Acts 6
EasyEnglish Bible
The believers choose seven men
6 At that time, more and more people became disciples of Jesus. Among the believers, some were Jews who spoke the Greek language. Others were Jews who spoke the Aramaic language. The Jews who spoke Greek had a problem with the other Jews. They said, ‘The widows in our group do not receive the right help. Each day, when you give out the food and money, our widows receive less than they should get.’[a]
2 The 12 apostles heard about the problem. They told all the believers to meet together with them. The apostles said, ‘Our work is to teach people God's message about Jesus. We do not have time to give out the food and money to people as well. 3 So, friends, please choose seven men from among you. You must know that each of them is full of the Holy Spirit. They must also be very wise. We will ask these seven men to do this work for us. 4 Then we will have more time to pray. We will also have more time to teach people God's message.’
5 The whole group of believers was happy with the apostles' words. So first they chose a man called Stephen. Stephen believed strongly in God and he was full of the Holy Spirit. The believers also chose six other men: Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicolas. Nicolas was from Antioch. He was not born as a Jew, but he had joined the Jews later. 6 The group of believers put these seven men in front of the apostles. The apostles prayed for each man and they put their hands on them. They gave them authority to do this special work.
7 So more and more people heard the message from God. The number of people in Jerusalem who believed in Jesus grew more and more. Many of the Jewish priests also believed the message about Jesus.[b]
The important Jews take hold of Stephen
8 God helped Stephen in many special ways. God's power was with him. He did many miracles among the people which showed that God was with him. 9 But some men spoke against Stephen. They did not agree with what he taught people. These men were from one of the Jewish meeting places in Jerusalem. People called them, ‘The Group of Free Men’. These men were Jews from the cities called Cyrene and Alexandria. Some of them were from towns in Cilicia and Asia. They began to argue with Stephen. 10 But the Holy Spirit helped Stephen to be very wise when he spoke. So these men could not say that he was wrong.
11 Then those men secretly gave money to some bad men. They told them to say to the Jewish leaders, ‘We heard this man, Stephen, say bad things against Moses and against God.’
12 This made the people become angry against Stephen. The important Jews and the teachers of God's Law also became very angry. So they took hold of Stephen. They took him to stand in front of the group of Jewish leaders. 13 Then they brought in some men to say bad things about Stephen. The things that these men said were not true. They said about Stephen, ‘This man is always saying bad things about the temple. He says bad things against God's Law. 14 We also heard him talk about Jesus, the man who comes from Nazareth. He said that Jesus will destroy this place. He also said that Jesus will change the way that Moses taught us to live.’
15 All the Jewish leaders who sat there in the meeting looked carefully at Stephen. They saw that his face was very bright, like the face of an angel.
Mga Gawa 6
Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version
Ang Pagpili sa Pitong Tagapaglingkod
6 Nang mga araw na patuloy ang pagdami ng mga alagad, nagreklamo ang mga Helenista laban sa mga Hebreo. Ito'y sa dahilang napapabayaan ang kanilang mga babaing balo sa pang-araw-araw na pamamahagi ng ikabubuhay. 2 Tinawag ng labindalawa ang buong kapulungan ng mga alagad, at sinabi, “Hindi nararapat na pabayaan namin ang salita ng Diyos upang maglingkod sa mga hapag. 3 Kaya mga kapatid, pumili kayo sa mga kasamahan ninyo ng pitong lalaking kilalang may mabuting pagkatao, puspos ng Espiritu at ng karunungan, at itatalaga namin sila sa tungkuling ito, 4 habang iuukol namin ang aming sarili sa pananalangin at sa paglilingkod para sa salita.” 5 Nasiyahan ang buong kapulungan sa kanilang sinabi at pinili nila si Esteban, lalaking puspos ng pananampalataya at ng Banal na Espiritu, kasama sina Felipe, Procoro, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, at si Nicolas na taga-Antioquia na nahikayat sa Judaismo. 6 Pinatayo sila sa harapan ng mga apostol at sila'y ipinanalangin ng mga ito at pinatungan ng kamay. 7 Patuloy na lumaganap ang salita ng Diyos at mabilis na dumami ang bilang ng mga alagad sa Jerusalem, kabilang ang maraming pari sa mga naging tagasunod ng pananampalataya.
Ang Pagdakip kay Esteban
8 Si Esteban, na puspos ng biyaya at ng kapangyarihan, ay gumawa ng mga dakilang kababalaghan at mga himala sa gitna ng mga taong-bayan. 9 Ngunit nakipagtalo sa kanya ang ilan mula sa sinagoga, na tinatawag na Mga Pinalaya at mga Cireneo, at mga Alejandrino, at mga taga-Cilicia, at taga-Asia. 10 Hindi nila kayang salungatin ang karunungan at ang Espiritu na nagkaloob sa kanya ng kanyang sinasabi. 11 Kaya lihim nilang sinulsulan ang ilang lalaki na sabihing, “Narinig namin siyang nagsasalita ng mga kalapastanganan laban kay Moises at laban sa Diyos.” 12 Sinulsulan din nila ang taong-bayan, maging ang mga matatandang namamahala sa bayan, at ang mga tagapagturo ng Kautusan. Lumapit sila kay Esteban, pagkatapos ay sinunggaban siya at dinala sa Sanhedrin. 13 Nagharap sila ng mga sinungaling na saksi na nagsabi, “Walang tigil ang taong ito sa pagsasalita laban sa banal na lugar na ito at laban sa Kautusan. 14 Sapagkat narinig naming sinabi niya na gigibain nitong si Jesus na taga-Nazareth ang lugar na ito, at babaguhin ang mga kaugaliang ipinamana sa atin ni Moises.” 15 Nakita ng lahat ng nakaupo sa Sanhedrin na nakatitig sa kanya na ang mukha niya ay tulad ng sa isang anghel.
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Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version, Copyright © Philippine Bible Society 2009.
