Paulo unozwimila mbeli kwa Agiripa
1 Agiripa kati kuna Paulo, “Una ndetjedzelo kuzwilebelekegwa.” Paulo katambunudza luboko gugwe kazwimila sahwoku:
2 “Mambo Agiripa! Ndozwikumbula ndina phazha kuti nasi ndizwimile mbeli kuko mu zwithu zose Bajuta zwabanonditjeta ndizo, 3 ngobe uziba zubuyanana milenje ne ndebo dze Bajuta dzabanonyanyayidzana mudzili. Ndizo ndomukumbila kuti mundihwilile nge moyonlefu.
4 “Bose Bajuta banoziba sekwa ndakatjila kudwila ndili ntukununu. Banoziba sekwa ndakapitsha butjilo gwangu gose, kutanga mu shango ya kanyi kwedu nenge ku Jerusalema. 5 Kwabe ntolo beziba, ha beda kutendeka kuti kudwa mu kutangisa ndakatjila ndili ndungululo ye bhiko le milayo yakasima kwazo ye kunamata kwedu, le Bafarasi. 6 Ngono ngwenu ndimile pano ndisumikilisiwa ngekwe kugalabgwe kwandinako mu kugadziwabgwe kwa bobatategulu nge Ndzimu, 7 itjo tjithu njudzi dza kanyi kwedu dzili gumi lina mbili tjadzinogalabgwe kuamutjila, dzinamata Ndzimu siku ne sikati dzakalongamoyo. Ngono ngekwa ikoku kugalabgwe, Mambo, Bajuta banonditilika nlandu! 8 Ini muwana kwakasima kuduma kuti Ndzimu unomusa bafi?
9 “Imi nge kwangu ndakawana kwakafanila kuti ndithame zwithu zwinjinji kunyanyayidza zina la Jesu we Nazareta. 10 Itjetjo nditjo tjandakashinga mu Jerusalema. Ndakaamutjila simba mu bapirisiti bakulu, ngono alonga bunjinji gwe bagalimoyo mu ng'umba ye busungwa; bakati besumikilisigwa lufu, namibo adumana nako. 11 Ndakabadziyidza kanjinji mu ng'umba dzose dze mitembezelo, ngono agwisa kubathama kuti batuke Ndzimu wabo. Nge kubagwadzilamoyo kukulu, ndakabadziyidza ne ku mizi ye zwitjaba zwipoga.
Paulo unoleba ngoshanduka kukwe
(Mishingo 9:1-19Mishingo 22:6-16)12 “Nditjo tjandakabendayendila ku Damasiko nge simba nenge ndayo dzinodwa mu bapirisiti bakulu. 13 Mambo, kwakabe kuli pakati kwe masikati, ndili mu zila ha ndibona tjedza tjinopenya kupinda zhuba, tjidwa pezhugwi ngono tjikapenya kundipoteleka na ibabo bakabe bayenda nami. 14 Takati tawila pasi tose, ahwa hwi liti kundili mu Tjihebheru, ‘Saulo, Saulo! Apa unondidziyidzilani kene? Unozwikubadza nge kuthula theswi dze mbambo.’ 15 Abhuzwa ati, ‘Ndimwi ani She?’ Ngono She bakadabila beti, ‘Ndimi Jesu, waunodziyidza. 16 Koga milika ume nge makumbo. Ndakuzwilakidza ngekwa ikoku, kukushalula kuti ushinge kakale ube ntendeki mu zwithu zwawandibona muzwili ne muna izwezo zwandinowokuzwilakidza. 17 Ndowokuangulila mu bathu be Iziraela ne muna Bezwitjaba ibo bandinokutuma ku bali, 18 kuzhula mesho abo, kuti ndizo bashandukile zhalima babe tjedza. Bashandukila simba la Satani bazhe ku simba le Ndzimu, kuti ndizo nge kugalamoyo kwabo mundili baamutjile kuzwiibhatigwa zwibi zwabo, ngono bawane bugalo pakati kwe bayengemali.’
Paulo unoleba ngekwe nshingo uwe
19 “Ngono ndizo, Mambo Agiripa, andizonyanyayidza mbono yandakabona kudwa kudzimu. 20 Ndakatanga ku Damasiko, kudwapo ati ku Jerusalema ne Judiya ne kuna Bezwetjaba, ndisumikila kuti bashandukile matjinyo abo bazhe ku Ndzimu kakale bashinge mishingo inolakidza aba shanduka. 21 Ngekwa ikoku Bajuta bakandibhata ndili mu Ng'umba ye Ndzimu ngono bakagwisa kundibulaya. 22 Koga kuswikila zhuba lino ndabe ndibhatshiwa nge Ndzimu, ndizo ndimile pano kupa butendeki gwangu kuna bose, ku batukununu ne bakulukulu nge kunofanana. Tjandinoleba nditjozwatjo balebesambeli na Mushe tjabakati tjowoshingikala, 23 kuti Mesiya wakadziyila, ngono nge kube we kutanga kumuka mu bafi, kuleba tjedza tje jidzo ku Bajuta ne kuna Bezwitjaba.”
24 Kukati Paulo ezwimila nge zila iyeyi, Fesito kamilidza hwi kati “Iwe unopenga Paulo! Kuzwidiya kuko kukulu kokupengesa!”
25 Paulo kadabila eti, “Anditopenga Mbilimangenje Fesito! Ndoleba matama ana malebeswa asina bupengo. 26 Mambo banoziba ngekwe zwithu izwezwi, ndizo ku bali ndolebeleka ndakasununguka, ngoti ndogalamoyo kuti zwithu izwezwi azwizobalashikila ngoti azwizoshingikalila mu ikotjo. 27 Mambo Agiripa, apa mogalamoyo balebesambeli kene? Ndoziba kuti mobagalamoyo!”
28 Agiripa kati kuna Paulo, “Apa unokumbula kuti mu tjibaka itjetji tjifutshwanana unowondithama Nkirisiti kene?”
29 Paulo kadabila eti, “Kene tjibaka tjifutshwana kene tjilefu, ntembezelo wangu ku Ndzimu hwuti kusibe imwi koga nanga na bose makandihwilila nasi, mube tjandili itjo, kuzhe kwe ketani idzedzi!”
30 Ipapo mambo ne mbusi na Bherinisi ne bakabe bali gele nabo bakamilika, 31 ngono bakati badwa ipapo, bakalebesana beti, “Nlume iwoyu aazothama tjimwe tjaangafila kene kuli kulongwa mu ng'umba ye busungwa.” 32 Ngono Agiripa kati kuna Fesito, “Nlume iwoyu unobe asunungugwa ha asakabe asapitshila ndebo kuna Kaisara.”
Paul Defends Himself before Agrippa
1 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak on your own behalf.” Paul stretched out his hand and defended himself as follows:
2 “King Agrippa! I consider myself fortunate that today I am to defend myself before you from all the things these Jews accuse me of, 3 particularly since you know so well all the Jewish customs and disputes. I ask you, then, to listen to me with patience.
4 “All the Jews know how I have lived ever since I was young. They know how I have spent my whole life, at first in my own country and then in Jerusalem. 5 They have always known, if they are willing to testify, that from the very first I have lived as a member of the strictest party of our religion, the Pharisees. 6 And now I stand here to be tried because of the hope I have in the promise that God made to our ancestors— 7 the very thing that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive, as they worship God day and night. And it is because of this hope, Your Majesty, that I am being accused by these Jews! 8 Why do you who are here find it impossible to believe that God raises the dead?
9 “I myself thought that I should do everything I could against the cause of Jesus of Nazareth. 10 That is what I did in Jerusalem. I received authority from the chief priests and put many of God's people in prison; and when they were sentenced to death, I also voted against them. 11 Many times I had them punished in the synagogues and tried to make them deny their faith. I was so furious with them that I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.
Paul Tells of His Conversion
(Acts 9.1-19Acts 22.6-16)12 “It was for this purpose that I went to Damascus with authority and orders from the chief priests. 13 It was on the road at midday, Your Majesty, that I saw a light much brighter than the sun, coming from the sky and shining around me and the men traveling with me. 14 All of us fell to the ground, and I heard a voice say to me in Hebrew, ‘Saul, Saul! Why are you persecuting me? You are hurting yourself by hitting back, like an ox kicking against its owner's stick.’ 15 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked. And the Lord answered, ‘I am Jesus, whom you persecute. 16 But get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant. You are to tell others what you have seen of me today and what I will show you in the future. 17 I will rescue you from the people of Israel and from the Gentiles to whom I will send you. 18 You are to open their eyes and turn them from the darkness to the light and from the power of Satan to God, so that through their faith in me they will have their sins forgiven and receive their place among God's chosen people.’
Paul Tells of His Work
19 “And so, King Agrippa, I did not disobey the vision I had from heaven. 20 First in Damascus and in Jerusalem and then in the whole country of Israel and among the Gentiles, I preached that they must repent of their sins and turn to God and do the things that would show they had repented. 21 It was for this reason that these Jews seized me while I was in the Temple, and they tried to kill me. 22 But to this very day I have been helped by God, and so I stand here giving my witness to all, to small and great alike. What I say is the very same thing which the prophets and Moses said was going to happen: 23 that the Messiah must suffer and be the first one to rise from death, to announce the light of salvation to the Jews and to the Gentiles.”
24 As Paul defended himself in this way, Festus shouted at him, “You are mad, Paul! Your great learning is driving you mad!”
25 Paul answered, “I am not mad, Your Excellency! I am speaking the sober truth. 26 King Agrippa! I can speak to you with all boldness, because you know about these things. I am sure that you have taken notice of every one of them, for this thing has not happened hidden away in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do!”
28 Agrippa said to Paul, “In this short time do you think you will make me a Christian?”
29 “Whether a short time or a long time,” Paul answered, “my prayer to God is that you and all the rest of you who are listening to me today might become what I am—except, of course, for these chains!”
30 Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others got up, 31 and after leaving they said to each other, “This man has not done anything for which he should die or be put in prison.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to the Emperor.”