< Acts 8 >
1 Then some men who revered God buried Stephen’s body in a tomb, and they mourned greatly and loudly for him. On that same day [people] started severely persecuting the believers [who were living] in Jerusalem. So most [of the believers] fled [to other places] throughout Judea and Samaria [provinces]. The apostles were the only [believers who remained in Jerusalem].
Njalo uSawuli wayevumelana lokubulawa kwakhe. Ngalolosuku kwasekusuka ukuzingelwa okukhulu kwebandla elaliseJerusalema; bonke basebehlakazeka emazweni eJudiya leSamariya, ngaphandle kwabaphostoli.
Amadoda akholwayo asembutha uStefane, amenzela isililo esikhulu.
3 While the people were killing Stephen, Saul was there approving of their killing Stephen. So Saul [also] began trying to destroy the group of believers. He entered houses one by one, he dragged away men and women [who believed in Jesus], and then he [arranged for] them to be put in prison.
Kodwa uSawuli walichitha ibandla, engena izindlu ngezindlu, ehudula amadoda labafazi ebafaka entolongweni.
4 The believers who had left Jerusalem went to different places, where they continued preaching the message about Jesus.
Ngakho abahlakazekileyo badabula ilizwe, betshumayela ilizwi.
5 [One of those believers whose name was] Philip went down [from Jerusalem] to a city in Samaria [province]. There he was telling [the people that Jesus is] [MTY] the Messiah.
UFiliphu wasesehlela emzini weSamariya, watshumayela kubo uKristu.
6 Many people there heard Philip [speak] and saw the miraculous things that he was doing. So they all (paid close attention to/listened carefully to) his words.
Amaxuku aselalela nganhliziyonye okwakhulunywa nguFiliphu, esizwa njalo ebona izibonakaliso azenzayo.
7 For [example, when Philip commanded] evil spirits who controlled many people [that they should come out of them], they came out, while those spirits screamed. Also, many people who were paralyzed and [many others] who were lame were healed.
Ngoba kwabanengi ababelabomoya abangcolileyo, bememeza ngelizwi elikhulu baphuma; labanengi ababome umhlubulo lababeyiziqhuli basiliswa.
8 So [many people] [MTY] in that city greatly rejoiced.
Kwaba khona intokozo enkulu kulowomuzi.
9 There was a man in that city whose name was Simon. He had been practicing sorcery for a long time, and he had been amazing the people in Samaria [province by doing that]. He continually claimed that he was a great/important person.
Njalo indoda ethile, uSimoni ngebizo, eyayikade isenza imilingo emzini isanganisa isizwe saseSamariya, isithi ingumuntu omkhulu;
10 All the people there, both ordinary and important people, listened to him. [Various ones of] them were saying, “This man works in extremely powerful ways [because] God has caused him to be a great [person].”
abayilalelayo bonke kusukela kwabancinyane kuze kube kwabakhulu, besithi: Lo ungamandla amakhulu kaNkulunkulu.
11 They continued to listen to him carefully, because for a long time he had astonished them by practicing sorcery.
Basebemlalela, ngoba wabasanganisa isikhathi eside ngemilingo.
12 But then they believed Philip’s [message] when he preached to them about [how] God desires to rule [MET] [the lives of people who believe in him], and about Jesus being the Messiah [MTY]. Both the men and the women who believed in Jesus were baptized. {[Philip] was baptizing both the men and the women [who had come to believe in Jesus]}.
Kodwa kwathi sebekholwe uFiliphu etshumayela indaba ezinhle zezinto ngombuso kaNkulunkulu langebizo likaJesu Kristu, babhabhathizwa bonke amadoda labafazi.
13 Simon himself believed [Philip’s message] and, after he was baptized {after [Philip] baptized him}, he began to constantly accompany Philip. Simon was continually amazed because he often saw [Philip] doing many kinds of miraculous things.
LoSimoni laye wakholwa, njalo esebhabhathiziwe wanamathela kuFiliphu; wasanganiseka, ebona imisebenzi yamandla lezibonakaliso ezazisenziwa.
14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that [many people] [PRS] [throughout] Samaria [district] had believed the message from God [about Jesus], they sent Peter and John there.
Kwathi abaphostoli abaseJerusalema bezwe ukuthi iSamariya ilemukele ilizwi likaNkulunkulu, bathuma kubo uPetro loJohane;
15 When Peter and John arrived in Samaria, they prayed for those [new believers] in order that the Holy Spirit’s [power] would come to them.
abathi sebehlile babakhulekela, ukuze bamemukele uMoya oNgcwele;
16 [Peter and John realized that] the Holy Spirit had not yet begun to empower any of them. They had been baptized {[Philip] had baptized them} [because they had believed] in [MTY] the Lord Jesus, [but they did not know about the Holy Spirit].
ngoba wayengakehleli lakoyedwa wabo, kodwa babebhabhathizwe ebizweni leNkosi uJesu kuphela.
17 [Then Peter and John] placed their hands on [the heads of] each person, and they received the [power of] [MTY] the Holy Spirit.
Basebebeka izandla phezu kwabo, basebesemukela uMoya oNgcwele.
18 Simon saw [things that convinced him] that [God] had given the Spirit’s [power to people] as a result of the apostles placing their hands on them. So he offered [to give] money to the apostles,
Njalo uSimoni esebonile ukuthi ngokubekwa kwezandla zabaphostoli uyaphiwa uMoya oyiNgcwele, waletha imali kubo,
19 saying, “Enable me also to do what [you are doing], so that everyone on whom I place/put my hands may receive the Holy Spirit’s [power].”
esithi: Ngiphani lami lawomandla, ukuze kuthi loba ngubani engibeka izandla zami phezu kwakhe, emukele uMoya oNgcwele.
20 But Peter said to him, “May you [(sg)] and your money go to hell, because you [mistakenly] think that you can buy [from us] what God [alone] gives to [people] ()
Kodwa uPetro wathi kuye: Isiliva sakho kanye lawe kakube sekubhubheni, ngoba ucabanga ukuthi isipho sikaNkulunkulu singazuzwa ngemali.
21 [God] has not authorized you to have any part of this ministry of giving [the Holy Spirit’s power], because he knows that you are not thinking rightly! (OR, because he knows that you are thinking completely wrongly.)
Kawulasabelo lelifa kuloludaba. Ngoba inhliziyo yakho kayiqondanga phambi kukaNkulunkulu.
22 So stop thinking wickedly [like] that, and plead that the Lord, if he is willing, will forgive you [for what] you [wickedly] thought/planned [to do]
Ngakho phenduka kulobububi bakho, njalo ucele iNkosi, ukuthi uba kungenzeka uthethelelwe umnakano wenhliziyo yakho.
23 [Turn away from your evil ways], because I perceive that you [(sg)] are extremely envious of [us], and you [are] a slave of your [continual desire to do evil! God will certainly punish you severely]!”
Ngoba ngibona ukuthi usenyongweni ebabayo njalo usekubotshweni yisono.
24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord [God] that [he] will not do to me what you just said!”
USimoni wasephendula esithi: Ngikhulekelani lina eNkosini, ukuze ngingehlelwa ngolunye lwalezizinto elizikhulumileyo.
25 After [Peter and John] told [people there] what they knew personally [about the] Lord [Jesus] and declared to them the message about Jesus, they both returned to Jerusalem. [Along the way] they preached the good message [about Jesus to people] in many villages in Samaria [province].
Ngakho kuthe sebefakazile bekhulumile ilizwi leNkosi, babuyela eJerusalema, njalo betshumayela ivangeli emizaneni eminengi yamaSamariya.
26 [One day] an angel whom the Lord [God] had sent commanded Philip, “Get ready and go south along the road that extends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” [That was] a road in a desert area.
Ingilosi yeNkosi yasikhuluma loFiliphu, yathi: Sukuma uye eningizimu endleleni eyehla isuka eJerusalema isiya eGaza; yona iyinkangala.
27 So Philip got ready and went [along that road]. Suddenly he met a man from Ethiopia. He was an important official who took care of all the funds for the queen [of] Ethiopia. [In his language people called their queen] Candace. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship [God],
Wasesukuma ehamba; njalo khangela umuntu weEthiyophiya umthenwa induna enkulu kaKandake indlovukazi yamaEthiyophiya, eyayiphezu kwempahla yakhe eligugu yonke, eyayifikile eJerusalema ukukhonza,
28 and he was returning [home] and was seated [riding] in his chariot. [As he was riding], he was reading [out loud from] what the prophet Isaiah [had written] [MTY] [long ago].
yayisibuyela ihlezi enqoleni yayo, ibala kumprofethi uIsaya.
29 [God’s] Spirit told Philip, “Go near to that chariot and keep walking close to [the man who is riding in] it!”
UMoya wasesithi kuFiliphu: Sondela uhambe lalinqola.
30 So Philip ran [to the chariot and kept running close to it]. Then he heard the official reading what the prophet Isaiah [had written]. He asked the man, “Do you [(sg)] understand what you are reading?”
UFiliphu wasegijimela kuyo wayizwa ibala umprofethi uIsaya, wathi: Kambe uyaqedisisa yini lezizinto ozifundayo?
31 He answered Philip, “[No!] (I cannot possibly [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me!/How can I [understand it] if [there is] no one to explain it to me?) [RHQ]” Acts 8:31b-35 Then the man said to Philip, “Please come up [and] sit beside me.” [So Philip did that].
Yasisithi: Kambe ngingakwenelisa njani, ngaphandle kokuthi omunye angiqondise? Yasimcela uFiliphu ukuthi akhwele ahlale layo.
32 The part of the Scriptures that the official was reading was this: He will [be silent when] they lead him away to kill him [like when] a sheep [is led away to be killed]. As a young sheep is silent when its wool is being cut off {someone cuts off its wool}, [similarly] he will not protest [MTY] [when people cause him to suffer].
Lesehlukwana sombhalo eyayisifunda yilesi: Walethwa ekuhlatshweni njengemvu; lanjengewundlu lithule phambi komgundi walo, ngokunjalo kawuvuli umlomo wakhe.
33 When he will be humiliated by being accused falsely {people will humiliate him [by accusing him falsely]}, [the rulers] (will not consider him innocent/will consider him guilty). No one will possibly be able to tell about his descendants, because he will be killed {people will kill him} without him having [any descendants] on the earth.
Ekuthotshisweni kwakhe ukwahlulelwa kwakhe kwasuswa, njalo ngubani ongalandisa ngesizukulwana sakhe? Ngoba impilo yakhe iyasuswa emhlabeni.
34 The official asked Philip [about these words that he was reading], “Tell me, who was the prophet writing about? [Was he writing] about himself or about someone else?”
Umthenwa wasephendula uFiliphu wathi: Ngiyakubuza, umprofethi ukhuluma lokhu ngobani? Ngaye ngokwakhe, kumbe ngomunye yini?
35 So Philip began [to explain] that Scripture passage. He told him the good message about [MTY] Jesus. [So the official understood and believed in Jesus].
UFiliphu wasevula umlomo wakhe, eseqala kulowombhalo, watshumayela uJesu kuye.
36 While they were traveling along the road, they came to [a place where there was a pond of] water [near the road]. Then the official said [to Philip], “Look, [there is a pond of] water! (I would like you to baptize me, because I do not know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me.}/Do you know of anything that would prevent me from being baptized {prevent [you] from baptizing me}?) [RHQ]”
Kwathi besahamba endleleni, bafika emanzini athile; lomthenwa wathi: Khangela, nanka amanzi; kuyini okungivimbela ukuthi ngibhabhathizwe?
UFiliphu wasesithi: Uba ukholwa ngenhliziyo yonke, kuvunyelwe. Wasephendula wathi: Ngiyakholwa ukuthi uJesu Kristu uyiNdodana kaNkulunkulu.
38 So the official told [the driver] to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the official went down into the [pond of] water, and [Philip] baptized him.
Waselaya ukuthi inqola ime; basebesehlela emanzini bobabili, uFiliphu lomthenwa; wasembhabhathiza.
39 When they came up out of the water, suddenly God’s Spirit took Philip away. The official never saw Philip again. But [although he never saw Philip again], the official continued going along the road, very happy [that God had saved him].
Kwathi sebekhuphukile emanzini, uMoya weNkosi wamhluthuna uFiliphu; njalo umthenwa kazabe esambona; wahamba-ke ngendlela yakhe ethokoza.
40 Philip then realized [that the Spirit had miraculously taken him to] Azotus [town]. While he traveled around [in that region], he continued proclaiming the message [about Jesus] in all the towns [between Azotus and Caesarea. And he was still proclaiming] it when he finally arrived in Caesarea [city].
Kodwa uFiliphu waficwa eAzotu; njalo edabula watshumayela ivangeli kuyo yonke imizi, waze wafika eKesariya.