1 Ngono Saulo kadumila kubulawa kwa Sitifani.
Saulo edziyidza Gubungano
Mu zhuba ilelo gubungano limu Jerusalema likatangisa kube ne kudziyidziwa kwakabipa. Bose bakabe bepalala betizhila ku mituthu ye Judiya ne Samariya kuzhe kwe batumwa ba Jesu. 2 Balume banotja Ndzimu, bakabiganya Sitifani, bakanlilila nge tjililo tjikulu.
3 Koga Saulo kapaladza gubungano, engina ng'umba ne ng'umba ekwebela kuzhe bagalimoyo, balume kose ne bakadzi ebalonga mu ng'umba ye busungwa.
Ndebo mbuya inosumikigwa mu Samariya
4 Bagalimoyo ibabo bakapalala bakayenda kumwe ne kumwe, besumikila dama. 5 Filipo kayenda ku nzi nkulu Samariya, ngono kasumikila ngekwa Mesiya ku bali. 6 Mibunga ikahwilila tjakabe tjilebgwa ndi Filipo nge moyo nng'ompela nenge njele, benhwilila bebona zwilakidzo zwaakabe eshinga. 7 Meya mibi yakabe ibhuda mu bathu banjinji imimila ne banjinji bakalobgwa nge gulukadzi ne zwilema bakapodziwa. 8 Ndizo kwakabe ne kushatha kukulu mu nzi iwoyo.
9 Kwakabe kuna nlume unodang'wa Simoni wakabe abe ne tjibaka ethama masalamusi mu nzi ngono akadziyanya itjaba tje Samariya ezwikudza eti iye nge kukwe mmwe nkulu kulu. 10 Bose bakabe benhwilila kudwa mu ntukununu kunoti mu nkulu tjose beti, “Nlume iwoyu ndiye masimba e Ndzimu anodang'wa kuyi masimba makulu.” 11 Bakabe benhwilila, ngobe kwakabe kwabe tjibaka ebadziyanya nge masalamusi awe. 12 Koga bakati begalamoyo Filipo esumikila ndebo mbuya ye bushe gwe Ndzimu nenge zina la Jesu Kirisiti, bakadubikwa, bose balume ne bakadzi. 13 Simoni na iyebo kagalamoyo, ngono shule kwe adubikwa, kabhatana na Filipo. Ngono kati ebona zwilakidzo ne makaabadzo makulu eshingwa katjenama.
14 Batumwa ba Jesu mu Jerusalema bakati behwa kuti bathu mu Samariya bakaamutjila dama le Ndzimu, bakatuma Pita na Johani ku bali. 15 Bakati beswika, bakabatembezelela kuti baamutjile Meya yakayengemala. 16 Ngobe Meya yakayengemala yakabe isathu ikadelukila mubali, koga bakabe badubikiwa nge zina la She Jesu koga. 17 Ipapo Pita na Johani bakababiga maboko, ngono bakaamutjila Meya yakayengemala.
18 Simoni kati ebona kuti Meya yapiwa bagalimoyo ha batumwa ba Jesu bebabiga maboko, kapa Pita na Johani mari, 19 eti ku bali, “Mundipebo simba ileli, kuti mmwe ne mmwe wandinobiga maboko aamutjile Meya yakayengemala.”
20 Koga Pita kan'dabila kati, “Mari awo ngaalobe nawe, ngobe wakumbula kuti tjipo tje Ndzimu tjingatengwa nge mari! 21 Auna bugalo kene gobe muna ikoku, ngobe moyo uwo auzolulwama mu mesho e Ndzimu. 22 Shanduka mu bubi gugo igogu, utembezele She, kuti, ha kutubuka bakuzwiibhatigwe mazwimisilo e moyo uwo. 23 Ngobe ndobona kuti uzhele ndandala kakale u nsungwa we jinyo.”
24 Simoni kati kuna Pita na Johani, “Ndomukumbila munditembezelele kuna She, kuti kusibe ne tjimwe tje zwithu izwezwi zwamaleba tjinowondishingikalila.”
25 Shule kwe bapa butendeki, basumikila dama la She, Pita na Johani bakabgwilila ku Jerusalema, besumikila ndebo mbuya mu mizi minjinji ye Basamariya.
Filipo ne N'etiyopiya
26 Ntumwa wa She kati kuna Filipo, “Milika uyende ku ndzibo we ku burwa ku zila inodeluka idwa ku Jerusalema iyenda ku Gaza.” I zila inopalama tjilambanyika. 27 Ndizo Filipo kamilika kayenda, kashangana ne nlume we ngomwa we ku Itopiya wakabe ali nkadzasha nkulu ali mbhati we fumwa ya Kandake shekadzi we Itopiya, wakabe abe azha ku Jerusalema kunamata Ndzimu. 28 Ndizo wakabe wobgwilila kanyi akatatha koloyi iye ebala lukwalo gwe nlebesambeli Isaya. 29 Meya ikati kuna Filipo, “Yenda ku koloyi iyeyije uyende nayo.” 30 Filipo kalabukilako, ngono kanhwa ebala mu lukwalo gwe nlebesambeli Isaya. Kambhuzwa kati, “Apa unohwisisa tjaunobala kene?” 31 Nlandalume kashandula eti, “Ndingahwisisa tjini kusina unonditjenesela kene?” Ndizo kakumbila kuti Filipo atathe agale naye mu koloyi. 32 Paakabe ebala mu lukwalo ndiapa,
“Se pkhwizi inokwebegwa ku mbulayi,
kene pkhwizana inyelele mbeli kwe nteseli wayo,
ndizo aazozhula nlomo.
33 Kalengudziwa kalambigwa ndulamo.
Ndiani kene ungaleba ngekwe ludzi gugwe?
Ngoti butjilo gugwe gwapela mu shango.”
34 Nlanda kabhuzwa Filipo kati, “Mundibudze kuti, nlebesambeli unoleba ikoku ngekwa ani? Unoleba nge kukwe kene ngekwe mmwe upoga?” 35 Ipapo Filipo kadwa nlomo, ngono katangisa nge lukwalo igogu, kambudza ndebo mbuya ngekwa Jesu. 36 Bakati beyenda mu zila, bakaswika pathu pakabe pana vula, ngono nlanda kati, “Bona, eyi vula. Ini tjingandidzibila kudubikwa kene?” 37 [Filipo kati kunli, “Ungadubikwa ha ugalamoyo nge moyo uwo wose.” Kadabila eti, “Ndogalamoyo, kuti Jesu Kirisiti Nkololo we Ndzimu.”]
38 Nlanda kamisa koloyi, ngono bose Filipo ne nlanda bakangina mu vula, ngono Filipo kan'dubika. 39 Bakati bebhuda mu vula, Meya ya She ikatola Filipo. Nlanda aazotjambona kakale, koga kadwilila mu zila iye akashatha kwazo. 40 Filipo kaboneka mu Azotu; ngono kayendila mbeli esumikila ndebo mbuya ku mizi yose, kudzina eswika ku Sizariya.
1 And Saul approved of his murder.
Saul Persecutes the Church
That very day the church in Jerusalem began to suffer cruel persecution. All the believers, except the apostles, were scattered throughout the provinces of Judea and Samaria. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, mourning for him with loud cries.
3 But Saul tried to destroy the church; going from house to house, he dragged out the believers, both men and women, and threw them into jail.
The Gospel Is Preached in Samaria
4 The believers who were scattered went everywhere, preaching the message. 5 Philip went to the principal city in Samaria and preached the Messiah to the people there. 6 The crowds paid close attention to what Philip said, as they listened to him and saw the miracles that he performed. 7 Evil spirits came out from many people with a loud cry, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.
9 A man named Simon lived there, who for some time had astounded the Samaritans with his magic. He claimed that he was someone great, 10 and everyone in the city, from all classes of society, paid close attention to him. “He is that power of God known as ‘The Great Power,’” they said. 11 They paid this attention to him because for such a long time he had astonished them with his magic. 12 But when they believed Philip's message about the good news of the Kingdom of God and about Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself also believed; and after being baptized, he stayed close to Philip and was astounded when he saw the great wonders and miracles that were being performed.
14 The apostles in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria had received the word of God, so they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the believers that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For the Holy Spirit had not yet come down on any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit had been given to the believers when the apostles placed their hands on them. So he offered money to Peter and John, 19 and said, “Give this power to me too, so that anyone I place my hands on will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter answered him, “May you and your money go to hell, for thinking that you can buy God's gift with money! 21 You have no part or share in our work, because your heart is not right in God's sight. 22 Repent, then, of this evil plan of yours, and pray to the Lord that he will forgive you for thinking such a thing as this. 23 For I see that you are full of bitter envy and are a prisoner of sin.”
24 Simon said to Peter and John, “Please pray to the Lord for me, so that none of these things you spoke of will happen to me.”
25 After they had given their testimony and proclaimed the Lord's message, Peter and John went back to Jerusalem. On their way they preached the Good News in many villages of Samaria.
Philip and the Ethiopian Official
26 An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get ready and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This road is not used nowadays.) 27-28 So Philip got ready and went. Now an Ethiopian eunuch, who was an important official in charge of the treasury of the queen of Ethiopia, was on his way home. He had been to Jerusalem to worship God and was going back home in his carriage. As he rode along, he was reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. 29 The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to that carriage and stay close to it.” 30 Philip ran over and heard him reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 The official replied, “How can I understand unless someone explains it to me?” And he invited Philip to climb up and sit in the carriage with him. 32 The passage of scripture which he was reading was this:
“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered,
like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off.
He did not say a word.
33 He was humiliated, and justice was denied him.
No one will be able to tell about his descendants,
because his life on earth has come to an end.”
34 The official asked Philip, “Tell me, of whom is the prophet saying this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage of scripture, he told him the Good News about Jesus. 36 As they traveled down the road, they came to a place where there was some water, and the official said, “Here is some water. What is to keep me from being baptized?”
38 The official ordered the carriage to stop, and both Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but continued on his way, full of joy. 40 Philip found himself in Azotus; he went on to Caesarea, and on the way he preached the Good News in every town.