያደምጡት ነበር። ከብዙ ዘመንም ጀምሮ በጥንቈላ ስላስገረማቸው ያደምጡት ነበር። ነገር ግን ስለ እግዚአብሔር መንግሥትና ስለ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ስም እየሰበከላቸው ፊልጶስን ባመኑት ጊዜ፥ ወንዶችም ሴቶችም ተጠመቁ። ሲሞንም ደግሞ ራሱ አመነ፤ ተጠምቆም ከፊልጶስ ጋር ይተባበር ነበር፤ የሚደረገውንም ምልክትና ታላቅ ተአምራት ባየ ጊዜ ተገረመ። በኢየሩሳሌምም የነበሩት ሐዋርያት የሰማርያ ሰዎች የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል እንደተቀበሉ ሰምተው ጴጥሮስንና ዮሐንስን ሰደዱላቸው።
እግዚአብሔር ስደተኞችን ይጠብቃል፤ ድሀ አደጎችንና ባልቴቶችን ይቀበላል፤ የኃጢአተኞችንም መንገድ ያጠፋል። እግዚአብሔር ለዘላለም ይነግሣል፤ ጽዮን ሆይ፥ አምላክሽ ለልጅ ልጅ ነው። ሃሌ ሉያ።
የአይሁድ በዓልም ፋሲካ ቀርቦ ነበር። ኢየሱስም ዓይኖቹን አንሥቶ ብዙ ሕዝብ ወደ እርሱ ሲመጣ አየና ፊልጶስን፡— እነዚህ እንዲበሉ እንጀራ ከወዴት እንገዛለን? አለው። ራሱ ሊያደርግ ያለውን ያውቅ ነበርና ሊፈትነው ይህን ተናገረ። ፊልጶስ፡— እያንዳንዳቸው ትንሽ ትንሽ እንኳ እንዲቀበሉ የሁለት መቶ ዲናር እንጀራ አይበቃቸውም ብሎ መለሰለት። ከደቀ መዛሙርቱ አንዱ የስምዖን ጴጥሮስ ወንድም እንድርያስ። አምስት የገብስ እንጀራና ሁለት ዓሣ የያዘ ብላቴና በዚህ አለ፤ ነገር ግን እነዚህን ለሚያህሉ ሰዎች ይህ ምን ይሆናል? አለው። ኢየሱስም፡— ሰዎቹን እንዲቀመጡ አድርጉ፡ አለ። በዚያም ስፍራ ብዙ ሣር ነበረበት። ወንዶችም ተቀመጡ ቍጥራቸውም አምስት ሺህ የሚያህል ነበር። ኢየሱስም እንጀራውን ያዘ፥ አመስግኖም ለደቀ መዛሙርቱ ሰጠ፥ ደቀ መዛሙርቱም ለተቀመጡት ሰዎች ሰጡአቸው እንዲሁም ከዓሣው በፈለጉት መጠን። ከጠገቡም በኋላ ደቀ መዛሙርቱን፡— አንድ ስንኳ እንዳይጠፋ የተረፈውን ቍርስራሽ አከማቹ፡ አላቸው። ሰለዚህ አከማቹ፥ ከበሉትም ከአምስቱ የገብስ እንጀራ የተረፈውን ቍርስራሽ አሥራ ሁለት መሶብ ሞሉ። ከዚህ የተነሣ ሰዎቹ ኢየሱስ ያደረገውን ምልክት ባዩ ጊዜ፡— ይህ በእውነት ወደ ዓለም የሚመጣው ነቢይ ነው፡ አሉ። በዚህም ምክንያት ኢየሱስ ያነግሡት ዘንድ ሊመጡና ሊነጥቁት እንዳላቸው አውቆ ደግሞ ወደ ተራራ ብቻውን ፈቀቅ አለ።
1 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease. 2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. 5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: 6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. 9 Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, 10 Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. 11 And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. 12 And when ye come into an house, salute it. 13 And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. 15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city. 16 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
1 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. 3 The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4 That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. 6 Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. 7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 8 Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. 9 Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; 10 Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee.
17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 17 And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath, and utterly destroyed it. And the name of the city was called Hormah. 18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 18 Also Judah took Gaza with the coast thereof, and Askelon with the coast thereof, and Ekron with the coast thereof. 19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 19 And the LORD was with Judah; and he drave out the inhabitants of the mountain; but could not drive out the inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of iron. 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 20 And they gave Hebron unto Caleb, as Moses said: and he expelled thence the three sons of Anak. 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 21 And the children of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem; but the Jebusites dwell with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem unto this day. 22 And of some have compassion, making a difference: 22 And the house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel: and the LORD was with them. 23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 23 And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. (Now the name of the city before was Luz.) 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 24 And the spies saw a man come forth out of the city, and they said unto him, Shew us, we pray thee, the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy. 25 And when he shewed them the entrance into the city, they smote the city with the edge of the sword; but they let go the man and all his family. 26 And the man went into the land of the Hittites, and built a city, and called the name thereof Luz: which is the name thereof unto this day. 27 Neither did Manasseh drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shean and her towns, nor Taanach and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Ibleam and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns: but the Canaanites would dwell in that land. 28 And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute, and did not utterly drive them out. 29 Neither did Ephraim drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer; but the Canaanites dwelt in Gezer among them. 30 Neither did Zebulun drive out the inhabitants of Kitron, nor the inhabitants of Nahalol; but the Canaanites dwelt among them, and became tributaries. 31 Neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Accho, nor the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Ahlab, nor of Achzib, nor of Helbah, nor of Aphik, nor of Rehob: 32 But the Asherites dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: for they did not drive them out. 33 Neither did Naphtali drive out the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh, nor the inhabitants of Beth-anath; but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land: nevertheless the inhabitants of Beth-shemesh and of Beth-anath became tributaries unto them. 34 And the Amorites forced the children of Dan into the mountain: for they would not suffer them to come down to the valley: 35 But the Amorites would dwell in mount Heres in Aijalon, and in Shaalbim: yet the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became tributaries. 36 And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them. 6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, were healed. 8 And there was great joy in that city. 9 But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: 10 To whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. 11 And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. 14 Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John:
9 The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. 10 The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 147
4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.