The Orthodox Jewish Brit Chadasha © 1996 by Artists For Israel International
New York, New York 10163. All rights reserved
GEVUROT MEYRUACH HAKODESH (ACTS)
PEREK ALEPH (CHAPTER ONE)
In the sefer harishon (first book) I wrote about everything, O Theophilus, about Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, both what he began to do and the shiurim he began to say,
|2| until HaYom, when he made aliyah ascent to Shomayim, having given Moshiach's mitzvot through the Ruach Hakodesh to the Shluchim whom he chose,
|3| to whom also he presented himself chai (alive), after his Messianic innuyim (sufferings), by many convincing proofs, during arba'im yamim appearing to his Shluchim and speaking concerning the Malchut Hashem.
|4| And while gathering them at a yechidus, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach gave instructions to them not to depart from Yerushalayim, but to wait for the havtachah (promise) of [Elohim] HaAv which he said, "You heard of from me. [TEHILLIM 27:14]
|5| "For Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva with a mikveh mayim, but you will receive a tevilah in the Ruach Hakodesh not many yamim (days) from now." [YOEL 3:1;(2:28)]
"AD MOSAI?" (HOW MUCH LONGER?)
|6| And at yechidus, having come together, they were asking him saying,"Adoneinu, is it at this time that you are restoring the Malchut Hashem to Am Yisroel?"
|7| But Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach said to them, "It is not for you to have da'as of the itim (times) or moadim (seasons) which [Elohim] HaAv has set by his own samchut (authority). [DEVARIM 29:29; TEHILLIM 107:13]
|8| "But you will receive ko'ach (power) when the Ruach Hakodesh has come upon you, and you all will be the Eidus (the Witness) of me, in Yerushalayim and in all Yehudah and Shomron and as far as ad ketzeh ha'aretz."
|9| And having said these things, while they were looking on, in an aliyah ascent to Shomayim, Moshiach was taken up, and an anan (cloud) took him away from their eyes.
|10| And as they were gazing intently into Shomayim, while Moshiach was going--hinei--two beings, enrobed in white, had been present with them.
|11| Also, these said, "Men of the Galil, why do you stand looking into Shomayim? This Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, the one having been taken up from you into Shomayim, will also come again in like manner as you saw him going into Shomayim."
|12| Then they returned to Yerushalayim from the Mount of Olives, which from Yerushalayim is a Shabbos walk.
|13| And when they entered, they went up into the upstairs where they were staying, that is, Kefa and Yochanan and Ya'akov and Andrew and Philippos and T'oma and Bar-Talmai and Mattityahu and Ya'akov Ben-Chalfai and Shimon the Zealot and Yehudah Ben Ya'akov.
|14| These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to tefillah, with the nashim and with Miryam the Em of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach and with his achim.
|15| And at this time, having stood up, Kefa, in the midst of the Achim b'Moshiach, [there were 120 persons in the place]
|16| said, "Achim b'Moshiach, the Kitvei Hakodesh had to be fulfilled, which the Ruach Hakodesh foretold through the peh of Dovid Hamelech concerning Yehudah, who became a guide to the ones arresting Yehoshua.
|17| "For he had been numbered among us, and he received his ministry in the Messianic avodas kodesh (holy worship, service) of the Moshiach's Shluchim.
|18| (Now this man, therefore, acquired a sadeh out of the sachar [reward] of his peysha and, having fallen headlong, he plotst [burst] open in the middle and all the inward parts of him were poured out.
|19| And this became known to all the ones inhabiting Yerushalayim, so that the sadeh [field] became known in their language as `Akeldama', that is `Sadeh of Dahm.')
|20| "For it has been written in the Sefer Tehillim, "TEHI the place of him NESHAMMAH (one being deserted)...V'AL YEHI YOSHEV" ("May his place be deserted and let him not be the one dwelling in it"--TEHILLIM 69:26) and "PEKUDATO YIKACH ACHER" ("his place of leadership may another take"--TEHILLIM 109:8)
|21| "It is necessary, therefore, that one of the anashim who accompanied us during all the time in which Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua went in and went out among us,
|22| "beginning from the tevilah of teshuva of Yochanan until the day when Moshiach was taken up from us--one of these should become Eidus (Witness) with us to the Techiyas HaMoshiach (Resurrection of Moshiach)."
|23| And they put forward two anashim, Yosef Bar-Sabba, also called Justus, and Mattityahu.
|24| And having davened, they said, "Adonoi, you have da'as of the levavot of Kol B'nei Adam. Therefore, show which of these two is your bechirah (choice, selection) [SHMUEL ALEF 14:41]
|25| "to take the place of this avodas kodesh ministry and Shlichus from which Yehudah turned aside to go to his own place."
|26| And they drew lots, and the lot fell to Mattityahu, and he was numbered
with the Achad Asar of Moshiach's Shluchim.
PEREK BEIT (CHAPTER TWO)
And when the day of Shavuos is fulfilled, they were all together at the same place. [VAYIKRA 23:15,16]
|2| And there was mitamuhl (suddenly) from Shomayim a sound like the rushing of a violent wind, and it filled the whole bais where they were sitting.
|3| And leshonot appeared to them, being divided as eish (fire), resting on each one of them,
|4| and all were filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, and they began to speak in other leshonot as the Ruach Hakodesh was giving the ability to them to speak.
|5| Now there were in Yerushalayim frum, charedi (orthodox) Yehudim from all the nations under Shomayim.
|6| And at this sound, the multitude assembled and was bewildered, because they were hearing, each one in his own native language, the Achim b'Moshiach speaking.
|7| And they were mishpoyel (standing in awe) and marveled, saying, "Hinei! Are not all of these Galileans speaking?
|8| "And how are we hearing, each in our own language in which we were born
|9| "--we Parthians and Medes and Elamites; the ones living in Mesopotamia, Yehudah, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia,
|10| Phrygia, Pamphylia, Mitzrayim (Egypt), and the regions of Libya around Cyrene; and the visiting Romans,
|11| both Yehudim and Gerim (Proselytes), Cretans, and Arabs--we hear them speaking in other languages [than their own] of the Gevurot (mighty acts) of Hashem?"
|12| And all had real hispailus (overwhelming awe) and were bewildered, saying one to another, "What can this mean?"
|13| But others, mocking, were saying, "Of sweet wine they have been filled!"
|14| But Kefa, having stood with the Achad Asar, lifted up his voice and declared to them, "Anashim Yehudim! And the ones inhabiting Yerushalayim, have da'as of all this and be goires (listen to) my dvarim.
|15| "For these ones are not, as you assume, in their schnaps, for it is only the third hour of the day (nine o'clock in the morning).
|16| "But this is what has been spoken by Yoel HaNavi,
|17| `And it shall be in the Acharit Hayamim, ne'um Hashem, ESHPOCH ES RUCHI AL KOL BASAR V'NIB'U BNEICHEM U'VENOTEICHEM ZIKNEICHEM CHALOMOT YACHALOMUN BACHUREICHEM CHEZYONOT YIRU ("I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams and your bochrim will see visions" --YOEL 3:1f [2:28f]) [BAMIDBAR 11:25; YESHAYAH 44:3; YECHEZKEL 39:29]
|18| `and upon my avadim (male servants) and upon my shfakhot (female servants) in BAYYAMIM HAHEMMAH ESHPOCH ES RUCHI ("in those days I will pour out my Ruach Hakodesh") and they will speak dvarim hanevu'ah.
|19| `And I will give MOFTIM BASHOMAYIM and signs on ha'aretz below DAHM VA'EISH V'TIMROT ASHAM ("blood and fire and billows of smoke")
|20| `HASHEMESH YEHAFECH L'CHOSHECH V'HAYAREIACH L'DAHM LIFNEI BO YOM HASHEM HAGADOL V'HANORAH V'HAYAH KOL ASHER YIKRA B'SHEM ADONOI YIMMALET. ("The shemesh (sun) will be transformed into choshech (darkness) and the moon into blood before the great and dreadful YOM HASHEM.")
|21| ("And it will be that everyone whoever calls upon the Name of Adonoi will be saved".)' [BERESHIT 4:26; 26:25; TEHILLIM 105:1; YOEL 3:1-5 (2:28-32)]
|22| "Anshei Yisroel, listen to these dvarim: Yehoshua of Natzeret, a man having been attested by Hashem to you by gevurot and moftim which Hashem did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves have da'as--
|23| "this one, delivered up by the determined cheshbon (plan) and yedi'ah mukdemet (foreknowledge) of Hashem, and by the hand of lawless Bnei Adam you made him talui al HaEtz (being hanged on the Tree, DEVARIM 21:23) and put him to death. [YESHAYAH 53:10]
|24| "But in fact Hashem made Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach to stand up alive again, having destroyed the Chevlei HaMavet, because it was impossible for Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach to be held by Death's ko'ach.
|25| "For Dovid Hamelech says of him, SHIVVITI HASHEM L'NEGDI TAMID KI MIMINI BAL EMMOT ("I set Adonoi before me always, because he is at my right hand I will not be shaken.") [TEHILLIM 16:8-11]
|26| LAKHEN SAMACH LIBI VAYYAGEL KEVODI AF BESARI YISHKON LAVETACH ("Therefore my heart was cheered up and my tongue exulted and in addition also my flesh, my body, will live in secure [hope].") [BERESHIT 47:18; TEHILLIM 16:9-10; IYOV 19:25-27; YESHAYAH 53:11]
|27| KI LO TA'AZOV NAFSHI LISHE'OL LO TITEN CHASIDCHA LIR'OT SHACHAT ("Because you will not abandon the nefesh (soul) of me to destruction nor will you give your Chassid [trans. note: i.e. Moshiach the ultimate Chassid] to see corruption.")
|28| TODIEINI ORACH CHAYYIM SOVA SEMACHOT ES PANECHA ("You made known to me the path of Chayyim, you will fill me with simcha in your presence.") [TEHILLIM 16:8-11]
|29| "Anashim Achim, it is permitted to speak with bitachon (confidence) to you benoigeia (regarding) Dovid Avinu, that also he died and was buried and his kever (tomb) is with us until this day. [MELACHIM ALEF 2:10; NECHEMYAH 3:16]
|30| "Therefore, being a Navi and having da'as that with a shevu'ah (an oath) HASHEM swore to him that from his loins his zera would sit upon his KISSEH... [TEHILLIM 132:11; 89:3-4; SHMUEL BAIS 7:12-13]
|31| "Foreseeing this, Dovid Hamelech spoke about the Techiyas HaMoshiach: neither was he "abandoned to destruction nor did his BASAR see corruption." [BERESHIT 47:18; TEHILLIM 16:9-10; IYOV 19:25-27; YESHAYAH 53:11]
|32| "This Yehoshua in fact Hashem made to stand up alive again, of which we all are Edim (trans. note: i.e. here the original language means "martyr witnesses unto mavet al Kiddush Hashem").
|33| "Having been exalted to the right hand of Hashem and having received the havtachah of the Ruach Hakodesh from [Elohim] HaAv, Moshiach poured out this which you also see and hear.
|34| "For Dovid Hamelech did not ascend into Shomayim, but he says, "Hashem says to Adoni, SHEV LIMINI ("sit down at my right hand")
|35| until I make OYVECHA ("your enemies") your footstool." [TEHILLIM 110:1]
|36| "Therefore, assuredly let Klal Yisroel have da'as that this Yehoshua, whom you made talui al HaEtz (being hanged on the Tree, DEVARIM 21:23), this one Hashem has made both Adoneinu and Rabbeinu, Melech HaMoshiach."
|37| And when they heard this, they were pierced with conviction in their levavot, and they said to Kefa and to the other of Moshiach's Shluchim, "Achim, what shall we do?"
|38| And Kefa said to them, "Make teshuva (repentance, turning from chet to Hashem) and each of you submit to a tevilah of teshuva in the Shem of Yehoshua, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, for the selichat avon of you, and you will receive the matanah of the Ruach Hakodesh.
|39| "For to you is the havtachah and to your yeladim and to all the ones at a distance, as many as may YIKRA B'SHEM ADONOI ELOHEINU." [YOEL 3:5; 2:28; YESHAYAH 44:3; 65:23; 57:19]
|40| And with many other dvarim, Kefa gave solemn edut (testimony) and was warning them, "Receive yeshu'at Eloheinu from this DOR IKKESH U'FETALTOL (warped and crooked generation)!" DEVARIM 32:5]
|41| Those, who were mekabel Besuras HaGeulah and welcomed his dvar, submitted to a tevilah of teshuva and there were added in that day nefashot (souls) beerech (approximately, dacht zich) shloshet alafim (three thousand).
|42| And they were keseder (constantly) shtark (steadfastly) devoting themselves to the Moshiach's pnimiyus (innermost) Torah as handed on by Moshiach's Shluchim (emmisaries of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach) and to being mishtatef (involved, joining) in the Messianic Chavura (fellowship, company, group, especially one eating the paschal lamb together) and to the tishen (shared meals) with Betzi'at HaLechem (Breaking Bread) at the Seudas Moshiach and to the Tefillos.
|43| All were filled with yirat Shomayim and mishpoyel (awe), and many moftim and otot through Moshiach's Shluchim were taking place.
|44| And all the Ma'aminim HaMeshichiyim were together and they were having all things in common.
|45| And they were selling their properties and possessions and were distributing tzedakah to everyone as someone had need. [DEVARIM 28:1-14]
|46| And yom yom, devoting themselves with one mind in the courts of the Beis Hamikdash, and from bais to bais, offering the Betzi'at HaLechem, they were together at tish with single-hearted exultation and hitlahavut (enthusiasm, fervor),
|47| praising Hashem, and having favor with all the people while G-d was
adding to their number yom yom those receiving yeshu'at Eloheinu.
PEREK GIMEL (CHAPTER THREE)
Now Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Beis Hamikdash at the hour of tefillah, the ninth hour (three o'clock in the afternoon). [TEHILLIM 55:17]
|2| And a certain ish, an ish (pisei'ach from the womb of his em), was being carried and they were putting him bederech klal (usually) yom yom at the sha'ar of the Beis Hamikdash, the one being called the Sha'ar Hatiferet, in order to beg for tzedakah from the ones entering into the Beis Hamikdash.
|3| When the ish pisei'ach (lame man) saw Kefa and Yochanan being about to enter into the Beis Hamikdash, he began begging them for tzedakah.
|4| But Kefa, as did Yochanan, gazed at him, saying, "Look at us!"
|5| And the ish pisei'ach was paying heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.
|6| And Kefa said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have I give to you. In ha-Shem of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua of Natzeret, get up and walk!"
|7| And having grasped him by the yad yamin, Kefa lifted him up, and immediately the man's feet and ankles were strengthened.
|8| And leaping up, he stood and was walking around, and he entered with them into the Beis Hamikdash, walking and leaping and shouting "Baruch Hashem!" [YESHAYAH 35:6]
|9| And all the people saw him walking and shouting, "Baruch Hashem!"
|10| And they recognized him, that he was the one sitting at the Sha'ar Hatiferet (Beautiful Gate) of the Beis Hamikdash begging for tzedakah; and they were mishpoyel (standing in awe) and amazement at what had happened to him.
|11| Now while Kefa and Yochanan were being held by him, all the people ran together to them at the Portico which is called Ulam Sh'lomo, and the people were utterly astonished.
|12| And when Kefa saw this, he answered the people, preaching, "Anshei Yisroel, why are you bewildered at this or at us? Why are you gazing as if it were by our own ko'ach or chassidus that this man has become able to walk?
|13| "Hashem, Elohei Avraham V'Elohei Yitzchak V'Elohei Ya'akov, the G-d of Avoteinu, has brought kavod to his mesharet, his Eved, Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate when you decided to release the other one. [SHEMOT 3:6,15; YESHAYAH 52:13;53:11]
|14| "But you denied HaKadosh and the Tzaddik and you asked for a man who was a rotzeach (murderer) to be granted unto you,
|15| "but the Sar HaChayyim you did away with, whom Hashem made to stand up alive again from the mesim, of which we are edim (witnesses).
|16| "And on the basis of emunah in his Shem (Name), this ish whom you see and know, the Shem of Yehoshua has made him strong; ken, and it is emunah (faith) that comes through Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, which has given a refu'ah shleimah (complete healing) to this man in the presence of all of you.
|17| "And now, Achim, I realize that according to a lack of da'as you acted, as did also your manhigim (leaders).
|18| "But Hashem has thus fulfilled the things which he announced beforehand through the mouth of all the Nevi'im that the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach should undergo Messianic innuyim (sufferings).
|19| "Therefore, make teshuva (repentance, turning from chet [sin] to G-d) and turn in order that your chatta'im, your averos (sins) may be removed, [TEHILLIM 51:1; YESHAYAH 43:25; 44:22]
|20| "in order that times of rest may come from the presence of Adonoi, and that he may send the one having been proclaimed beforehand to you, that is, the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach,
|21| "whom it is necessary for Shomayim to receive until the times of the Tikkun of all things of which Hashem spoke long ago through the mouth of his Nevi'im hakedoshim."
|22| "Moshe Rabbenu indeed said, "NAVI KAMOCHA [trans. note: i.e. a prophet like Moses] for you Hashem Adonoi will raise up from your achim; to him you will give heed according to everything whatever he may speak to you." [DEVARIM 18:15,18]
|23| "And it will be that every nefesh (soul) whoever LO YISHMA (does not listen) to that Navi (prophet) will be utterly destroyed from among the people. [DEVARIM 18:19; VAYIKRA 23:29]
|24| "And likewise all the Nevi'im (prophets) from Shmuel and his successors onward, also announced HaYom HaZeh.
|25| "You are the Bnei HaNevi'im (prophets) and you are the Bnei HaBrit which Hashem decreed to your Avot, saying to Avraham Avinu, V'NIVRAKHU ("and they will be blessed") in your ZERA ("Seed"), KOL MISHPEKHOT HA'ADAMAH ("and in your Zera will be blessed all the families of the earth.") [BERESHIT 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14]
|26| "To you rishonah (first) Hashem raised up his EVED [Moshiach], sending
him to give you a bracha, turning every one of you in teshuva away from your
wicked ways."
PEREK DALET (CHAPTER FOUR)
Now while they were speaking to the people, the kohanim and the Sar Tzeva haHeikhal, and the Tzedukim (Sadducees), approached them,
|2| being greatly annoyed, because they were teaching HaAm and preaching in Yehoshua the Techiyas HaMesim.
|3| And they took them with their hands, and put them in the beis hasohar until the next day, for it was already erev.
|4| And many of the ones having listened to the dvar Hashem had emunah; and the number of the men came to be lav davka (approximately) chameshet alafim.
|5| And it came about on the next day their manhigim and Zekenim and the Sofrim were gathered together in Yerushalayim,
|6| and also Anan the Kohen Gadol and Caiapha and Yochanan and Alexander and as many as were of the mishpochah of the Kohen Gadol.
|7| And when they had placed the Moshiach's Shluchim in their midst, they were inquiring, "By what ko'ach (power) or in what Shem have you done this?"
|8| Then Kefa, having been filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, said to them, "Sarei HaAm and Zekenim,
|9| "if we today are being examined on account of a ma'aseh tov done to a handicapped man, as to by what means this one has been given refuah shleimah,
|10| "let it be known to all of you and to Klal Yisroel, that b'Shem Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yeshoshua of Natzeret, whom you hanged on HaEtz (DEVARIM 21:22), whom Hashem made to stand up alive again from haMesim--by this Shem this man stands here before you shalem b'guf (healthy).
|11| "He [Yehoshua] is HAEVEN MA'ASU ("the Stone which was rejected") by you, HABONIM ("the builders"), which HAY'TAH LEROSH PINNAH ("became the very corner") stone. [TEHILLIM 118:22; YESHAYAH 28:16; ZECHARYAH 10:4]
|12| "And there is no Yeshu'at Eloheinu in any other, for there is no other Shem under Shomayim that has been given among Bnei Adam, by which it is necessary for you to be spared [the Mishpat Hashem in the Yom HaDin]."
|13| Now observing the bitachon of Kefa and Yochanan, and having perceived that they are not yeshiva-trained Torah teachers, they were marveling and began to recognize them, that they had been with Yehoshua.
|14| And seeing the man who had received refuah shleimah standing with them, they had nothing to say keneged (in opposition) to it.
|15| And having ordered the Shluchim to step outside the Sanhedrin chambers, they began conferring with one another,
|16| saying, "What should we do with these anashim? For that a remarkable ot (miraculous sign) has occurred through them is evident to all the ones inhabiting Yerushalayim, and we are not able to make hakhchashah (denial) of the fact.
|17| "But lest it may be spread further among HaAm Yisroel, let us warn them no longer to speak to any man b'shem hazeh (in this name)."
|18| And, having summoned them, they commanded them not to say drashot or shiurim b'shem Yehoshua at all. [AMOS 7:13]
|19| But Kefa and Yochanan in reply said to them, "If it is tov before Hashem to listen to you rather than to Hashem, you be the Beit Din Dayan;
|20| "For we are not able to cease speaking about what we saw and heard [as edei re'iyah (eyewitnesses)]." [IYOV 32:18; YIRMEYAH 20:9; AMOS 3:8]
|21| And when they had threatened them further, they released them, finding no basis on which they might punish them, because of the people, vi-bahlt (since) all were crying "Baruch Hashem!" on account of what had happened.
|22| For the man was more than ben arba'im shanah (forty years old), upon whom this ot (miraculous sign) of refu'ah (healing) had been brought about.
|23| And, after having been released, the Moshiach's Shluchim came to their own, and reported all the things the Rashei Hakohanim and the Zekenim had said to them.
|24| And having heard this, the people lifted their voices to Hashem with one mind, and said, "Rabbono Shel Olam, you are the one BARAH ES HASHOMAYIM V'ES HA'ARETZ and the yam and all that is in them, [BERESHIT 1:1; NECHEMYAH 9:6; IYOV 41:11; YESHAYAH 37:16; TEHILLIM 146:6; SHEMOT 20:11]
|25| "and you are the one who by the Ruach Hakodesh through the mouth of Avinu Dovid your eved, said, LAMMAH RAGESHU GOYIM UL'UMMIM YEHIGU RIK ("Why did the Goyim rage and the peoples plot vain and futile things?")
|26| YITYATZVU MALKHEI ERETZ V'ROZNIM NOSEDU YACHAD AL HASHEM V'AL MOSHIACHO (`The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers assembled together against Hashem and against His Moshiach.') [TEHILLIM 2:1,2; DANIEL 9:25]
|27| "For be'emes (in truth) in this Ir (City), keneged (in opposition, against) thy Eved HaKadosh Yehoshua whom you did anoint, there were assembled both Herod and Pontius Pilate along with the Goyim and HaAm Yisroel, [TEHILLIM 61:1, 2:1f; YESHAYAH 53; ZECHARYAH 12:10]
|28| "to do whatever that was by your hand and by your ratzon (will) it was nigzar merosh (predestined) to occur.
|29| "And now, Adonoi, look upon their threats and grant that your avadim may speak your dvar with all ometz lev (courage, boldness), [TEHILLIM 138:3]
|30| "while you stretch out your hand for refu'ah and otot and moftim to occur through the Shem of your Eved HaKadosh Yehoshua."
|31| And after they had davened, the place in which they had assembled was shaken and everyone was filled with the Ruach Hakodesh and they were speaking the dvar Hashem with ometz lev (courage, boldness).
|32| Now the Messianic Kehillah velt (community) of the ones having had emunah had achdus in lev (heart) and nefesh (soul), and not one was saying that any of the possessions belonging to him was his own, but everything to them was in common.
|33| And with gevaltike (extraordinary) ko'ach (power) the Moshiach's Shluchim were giving edut (testimony) of the Techiyas of Yehoshua Adoneinu. And great Chen v'Chesed Hashem was upon them all.
|34| For there was no one needy among them, for as many as were owners of sadot or batim were selling them and were bringing the proceeds of the sale
|35| and were placing them at the feet of Moshiach's Shluchim and were distributing to each one as anyone was nitzrach (needy).
|36| And Yosef, a Levi from Cyprus, a man having been named Bar-Nabba, by the Moshiach's Shluchim, a name which being translated means, "Son of Encouragement,"
|37| this one owned a sadeh and, when he sold it, brought the kesef and laid
it at the feet of Moshiach's Shluchim.
PEREK HE (CHAPTER FIVE)
And a certain man by the name Chananyah, with his wife Shappira, sold property
|2| and he, with his wife in collusion as to da'as, misappropriated from the price, and, having brought a certain part, laid it at the feet of the Moshiach's Shluchim. [YEHOSHUA 7:11]
|3| But Kefa said, "Chananyah, why has Hasatan filled your lev (heart) that you lied to the Ruach Hakodesh and misappropriated from the price of the land? [DEVARIM 23:21]
|4| "While it remained with you, did it not remain yours? And after it was sold, were the proceeds not under your samchut (authority)? How is it that you have hatched this deed in your lev (heart)? Your sheker (lie) was not to Bnei Adam but to the Ruach Hakodesh." [DEVARIM 23:22; VAYIKRA 6:2]
|5| And hearing these dvarim, having fallen down, Chananyah died; and there came great yirat Shomayim upon all the ones listening. [TEHILLIM 5:6]
|6| And having got up, the bochrim threw the tachrichin shroud over him and, having carried him out, they buried him in a kever.
|7| And there was an interval of lav davka (approximately) shloshah sha'ot and then his isha, not having da'as of what had happened, entered.
|8| And in reply to her, Kefa said "Tell me, you sold the sadeh for such and such a price, did you?" And she said, "Ken, for such and such a price, that was the amount."
|9| And Kefa said to her, "Why was it agreed by the two of you to put the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem to the test? Hinei! The feet of the ones having buried your ba'al are at the petach (doorway), and they will carry you out."
|10| And she fell immediately at his feet and died. And, the bochrim, having entered, found her dead; and, having carried her out, they buried her with her ba'al.
|11| And there came great yirat Shomayim upon the whole Messianic kehillah and upon all the ones hearing these things.
|12| Now by the hands of the Moshiach's Shluchim were being effected many otot (signs) and moftim (wonders) among the people and with a sense of achdus they were all in the Ulam Sh'lomo.
|13| But none of the rest was daring to be mishtatef in a chavura (becoming involved, joining a fellowship) with them; however, the Am Yisroel held the Messianic Jews in high esteem.
|14| And more and more ma'aminim hameshichiyim in Adoneinu were being added, multitudes of anashim and nashim,
|15| so much so that even out into the rehkovot they would carry the cholim and put them on pallets and mats, that when Kefa came by, at least his shadow might fall upon some of them.
|16| And also the multitudes from the shtetlach surrounding Yerushalayim were coming together, carrying the cholim and the ones being tormented by ruchot teme'ot (unclean spirits); and they were all receiving refu'ah shleimah.
|17| But there was an uprising of the Kohen Gadol and all the ones with him of the Tzedukim kat, and they were filled with kinah.
|18| And they laid their hands upon the Moshiach's Shluchim and they put them in a public beis hasohar.
|19| And a malach Adonoi (an angel of Hashem) opened the doors of the beis hasohar balailah, and having led them out, said, [BERESHIT 16:7; SHEMOT 3:2; TEHILLIM 34:7]
|20| "Go and stand and speak in the Beis Hamikdash to the people kol divrei HaChayyim haelleh."
|21| And having heard, the Moshiach's Shluchim entered the Beis Hamikdash at Shachrit and were saying shiurim. And when the Kohen Gadol and the ones with him had come, they called together the Sanhedrin and all the assembly of Zekenim of the Bnei Yisroel, and they sent to the beis hasohar for the prisoners to be brought to them.
|22| But their mesharetim, having come, did not find them in the beis hasohar. And having returned, they reported these things
|23| saying, "We found the beis hasohar locked tight and the shomrim standing at the doors; but when we opened up, we found no one inside."
|24| And when the Sar Tzeva haHeichal of the Beis Hamikdash and the Rashei Hakohanim heard these words, they were perplexed about them, as far as what would come of all this.
|25| But someone came and reported to them, "Hinei! The men whom you put in the beis hasohar are in the Beis Hamikdash standing and saying shiurim to the people."
|26| Then the Sar Tzeva haHeichal went along with the mesharetim and brought the Moshiach's Shluchim back, but not with force (for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned).
|27| And when they had brought them, they stood the Moshiach's Shluchim before the Sanhedrin, and the Kohen Gadol questioned them,
|28| saying, "Did we not with a strict command charge you not to say shiurim b'shem hazeh and, hinei, you have filled Yerushalayim with your torah and are determined to bring upon us the dahm of this man."
|29| And in reply Kefa and the Moshiach's Shluchim said, "It is necessary to obey Hashem rather than Bnei Adam. [SHEMOT 1:17]
|30| "Elohei Avoteinu made Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua to stand up alive again, the very one whom you killed, having made him talui al haEtz (being hanged on the tree). [DEVARIM 21:23]
|31| "This one Hashem exalted as Sar and Moshi'a (Savior) to his right hand to grant teshuva to Yisroel and selicha (forgiveness) of chatta'im (averos, sins).
|32| "And we are the eidus (witness) of these matters and so is the Ruach Hakodesh whom Hashem gave to the ones obeying him."
|33| And the ones having heard were cut to the quick and in fury were deciding to do away with them.
|34| But a certain Parush got up in the Sanhedrin, a moreh of Torah by name Rabban Gamli'el, respected by kol Am Yisroel, and he gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.
|35| And Rabban Gamli'el said to them, "Anshei Yisroel, pay attention to yourselves what you are about to do with these anashim.
|36| "For at an earlier tekufa (era, period), there was the uprising of Theudas, who claimed to be somebody himself, with whom were associated a number of anashim lav davka (approximately) four hundred; who was done away with and as many as were obeying him were all dispersed and it came to nothing.
|37| "After this there was Yehudah HaGelili in the yamim of the census; who misled the people to follow after him and that man perished and, as many as were obeying him, were all scattered.
|38| "And now I say to you, stay away from these anashim, and leave them alone, because if this cheshbon (plan) or this matter is of Bnei Adam, it will be overthrown.
|39| "But if it is from Hashem, you are not able to overthrow them--in that case you may even be found to be fighting keneged (against, opposing) Hashem." And they were persuaded by Rabban Gamli'el. [DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS 13:12; MISHLE 21:30; YESHAYAH 46:10]
|40| And having called together the Moshiach's Shluchim and having flogged them, they warned them not to speak in the shem of Yehoshua, and they released them.
|41| Therefore Moshiach's Shluchim were going rejoicing from the presence of the Sanhedrin, that they were considered worthy to suffer shame for ha-Shem (the Name).
|42| And every day in the Beis Hamikdash and from bais to bais they did not
stop saying shiurim and drashot about Yehoshua as Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
PEREK VAV (CHAPTER SIX)
Now in these yamim of the Messianic talmidim being increased, there was a complaint by the Greek-speaking Yehudim keneged (against) the Sabra Yehudim mitzad (as to) their Greek-speaking Jewish almanot being overlooked in the daily support.
|2| And the Sheneym Asar, having called the multitude of the talmidim together, said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the dvar Hashem in order to serve tishen.
|3| "But select from among you Achim b'Moshiach, that is, shivah anashim, being of shem tov (good reputation) and full of the Ruach Hakodesh and chochmah, whom we will appoint over this duty; [SHEMOT 18:21; NECHEMYAH 13:13]
|4| "but we will be devoted to tefillah and to the avodas kodesh service of the Dvar of the Besuras HaGeulah."
|5| And this dvar found approval before all the multitude and they chose Stefanos, a man full of emunah (faith) and of the Ruach Hakodesh, and they also chose Philippos and Prochorus and Nikanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas, a ger (proselyte) of Antioch
|6| whom they placed before the Moshiach's Shluchim. And having davened, Moshiach's Shluchim gave them s'michah, laying their hands on them. [BAMIDBAR 8:10; 27:18]
|7| And the Dvar Hashem was increasing, and the number of talmidim was being greatly multiplied in Yerushalayim, and a kama (quite a number) of the kohanim were obeying the [Orthodox Jewish Messianic] emunah (faith).
|8| And Stefanos, full of the Chen v'Chesed Hashem and ko'ach (power), was effecting otot and moftim gedolim among the people.
|9| But some of the men from the shul called the Beit Knesset of the Meshuchrarim (the Freedmen) and the Cyrenians and the Alexandrians, and the ones from Cilicia and Asia, rose up and argued with Stefanos,
|10| and they were not able to contradict the chochmah and the Ruach Hakodesh with which he was speaking.
|11| Then they secretly induced anashim to say, "We have heard him commit Chillul Hashem in the words he spoke keneged (against) Moshe Rabbenu and Hashem." [MELACHIM ALEF 21:10]
|12| And they aroused the people and the Zekenim and the Sofrim and they came upon Stefanos and they seized him and they brought him to the Sanhedrin,
|13| and edei sheker (false witnesses) swore falsely, saying "This man is not ceasing to speak words keneged (against) Makom HaKadosh HaZeh and the Torah. [SHEMOT 23:1; TEHILLIM 27:12]
|14| "For we have heard him saying that this Yehoshua from Natzeret will destroy this place [the Beis Hamikdash] and will change the chukim of the Torah which Moshe Rabbenu handed down to us."
|15| And having stared intently at him, all the ones sitting in the Sanhedrin
saw his ponem looking like the face of a malach.
PEREK ZAYIN (CHAPTER SEVEN)
And the Kohen Gadol said, "Are these things so?"
|2| And Stefanos said, "Achim and Avot, hear me! Elohei Hakavod appeared to Avraham Avinu while he was in Mesopotamia before he lived in Haran [TEHILLIM 29:3; BERESHIT 11:31; 15:7]
|3| "and VAYOMER HASHEM EL AVRAM, `LECH LECHA MEAR'TZECHA UMIMOLADTECHA U'MIBEIS AVICHA EL HAARETZ ASHER ARECHA' ("And Hashem said to Avram, `Depart from your country and from your people and come to the land which I shall show you.') [BERESHIT 12:1, 48:4]
|4| "Then having departed from the land of the Chaldeans, he settled in Charan. And from there, after the mavet of his Av, he was settled by Hashem here in this land in which we now are living. [BERESHIT 12:5]
|5| "And Hashem did not give to him a nachalah (inheritance) in it nor AD MIDRACH KAF REGEL ("even enough to put your foot on" DEVARIM 2:5); and yet, even when he had no ben, the havtachah (promise) of Hashem to him was ES HAARETZ HAZOT E'TEN ("this land I will give") to him and to his zera (seed) after him. [DEVARIM 2:5; BERESHIT 12:7; 13:15; 17:8; 26:3; 48:4]
|6| "And Hashem spoke thus, that GER YIHIYEH ZAR'ACHA ("your seed will be strangers (aliens)") in another's [i.e. foreign] land and them they will enslave and they will mistreat them ARBA ME'OT SHANAH ("four hundred years"). [BERESHIT 15:13f; SHEMOT 1:8-11; 12:40]
|7| "V'GAM ES HAGOY ASHER YA'AVODU DAN ANOCHI ("And whatever nation to which they shall be in bondage I myself will judge" said Hashem, VACHAREI KHEN YETZU ("And after that they will come out") and serve me in this place." [BERESHIT 15:13,14; SHEMOT 3:12]
|8| "And he gave to him bris milah. And thus Avraham Avinu became the father of Yitzchak and he did his bris milah on the Yom HaShemini and Yitzchak became the father of Ya'akov and Ya'akov of the Sheneym Asar HaAvot. [BERESHIT 17:9-14; 21:2-4; 25:26; 29:31-35; 30:5-13, 17-24; 35:16-18,22-26]
|9| "And the Avot had kinah toward Yosef and sold him into Mitzrayim (Egypt), and Hashem was with him. [BERESHIT 37:4,11:28; 37:28; TEHILLIM 105:17; BERESHIT 39:1,2,21,23; 45:4; CHAGGAI 2:4]
|10| "And Hashem delivered Yosef from all his tzoros and gave to him Chen v'Chesed Hashem and chochmah before Pharaoh king of Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he appointed him his grand vizier to rule over Mitzrayim (Egypt) and over his whole bais. [BERESHIT 41:37-45; TEHILLIM 105:20-22]
|11| "Now a famine came over all Mitzrayim (Egypt) and Canaan and tzarah gedolah (great tribulation) and Avoteinu were not finding okhel (food). [BERESHIT 41:54; 42:2,5]
|12| "And when Ya'akov Avinu heard that there was grain in Mitzrayim (Egypt), he sent Avoteinu there pa'am harishonah (the first time). [BERESHIT 42:1,2]
|13| "And on the second visit Yosef was recognized by his Achim, and Yosef's mishpochah became known to Pharaoh. [BERESHIT 45:1-4, 16]
|14| "And having sent, Yosef summoned Ya'akov his Abba and all his mishpochah, SHIVIM (Seventy, BERESHIT 46:27) nefashot (souls). [BERESHIT 45:9,10; 46:26,27; SHEMOT 1:5; DEVARIM 10:22]
|15| "And Ya'akov Avinu went down to Mitzrayim (Egypt) and he died, as did Avoteinu. [BERESHIT 46:5-7; 49:33; SHEMOT 1:6]
|16| "And they were brought back to Shechem and were placed in the kever (tomb) which Avraham bought for a sum of silver from the banim of Chamor in Shechem. [BERESHIT 23:16-20; 33:18, 19; 50:13; YEHOSHUA 24:32]
|17| "Now as the time of the havtachah (promise) was drawing near, which Hashem promised to Avraham Avinu, the people grew and were multiplied in Mitzrayim (Egypt) [SHEMOT 1:7; TEHILLIM 105:24]
|18| "until over Mitzrayim there appeared a MELECH CHADASH ASHER LO YADA ES YOSEF ("a new king who knew not Yosef"). [SHEMOT 1:7,8]
|19| "This king exploited by his shrewdness our nation and mistreated Avoteinu so as to make their ollelim (infants) exposed in order not to keep them alive. [SHEMOT 1:10-22]
|20| "And at this time Moshe Rabbenu was born and he was well pleasing to Hashem; and he was nurtured for shloshah chodashim in the bais of his abba. [SHEMOT 2:2]
|21| "And after he had been exposed, the bat-Pharaoh took Moshe Rabbeinu away, and brought him up as her own son. [SHEMOT 2:3-10]
|22| "And Moshe Rabbenu was instructed in all the chochmah of the Egyptians and in dvarim (words) and pe'ulot (deeds) he was given ko'ach. [MELACHIM ALEF 4:30; YESHAYAH 19:11]
|23| "But when arba'im shanah of his days were completed, it entered into his lev (heart) to visit his Achim of the Bnei Yisroel. [SHEMOT 2:11]
|24| "And having seen one of them being treated unjustly he retaliated and brought yashrus (justice) for the one being oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. [SHEMOT 2:12]
|25| "Now he was assuming that his achim had binah that Hashem by the hand of Moshe was giving Yeshu'at Eloheinu to them, but they did not have binah (understanding).
|26| "And on the next day he came to them as they were fighting and Moshe was trying to reconcile them in shalom, saying, `Anashim, you are achim, why are you injuring one another?' [SHEMOT 2:13]
|27| "But the one injuring his re'a pushed Moshe aside, saying MI SAMECHA L'ISH SAR V'SHOFET ALENU ("Who made you ruler and judge over us?"--SHEMOT 2:14)
|28| "HALEHARGENI ATAH OMER KA'ASHER HARAGTA yesterday ES HAMITZRI ("You do not mean to kill me in the same manner as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?")
|29| "And Moshe Rabbenu fled at this dvar and became a stranger in eretz Midyan, where he became the father of shnei banim. [SHEMOT 2:11-15]
|30| "And at the fulfillment of arba'im shanah a MALACH appeared to him BELABAT EISH MITOCH HASENEH ("in flame of fire from within a burning thorn bush") in the desert of the mountain Sinai. [SHEMOT 3:1-2]
|31| "And Moshe Rabbenu having seen this, was mishpoyel (standing in awe) at the chazon and, as he was approaching it to look more closely, there came the kol (voice) of Hashem, [SHEMOT 3:1-4]
|32| "I am the G-d of your Avot, ANOCHI ELOHEI AVRAHAM ELOHEI YITZCHAK V'ELOHEI YA'AKOV ("I am the G-d of Avraham and the G-d of Yitzchak and the G-d of Ya'akov"). But Moshe Rabbenu was trembling with pachad and was not daring to look. [SHEMOT 3:6]
|33| "And Hashem said to him, SAL NE'ALECHA ME'AL RAGLECHA ("Take off your sandals from your feet") for the place on which you have stood is admat kodesh (holy ground)." [SHEMOT 3:5; Yehoshua 5:15]
|34| "I have seen the ONI AMMI ASHER B'MITZRAYIM ("misery of my people in Mitzrayim [Egypt]") and the groaning of them I heard and I came down to deliver them. And now come that I may send you to Mitzrayim (Egypt). [SHEMOT 3:5,7-10; 2:24]
|35| "This Moshe whom they denied, having said MI SAMECHA L'ISH SAR V'SHOFET? ("Who made you a ruler and a judge?") is the one whom G-d sent to be both SAR (ruler) and GO'EL (redeemer) with the help of the malach having appeared to him in the thorn bush. [SHEMOT 2:14]
|36| "This one led them out, effecting moftim and otot in eretz Mitzrayim (Egypt) and in the Yam Suf and in the midbar arba'im shanah. [SHEMOT 7:3, 12:41; 33:1; 11:10; 14:21; 15:25; 17:5,6; BAMIDBAR 14:33]
|37| "This is the Moshe who said to the Bnei Yisroel NAVI MIKIRBECHA ME'ACHECHA KAMONI YAKIM ("A prophet from among you from your brothers like me [Moshe] Hashem will raise up.") [DEVARIM 18:15,18]
|38| "This is the one having been in the kahal (assembly) in the midbar together with the malach speaking to him at the mountain of Sinai, who was with Avoteinu; he is the one who received torat chayyim to give to us. [SHEMOT 19:17; VAYIKRA 27:34; DEVARIM 32:45-47]
|39| "And Avoteinu were not willing to have mishma'at (obedience) to Moshe Rabbenu, but they pushed him aside and they turned their levavot back to Mitzrayim, (Egypt) [BAMIDBAR 14:3,4]
|40| "having said to Aharon, ASEH LANU ELOHIM ASHER YELEKHU LEFANENU, KI ZEH MOSHE ASHER HE'ELANU MEERETZ MITZRAYIM LO YADA'U MEH HAYAH LO ("Make for us g-ds who will go before us; for this Moses who led us out of the land of Egypt--we do not know what happened to him"). [SHEMOT 32:1,23]
|41| "And at that time they made an egel (calf) and brought a sacrifice offering to the elil (idol) and were taking delight in the ma'asim (works) of their hands. [SHEMOT 32:4-6; TEHILLIM 106:19,20]
|42| "But Hashem turned away and handed them over to serve the tzeva Shomayim, just as it has been written in the sefer haNevi'im, HAZEVACHIM UMINCHAH HIGASHTEM LI BAMIDBAR ARBA'IM SHANAH, BET YISROEL ("It was not to me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O House of Israel?") [AMOS 5:25-27; YEHOSHUA 24:20; YESHAYAH 63:10; YIRMEYAH 19:13]
|43| "You also took up the ohel of Moloch and the KOKHAV of your g-d Reifan, the tzelamim (idols) which you made to worship them; therefore N'HIGLEITI ETKHEM MEHALAH ("I will exile you beyond") Babylon. [YIRMEYAH 7:18, TARGUM HASHIVIM 19:13; AMOS 5:27]
|44| "Avoteinu had the Mishkan HaEdut in the midbar just as the One who spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu directed him to make it according to the TAVNIT (pattern) which he had seen. [SHEMOT 27:21; 38:21; BAMIDBAR 1:50; 17:7; SHEMOT 25:8,9,40; YEHOSHUA 3:14; 18:1]
|45| "And having received it in their turn, Avoteinu brought it in with Yehoshua (Joshua) upon the dispossessing of the land of the Goyim, which Hashem drove out from the presence of Avoteinu until the yamim of Dovid. [YEHOSHUA 3:14-17; 18:1;23:9; 24:18; TEHILLIM 44:2; SHMUEL BAIS 7:2,6; BERESHIT 17:8; 48:4; DEVARIM 32:49]
|46| "And Dovid found Chen v'Chesed Hashem before G-d, and asked that he might find a mishkan for Elohei Ya'akov. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:2, 8-16; MELACHIM ALEF 8:17; TEHILLIM 132:1-5]
|47| "And Sh'lomo (Solomon) built for him a Beis. [MELACHIM ALEF 6:1-38]
|48| "But HaElyon does not dwell in battim made by human hands, just as the Navi (prophet) says, [MELACHIM ALEF 8:27; MELACHIM BAIS 2:6]
|49| "HASHOMAYIM KISSI V'HAARETZ HADOM RAGLAI ("Heaven is my throne and earth is the footstool for my feet"). EI-ZEH BAYIT ASHER TIVNU LI ("What kind of House will you build for me?") says Hashem, V'EI-ZEH MAKOM MENUCHATI ("Or where will my resting place be?")
|50| "Did not my hand ASATAH (make) all these things?" [YESHAYAH 66:1,2]
|51| "You AM KSHE OREF ("stiff necked people" SHEMOT 33:5), you who are without the "bris milah" of the lev (heart) and of the oznayim (ears), you always resist the Ruach Hakodesh; you are doing like your Avot. [SHEMOT 32:9; 33:3,5; VAYIKRA 26:41; DEVARIM 10:16; YIRMEYAH 4:4; 9:26; YESHAYAH 63:10]
|52| "Which of the Nevi'im (prophets) did your Avot not persecute? And they killed the ones having announced beforehand about the Bias HaMoshiach, the coming of the Tzaddik of whom now you became bogedim (betrayers) and rotzechim (murderers);
|53| "you who received the Torah at the directions of malachim and were not shomer of it."
|54| And hearing these things, they were infuriated in their levavot, and they were grinding their teeth at him.
|55| But being full of the Ruach Hakodesh and having gazed into Shomayim, Stefanos saw the kavod (glory) of Hashem and Yehoshua standing limin Hashem.
|56| And Stefanos said, "Hinei! I see Shomayim having been opened and the Ben HaAdam (Moshiach, DANIEL 7:13-14) standing limin Hashem."
|57| And having cried out with a kol gadol, they shut their oznayim and they rushed down with one impulse upon Stefanos.
|58| And having driven Stefanos outside the Ir (City), they were stoning him. And the edim took off their garments at the feet of a bochur named Sha'ul. [VAYIKRA 24:14,16; DEVARIM 17:7]
|59| And they went on stoning Stefanos as he called upon Hashem, saying, "Adoneinu, receive my neshamah." [TEHILLIM 31:5]
|60| And having fallen down, he cried out in a kol gadol, "Adoneinu, may this
aveirah not be held against them!" And having said this, Stefanos fell asleep.
PEREK HET (CHAPTER EIGHT)
And Rav Sha'ul was giving approval to the murder of Stefanos. And there came about in that day a great pogrom keneged (against) the Brit Chadasha Kehillah in Yerushalayim, and everyone was scattered throughout the regions of Yehudah and Shomron except the Moshiach's Shluchim.
|2| And chassidim came and gave kevurah (burial) to Stefanos and they made loud lamentation over him.
|3| But Rav Sha'ul was making havoc of the Moshiach's Kehillah, barging in bais by bais, dragging off both anashim and nashim, and delivering them over to the beis hasohar.
|4| The ones therefore having been scattered went about preaching the dvar Hashem.
|5| Now Philippos, having gone down to the city of Shomron, was preaching to them the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
|6| And the multitudes with one accord were paying attention to the things being said by Philippos, as they heard him and saw the otot which he was accomplishing.
|7| For many had ruchot teme'ot coming out, crying out with a kol gadol, and many having been paralyzed and many pisechim (lame ones) were given refu'ah shleimah.
|8| And there was great simchah in that shtetl.
|9| Now a certain ish by name Shimon was previously in the shtetl practicing magic and astonishing the people of Shomron, saying that he himself was an ish of gadlus (with remarkable superiority) and gadol.
|10| And to this certain Shimon everyone from katon to gadol was paying attention, saying, "Hinei!
This man is the ko'ach (power) of Hashem, the ko'ach hagadol."
|11| And they were giving heed to him, because he for a long time had astonished them by magic tricks.
|12| But when they had emunah (faith) in what Philippos preached about the Malchut Hashem and the Shem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, they, both anashim and nashim, were submitting to Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva.
|13| And Shimon himself also had emunah, and, having submitted to Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva, was following Philippos, and, seeing otot and niflaot and moftim hagedolim taking place, he was constantly mishpoyel (standing in awe).
|14| And when Moshiach's Shluchim heard in Yerushalayim that Shomron has accepted the dvar Hashem, they sent Kefa and Yochanan to them,
|15| who, having come down, davened for them that they might receive the Ruach Hakodesh.
|16| For the Ruach Hakodesh had not yet fallen upon any one of them, but only they had received a tevilah of teshuva in a mikveh mayim b'Shem Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua Adoneinu.
|17| Then Kefa and Yochanan were laying their hands upon them, and they were receiving the Ruach Hakodesh.
|18| And when Shimon saw that through the laying on of hands of Moshiach's Shluchim that the Ruach Hakodesh is given, he brought to them kesef,
|19| saying, "Give me also this samchut (authority) that on whomever I may lay my hands such may receive the Ruach Hakodesh."
|20| But Kefa said to him, "May your kesef perish with you! Because the matnat Hashem you thought by kesef to acquire. [MELACHIM BAIS 5:16; DANIEL 5:17]
|21| "There is not to you a chelek (allotted portion) nor share in this matter, for your lev (heart) is krum (deviant) and not upright before Hashem. [NECHEMYAH 2:20; TEHILLIM 78:37]
|22| "Therefore make teshuva from your wickedness and daven (pray) to Hashem if efsher (perhaps) you will receive selicha (forgiveness) for the intent of your lev,
|23| "for I see you are in bitter gall and the bond of haresha." [DEVARIM 29:18 TARGUM HASHIVIM; YIRMEYAH 4:18; YESHAYAH 58:6]
|24| And in reply Shimon said, "Daven for me to Hashem that nothing may come upon me of which you have spoken." [SHEMOT 8:8; BAMIDBAR 21:7; MELACHIM ALEF 13:6; YIRMEYAH 42:2]
|25| The ones then having testified and spoken the dvar Adonoi were returning to Yerushalayim and to many villages of the Shomronim preaching the Besuras HaGeulah.
|26| And a malach Adonoi spoke to Philippos, saying, "Get up and go south on the derech going down from Yerushalayim to Gaza." This is desert.
|27| And having got up, Philippos went. And, hinei, an Ethiopian man, a eunuch, a court official of the Kandake of the Ethiopians! He was over all of her Otzrot (treasury) and had come worshiping to Yerushalayim, [TEHILLIM 68:31; 87:4; ZEFANYAH 3:10; YESHAYAH 56:3-5; MELACHIM ALEF 8:41-43]
|28| And he was returning and sitting in his chariot and he was reading Yeshayah HaNavi.
|29| And the Ruach Hakodesh said to Philippos, "Approach and join this chariot."
|30| And having run, Philippos heard him reading Yeshayah HaNavi, and Philippos said, "So do you have binah of what you are reading?"
|31| And he said, "How then might I be able, unless someone will guide me?" And he invited Philippos to come up and sit with him.
|32| Now the keta (section) of the Tanakh which he was reading was this: KASEH LATEVACH YUVAL ("He [Moshiach] was led as a lamb to the slaughter") and as a Seh (Lamb, YESHAYAH 53:7) before the one having sheared it is silent, LO YIFTACH PIV ("He does not open his mouth").
|33| `In humiliation his judgment was taken away. The descendants of him who will tell? Because he is taken away from HA'ARETZ CHAYYIM.' [YESHAYAH 53:7,8; 57:7f TARGUM HASHIVIM]
|34| And in reply the eunuch said to Philippos, "I ask you about whom the Navi (prophet) says this? About himself or about some other person?"
|35| And having opened his mouth, and beginning from this keta (section) of the Kitvei Hakodesh, Philippos began to preach and fier ois (elucidate) Yehoshua to him.
|36| And as they were going along the derech, they came upon some mayim and the eunuch says, "Hinei, mayim! What prevents me from being given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva in the mikveh mayim?"
|38| And he commanded the chariot to stop and both went down into the mikveh mayim, both Philippos and the eunuch, and Philippos gave him Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva in the mikveh mayim.
|39| And when they came up from the mikveh mayim, the Ruach Hakodesh of Hashem took Philippos away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer, but was going on his way with lev same'ach. [MELACHIM ALEF 18:12; MELACHIM BAIS 2:16; YECHEZKEL 3:12,14; 8:3; 11:1,24; 43:5]
|40| But Philippos was found in Ashdod, and passing through, he was preaching
the Besuras HaGeulah to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
PEREK TET (CHAPTER NINE)
Now Sha'ul, still breathing a threat even of retzach (murder) keneged (against) the talmidim of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu, having approached the Kohen Gadol,
|2| requested from him iggrot of reshus (authorization) to the shuls of Damascus, that if someone he should find being mishtatef (involved) in HaDerech [Hashem], both anashim and nashim, he may lead them bound to Yerushalayim. [YESHAYAH 17:1; YIRMEYAH 49:23]
|3| Now as he goes, it came about that he comes near Damascus, and suddenly shone around him an Ohr (Light) from Shomayim;
|4| and he fell on the ground, and heard a kol (voice), saying to him, "Sha'ul, Sha'ul, why are you persecuting me?" [YESHAYAH 6:8]
|5| And he said, "Who are you, Adoni?" And he said, "I am Yehoshua upon whom you bring redifah (persecution).
|6| "But get up and enter into the city, and it shall be told to you what it is necessary for you to do." [YECHEZKEL 3:22]
|7| And the anashim traveling with Rav Sha'ul had stood speechless, hearing the sound but seeing no one. [DANIEL 10:7]
|8| And Rav Sha'ul got up from the ground, and, though his eyes were open, he was seeing nothing. And leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.
|9| And he was shloshah yamim not seeing and neither did he eat nor drink.
|10| Now there was a certain talmid in Damascus, by name Chananyah, and Moshiach Adoneinu spoke to him in a chazon (vision), saying, "Chananyah." And he said, "Hinei! I am here, Adoni."
|11| And Moshiach Adoneinu said to him, "Get up and go to the rehkov (street) being called "Yashar" ("Straight") and seek in the bais of Yehudah an ish by name Sha'ul from Tarsus. For, hinei, he is davening,
|12| "and Sha'ul has seen in a chazon (vision) an ish by name Chananyah come in and place his hands upon him that he may see again."
|13| And Chananyah answered, "Adoni, I heard from many about this man, how many ra'ot (evil things) he did to your kadoshim in Yerushalayim.
|14| "And here he has samchut (authority) from the Rashei Kohanim to bind all the ones davening b'Shem of you."
|15| But Moshiach Adoneinu said to him, "Go, for this one is a keli nivchar (chosen vessel) of mine to carry Shemi before both Goyim and melachim (kings) and the Bnei Yisroel.
|16| "For I will show him how much it is necessary for him to undergo innuyim (sufferings) on behalf of Shemi (my Name)."
|17| And Chananyah departed and entered into the bais, and having placed his hands upon Rav Sha'ul, he said, "Ach b'Moshiach Sha'ul, Moshiach Adoneinu has sent me. I'm referring to Yehoshua, the one who appeared to you on the derech by which you were coming. He sent me that you may see again and may be filled with the Ruach Hakodesh."
|18| And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and Rav Sha'ul saw again, and, having got up, he submitted to Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva.
|19| And having received okhel (food), Rav Sha'ul regained strength. Now he was with the talmidim in Damascus several yamim.
|20| And immediately in the shuls Rav Sha'ul was preaching Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, saying, "He is the Ben HaElohim."
|21| And all the ones listening were astonished, and they were saying, "Is this not the one making havoc in Yerushalayim among the ones invoking this shem? And was not his tachlis (purpose) in coming here to bind them over before the Rashei Hakohanim?"
|22| But Rav Sha'ul even more was being strengthened and was confounding the unbelieving Yehudim dwelling in Damascus, by proving that this Yehoshua is the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
|23| But when yamim rabbim were completed, the ones of the Yehudim who were unbelieving plotted to kill him.
|24| But the mezimma (evil design, intrigue) of their kesher (plot) became known to Rav Sha'ul. And they were also watching the she'arim (gates) both yomam valailah that they might kill him,
|25| but Moshiach's talmidim had taken him b'lailah and they let him down through an opening in the wall, having lowered him in a large basket. [SHMUEL ALEF 19:12]
|26| And having arrived in Yerushalayim, Rav Sha'ul was trying to associate with the Moshiach's talmidim, and they were all afraid of him, not believing that he is a talmid.
|27| But Bar-Nabba, having taken hold of him, brought him to Moshiach's Shluchim and told them how on the derech he saw Moshiach Adoneinu, who had spoken to Rav Sha'ul, and how in Damascus Rav Sha'ul spoke with ometz lev (boldness) b'Shem Yehoshua.
|28| And Rav Sha'ul was with them, going in and coming out in Yerushalayim, speaking boldly b'Shem Moshiach Adoneinu.
|29| And Rav Sha'ul was speaking and debating keneged (against) the Greek-speaking Yehudim; but they were attempting to kill him.
|30| But having learned of this, the Achim b'Moshiach brought Rav Sha'ul down to Caesarea and sent him away to Tarsus.
|31| Then Moshiach's Kehillah throughout all of Yehudah and the Galil and Shomron had shalom and was increasing, being built up, and going on in the yir'at Shomayim and in the yir'at Moshiach Adoneinu and beNechamat HaRuach Hakodesh.
|32| Now it came about that Kefa, passing through all the parts of Eretz Yisrael, came down also to Moshiach's kadoshim dwelling in Lud.
|33| And there Kefa found a certain ish by name Aeneas who had been bedridden shmoneh shanim, for he was paralyzed.
|34| And Kefa said to him, "Aeneas! Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua heals you. Get up and make your bed!" And immediately he got up.
|35| And everyone dwelling in Lud and Sharon saw him, and they turned to Adoneinu. [MELACHIM ALEF 5:16; 27:29; 2:1; YESHAYAH 33:9; 35:2;65:10]
|36| Now in Yafo there was a certain talmidah by name Tavitha, which, being translated, means "gazelle." This one was abounding in ma'asim tovim and in giving tzedakah, which she was always doing. [YEHOSHUA 19:46; MELACHIM BAIS 2:16; EZRA 3:7]
|37| And it came about in yamim hahem that this one, having become ill, passed away. When the women had washed her body, they laid it in the upper story.
|38| And since Lud was near to Yafo, Moshiach's talmidim, having heard that Kefa was there, sent shnei anashim to him, summoning Kefa that he not delay in coming to them.
|39| Kefa, getting up, went with them. And when he arrived, they brought him up into the upper story room, and all the almanot stood beside him, weeping and showing the tunics and garments that Tavitha made while she was with them.
|40| But Kefa, having put everyone outside, and having fallen down, davened. And when he turned to the niftar (deceased), he said, "Tavitha, get up!" And she opened her eynayim and, having seen Kefa, she sat up.
|41| And having given his hand to her, he made her to stand up alive again; and, having called the Moshiach's kadoshim and the almanot, Kefa presented her chayyah (living) before them.
|42| It became known throughout all Yafo, and rabbim (many) had emunah in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.
|43| And it came about that Kefa remained in Yafo yamim rabbim with a certain
Shimon, a tanner.
PEREK YOD (CHAPTER TEN)
Now a certain ish in Caesarea by name Cornelius, a centurion from what was called the Italian cohort,
|2| a devout man, a yire Elohim, as was all his bais, who practiced much tzedakah for the benefit of Am Yisroel, and davened to Hashem continually.
|3| Cornelius clearly saw in a chazon (vision) lav davka (approximately) at the ninth hour of the day (three o'clock in the afternoon) a malach Hashem having come to him and having said to him, "Cornelius!" [TEHILLIM 55:17]
|4| And having looked intently at him and having become afraid, Cornelius said, "What is it, Adon?" The malach said to him, "Your tefillos and your giving tzedakah have ascended as a zikaron (memorial) before Hashem. [TEHILLIM 20:3]
|5| "Now dispatch some anashim to Yafo and send for a certain Shimon who is also called Kefa.
|6| "This one is staying with a certain Shimon, a tanner, whose bais is by the sea."
|7| And, when the malach speaking to him had departed, Cornelius summoned shnayim of his household avadim and a devout chaiyal (soldier) from among the ones in his service,
|8| and, having explained everything to them, sent them to Yafo.
|9| Now on the next day, as these were traveling and drawing near to Yafo, around the sixth hour (noon), Kefa went up on to the roof to daven (pray).
|10| And Kefa became hungry, and was wanting to have a meal; but while they were preparing it, Kefa fell into a trance;
|11| and he sees Shomayim having been opened, and a certain object descending like a large linen cloth lowered by four corners upon haAretz.
|12| In this were all the four-footed animals and remasim haAdamah (creepers of the earth) and Of haShomayim (birds of heaven).
|13| And there came a bat kol (voice) to him, "Get up, Kefa, kill and eat!"
|14| But Kefa said, "Chalilah li, Adonoi! For I have never eaten basar pigul (unclean meat) or sheketz tameh (unclean creature)." [VAYIKRA 11:4-8, 13-20; 20-25; DEVARIM 14:3-20; YECHEZKEL 4:14]
|15| And the bat kol came to Kefa again for a second time, "What Hashem made tahor (clean), you should no longer regard as tameh (unclean)." [BERESHIT 9:3]
|16| And this happened shloshah pe'amim; and immediately the object was taken up into Shomayim.
|17| Now, while Kefa was greatly perplexed within himself as to what the chazon which he saw might be, hinei, the anashim, who had been sent by Cornelius, and who had, by inquiring, found the bais of Shimon, stood at the gate.
|18| And, calling out, they were asking if Shimon, the one called Kefa, is staying here.
|19| And while Kefa was reflecting on the chazon, the Ruach Hakodesh said to him, "Hinei, shloshah anashim are looking for you.
|20| "But get up and go downstairs and accompany them without apprehensions, for I myself have sent them."
|21| And Kefa went downstairs to the anashim and said, "Hinei, I am the one whom you are seeking; for what reason did you come?"
|22| And they said, "Cornelius, a centurion, an ish tzaddik, and a yire Elohim with a shem tov with all the Am HaYehudim, was directed by a malach kadosh to summon you to his bais and to hear a message from you."
|23| Therefore, having invited them in, Kefa gave them hachnosas orchim (hospitality, lodging). And on the next day Kefa got up and went away with them, and some of the Achim b'Moshiach from Yafo accompanied him.
|24| And on the following day, Moshiach's Shliach Shimon Kefa entered into Caesarea, and Cornelius was expecting them, having called together his krovey mishpokhot (relatives) and close friends.
|25| Now when it came about that Kefa entered, Cornelius met him, falling at his feet to pay him reverence. [DANIEL 7:14; 3:18]
|26| Kefa made him stand up, saying, "Get up. I myself am only a ben Adam like everyone else."
|27| And as he conversed with Cornelius, Kefa entered and finds many having assembled,
|28| and he said to them, "You have da'as that it is asur (prohibited) for an ish Yehudi to associate with or to approach a nokhri (foreigner). And yet to me Hashem showed to call no one sheketz (abomination) or tameh (unclean).
|29| "Therefore, also, when summoned, I came, raising no objections. And so I ask for what reason you summoned me?"
|30| Cornelius said, "Four days ago to this hour, I was davening in my bais at the ninth hour, and, hinei, a being stood before me enrobed in shining radiance,
|31| "and he said, `Cornelius, your tefillah was heard and your tzedakah is remembered before Hashem.
|32| `Therefore, send to Yafo and summon Shimon who is called Kefa. He is staying in the bais of Shimon the tanner by the sea.'
|33| "At once I sent for you and you did well having come. Now, therefore, we all are present before Hashem to hear all the things that have been commanded to you by Adonoi."
|34| And opening his mouth, Kefa said, "Omein, I have binah that Hashem is not one to show masso panim (partiality), [DEVARIM 10:17; DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS 19:7; IYOV 34:19]
|35| "but in every nation the ones who have yirat Shomayim and work Tzidkat Hashem are acceptable to him.
|36| "The dvar which he sent to the Bnei Yisroel, preaching shalom through Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua (Hu Adon Kol!) [YESHAYAH 52:7; TEHILLIM 107:20; 147:18 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
|37| "--you know the thing which took place throughout all Yehudah, having begun from the Galil after the tevilah of teshuva which Yochanan preached,
|38| "You know Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua from Natzeret, how Hashem anointed him with the Ruach Hakodesh and with ko'ach (power), and how he went about doing mitzvot and giving refu'ah shlemah to all the ones being oppressed by Samael (the devil) because Hashem was with him. [YESHAYAH 61:1]
|39| "We are edim (witnesses) of all things which he did both in the countryside of Yehudah and in Yerushalayim. And they also put him to death, having hanged nivlato al haEtz (his body on the Tree, DEVARIM 21:23).
|40| "This one Hashem made to stand up alive again on the Yom HaShlishi and granted to him to be visible,
|41| "not to Klal Yisroel, but to edim which had been chosen beforehand by Hashem, that is, to us who ate and drank together with him at Tish after the Techiyas HaMoshiach.
|42| "Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach gave mitzvah to us to preach to the people and to bear solemn edut (testimony) that this one is the one having been appointed by Hashem as shofet (judge) of haChayyim and haMesim.
|43| "To this one all the Nevi'im (prophets) bear witness that through ha-Shem of him [Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua] everyone who has emunah him has selicha (forgiveness) of chatta'im (averos, sins)."l speaking these words, the Ruach Hakodesh fell upon all the ones hearing the dvar.
|45| And the Messianic Jews who had come with Kefa were mishpoyel (standing in awe) that also upon the Goyim the matnat HaRuach Hakodesh has been poured out.
|46| For they were hearing them speaking in leshonot and exalting Hashem. Then Kefa answered,
|47| "Surely no one can refuse the mikveh mayim for these to be given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva who have received [the tevilah in] the Ruach Hakodesh just as we did, can he?" [Ac 2:4]
|48| And Kefa directed for them to be given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva in
the Shem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua. Then they asked him to remain
some yamim.
PEREK YOD ALEPH (CHAPTER ELEVEN)
And the Moshiach's Shluchim and the Achim b'Moshiach, the ones throughout Yehudah, heard that also the non-Jews received the dvar Hashem.
|2| But when Kefa went up to Yerushalayim, those of the faction of the Bris Milah were taking issue with him,
|3| saying, "You entered into a bais of anashim arelim (uncircumcised men) and you sat at tish with them."
|4| But Kefa began explaining to them beseder (in order), saying,
|5| "I was davening in the shtetl of Yafo and in a trance I saw a chazon (vision) of a certain object descending like a large linen cloth lowered by four corners from Shomayim, and it came up to me.
|6| "And when I had gazed upon it, I saw four-footed animals of ha'aretz and chayyat hasadeh and remasim haAdamah and Of HaShomayim.
|7| "And I heard also a bat kol saying to me, `Get up, Kefa. Kill and eat.'
|8| "But I said, `By no means, Adoni, because nothing common or tameh (unclean) has ever entered into my stomach.'
|9| "And the bat kol answered for a second time from Shomayim, `What Hashem made tahor (clean) do not declare tameh (unclean).'
|10| "This happened shlosh pe'amim, and everything was pulled up again into Shomayim.
|11| "Hinei! At once shloshah anashim stood at the bais in which I was, having been sent from Caesarea to me.
|12| "And the Ruach Hakodesh said to me to accompany them without hesitating and these sheshet haAchim b'Moshiach came with me also, and we entered into the bais of the ish.
|13| "He reported to us how he saw the malach in his bais having stood and having said, `Send to Yafo and summon Shimon, the one being called Kefa,
|14| `who will speak words to you by which you and all your bais will find Yeshu'at Eloheinu.'
|15| "As I began to speak, the Ruach Hakodesh fell upon them, just as also upon us in the beginning.
|16| And I remembered the dvar of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu, how he used to say, `Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva with a mikveh mayim, but you will be given a tevilah with the Ruach Hakodesh.'
|17| "If then Hashem gave the same matanah to them as also to us after believing in Moshiach Adoneinu, who then was I to stand in the way of Hashem?"
|18| And having heard these things, they were silenced and glorified Hashem, saying `Then also to the Nations Hashem has given teshuva unto Chayyim.'
|19| Then the ones, that is, those having been scattered because of the tzoros that happened in connection with Stefanos, came to Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking to no one the dvar Hashem except only to Yehudim.
|20| And there were some of them, anashim of Cyprus and Cyrene, who having come to Antioch, were speaking also to the Yevanim (Greeks), proclaiming the Besuras HaGeulah of Adoneinu Yehoshua.
|21| The hand of Adonoi was on them and a large number, having had emunah, turned to Moshiach Adoneinu.
|22| The report about them was heard in the ears of the Kehillah of Moshiach in Yerushalayim, and they sent out Bar-Nabba to go to Antioch;
|23| who, having come, and having seen the Chen v'Chesed Hashem, rejoiced and was encouraging every one with deveykus (devotion) to HaAdon to remain true to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.
|24| For Bar-Nabba was a mentsh, a gavra, an ish tov full of the Ruach Hakodesh and of emunah. And a great multitude was added to Adoneinu.
|25| And Bar-Nabba left for Tarsus to look for Sha'ul,
|26| and, having found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came about that for an entire year, they met with Moshiach's Kehillah there, and taught a large multitude. And it was in Antioch that the talmidim were first called Ma'aminim HaMeshichiyim (Messianic Believers).
|27| Now in these yamim, nevi'im came down from Yerushalayim to Antioch.
|28| One of them, by name Agav, having got up, indicated through the Ruach Hakodesh a great famine was about to come all over the world. And this famine actually occurred during the time of Claudius.
|29| Now the talmidim decided that according to their means, each of them would send support to the Achim b'Moshiach dwelling in Yehudah;
|30| which also they did, having sent to the Ziknei HaKehillot by the hand of
Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul.
PEREK YOD BEIT (CHAPTER TWELVE)
Now during that time Herod the king laid his hands on Moshiach's Kehillah to harm some of them.
|2| He killed Ya'akov the ach Yochanan with a cherev (sword).
|3| Having seen that this was pleasing to the Judeans, Herod proceeded to arrest Kefa also. This happened during the yamim of Chag HaMatzot. [SHEMOT 12:15; 23:25]
|4| When he had Kefa seized, he put him in the beis hasohar, having handed him over to four squads of chaiyalim to guard him, intending after Pesach to bring him before the people.
|5| Therefore, Kefa was being kept in the beis hasohar. But tefillah to Hashem was earnestly being made by Moshiach's Kehillah for him.
|6| But b'lailah, when Herod was about to lead him out, Kefa, bound with two sharsherot (chains), was sleeping between two chaiyalim; and, before the delet (door), were shomrim (guards) keeping watch over the beis hasohar.
|7| Then--hinei--a malach HaAdon approached and ohr (light) shone in the cheder (room), and, having struck the side of Kefa, he awoke him, saying, "Get up quickly!" And the kavlei varzel (shackles of iron) fell off his hands. [TEHILLIM 107:14; 149:8]
|8| The malach said to Kefa, "Put on your gartel and tie your sandals." And Kefa did so. And the malach says to him, "Put on your kaftan and follow me."
|9| And having gone out, Kefa was following the malach, and he did not have da'as that the thing was happening grahda (as a matter of fact, in reality), but he was thinking he was seeing a chazon through the malach.
|10| And having gone through the shomrim (guards), the first and the second, they came upon the Sha'ar HaBarzel leading to the Ir Kodesh. This was opened to them by itself. And having gone out, they went along one rehkov (street), and immediately the malach went away from him.
|11| And Kefa, having come to himself, said, "Now I have da'as for sure that HaAdon sent out his malach and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Judean people." [TEHILLIM 34:7; DANIEL 3:28; 6:22]
|12| Having realized this, Kefa came upon the bais of Miryam the Em (mother) of Yochanan, the one being called Markos, where there were many having been assembled and davening.
|13| And when Kefa knocked on the delet (door) of the gate, a na'arah by name Rhoda, approached to listen.
|14| And having recognized the kol (voice) of Kefa, from simcha she did not open the gate but, having run inside, she reported that Kefa stood at the gate.
|15| But the ones there said to her, "You are meshuggah!" But she kept insisting it was so. But they were saying, "It is his malach."
|16| But Kefa continued knocking. And having opened the gate, they saw him, and were mishpoyel (standing in awe).
|17| And having motioned to them with his hand to be silent, he told them how HaAdon led him out from the beis hasohar. Then Kefa said, "Report to Ya'akov and to the Achim b'Moshiach these things." And having gone out, Kefa went to another place.
|18| Now when it was boker, there was not a little commotion among the chaiyalim as to what had become of Kefa.
|19| Now Herod, having sought after him and not having found him, after questioning the shomrim, commanded them to be led away to execution. Then Herod went down from Yehudah to Caesarea, and was staying there. |20| Now Herod was gor (very) angry with the people of Tzor and those of Tzidon, and with one mind they were coming to him; and, having won over Blastus, the king's chamberlain, they were requesting shalom, because their country was fed by the king's lands. [MELACHIM ALEF 5:9,11; YECHEZKEL 27:17]
|21| Now on the appointed day, Herod, having clothed himself with royal malbush (clothing) and having sat down on the kes hamishpat, was delivering a public address to them.
|22| And the multitude was crying out, "Hinei, the kol of a g-d and not of an ish!"
|23| Immediately, a malach Adonoi struck him, because he did not give the kavod to Hashem. And, having become eaten with worms, Herod died. [SHMUEL ALEF 25:38; SHMUEL BAIS 24:16,17; MELACHIM BAIS 19:35]
|24| But the dvar Hashem was growing and increasing.
|25| And Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul returned from Yerushalayim, having fulfilled
their shlichus (mission) to deliver the tzedakah and having taken along with
them [back to Antioch], Yochanan the one called Markos.
PEREK YOD GIMEL (CHAPTER THIRTEEN)
Now there were in Antioch among the Moshiach's Kehillah there nevi'im and morim: Bar-Nabba, and Shimon called Niger, and Lucius from Cyrene, and Menachem (brought up with Herod the tetrarch), and Rav Sha'ul.
|2| They were ministering to Adonoi and under a tzom when the Ruach Hakodesh said to them, "Set apart for me Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul for the avodas kodesh ministry to which I have called them." [DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS 13:10; 35:3; YECHEZKEL 40:46; 44:16; 45:4]
|3| Then, having continued the tzom and having davened and having laid their hands upon them, they sent them off.
|4| They, then, having been sent out by the Ruach Hakodesh, went down to Seleucia, and from there sailed away to Cyprus.
|5| Having arrived in Salamis, they were proclaiming the dvar Hashem in the shuls, with Yochanan Markos also as ozer (helper).
|6| Having passed through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a certain ish, a magician, a Jewish navi sheker, to whom was the name Bar-Yehoshua,
|7| who was with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an ish of seichel. This one, having summoned Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul, sought to hear the dvar Hashem.
|8| But Elymas the magician was opposing them (for thus is his name translated) and was seeking to be mashpia on the proconsul (seeking to sway him to think undesirably) about the emunah (faith). [YESHAYAH 30:11]
|9| But Rav Sha'ul, the one also called Paulos, having been filled with the Ruach Hakodesh, gazed at him,
|10| and said, "O ish full of all mirmah (deceit, fraud) and all resha, ben haSatan, oyev (enemy) of all Tzedek, will you not cease making crooked the straights paths of Hashem? [HOSHEA 14:9]
|11| "Now --hinei-- the yad Hashem is on you, and you will be blind, not seeing the shemesh (sun) for awhile." Immediately, mistiness and choshech (darkness) fell on him, and, going about, he was seeking someone to lead him by the hand. [SHEMOT 9:3; SHMUEL ALEF 5:6,7; TEHILLIM 32:4; BERESHIT 19:10,11; MELACHIM BAIS 6:18]
|12| Then, the proconsul, having seen what had happened, had emunah, being mishpoyel (standing in awe) at the torah about Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu.
|13| And having put out to sea from Paphos, Rav Sha'ul and those with him came to Perga of Pamphylia. But Yochanan (Markos), having left them, returned to Yerushalayim.
|14| But having gone on from Perga, they came to Pisidian Antioch, and, having entered the shul on Shabbos, they sat down.
|15| After the kri'at HaTorah (reading of the Sefer Torah) and the kri'at HaNevi'im, the Rashei Beit HaKnesset sent to them, saying, "Anashim Achim, if there is any dvar hachizzuk among you to the people, say it."
|16| And having got up and having motioned with his hand, Rav Sha'ul said, "Anshei Yisroel, and Yirei Elohim, listen!
|17| "Elohei HaAm Yisroel chose Avoteinu. Hashem made the people great during their sojourn in the land of Mitzrayim (Egypt), and with an uplifted arm he led them out of it, [SHEMOT 6:1,6,7; 14:8; DEVARIM 7:6-8]
|18| "and lav davka (approximately) ARBA'IM SHANAH he put up with them in the desert, [DEVARIM 1:31; BAMIDBAR 14:33,34; TEHILLIM 95:10; SHEMOT 16:35;]
|19| "and having destroyed SHIVAH GOYIM in eretz Canaan, he gave as a nachalah (an inheritance) their land [DEVARIM 7:1; YEHOSHUA 14:2; 19:51; TEHILLIM 78:55]
|20| "during lav davka (approximately) arba me'ot vachamashim shanah. After these things, he gave shofetim until Shmuel HaNavi. [SHOFETIM 2:16; SHMUEL ALEF 3:19,20]
|21| "And then they asked for a melech, and Hashem gave to them Sha'ul Ben Kish, an ish from the shevet of Binyamin, for arba'im shanah, [SHMUEL ALEF 8:5,19; 10:1; 9:1,2]
|22| "And after having removed Sha'ul, Hashem raised up Dovid as a Melech for them. About Dovid also Hashem spoke favorably, saying `I found Dovid Ben Yishai an ISH KILEVAVO ("a man after his [G-d's] heart"] who will do all my ratzon.' [SHMUEL ALEF 15:23; 16:13; TEHILLIM 89:20; SHMUEL ALEF 13:14; YIRMEYAH 3:15; YESHAYAH 44:28]
|23| "From the zera (seed) of this man, according to the havtachah (promise), Hashem has brought to Yisroel a Moshi'a (Savior), Yehoshua. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:11; 22:51; YIRMEYAH 30:9]
|24| "Now, previously, before the coming of Moshiach, Yochanan proclaimed to Klal Yisroel a tevilah of teshuva.
|25| "Now as Yochanan was completing his course, he was saying `What do you suppose me to be? I am not! But, hinei, he comes after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandal of his feet.'
|26| "Achim, Bnei Mishpochah Avraham, and Yirei Elohim, it is to us that the dvar of this Yeshu'ah HaGedolah (Great Deliverance) was sent out. [TEHILLIM 107:20]
|27| "For the ones dwelling in Yerushalayim and their moshlim (rulers) did not have da'as of this one or of the dvarim of the Nevi'im being read every Shabbos; they fulfilled these dvarim by condemning him.
|28| "Even without finding a cause for a mishpat mavet, they asked Pilate that he be done away with.
|29| "When they finished all the things having been written about him, he was taken down from HaEtz (DEVARIM 21:23), and they put him into a kever (tomb).
|30| "But Hashem made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim,
|31| "and he was seen over many yamim by the ones having come up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim who now are his edim to the people.
|32| "And we are preaching to you the Besuras HaGeulah of the Havtachah made to Avoteinu, [YESHAYAH 40:9; 52:7]
|33| "that Hashem has fulfilled this havtachah for us, their banim, having made to stand up alive again Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua, as also in the Tehillim it has been written, BENI ATAH, ANI HAYOM YELIDETICHA ("You are my son; today I have become your father"). [TEHILLIM 2:7]
|34| "And that he made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim, no longer to return to decay, thus he has said, `I will give you CHASEDEI DOVID HANE'EMANIM. [YESHAYAH 55:3 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
|35| "Therefore, also elsewhere in the Tehillim, he says LO TITEN CHASIDECHA LIR'OT SHACHAT ("You will not allow your Chassid (Moshiach) to undergo decay"). [TEHILLIM 15:10; 16:10 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
|36| "For Dovid, after in his own dor (generation) he had served birtzon Hashem, fell asleep, and VAYISHKAV DOVID IM AVOTAV ("and Dovid rested with his fathers") and he experienced decay. [SHMUEL BAIS 7:12; MELACHIM ALEF 2:10; SHOFETIM 2:10; DIVREY HAYAMIM BAIS 29:28]
|37| "But whom Hashem made to stand up alive again did not experience decay.
|38| "Let it be known, therefore, to you, Anashim Achim, that through this one, selicha (forgiveness) of chatta'im, (averos [sins]) is proclaimed to you; and from all things of which by the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu you were not able to be justified,
|39| "by this one everyone having emunah is justified.
|40| "Be shomer then that the thing having been spoken by the Nevi'im (Prophets) may not come upon you,
|41| RE'U V'HABITU V'HITAMMEHU TEMAHU. KI PO'AL POEL BIMEKHEM LO TA'AMINU KI YESUPAR ("Look") scoffers, ("And be amazed and marvel, and stand in awe") and perish, ("because I am working a work in your yamim, a work which you may by no means believe if someone should tell you.") [CHABAKUK 1:5 TARGUM HASHIVIM]
|42| And as Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba were going out, the people were begging that these dvarim be spoken to them the following Shabbos.
|43| And when the gathering was dismissed, rabbim (many) of the Yehudim and of the Gerim (Proselytes) with chassidus followed Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, who urged them to remain in the Chen v'Chesed Hashem.
|44| Now on the following Shabbos nearly all the city was assembled to hear the dvar Hashem.
|45| But when the Yehudim saw the multitudes, they were filled with kinah and were choilek (taking issue) and speaking keneged (against, in opposition to) the things being spoken by Rav Sha'ul, and they were committing Chillul Hashem.
|46| And having spoken with ometz lev (boldness), Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba said, `To you it was necessary rishonah (first) for the dvar Hashem to be spoken; vi-bahlt (since) you reject it, and judge yourselves not worthy of Chayyei Olam, hinei, we are turning to the Goyim.
|47| "For thus has Hashem commanded us UNETATICHA L'OHR GOYIM, LIH'YOT YESHU'ATI AD KETZEH HA'ARETZ" ("I have placed you as a light to the Nations, that you should bring salvation to the end of the earth.") [YESHAYAH 49:6]
|48| Now hearing this, the Goyim rejoiced with simcha gedolah and were praising the dvar Hashem. And as many as had been destined to Chayyei Olam became ma'aminim hameshichiyim.
|49| And the dvar Hashem was spreading through the entire region.
|50| But the Yehudim aroused the chashuve (prominent) G-d-fearing nashim and the gontser machers of the city, and they instigated redifah keneged Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, and they drove them from out of their territory.
|51| And having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba came to Iconium;
|52| and the talmidim were being filled with simcha and the Ruach Hakodesh.
PEREK YOD DALET (CHAPTER FOURTEEN)
Now it came about in Iconium that together they entered into the shul and the same thing transpired: they spoke with the result that both Yehudim and a great multitude of Yevanim became ma'aminim hameshichiyim.
|2| And the Yehudim who disobeyed were the ones who aroused and stirred up in anger the nefashot (souls) of the Goyim keneged (against) the Achim b'Moshiach.
|3| Therefore, they continued for a long zman (time) speaking with ometz lev (boldness) for Hashem, who gave edut to the dvar of Chen v'Chesed Hashem by granting otot and moftim to take place by the hands of Moshiach's Shluchim.
|4| And the multitude of the city was divided, and some were with the [disobedient, 14:2] Yehudim but, others, with the Moshiach's Shluchim.
|5| And when an attempt came by both the Goyim and the Yehudim with their rashim (heads, leaders) to mistreat and to stone them,
|6| when the Moshiach's Shluchim became aware of this, they fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the surrounding countryside.
|7| And there the Moshiach's Shluchim were preaching the Besuras HaGeulah.
|8| And a certain ish in Lystra, powerless in his feet, was sitting, pise'ach from womb of his Em, a man who had never walked.
|9| This one heard Rav Sha'ul speaking, and when he gazed at the man and saw that he has emunah (faith) to be restored to health,
|10| Rav Sha'ul said in a kol gadol, "Stand upright on your feet." And the man jumped up and was walking around. [YECHEZKEL 2:1]
|11| And the multitudes, when they saw what Rav Sha'ul did, shouted in the Lycaonian language, saying, "The g-ds, having been made like anashim, have come down to us."
|12| And they were calling Bar-Nabba "Zeus" and Rav Sha'ul "Hermes," vi-bahlt (since) Rav Sha'ul was the main speaker.
|13| And the priest of Zeus was outside the city and brought bulls and flower wreaths to the gates; he and the multitudes wanted to offer pagan korbanot (sacrifices).
|14| But having heard this, the Moshiach's Shluchim Bar-Nabba and Rav Sha'ul tore their kaftans and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,
|15| "Anashim, why are you doing these things? We also are of the same nature as you, mere men, preaching to you to turn in teshuva from these worthless things to the Elohim Chayyim who made HASHOMAYIM V'ES HAARETZ V'ES HAYAM and all the things in them; [SHMUEL ALEF 12:21; BERESHIT 1:1; TEHILLIM 146:6; SHEMOT 20:11]
|16| "In the dorot having passed, Hashem allowed all the Goyim to go their own way. [TEHILLIM 81:12; MICHOH 4:5]
|17| "And yet Hashem did not leave himself without an eidus (witness) in doing hatovim to you, giving geshem from Shomayim and seasons of bearing p'ri, filling you with okhel and your levavot with simcha." [DEVARIM 11:14; IYOV 5:10; TEHILLIM 65:10; 4:7; 147:20]
|18| And even saying these things, it was with difficulty that Moshiach's Shluchim restrained the multitudes from offering pagan korbanot to them. [AMOS 9:11
TARGUM HASHIVIM; YIRMEYAH 12:15; YESHAYAH 45:21]
|19| Then [disobedient] Yehudim came from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium and, having won over the crowds and having stoned Rav Sha'ul, they were dragging him outside the city, thinking he was dead.
|20| And after the Moshiach's talmidim had surrounded Rav Sha'ul, he got up and entered the city. And on the next day he went with Bar-Nabba to Derbe.
|21| And having preached the Besuras HaGeulah in that city and having made many talmidim, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Pisidian Antioch,
|22| strengthening the nefashot (souls) of Moshiach's talmidim, encouraging them to remain in the [Orthodox Jewish] emunah (faith), and exhorting them that through tzarot rabbot it is necessary for us to enter into the Malchut Hashem.
|23| And having chosen for messianic s'michah Zekenim to be installed in every one of Moshiach's Kehillot, and having davened with tzomot, the Moshiach's Shluchim commended them to Adoneinu in whom they had emunah.
|24| And having gone through Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia.
|25| And having spoken the dvar Hashem in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
|26| And from there, they sailed away to Syrian Antioch, their point of origin from which they had been commended to the Chen v'Chesed Hashem to the Messianic avodas kodesh which they had completed.
|27| Upon their arrival in Syrian Antioch, they assembled the Moshiach's Kehillah there, and were reporting what Hashem had done with them and how he had opened for the Nations a sha'ar of emunah.
|28| And they were spending not a little zman with the talmidim.
PEREK TET VAV (CHAPTER FIFTEEN)
And some men came down from Yehudah to Syrian Antioch and were teaching the Achim b'Moshiach that if you lack the bris milah as prescribed by Moshe Rabbenu, it is impossible for you to come to Yeshu'at Eloheinu.
|2| Now this brought them into a dispute and a debate of no little proportion with Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, who were appointed to go up with some others from them to bring this sheelah (question) before the Moshiach's Shluchim and Zekenim in Yerushalayim.
|3| Then having been sent on their way by the Kehillah, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Shomron telling in detail how the Nations were turning to Hashem and they were bringing great simcha to all the Achim b'Moshiach.
|4| And having come to Yerushalayim, they were there received by Moshiach's Kehillah and the Moshiach's Shluchim and the Zekenim, and they reported what things Hashem had done with them.
|5| But some of the ma'aminim hemeshichiyim from the kat of the Perushim rose up, saying, "It is necessary to give the Goyim the bris milah and to command them to be shomer mitzvot, keeping the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu."
|6| And the Moshiach's Shluchim and the Zekenim were gathered together as a council to consider this matter.
|7| And after much deliberation had taken place, Moshiach's Shliach Shimon Kefa got up. Kefa said to them, "Anashim, Achim b'Moshiach, you have da'as that in the early days Hashem chose that among you I would be the one and through my mouth the Goyim would hear the dvar Hashem of the Besuras HaGeulah and would come to emunah [in the Orthodox Jewish faith].
|8| "And the One who has da'as of levavot, Hashem, bore solemn edut and stood as their witness, having given the non-Jews the Ruach Hakodesh just as Hashem did also to us Jews [Acts 2:4; 10:46].
|9| "And in making tehorot their levavot by emunah, in this respect Hashem did not differentiate between us Jews and those non-Jews.
|10| "Therefore, now why are you testing Hashem by laying an ol (yoke) upon the neck of the talmidim which neither Avoteinu nor we were able to bear? [DEVARIM 9:5-6]
|11| "On the contrary, Anu Ma'aminim (We believe) that we Jews come to Yeshu'at Eloheinu by the Chen v'Chesed Hashem of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu in the same Derech Hashem as those non-Jews do also." [Ro 3:9,30; Ga.3:12-13; YESHAYAH 53:9-12; Pp.3:9; DEVARIM 9:4-6; Lk 18:11-12]
|12| And then all the multitude was silent and they were listening to Bar-Nabba and Rav Sha'ul describing what otot and moftim Hashem did among the Nations through them.
|13| And after Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba fell silent, Moshiach's Shliach Ya'akov responded, saying, "Anashim, Achim b'Moshiach, listen to me.
|14| "Shimon explained how Hashem first concerned himself to receive from the Nations a people for SHMO [ZECHARYAH 6:12].
|15| "And this is in agreement with the dvarim of the Nevi'im, just as it has been written,
|16| `After these things I will return and AKIM ES SUKKAT DOVID HANOFELET VHARISOTAV AKIM U'VENITIHA ("I will restore the tent of Dovid which has fallen and the things having been torn down of it I will rebuild and I will restore it"),
|17| "so that the she'erit (remnant) of anashim might seek Hashem and all the GOYIM who are called by my Name,
|18| "says the L-rd, who makes these things known from long ago. [AMOS 9:11f TARGUM HASHIVIM, 12; YIRMEYAH 12:15; YESHAYAH 45:21]
|19| "Therefore, it is my judgment not to trouble the ones from the Goyim turning in teshuva to Hashem,
|20| "but to write to them to keep away from the pollution of elilim and of zenut and of the thing strangled and of dahm. [VAYIKRA 3:17; 7:26; 17:10-13; 19:26; DEVARIM 12:16,23]
|21| "For Moshe Rabbenu from ancient dorot in every shtetl has his maggidim and in the shuls every Shabbos he has been read."
|22| Then it was mekabel (received) by the Moshiach's Shluchim and the Zekenim with the entire Kehillah to choose anashim from them to send to Syrian Antioch with Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, also Yehudah called Bar-Sabba, and Sila, all manhigim among the Achim b'Moshiach,
|23| with the following iggeret: "From the Achim b'Moshiach, Moshiach's Shluchim and the Zekenim: to the Achim b'Moshiach throughout Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, to those from among the Nations, Shalom!
|24|"Vi-bahlt (since) we heard that certain men had gone out from us, though not having any directives from us, and have given you mitzvot with dvarim unsettling your nefashot (souls),
|25| "it was mekabel to us, having come to achdus in mind and having chosen anashim to send to you, along with our beloved chaverim Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul--
|26| "anashim who have imperiled their lives for ha-Shem of Moshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua--
|27| "therefore we have sent Yehudah and Sila, and they too will confirm us in person by word of mouth.
|28| "For it was mekabel to the Ruach Hakodesh and to us to lay no heavier burden upon you who are from the Nations except these necessary things:
|29| "that you non-Jewish ma'aminim hameshichiyim keep away from meat sacrificed to elilim, and dahm, and what is strangled, and zenut. If you are shomer to avoid these, you will do well. Shalom!"
|30| Therefore, having been dismissed, they went down to Syrian Antioch, and having gathered together the multitude, they delivered the iggeret.
|31| And having read it, there was a response of simcha gedolah at the exhortation.
|32| Both Yehudah and Sila, being themselves nevi'im hameshichiyim also, with many dvarim comforted the Achim b'Moshiach and gave them chizzuk.
|33| And after they had spent considerable time, they were dismissed with shalom from the Achim b'Moshiach and sent back to the ones having dispatched them. [SHMUEL ALEF 1:17]
|35| And Rav Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba were staying in Syrian Antioch saying shiurim and drashot with also many others, the content of these being the dvar Hashem.
|36| And after some yamim Rav Sha'ul said to Bar-Nabba, "Let's return, then, and visit the Achim b'Moshiach throughout every city in which we proclaimed the dvar Hashem to see how they are doing."
|37| And Bar-Nabba was deciding to take along also Yochanan called Markos.
|38| But Rav Sha'ul was insisting not to take along this one, the one having withdrawn from them from Pamphylia, not having gone with them to the avodas kodesh ministry of the Moshiach's Shlichus.
|39| And there was a sharp disagreement so that they were separated from one another, and Bar-Nabba took Markos and sailed away to Cyprus.
|40| And Rav Sha'ul chose Sila and departed, having been commended to the Chen v'Chesed Hashem by the Achim b'Moshiach.
|41| And they were traveling through Syria and Cilicia strengthening the
Moshiach's Kehillot.
PEREK TET ZAYIN (CHAPTER SIXTEEN)
And Rav Sha'ul arrived also in Derbe and went on to Lystra. And, hinei, a certain talmid of Moshiach was there by the name Timotiyos, the ben of a faithful Yiddisha isha but whose abba was Yevani.
|2| Timotiyos was a bochur who was well spoken of by the Achim b'Moshiach in Lystra and Iconium.
|3| Rav Sha'ul wanted Timotiyos to come along with his chavura, so he took him and did a bris milah, because of the Yehudim in those places, for everyone had da'as that his abba was Yevani (Greek).
|4| And as they were traveling through the cities, they were handing on to them to be shomer regarding the mitzvot that had been laid down by the Moshiach's Shluchim and the Ziknei haKehillot of Moshiach in Yerushalayim.
|5| The Moshiach's Kehillot, therefore, were growing in the emunah (faith), and yom yom were increasing in number.
|6| And they traveled through the regions of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Ruach Hakodesh to speak the dvar Hashem in [the Roman Province of] Asia.
|7| And having come to the border of Mysia, they were trying to go toward Bithynia, and the Ruach of Moshiach did not permit them.
|8| So, passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
|9| And during the lailah a chazon (vision) appeared to Rav Sha'ul. It was of a certain ish from Macedonia who had been standing and was begging him, saying, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."
|10| And when Rav Sha'ul saw the chazon, immediately he sought to cross over to Macedonia, concluding that Hashem had called us to preach the Besuras HaGeulah to them.
|11| And having set sail from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and, on the next day, to Neapolis;
|12| and from there, to Philippi, which is a chashuve (prominent) city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. And we were in this city, staying some yamim.
|13| And on Shabbos, we went outside the sha'ar to a river where there was a mikveh mayim, supposing there we would find a minyan davening, and having sat down, we were speaking with the nashim who had assembled.
|14| And a certain isha, by name Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, of the city of Thyatira, a yirat Elohim, was listening, and Hashem opened her lev (heart) to pay attention to the things being spoken by Rav Sha'ul.
|15| And when she was given the Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva along with all her household, she said, "If you have judged me ne'emanah to Hashem, enter into my bais and stay there." And she prevailed upon us.
|16| And it came about when we were going to where they held the minyan, that a certain shifchah (slave girl) having a ruach of the python (trans. note: i.e. a shed, demon) came out to meet us. She was bringing much profit to her adonim by divination. [DEVARIM 18:11; SHMUEL ALEF 28:3,7]
|17| This one was following Rav Sha'ul, crying out, saying, "These anashim are avadim of G-d HaElyon and are proclaiming to you the Derech HaYeshu'at Eloheinu."
|18| And this kviusdik (constant) thing she was doing for many yamim; but Rav Sha'ul, whom she wouldn't stop chepping (annoying), turned to the ruach (shed), and said, "I command you in ha-Shem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua to come out from her!" And it came out in the same hour.
|19| And when her adonim saw that the tikvah of their profit also left her, they seized Rav Sha'ul and Sila, and they dragged them into the marketplace before their manhigim;
|20| and having brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These anashim, being Jews, are disturbing our city,
|21| "and they are proclaiming minhagim (customs) which it is not permitted for us, being Romans, to accept or to do." [ESTHER 3:8]
|22| And the multitude rose up together keneged (against) Rav Sha'ul and Sila; and the chief magistrates, having torn off the kaftans of Moshiach's Shluchim, were giving orders to beat them.
|23| And having inflicted klop after klop upon these Jewish men, they threw Rav Sha'ul and Sila into the beis hasohar, giving orders to the soher (jailer) to guard them securely.
|24| And the soher (jailer), having received such an order, threw them into the inner beis hasohar, and he fastened their feet in the stock. [IYOV 13:27; 33:11; YIRMEYAH 20:2,3; 29:26]
|25| And about chatzot halailah Rav Sha'ul and Sila were davening and were singing niggunim to Hashem, and the prisoners were listening to them.
|26| And, suddenly, there came a gevaltike earthquake, so that the beis hasohar was shaken to its foundations, and immediately were opened all delatot (doors) and all sharsherot (chains) were unfastened.
|27| And the soher, having awakened and having seen the delatot of the beis hasohar having been opened, drew his cherev (sword) and was about to commit suicide, thinking the prisoners had run away.
|28| But Rav Sha'ul shouted with a kol gadol, saying, "Do no harm to yourself, for we are all here."
|29| And having asked for lights, he rushed in and, starting to tremble with pachad, he fell down before Rav Sha'ul and Sila.
|30| Then, leading them outside, the soher said, "Rabbotai, what is it necessary for me to do that I may come to Yeshu'at Eloheinu?"
|31| And Moshiach's Shluchim said, "Have emunah in the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua, and you will come to Yeshu'at Eloheinu, you and your bais."
|32| And they spoke to him the dvar Hashem together with all the ones in his bais.
|33| And having taken them in that hour of the lailah, the soher washed their wounds, and at once he was given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva, as well as his entire mishpochah.
|34| After that he led them to tish in his bais, and he set before them okhel, and he with his whole bais had simcha gedolah that they had come to emunah in Hashem.
|35| And in the boker, the magistrates sent the soterim (policemen), saying, "Release those men."
|36| And the soher reported these words to Rav Sha'ul, saying, "The magistrates sent word that you may be released; now, therefore, go and depart in shalom." [SHOFETIM 18:6]
|37| But Rav Sha'ul said to them, "After giving us a public flogging, though we are uncondemned Roman citizens, they threw us into the beis hasohar; and now are they secretly sending us out? No, indeed! Let them come themselves and lead us out in public."
|38| And the soterim reported these words to the magistrates, and the magistrates were afraid, hearing that Rav Sha'ul and Sila were both Roman citizens.
|39| So the magistrates came, and entreated Rav Sha'ul and Sila, and brought them out, asking them to depart from the city.
|40| And having come out from the beis hasohar, they came to Lydia, and
having seen and encouraged the Achim b'Moshiach of the Kehillah that met in
Lydia's bais, Rav Sha'ul and Sila departed.
PEREK YOD ZAYIN (CHAPTER SEVENTEEN)
KRISTALLNACHT AT THESSALONICA
Now having passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, Rav Sha'ul and Sila came to Thessalonica, where there was a shul.
|2| And as he did bekvius (regularly), Rav Sha'ul joined their minyan, and on shloshah Shabbatot, he gave them drashot from the Kitvei HaKodesh,
|3| making a Messianic midrash (homiletical interpretation of the Scriptures) and giving the pshat (rationale) for the innuyim of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, that it was necessary for him to suffer and to stand up alive from the Mesim, saying, "This one is the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, this Yehoshua whom I am proclaiming to you."
|4| And some of them were persuaded and were being mishtatef (join, become involved) in a chavura with Rav Sha'ul and Sila, as did a large number of yirei Elohim (Yevanim) and not a few of the chashuve nashim.
|5| And the Yehudim without emunah, being filled with kinah, and having rounded up from the people of the market the gornisht and the no-goodniks, and having formed a mob, were throwing the city into an uproar. And the crowd was seeking to bring out Moshiach's Shluchim and throw them to the mob, so they attacked the bais of Jason.
|6| But not having found the Moshiach's Shluchim, they were dragging Jason and some other Achim b'Moshiach to the city manhigim, shouting, "These ones, who have been turning the Olam Hazeh upside down, have come here also!
|7| "And Jason is the one who has received them into his bais! And all these ones are acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is a king other than Caesar, this Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua!"
|8| And they stirred up the mob and also the city manhigim who heard them saying these things.
|9| And having taken the bond money from Jason and the rest, they released
them.
FRESH CHAZORA (REVIEW) OF THE KITVEH HAKODESH, INSPECTING THEREBY THE
DRASHAH OF RAV SHA'UL
|10| And, immediately during the lailah, the Achim b'Moshiach sent both Rav Sha'ul and Sila to Berea. When Moshiach's Shluchim arrived, they joined the minyan in the shul.
|11| But these Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians. The Berean Yehudim received the dvar Hashem with all readiness, yom yom (daily) making a chazora (review) and examining and horiva over (analyzing) the Kitvei HaKodesh, to see if these things might be so. [DEVARIM 29:29]
|12| Therefore, many of them became Messianic Jews, and also of the chashuve Yevanim, not a few nashim and anashim came to emunah.
|13| But when the Yehudim without emunah from Thessalonica realized that also in Berea the dvar Hashem was being proclaimed by Rav Sha'ul, they came also to Berea, agitating and stirring up mobs.
|14| And immediately, then, the Achim b'Moshiach sent away Rav Sha'ul to go as far as to the sea, but both Sila and Timotiyos remained in Berea.
|15| Now the ones escorting Rav Sha'ul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions to have Sila and Timotiyos come to Rav Sha'ul in Athens as quickly as possible, the ones escorting him departed.
|16| And awaiting them in Athens, the ruach of Rav Sha'ul was being distressed within him as he observed the city being full of elilim.
|17| Therefore, Rav Sha'ul was dialoguing and arguing in the shul with the Yehudim and with the yirei Elohim and also in the marketplace yom yom with the ones who happened to be there.
|18| Also some of the Apikoros (Epicurean) and Stoic philosophers started conversing with Rav Sha'ul, and some were saying, "What might this babbler wish to say?" And others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities." They said this because of what Rav Sha'ul was proclaiming: Yehoshua and the Techiyas HaMesim.
|19| And having taken hold of Rav Sha'ul, they brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "Are we able to have da'as of what this new teaching is, which is being spoken by you?
|20| "For some surprising things you bring to our hearing. Therefore, we desire to have da'as of what these things mean."
|21| Now all the Athenians and the visiting foreigners and tourists in Athens used to spend time doing nothing but shmoozing about the latest novelty in the news.
|22| And Rav Sha'ul, taking his stand in the middle of the Areopagus, said, "Anashim, Athenians, with respect to everything how very dati (religious) indeed I observe you to be.
|23| "For passing through and looking carefully at your objects of worship, I found also an altar on which had been inscribed `To the unknown g-d.' Therefore, what you worship without da'as, this I proclaim to you.
|24| "Hashem, the One having made HaOlam and all the things in it, this One being Adon HaShomayim vaHaAretz, does not dwell in temples made by human hands. [YESHAYAH 42:5 DEVARIM 10:14; YESHAYAH 66:1; MELACHIM ALEF 8:27]
|25| "Nor is Hashem served by human hands, as if Hashem were in need of something, since he gives to all Chayyim and breath and everything. [TEHILLIM 50:10-12; YESHAYAH 42:5]
|26| "And Hashem made from one ancestor every nation of anashim dwelling pnei kol haAretz. And Hashem has set the zmanim and the fixed boundaries of their habitations, [DEVARIM 32:8; IYOV 12:23]
|27| "so that they would seek Hashem, if efsher (perhaps) they might grope for him and might find him, though Hashem is not far from each one of us. [DEVARIM 4:7; YESHAYAH 55:6; YIRMEYAH 23:23.24]
|28| "For `we live in him and in him we move and have our being,' as also some of your poets have said, `For we are all his offspring.' [DEVARIM 30:20; IYOV 12:10; DANIEL 5:23; Epimenides; Aratus]
|29| "Therefore, being offspring of Hashem, we ought not to think that Hashem's essence is like gold or silver or stone, a tzelem (image) made by the skill and thought of bnei Adam. [YESHAYAH 40:18-20]
|30| "While Hashem has disregarded and let pass the Am HaAretz times, now, however, Hashem proclaims to kol bnei Adam everywhere, Make teshuva,
|31| "because he set a day in which he is about to bring MISHPAT (TEHILLIM 9:8) on the Olam Hazeh in tzedek [DANIEL 9:24] by an ISH (ZECHARYAH 6:12) whom he appointed, having furnished proof to all by having made him to stand up alive again from the Mesim." [TEHILLIM 9:8; 96:13; 98:9; YESHAYAH 53:11 MEGILLOT YAM HAMELAH (DEAD SEA SCROLLS)]
|32| And when they heard of the Techiyas HaMesim, some were mocking Rav Sha'ul. But others said, "We will hear you again about this."
|33| Thus did Rav Sha'ul go out from the midst of them.
|34| And some anashim became mishtatef in the chavura of Rav Sha'ul, in that
they had emunah, among whom were both Dionysius, a member of the Athenian
Council of the Areopagus, and an isha by name Damaris, and others with them.
PEREK YOD HET (CHAPTER EIGHTEEN)
After these things Rav Sha'ul left Athens and went to Corinth.
|2| And in Corinth Rav Sha'ul found some Messianic Jews, namely Aquila hailing from Pontus, having recently come from Italy, where Claudius ordered a decree of Jewish expulsion from Rome, and Priscilla, his isha. Rav Sha'ul went to see them.
|3| And because he had the same parnasah (livelihood), Rav Sha'ul was staying with them, and he was working with them, for they were tentmakers by trade.
|4| And Rav Sha'ul was debating in the shul every Shabbos, and he was convincing Yehudim and Yevanim.
|5| Now when both Sila and Timotiyos came down from Macedonia, Rav Sha'ul was farnumen (preoccupied) and totally absorbed with the dvar Hashem, bearing solemn edut to the Yehudim that Yehoshua is the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
|6| But when some began opposing Rav Sha'ul, and when they began committing Chillul Hashem, Rav Sha'ul shook out his kaftan and said to them, "The responsibility of your lot be upon you own head! For I am tahor (clean); from now on, I go to the Nations." [SHMUEL BAIS 1:16; YECHEZKEL 33:4; 3:17-19; NECHEMYAH 5:13]
|7| And so Rav Sha'ul left them, and entered into the bais of a certain ish by name Titius Justus, a yire Elohim whose bais was right next door to the shul!!
|8| And Crispus, the Rosh Beit HaKnesset, came to emunah in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu along with his entire bais; also many of the Corinthians who heard came to emunah, and were being given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva.
|9| Then in the lailah, through a chazon, Adonoi said to Rav Sha'ul, "Do not fear, but speak out, and do not keep silent,
|10| "for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you; I have many people in this city."
|11| And Rav Sha'ul sat shanah and shishah chodashim saying shiurim to them on the dvar Hashem.
|12| And when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the [disobedient] Yehudim rose up with one accord keneged (against, in opposition to) Rav Sha'ul, and they took him to court,
|13| saying, "This one persuades anashim to worship Hashem in a manner against the Torah."
|14| Rav Sha'ul was about to open his mouth when Gallio spoke to the Yehudim, "If this matter concerned some wrong or heinous crime, O Yehudim, I might reasonably put up with you;
|15| "but if it is kashes (questions) about a dvar and shemot (names) and your Torah, you will see to it for yourselves. I do not intend to be a shofet (judge) of these things."
|16| And he had them ejected from the courtroom.
|17| They seized Sosthenes, the Rosh HaKnesset, and were beating him in full view of the Kes HaMishpat (Judgment Seat), and none of these things created a concern for Gallio.
|18| But Rav Sha'ul still remained a number of yamim and then took leave of the Achim b'Moshiach, and was sailing away to Syria; and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he cut his hair, for he had taken a neder (vow). [BAMIDBAR 6:2,5,18]
|19| Then they arrived in Ephesus, and Rav Sha'ul left them there, but he joined the minyan in the shul and debated with the Yehudim.
|20| And when they were asking Rav Sha'ul to stay for a longer time, he did not give his consent.
|21| But taking leave of them, he said, "I will return again im yirtzeh Hashem (G-d willing)." Then Rav Sha'ul set sail from Ephesus.
|22| And having come down to Caesarea and having gone up and greeted the [Yerushalayim] Kehillah of Moshiach, then Rav Sha'ul went down to Antioch.
|23| And having spent some time, he embarked, passing through the area of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the Moshiach's talmidim.
|24| Now a certain man, a Yehudi, arrived in Ephesus, Apollos by name, hailing from Alexandria, a lamdan (a Torah scholar with prodigious knowledge), being tief (deep and profound, erudite, keen) in the Kitvei HaKodesh.
|25| This one had been taught the Derech Hashem and was on fire in the Ruach Hakodesh and saying shiurim and drashot accurate and true to Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. But Rav Apollos was acquainted only with the tevilah of teshuva of Yochanan.
|26| And this rabbi began to speak with ometz lev (boldness) in the shul. And having heard him, Priscilla and Aquila took him and more accurately instructed him in the Derech Hashem.
|27| When Rav Apollos desired to go to Achaia, the Achim b'Moshiach encouraged him and wrote iggrot to Moshiach's talmidim there to welcome him. When Rav Apollos arrived, he greatly helped the ones who through the Chen v'Chesed Hashem had come to emunah.
|28| For Rav Apollos was publicly and powerfully refuting the
[unbelieving] Yehudim, showing through the Kitvei HaKodesh that
Yehoshua is the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach.
PEREK YOD TET (CHAPTER NINETEEN)
And it came about while Rav Apollos was in Corinth that Rav Sha'ul traveled through the upper regions and arrived at Ephesus, finding some of [Moshiach's] talmidim there.
|2| And Rav Sha'ul said to them, "Did you receive the Ruach Hakodesh when you came to emunah?" But they said to Rav Sha'ul, "But we never heard that there is a Ruach Hakodesh!"
|3| And Rav Sha'ul said, "Into what then were you given tevilah?" And they said, "Into the tevilah of Yochanan."
|4| And Rav Sha'ul said, "Yochanan gave a tevilah of teshuva to the people, saying that they should have emunah in Hu HaBah [Moshiach], the one coming after him, that is, in Yehoshua."
|5| And having heard this, they were given Moshiach's tevilah of teshuva in ha-Shem of the Moshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua.
|6| And when Rav Sha'ul placed his hands upon them, the Ruach Hakodesh came upon them, and they were speaking in leshonot and they were speaking dvarim hanevu'ah.
|7| And the anashim were about sheneym asar in number.
|8| And having joined the minyan at the shul, Rav Sha'ul was speaking with ometz lev during the course of shloshah chodashim, debating and persuading concerning the things of the Malchut Hashem.
|9| But when some unbelievers in the shul were being hardened and were disobeying, speaking Chillul Hashem of the Derech Hashem before the multitude, Rav Sha'ul withdrew from them. Rav Sha'ul took the Moshiach's talmidim and yom yom was saying shiurim in the yeshiva of Tyrannus.
|10| And this happened over a period of two years with the intended result that all the ones inhabiting [the Roman Province of] Asia heard the dvar Hashem, both Yehudim and Yevanim.
|11| And gevaltike moftim and niflaot Hashem effected at the hands of Rav Sha'ul,
|12| so that when a handkerchief or an apron touched the skin of Rav Sha'ul and was brought to the cholim, the machlot (sicknesses) and the shedim (demons) left them.
|13| And some traveling Jewish exorcists attempted to use ha-Shem of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua over the ones possessed of ruchot ra'ot, saying, "I exorcize and cast you out by the Yehoshua whom Rav Sha'ul preaches!"
|14| And there were doing this very thing shivat banim of a certain Skeva, a Jewish "Kohen Gadol."
|15| And in reply the ruach hara'ah (the shed, demon) said to them, "I am acquainted with Yehoshua, and I have da'as of Sha'ul, but, you?...who are you?!"
|16| And the ish in whom was the ruach hara'ah leaped upon them and subdued all [shivah] of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled, naked and wounded, from the bais.
|17| And this became known to all the Yehudim and also the Yevanim inhabiting Ephesus, and pachad (terror) fell upon all of them, and they were exalting ha-Shem of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua.
|18| And many of the ones having come to emunah were making vidduy of their ma'asim, disclosing them.
|19| And a number of the ones who had practiced kishshuf (magic, sorcery) brought together their occult sfarim and were burning them publicly; and they added up the price of these occult sfarim, and they found it to be fifty thousand silver pieces.
|20| So the dvar Hashem, the Besuras HaGeulah, was growing with ko'ach and was prevailing.
|21| And when these things were fulfilled, Rav Sha'ul resolved in his ruach to travel through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Yerushalayim, saying "After I have gone there, it is necessary for me also to see Rome."
|22| So Rav Sha'ul sent to Macedonia two of the mesharetim (ministers, servants) with him -- Timotiyos and Erastus, while he stayed a little while longer in [the Province] of Asia.
|23| Now during that time there was no small disturbance concerning the Derech Hashem.
|24| For a certain one, Demetrius by name, a silversmith and maker of silver idol shrines for Artemis, was providing no small revach (profit) for the craftsmen.
|25| Demetrius also assembled the craftsmen occupied with that trade and he said, "Anashim, you have da'as that our prosperity is from this trade,
|26| "and you see and hear that not only here in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Rav Sha'ul has persuaded and drawn away a large multitude saying, `Elilim made with human hands are not Elohim.' [DEVARIM 4:28; TEHILLIM 115:4; YESHAYAH 44:10-20; YIRMEYAH 10:3-5]
|27| "And this is not only a danger to us, that our part, our trade will fall into disrepute, but also the temple of the elah hagedolah Artemis may be considered as nothing, and also may be about to suffer the loss of her majesty, which all Asia and the Olam Hazeh worship."
|28| And having listened and having become full of ka'as, the idol makers were crying out, saying, "Gedolah is Artemis of the Ephesians!"
|29| And the city was filled with tohu (chaos), and they rushed with one impulse into the theater, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, who were Macedonians and traveling fellow po'alim of Rav Sha'ul.
|30| And Rav Sha'ul desired to enter into the crowd in the theater, but the talmidim were not allowing him.
|31| And also some of the Asiarchs who were his chaverim, sent to him, begging him not to venture into the theater.
|32| Then some began shouting one thing, some another, in the theater, for the kahal (assembly) was in confusion, and most had no da'as of why they had assembled.
|33| And from the multitude Alexander was pushed forward by Yehudim and some prompted him with shouts, while Alexander waved his hand, wanting to defend himself to the kahal.
|34| But having known what the man was, that he was a Yehudi (a Jew), all in the theater shouted in unison for lav davka (approximately) two hours crying out, "Gedolah is Artemis of the Ephesians."
|35| And the town clerk, when he had restrained the crowd, said,
"Anashim, citizens of Ephesus, who indeed is there among Bnei Adam who does not have da'as that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of the tzelem (image) that fell from Shomayim?
|36| "Since these things are undeniable, it is necessary for you to calm down and to do nothing reckless.
|37| "For you brought these anashim here who are neither temple robbers nor speakers of evil against our religion.
|38| "Therefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a tainah (grievance) against anyone, the civil courts are in session and there are proconsuls. Let it be there that they bring charges against one another.
|39| "And if you seek anything further, let your settlement be obtained in the lawful assembly.
|40| "For indeed we are in danger of being indicted for an intifadah
(uprising) today, for there is no justification we can render to excuse this
disorder and commotion." And having said these things, the town clerk dismissed
the kahal (assembly).
PEREK KAPH (CHAPTER TWENTY)
And after the uproar had ended, Rav Sha'ul summoned the Moshiach's talmidim and, having exhorted them, and having taken his leave, he departed to go to Macedonia.
|2| And having traveled through those regions and having exhorted the Moshiach's talmidim there with many words, Rav Sha'ul came to Greece.
|3| And after he had spent shloshah chodashim there, Rav Sha'ul was about to set sail for
Syria when a kesher (conspiracy) was plotted against him by the unbelieving Yehudim, and so Rav Sha'ul decided to return through Macedonia.
|4| And accompanying Rav Sha'ul from Berea was Sopater the son of Pyrrhus; from Thessalonica was Aristarchus and Secundus; from Derbe, Gaius; and from Asia, Timotiyos, Tychicus and Trophimus.
|5| And these, having gone ahead, were waiting for us in Troas.
|6| And we sailed away after the Yamim HaMatzot [i.e. Pesach] from Philippi, and within chamash yamim we came to them in Troas, where we stayed shivah yamim.
|7| And on Yom Rishon, when we met for a firen tish (it was Motzoei Shabbos when there was a Melaveh Malkeh communal meal), Rav Sha'ul was saying a shiur to them, since he would have to depart early the next day and was having to extend the message until chatzot halailah.
|8| And there were a number of menorot in the upper story, where we had assembled.
|9| And a certain bocher, by name Eutychus, was sitting on the window sill and began to succumb to a deep sleep while Rav Sha'ul was saying a shiur that went on and on. Overcome by this sleep, Eutychus fell from the third story downwards, and was picked up dead.
|10| And having come down, Rav Sha'ul fell upon him, and, having embraced him, Rav Sha'ul said, "Do not be troubled, for his neshamah is in him." [MELACHIM ALEF 17:21; MELACHIM BAIS 4:34]
|11| And having gone up and, at the Betzi'at HaLechem, having partaken of it, and having spoken until Shacharis, thus Rav Sha'ul departed.
|12| And they led away the bochur chai! And they were not a little comforted.
|13| And we went ahead to the oniyah (sailing vessel) and set sail for Assos, where we were intending to take Rav Sha'ul on board, for he had arranged it so, intending to travel by land himself.
|14| When Rav Sha'ul met us in Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene.
|15| And from there, having sailed away, we arrived on the next day opposite Chios. And then the day following we crossed over to Samos, and, on the following day, we came to Miletus.
|16| For Rav Sha'ul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so he would not have to spend time in [the Province of] Asia, for he was hurrying in order that, if possible, he might by Shavu'os go up to Yerushalayim.
|17| And from Miletus, having sent to Ephesus, Rav Sha'ul summoned the Ziknei HaKehillah.
|18| And when they came to him, he said to them, "You have da'as from the yom harishon in which I set foot in Asia how I was with you the entire time,
|19| "my avodas kodesh service to Hashem with all anavah (humility) and tears and tzoros, and all that happened to me by the kesharim of the [unbelieving]Yehudim;
|20| "how I kept back nothing profitable from you, but kept giving you messianic drashot and shiurim publicly and from bais to bais, [TEHILLIM 40:10; YIRMEYAH 26:2; 42:2]
|21| "bearing solemn edut both to Yehudim and Yevanim about teshuva toward Hashem and emunah in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua.
|22| "And now, hinei, having been bound by the Ruach Hakodesh, I am going to Yerushalayim, not having da'as of the things that are going to happen to me there,
|23| "except that the Ruach Hakodesh, in every city, testifies to me, saying that the beis hasohar and tzoros are awaiting me.
|24| "But I gufa (myself) do not account my existence in the Olam Hazeh of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the avodas kodesh sherut which I received from the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua to bear witness to the Besuras HaGeulah of the Chen v'Chesed Hashem.
|25| "And now, hinei, I have da'as that no longer will you see my face, all of you among whom I went about preaching the Malchut Hashem.
|26| "Therefore I bear solemn edut (testimony) to you on this very day today, that I am innocent of the blood of any of you.
|27| "For I did not shrink back from preaching and disclosing to all of you the whole etzat Hashem (counsel, plan of G-d).
|28| "Pay attention to yourselves and to all the eder Hashem (flock of G-d) in which the Ruach Hakodesh has placed you as mashgichim ruchaniyim (spiritual overseers) to do the work of ro'im (shepherds) over the Kehillah of Hashem which Adoneinu purchased for the Geulah with his own dahm [kapparah].
|29| "I have da'as that after my departure savage ze'evim (wolves) will come in among you, not sparing the eder (flock). [YECHEZKEL 34:5]
|30| "And from you yourselves will rise up anashim speaking perverted doctrines in order to draw away talmidim after themselves.
|31| "Therefore, be shomer, remembering that for shloshah shanim, yomam v'lailah, I did not stop admonishing each one of you with tears.
|32| "And now I commend you to Hashem and to the Dvar HaChen v'Chesed Hashem which is able to build you up and give you a nachalah (inheritance) among all the kadoshim.
|33| "I coveted no one's silver or gold or shtreimel. [SHMUEL ALEF 12:3]
|34| "You yourselves have da'as that these hands of mine supported all my needs as well as the needs of those with me.
|35| "In all this I was showing you a mofet (example) that thus working hard it is necessary to help the weak and to have zikaron of the dvarim of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua, that he himself said, `Beser (better) to geben (give) than to nemen (take).'"
|36| And having said these things, Rav Sha'ul fell down and, with them all, began davening.
|37| And there was much weeping among them, and, having fallen upon the neck of Rav Sha'ul, they were kissing him,
|38| with agmat nefesh above all at the dvar in which Rav Sha'ul had said
that no longer would they see his face again. And they were accompanying him to
the oniyah.
PEREK KAPH ALEPH (CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE)
And when it came about that we set sail, having parted from them, having run a straight course, we came to Cos. And on the next day we got to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
|2| And having found an oniyah crossing over to Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail.
|3| And having come within sight of Cyprus, and leaving Cyprus behind on our left, we were sailing to Syria and we arrived in Tzor, for there the oniyah was unloading its cargo.
|4| And after having searched for Moshiach's talmidim there, we stayed in Tzor shivah yamim. And Moshiach's talmidim were telling Rav Sha'ul by the Ruach Hakodesh not to make any aliyah (ascent) to Yerushalayim.
|5| But when our yamim there were ended, we departed and everyone, including nashim and yeladim, were accompanying us as far as the outskirts of the city; and falling down on the beach, we all were davening.
|6| And having bid them "Shalom," we embarked in the oniyah, and they returned to their own batim.
|7| And when we had completed the voyage from Tzor, we arrived in Ptolemais, and, having given a "Shalom" greeting to the Achim b'Moshiach there, we stayed yom echad with them.
|8| And on the next day, having left, we came to Caesarea; and entered the bais of Philippos, the maggid of the Besuras HaGeulah who was one of HaShivah [see 6:3]. And we stayed with him.
|9| And Philippos was the abba of arbah banot, betulot, who were gifted in giving a dvar nevuah. [SHEMOT 15:20; SHOFETIM 4:4; NECHEMYAH 6:14]
|10| And remaining there many yamim, a certain one came down from Yehudah, a navi, Agav by name.
|11| And when he came to us, he took Rav Sha'ul's gartel and, having bound his own feet and hands with it, Agav said, "So says the Ruach Hakodesh: this is the way the Yehudim in Yerushalayim will bind the man who owns this gartel, and they will hand him over to the Goyim." [MELACHIM ALEF 22:11; YESHAYAH 20:2-4; YIRMEYAH 13:1-11]
|12| And when we heard these things, we were begging Rav Sha'ul, both we and the locals, not to make any aliyah (ascent) to Yerushalayim.
|13| Then Rav Sha'ul answered, "What are you doing weeping and breaking my lev (heart)? For I am prepared not only to be bound but to die al kiddush ha-Shem in Yerushalayim, for haShem of the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua."
|14| And not persuading him, we remained silent, having said, "Let the ratzon Hashem be done."
|15| And after these yamim, having made preparations, we were making an aliyah to Yerushalayim.
|16| And also some of Moshiach's talmidim from Caesarea traveled with us, bringing us for hachnosas orchim to the bais of the Cyprian Mnason, one of Moshiach's talmidim of long standing [an early disciple].
|17| And when we arrived in Yerushalayim, the Achim b'Moshiach there gave us a kabbalat panim welcome with lev same'ach.
|18| And on the following day Rav Sha'ul was going in with us to Ya'akov, and all the Ziknei HaKehillah came.
|19| And having given them a "Shalom" greeting, Rav Sha'ul was explaining one by one the things Hashem did through his avodas kodesh as Moshiach's Shliach to the Goyim.
|20| And the ones who heard were saying, "Baruch Hashem!" And they said to him, "You see, Ach b'Moshiach, how many thousands there are among the Yehudim who have emunah [in our Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua], and they all have kanous (zealousness), are shomer mitzvot for the Torah [Sinai Covenant and its mitzvot].
|21| "And these Orthodox Jewish ma'aminim hameshichiyim have heard a rumor informing them about you, that you teach the Yehudim living among the Goyim in the Golus to be shmad and to commit apostasy from Orthodox Judaism, telling them to abandon bris milah for Bnei Yisroel and not to be shomer regarding the darkhei haTorah ["ways of the Torah," i.e. the Sinai Covenant and its mitzvot]. [BAMIDBAR 6:2,5]
|22| "What then is to be done? Certainly these Orthodox Jewish ma'aminim hameshichiyim [i.e. who have emunah in our Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua, Act 21:20] will get word that you have come.
|23| "This, therefore, do what we tell you. There are with us arba'ah anashim who are under a neder Nezirim.
|24| "Go! Take these for hitkaddeshut (purification) and purify yourself with them and pay expenses for them, that they may cut their hair; then all shall have da'as that there is no emes to the rumor; then it shall be clear that you yourself are in agreement and frum regarding the darkhei haTorah and that you are charedi and shomer mitzvot, in the ranks of those who practice Orthodox Judaism." [BAMIDBAR 6:1-21, Mishnah tractate Nazir]
|25| "And concerning the Goyim coming to [Orthodox Jewish] emunah, we have sent an iggeret with our decision that they avoid what is offered to elilim and dahm and what is strangled and zenut."
|26| Then Rav Sha'ul took the anashim on the following day, and he went with them for hitkaddeshut (purification) and was entering the Beis Hamikdash, giving notice of the completion of the yamim of the taharah until was offered for each one of them the korban. [BAMIDBAR 6:13-20]
|27| Now when the shivat yamim were about to be completed, unbelieving Yehudim from the Province of Asia [Ephesus], having seen Rav Sha'ul in the Beis Hamikdash, were stirring up all the multitude, and they laid their hands on him, [YIRMEYAH 26:8]
|28| crying out, "Anashim, Bnei Yisroel, help us! This one is the ish who is giving shiurim to everyone everywhere keneged (against, in opposition to) HaAm [Yisroel] and the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu and this Makom HaKadosh, and in addition also he brought Yevanim into the Beis Hamikdash and has defiled Makom HaKadosh HaZeh (the Beis Hamikdash)."
|29| (For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Rav Sha'ul and they had jumped to the conclusion and made the unwarranted assumption that Rav Sha'ul had brought Trophimus past the Soreg [barrier of the holy precinct] in the Beis Hamikdash.)
|30| And the whole city was aroused and the people were rushing together, and they seized Rav Sha'ul, and they were dragging him outside the Beit Hamikdash; and immediately the delatot were shut.
|31| And while they were trying to kill him, a report went up to a tribune of the Roman cohort that all Yerushalayim was in an uproar.
|32| At once he took his chaiyalim and centurions and ran down to them, and when the rioters saw the Roman tribune and the chaiyalim, they stopped beating Rav Sha'ul.
|33| Then the Roman tribune came near and took hold of Rav Sha'ul and ordered him to be bound with two sharsherot (chains), and the tribune was inquiring who he might be and what he had done.
|34| Some in the crowd were shouting one thing, some another, and the tribune was not able to have da'as of anything definite because of the noise, so he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.
|35| And when Rav Sha'ul was on the steps, it came about that he was carried by the chaiyalim, because of the violence of the multitude,
|36| for the crowd kept following and shouting, "Away with him!"
|37| And just when he was about to be brought into the barracks, Rav Sha'ul says to the Roman tribune, "Is it permissible for me to say something to you?" And the tribune said, "Ellinisti Ginoskeis? (Do you know Greek?)
|38| "Then you are not the Egyptian who recently stirred up an intifada and led out four thousand assassins into the wilderness?"
|39| And Rav Sha'ul said, "I gufa (myself) am an ish Yehudi from Tarsus of Cilicia, a citizen of no insignificant city. And I ask you to allow me to speak to the people."
|40| And when the tribune had given permission, Rav Sha'ul stood on the steps
and motioned with his hand to the people. And a great silence came. Then Rav
Sha'ul addressed them in the language of the Hebrews.
PEREK KAPH BEIT (CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO)
Rav Sha'ul said, "Anashim, Achim, Avot, listen now to my hitstaddekut (defense)."
|2| And when they heard that Rav Sha'ul was addressing them in the language of the Hebrews, they were even more quiet. And Rav Sha'ul said,
|3| "I am an ish Yehudi, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but having been brought up in a yeshiva in this city of Yerushalayim at the feet of Rabban Gamliel, having learned with irreproachable frumkeit according to all machmir chumra strictness the Torah of Avoteinu, and I have a kinat Hashem just as all of you do today; [MELACHIM ALEF 19:10]
|4| "I brought redifah on this `Derech,' even to the point of mavet, binding and delivering both anashim and nashim over to the beis hasohar,
|5| "as even the Kohen Gadol and all the Zekenim of the Sanhedrin could give solemn edut for me. For from them I also was authorized with iggrot to the Achim in Damascus, and I was going there to lead away also the ones who were there in order to bring them bound back to Yerushalayim to have them punished.
|6| "And it happened to me while traveling and drawing near to Damascus, lav davka (approximately) noon, suddenly from Shomayim, a very bright ohr (light) shone around me;
|7| "and I fell to the ground. Then I heard a bat kol saying to me, `Sha'ul, Sha'ul, why are you bringing redifah on me?'
|8| "And I answered, `Who are you, Adoni?' And he said to me, `I am Yehoshua of Natzeret, upon whom you are bringing redifah.'
|9| "And the ones with me saw the ohr (light) but they did not have real hearing (understanding) of the voice speaking to me.
|10| "And I said, `What may I do, Adoni?' And Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu said to me, `Get up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told about everything which has been appointed for you to do.'
|11| "And because I had been blinded from the kavod (glory) of that ohr (light), I was led by the hand by the ones who were with me and who led me into Damascus.
|12| "A certain man, Chananyah by name, an ehrliche Yid (a truly pious Jew), charedi according to the Torah and with a shem tov with all the Yehudim living in Damascus,
|13| "came to me and stood next to me, saying, `Ach b'Moshiach Sha'ul, receive your sight.' And at that moment I looked up at him.
|14| "And he said, `Elohei Avoteinu has chosen and appointed you to have da'as of his ratzon and to see the Tzaddik [Moshiach] and to hear the kol from his mouth.
|15| `For you will be an eidus (witness) to him to all anashim of what you have seen and heard.
|16| `And now what do you intend to do? Get up and receive uva and wash away your averos (sins) by calling upon SHMO.' [VAYIKRA 8:6; TEHILLIM 51:2; YECHEZKEL 36:25; YOEL 3:5(2:32) ZECHARYAH 6:12]
|17| "And it happened that after I had returned to Yerushalayim and as I was davening in the Beis Hamikdash, that I fell into a trance,
|18| "and saw Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach saying to me, `Hurry and get out quickly from Yerushalayim, because they will not receive your edut (testimony) concerning me.'
|19| "And I said `Adoni, they themselves have da'as that in every shul I was imprisoning and beating the ones with emunah in you.
|20| `And when in al kiddush ha-Shem, the dahm of your eidus (witness) Stefanos was being poured out, I myself also had been standing by and agreeing and protecting the kaftans of the ones killing him.'
|21| "And Moshiach said to me, `Go! For I will send you out, far away to the Goyim.'"
|22| And they were listening to Rav Sha'ul up to the word "Goyim;" and then they lifted up their kol, saying, "Away with such a one from ha'aretz! He should not be allowed to live!"
|23| And while they were crying out, while they were throwing off their kaftans and tossing dust into the air, [SHMUEL BAIS 16:13]
|24| the Roman tribune directed him to be brought into the barracks, and ordered him to be examined by the flagellum's scourge, that the tribune might have da'as of the reason for the mob's shouting thus keneged (against, in opposition to) Rav Sha'ul.
|25| And when the Roman soldiers stretched Rav Sha'ul out with the straps, he said to the centurion who was standing by, "If a man is a Roman citizen and uncondemned, it is lawful for you to scourge him?"
|26| And having heard this, the centurion approached the tribune and reported, saying, "What are you about to do? For this man has Roman citizenship."
|27| And having approached, the tribune said to Rav Sha'ul, "Tell me, are you a Roman?" And Rav Sha'ul said, "Etiam." [trans. note. Latin: "Yes, certainly."]
|28| And the tribune answered, "It cost me a large sum of money for me to acquire my Roman citizenship. " And Rav Sha'ul said, "But indeed I have been born a Roman citizen."
|29| Ofen ort, then, the ones about to examine him drew back from Rav Sha'ul. Also the tribune did the same. For he was afraid, learning that Rav Sha'ul is a Roman and that he had bound him.
|30| And on the next day, desiring to know something definite about why Rav
Sha'ul was accused by the Yehudim, the tribune released him and ordered the
Rashei Hakohanim and all the Sanhedrin to be assembled. Then, having brought
down Rav Sha'ul, the tribune had him set before them.
PEREK KAPH GIMEL (CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE)
And as he gazed at the Sanhedrin, Rav Sha'ul said, "Anashim, Achim, I have lived before Hashem until this day with a lev tahor."
|2| And the Kohen Gadol Chananyah ordered the ones standing by Rav Sha'ul to strike his mouth.
|3| Then Rav Sha'ul said to him, "Hashem is about to strike you, you white-washed wall! You sit judging me according to Torah, and yet in violation of the Torah you command me to be struck?" [VAYIKRA 19:15; DEVARIM 25:1,2]
|4| And the ones standing by said, "Do you revile the Kohen Gadol of Hashem?"
|5| And Rav Sha'ul said, "I was without da'as, Achim, that he is the Kohen Gadol, for it has been written, NASI V'AMMECHA LO TA'OR ("A ruler of your people you will not speak evil of/curse," SHEMOT 22:27 (28)
|6| And Rav Sha'ul, having da'as that one kat is of Tzedukim (Sadducees) and the other of Perushim (Pharisees), was crying out in the Sanhedrin, "Anashim, Achim, I am a Parush ben Parush and it is for the tikvah of the Techiyas HaMesim that I am being judged."
|7| Now when Rav Sha'ul said this, there came about a machaloket (controversy) between the Perushim and Tzedukim, and the multitude was divided.
|8| Loit (according to) the Tzedukim (Sadducees), there is no Techiyas HaMesim nor a malach nor ruchot, but Perushim acknowledge all these things.
|9| And there was a kol gadol and some of the Sofrim of the kat of the Perushim were arguing vigorously, saying, "Nothing rah do we find keneged (against) this ish, and what if a ruach did speak to him or a malach?" [YIRMEYAH 26:16]
|10| And fearing much more machaloket was coming, the Roman tribune ordered the troops to go down to take Rav Sha'ul away from the midst of them and to bring him into the barracks lest he be torn to pieces by them.
|11| And on the following lailah, HaAdon stood by Rav Sha'ul and said, "Chazzak! For as you gave solemn edut about me in Yerushalayim, thus it is necessary for you also to bear solemn edut in Rome."
|12| In the boker, the Judeans joined in a kesher (conspiracy) and bound themselves with a shevu'ah (oath) that none of them would eat or drink until they had carried out their plot of retzichah b'seter (murdering in secret, assassination) of Rav Sha'ul.
|13| Now there were more than arba'im anashim (forty men) who joined in this kesher.
|14| After they approached the Rashei HaKohanim (Chief Priests) and the Zekenim (Elders), they said, "We have bound ourselves with a shevu'ah (oath) to eat nothing until we have killed Rav Sha'ul.
|15| "Now, therefore, you with the Sanhedrin notify the tribune so that he may bring Rav Sha'ul down to you as if intending to determine more accurately the things concerning him, and, before he draws near, we are ready to kill him."
|16| Now when Rav Sha'ul's achyon (nephew) heard about the ma'arav (ambush), he went and gained entrance into the barracks and reported this to Rav Sha'ul.
|17| And Rav Sha'ul summoned one of the centurions and said, "Bring this bochur to the tribune for he has something to report to him."
|18| So the centurion took the bochur and brought him to the tribune and says, "The prisoner Rav Sha'ul has summoned me and asked me to bring this bochur to you; he has something to say to you."
|19| The tribune grasped the bochur's hand and drew him aside privately, inquiring, "What is it you have to report to me?"
|20| And the bochur said, "The Judeans agreed to ask you to bring Rav Sha'ul down machar (tomorrow) to the Sanhedrin as if intending to inquire something more accurate concerning him.
|21| "Therefore, you should not be persuaded by them, for more than arba'im anashim are lying in wait for him and these took a shevu'ah upon themselves neither to eat nor to drink until they have assassinated him, and now they are ready, waiting for your consent."
|22| Therefore, the tribune dismissed the bochur, ordering him, "Tell no one that you reported
these things to me."
|23| And having summoned two of the centurions, the tribune said, "Prepare to leave for Caesarea by nine o'clock tonight the following: two hundred chaiyalim, seventy horsemen, and two hundred bowmen.
|24| "And also provide mounts for Rav Sha'ul to ride, that he may be given safe passage to Felix the Moshel."
|25| Then the tribune wrote an iggeret to this effect:
|26| "Claudius Lysias to the most excellent Moshel, Felix. Greetings.
|27| "This man was seized by the Judeans and was about to be killed by them, but when I learned that he is a Roman citizen, I came with the chaiyalim and rescued him.
|28| "Desiring to have da'as of the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to their Sanhedrin.
|29| "I found he was being accused about issues of their Torah and the charge was nothing worthy of mavet or of imprisonment.
|30| "And when I received information of a kesher (plot) keneged (against) the man, I sent him immediately to you, having given orders also to his accusers to state their case against Rav Sha'ul before your excellency."
|31| Therefore, as they were ordered, the chaiyalim took Rav Sha'ul along and brought him under cover of lailah to Antipatris.
|32| And on the next day, having allowed the horsemen to go on with Rav Sha'ul, they returned to the barracks.
|33| When the horsemen entered into Caesarea, they delivered the iggeret to the Moshel and also presented Rav Sha'ul to him.
|34| And having read it, and having asked from what province Rav Sha'ul hailed, the Moshel learned that he was from Cilicia.
|35| "I will give you a hearing," Felix said, "when also your accusers
arrive." Then the Moshel commanded Rav Sha'ul to be watched by shomrim in the
Praetorium of Herod.
PEREK KAPH DALET (CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR)
And after chamash yamim, the Kohen Gadol Chananyah came down with some Zekenim and an orator, a certain Tertullus, who explained to the Moshel the charges keneged (against) Rav Sha'ul.
|2| And when Rav Sha'ul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, "Your Excellency, much shalom has been attained through you, and reforms have come to this nation by your foresight.
|3| "This in every way and everywhere, we acknowledge, most excellent Felix, with todah rabbah.
|4| "But in order that I may not detain you any longer, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly.
|5| "For having found this man a troublemaker and an inciter of riots among all the Yehudim throughout kol ha'aretz, a manhig of the kat [of Judaism], the Natzrati Kat.
|6| "He even tried to desecrate the Beis Hamikdash! And so we apprehended him.
|8| "When you examine him, you will be able to find out yourself regarding all these things of which we accuse him."
|9| And the rest of the Judeans joined in the attack, saying that these things were so.
|10| And when the Moshel nodded to him to speak, Rav Sha'ul answered, "Knowing that for many years you have been a shofet (judge) to this nation, I cheerfully make my hitstaddekut.
|11| "You will be able to learn that not more than twelve days have elapsed since I made an aliyah to worship in Yerushalayim.
|12| "And neither in the Beis Hamikdash did they find me conversing with anyone nor did they find me stirring up the multitude either in the shuls or anywhere in Yerushalayim.
|13| "Nor are they able to prove to you concerning the things of which now they are accusing me.
|14| "For Ani modeh (I confess) this to you, that according to the Derech Hashem, which they call a `kat' [of Judaism], I serve the Elohei Avoteinu, having emunah in everything written according to the Torah and the Nevi'im.
|15| "I have a tikvah (hope) in Hashem, which also these ones themselves anticipate, the coming Techiyas HaMesim of both the Tzaddikim and the Resha'im.
|16| "In view of this, I always do my best to keep a matzpun naki (clear conscience) before Hashem and before anashim.
|17| "Now after many years, I came bringing nedavot (donations) to my people and also to make korbanot (sacrifices).
|18| "And this is how they found me, having undergone hitkaddeshut (purification) in the Beis Hamikdash, not with rioters nor with any disturbance.
|19| "But there were some Yehudim from the Province of Asia who ought to be present before you to make accusation, if they might have something against me.
|20| "Or let these themselves say what crime they found in me when they stood me before the Sanhedrin,
|21| "unless it is about this one statement, which I stood and cried out among them, and that statement was concerning the Techiyas HaMesim, and it is for this that I am being judged today by you."
|22| But Felix, who was already rather well informed about the Derech Hashem, adjourned the meeting, saying, "When Lysias the tribune comes down, I will decide your case."
|23| Then Felix gave orders to the centurion to guard Rav Sha'ul, but to grant him considerable liberty and not to prevent his chaverim from ministering to his needs.
|24| And after some yamim, Felix came with Drusilla, his wife, who was Jewish. He summoned Rav Sha'ul and listened to him concerning his emunah (faith) in Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach Yehoshua.
|25| And as Rav Sha'ul was conversing about tzedek [DANIEL 9:24] and kibush hayetzer (self-control) and about the Yom HaDin coming, Felix suddenly became afraid, and said, "That will do for the moment. Go now. When I find time, I'll send for you."
|26| At the same time Felix was also hoping that bribe money would be given to him by Rav Sha'ul. Therefore, Felix used to frequently send for Rav Sha'ul to converse with him.
|27| When two years passed, Felix received a successor, Porcius Festus, and,
wanting to grant a favor to the Judeans, Felix left Rav Sha'ul in custody.
PEREK KAPH HE (CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE)
Therefore Festus, having arrived in the Province, after shloshah yamim went up from Caesarea to Yerushalayim,
|2| where the Rashei Hakohanim and manhigim of the Yehudim explained to Festus the charges keneged Rav Sha'ul, and they were begging him,
|3| asking a favor from him, that Festus might summon Rav Sha'ul to Yerushalayim, while at the same time they were forming a kesher to kill him along the way.
|4| Festus answered that Rav Sha'ul was to be kept in Caesarea and that Festus himself intended quickly to go there.
|5| "Therefore, those in authority among you," Festus says, "should come down with me, and if there is anything in the wrong about Rav Sha'ul, then let them bring charges against him."
|6| And having stayed with them no more than shmonah or asarah yamim, Festus went down to Caesarea; the next day he sat on the Kes HaMishpat and ordered Rav Sha'ul to be brought in.
|7| When Rav Sha'ul came in, the Judeans who had come down from Yerushalayim stood around him and brought serious charges keneged (against) him, which they were not able to prove.
|8| Rav Sha'ul defended himself, saying, "Neither keneged the Torah nor keneged the Beis Hamikdash nor keneged Caesar have I done anything wrong."
|9| But Festus, wishing to grant the Judeans a favor, said in reply to Rav Sha'ul, "Do you want to go up to Yerushalayim to be judged by me there concerning these things?"
|10| And Rav Sha'ul said, "I am standing before the Kes HaMishpat of Caesar, where it is necessary for me to be tried. I have done no wrong to my Jewish people, as you also have da'as very well.
|11| "Now if I have done wrong and am worthy of mavet, I am not trying to escape the penalty. But if there is nothing to the charges these bring against me, no one is able to hand me over to them. Therefore, I appeal to Caesar."
|12| Then Festus, having talked with his council, answered, "To Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you will go."
|13| After several yamim had passed, Agrippa HaMelech and Bernice arrived in Caesarea, having paid their respects to Festus.
|14| And while they were spending many yamim there, Festus laid out to the Melech the things with respect to Rav Sha'ul, saying, "There is a man here who was left behind in the beis hasohar by Felix.
|15| "When I went to Yerushalayim, the Rashei Hakohanim and the Zekenim of the Yehudim informed me about this man, requesting keneged him a sentence of condemnation.
|16| "I answered them that it violated Roman law to hand over any man before the accused met face to face with his accusers and had an opportunity for a hitstaddekut (defense) concerning the accusation.
|17| "Therefore, they were assembled here; I allowed no delay, and on the next day, I sat down on the Kes HaMishpat and ordered the man brought in.
|18| "But when the accusers stood up, no charge were they bringing of any crimes I was expecting.
|19| "Instead it was an internal matter having to do with questions regarding Orthodox Judaism, and certain disagreements they had with Rav Sha'ul, and regarding a certain Yehoshua who was deceased, but whom Rav Sha'ul asserted was alive.
|20| "Since I was not qualified to investigate these religious questions, I was saying he might wish to go to Yerushalayim and there to be judged concerning these things.
|21| "But Rav Sha'ul appealed that he be kept in custody for the decision of Caesar, so I ordered him to be kept until I send him to Caesar."
|22| And Agrippa said to Festus, "I was desiring also myself to hear Rav Sha'ul." Then Festus says, "Tomorrow you will hear him."
|23| Then on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered into the auditorium along with both the military tribunes and the chashuve anashim of Caesarea. And Festus the Moshel gave orders to have Rav Sha'ul brought in.
|24| And Festus says, "Agrippa HaMelech and all here present with us, you see this man about whom K'lal Yisroel has petitioned me, both in Yerushalayim and here, shouting that he is no longer fit to live.
|25| "But I found he has done nothing worthy of mavet, and when he appealed to Caesar, I decided to send him.
|26| "But I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign; therefore, I especially brought him before you, O Agrippa HaMelech, so that, after you have examined him, I may have something I may write.
|27| "For it seems unreasonable to me sending a prisoner and not having
charges to report against him."
PEREK KAPH VAV (CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX)
And Agrippa said to Rav Sha'ul, "It is permitted for you to speak concerning yourself." Then Rav Sha'ul, having stretched out his hand, was making his hitstaddekut (defense), saying,
|2| "I have considered myself fortunate that it is before you, Agrippa HaMelech, that I am able to make my hitstaddekut today concerning everything of which I am accused by Yehudim.
|3| "Most of all, you are a bukki (expert, meivin) in all the minhagim and issues of the Yehudim; therefore, I beg you to listen patiently to me.
|4| "All the Yehudim have da'as of my Yiddishkeit from my earliest youth, a life spent from the beginning among my own people and in Yerushalayim.
|5| "They have had da'as of this for a long time, if they are willing to bear edut (testimony), that according to the most machmir kat of our Orthodox Jewish faith my life has been lived out as a Parush.
|6| "And now I stand here on trial on account of my tikvah in the havtacha made to Avoteinu,
|7| "a havtacha Sheneym Asar Shevateinu have tikvah to attain, as they with earnestness worship Hashem yomam valailah. It if for this tikvah, your Excellency, that I am accused by Yehudim!
|8| "Why is it considered incredible by any of you that Hashem makes the Mesim to stand up alive?
|9| "Indeed, I myself thought it necessary to do many opposing things against ha-Shem of Yehoshua from Natzeret.
|10| "And this I also did in Yerushalayim; and armed with samchut received from the Rashei Hakohanim, many of the kadoshim I locked up in the beis hasohar; and I cast my vote keneged (against) them when they received the death penalty.
|11| "And throughout all the shuls I often punished them, forcing them to commit Chillul Hashem gidduf (blasphemy), and since I was so enraged against them, I was bringing redifah on them even as far as foreign cities.
|12| "This it was, that as I was traveling to Damascus with authorization and permission from the Rashei Hakohanim,
|13| "at noon on the derech, O Melech, I saw from Shomayim an ohr, more brilliant than the shemesh, shining around me and around the ones traveling with me.
|14| "And we all fell down to the ground. Then I heard a kol saying to me in the language of the Hebrews, `Sha'ul, Sha'ul, why are you bringing redifah upon me? It is hard for you to kick keneged (against) the prod.'
|15| "And I said, `Who are you Adoni?' And HaAdon said, `I am Yehoshua upon whom you are bringing redifah.
|16| `But get up and stand on your feet. For this tachlis, then, I appeared to you, to give you s'michah as a mesharet, an eved, and an eidus (witness), both of what you have seen of me and the things of which I will appear to you. [YECHEZKEL 2:1; DANIEL 10:11]
|17| `I will deliver you from your own people and from the Goyim to whom I am sending you, [YIRMEYAH 1:8,19]
|18| `to open their eyes, to turn them from choshech to ohr and from the samchut of Hasatan to Hashem, that they receive selichat avon and nachalah among the ones having been set apart in kedushah by emunah in me.' [YESHAYAH 35:5; TEHILLIM 18:28; YESHAYAH 42:7,16]
|19| "O Agrippa HaMelech, I was not disobedient to the chazon from Shomayim. [YESHAYAH 50:5]
|20| "But beginning with the ones in Damascus and also with those in Yerushalayim, and with all the region of Yehudah and with the Goyim, I was preaching they should make teshuva and turn to Hashem, doing ma'asim mitzvot worthy of teshuva. [YIRMEYAH 18:11; 35:15]
|21| "Because of these things, the unbelieving Yehudim seized me while I was in the Beis Hamikdash, and were trying to kill me.
|22| "To this day I have obtained ezer (help) from Hashem, to stand and give solemn edut (testimony) before both ketanim and Gedolim, testifying about nothing beyond the Orthodox Jewish faith based on what the Nevi'im and Moshe Rabbenu said would happen:
|23| "that is, the innuyim (sufferings) of Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, and that by being rishon to stand up alive in the Techiyas HaMoshiach, he would proclaim ohr both to K'lal Yisroel and the Nations."
|24| And while he was saying these things in his hitstaddekut, Festus in a kol gadol shouts, "Rav Sha'ul, all your yeshiva learning has made you meshuggah!"
|25| But Rav Sha'ul says, "I am not meshuggah, most excellent Festus; I am speaking dvarim of Emes and Ta'am (Reason).
|26| "For HaMelech has da'as of these matters, to whom also I am speaking freely, for I am sure that absolutely none of these things escape his notice, for this has not been done in a corner.
|27| "Agrippa HaMelech, do you believe in the Nevi'im? I have da'as that you do believe."
|28| And Agrippa said to Rav Sha'ul, "You think, do you, that as quick as that you can make me mekabel Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach?"
|29| But Rav Sha'ul said, "I would daven that Hashem, quickly or not, might make not only you but all listening to me today as I am, apart from these kevalim (chains)."
|30| HaMelech and the Moshel and Bernice and the ones sitting with them got up.
|31saying, "This man does nothing worthy of the death penalty or imprisonment."
|32| And Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been released, if he
had not appealed to Caesar."
PEREK KAPH ZAYIN
(CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN)
And when it was decided that we set sail to Italy, they were handing over both Rav Sha'ul and some other prisoners to a centurion, Julius by name, of the Imperial Cohort.
|2| And having embarked in an oniyah of Adramyttium about to
sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we set sail, Aristarchus a Macedonian of Thessalonica being with us.
|3| The next day, we put in at a harbor in Tzidon; and Julius treated Rav Sha'ul with kindness, permitting him to be cared for by his chaverim.
|4| And from there, having put out to sea, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.
|5| Then having sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came down to Myra of Lycia.
|6| And there the centurion found an Alexandrian oniyah sailing to Italy and put us on board.
|7| But for many yamim we sailed slowly and with difficulty along the coast of Cnidus, and as the wind was not permitting us to go vaiter (farther), we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone.
|8| And with difficulty sailing past it, we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
|9| And since considerable zman (time) had been lost and it was already unsafe for a voyage, because Yom Kippur had already come and gone; therefore, Rav Sha'ul gave them this eitza (suggestion),
|10| saying to them, "Anashim, I see that the voyage will be hardship and much peril, not only of the cargo and the oniyah, but also of our lives."
|11| But the centurion was persuaded by the pilot and the owner rather than by the dvarim of Rav Sha'ul.
|12| But the port being unfavorably situated for spending the winter, the majority decided to set sail from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix to spend the winter. It was a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest.
|13| And a gentle south wind began to blow, and they thought they could attain their matarah (objective), so they weighed anchor and they were sailing past Crete, close by the shore.
|14| After not much time a violent, typhoon force wind rushed down from Crete, the so-called Euraquilo, the Northeaster.
|15| And the oniyah, having been caught in it, and not being able to directly face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven.
|16| By running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were able only with difficulty to get the lifeboat secured.
|17| After hoisting it up, they were using frapping cables, passing them underneath the oniyah; then, fearing lest on the shallows of Syrtis they might run aground, they lowered the sea anchor, and so they were being driven along.
|18| And we were being violently tossed by the storm, so much so that the next day they were throwing the cargo overboard.
|19| And on the Yom Shlishi, with their own hands, they threw out the tackle of the oniyah.
|20| And neither shemesh (sun) nor kochavim appeared for many yamim and no small tempest assailed us. Lemaskana (finally) all tikvateinu for yeshu'ah was being abandoned.
|21| And after having much loss of appetite, then Rav Sha'ul stood up in the midst of them, and said, "Anashim, you should have obeyed me and not put out to sea from Crete and thereby spared yourselves this hardship and this loss.
|22| "And now I advise you to have ometz lev (courage), for there will be no loss of life among you, except the oniyah.
|23| "For a malach Hashem stood by me during lailah hazeh, of the G-d whom I serve,
|24| "saying, `Do not be afraid, Sha'ul. It is necessary for you to stand before Caesar; and, hinei, Hashem has given to you all the ones sailing with you.'
|25| "Therefore have lev same'ach, Anashim. For I have emunah in Hashem that it will be exactly as he has told me.
|26| "But it is necessary for us to run aground on some island."
|27| Now when the fourteenth night had come, while we being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, toward chatzot halailah (midnight), the sailors were suspecting that we were getting close to land.
|28| And having taken soundings, they found twenty fathoms and, having sailed a little vaiter (farther), again they took soundings, and they found fifteen fathoms.
|29| And fearing lest somehow against the rough places we might run aground, they threw four anchors off the stern, and they were davening for the dawn to break.
|30| Now when the sailors sought to flee from the oniyah and to let down the lifeboat into the sea on the pretext of casting out anchors,
|31| Rav Sha'ul said to the centurion and to the chaiyalim, "Unless these remain in the oniyah, you cannot be saved."
|32| Then the chaiyalim cut away the ropes of the lifeboat, and let it fall away, setting it adrift.
|33| Just before boker, Rav Sha'ul was urging everyone to take okhel (food), saying, "Today is the fourteenth day you have been held in suspense and are continuing without eating, having taken nothing.
|34| "Therefore, I encourage you to take okhel, for it is for your deliverance, for none of you will lose a hair from your heads."
|35| And having said these things, and having taken lechem, Rav Sha'ul said the HaMotzi before all, and, after the Betzi'at HaLechem, he began to eat.
|36| And receiving ometz lev, they all took okhel.
|37| Now there were in all two hundred and seventy-six nefashot in the oniyah.
|38| And having eaten enough okhel (food), they were lightening the oniyah by throwing the wheat overboard into the sea.
|39| And when it became day, they were not recognizing the land, but a certain bay they were noticing, having a shore onto which they were wanting, if possible, to run aground the oniyah.
|40| And the anchors they cast off and they left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes of the rudders and raised the sail to the wind and were steering toward the shore.
|41| But having fallen into a channel, a place between two seas, they ran the oniyah aground, and, while the bow had stuck and remained immovable, the stern was being destroyed by the force of the waves.
|42| Now the cheshbon (plan) of the chaiyalim was that they should kill the prisoners, lest anyone, having swum away, should escape.
|43| But the centurion, desiring to save Rav Sha'ul, kept them from carrying out the cheshbon, and he ordered the ones able to swim to throw themselves overboard first and to make for the shore.
|44| As for the rest, some were on planks, others on pieces from the oniyah.
And so everyone was brought safely onto the land.
PEREK KAPH HET (CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT)
RAV SHA'UL ON THE ISLAND OF MALTA
And having been brought safely through, we then found out that the island is called Malta.
|2| And the natives were showing not the ordinary kindness to us for, because
of the geshem (rain) that had set in and because of the cold, they lit a
hadlakah (bonfire).
AT LAST SALVATION AND NITZACHON (VICTORY) OVER HANACHASH, THE ACCUSER AND
DECEIVER, AS MOSHIACH'S SHLICHUS COMMISSION BEGINS TO BE FULFILLED (Mt
28:19-20); A FOREGLIMPSE OF THE IMMENSE CHALLENGE OF THE VAST FOREIGN FIELD AND
THE IGNORANCE OF G-D
|3| And when Rav Sha'ul gathered some brushwood and placed the sticks on the hadlakah (bonfire), a nachash (serpent) from the heat came out and fastened onto Rav Sha'ul's hand.
|4| And when the natives saw it hanging from his hand, they were saying to one another, "Surely this man is a rotzeach (murderer); for though he was brought safely from the sea, Yashrus (Justice) did not allow him to live."
|5| Then, having shaken off the nachash into the eish (fire), Rav Sha'ul suffered no ill effects.
|6| But the natives were expecting him to be about to swell up or suddenly to
fall down. But they watched him expectantly for a long time, and when they
observed nothing unusual happening to him, they changed their minds and were
saying that he was a g-d.
CHESED EXCHANGED FOR CHESED BETWEEN NATIVES AND MAGGIDIM; AS THE
KNOWLEDGE OF G-D AND OF HIS MOSHIACH AND HIS BESURAS HAGEULAH GOES OUT TO THE
ENDS OF THE EARTH AND TO ALL THE TRIBES OF BNEI ADAM, THE HEATHEN BECOME THROUGH
EMUNAH IN REBBE, MELECH HAMOSHIACH NOT BNEI HABRIT NOACH BUT BNEI HABRIT
HACHADASHA AND BNEI AVRAHAM THROUGH EMUNAH
|7| Now in the area around that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, Publius by name, who welcomed us and gave us hachnosas orchim.
|8| And it came about that the abba of Publius was bedfast, suffering fevers and dysentery. Rav Sha'ul approached him, and having davened, laid his hands on him and administered refuah shleimah to him.
|9| And when this happened, also others on the island, the cholim, were approaching Rav Sha'ul and were receiving refuah shleimah.
|10| The natives bestowed matanot rabbot on us and, while being put out to sea, they gave us the provisions for our needs. [TEHILLIM 15:4]
|11| And after shloshah chodashim, we set sail in a oniyah, having spent the winter on the island. It was an Alexandrian oniyah marked by the insignia of the twin Achim.
|12| And having put in at Syracuse, we stayed shloshah yamim.
|13| Then we weighed anchor and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day, a southwest wind sprang up and on the second day we came to Puteoli.
|14| There we found Achim b'Moshiach and we were invited by them to stay shivah yamim. And so we came to Rome.
|15| And from there, the Achim b'Moshiach when they heard of us, came out to meet us, even as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. On seeing them, ometz lev came to Rav Sha'ul and he said a bracha, davening hodah to Hashem.
|16| Now when we entered into Rome, Rav Sha'ul was permitted to live by himself in his own quarters with a chaiyal guarding him.
|17| And it came about after shloshah yamim, that Rav Sha'ul called together the chashuve Yehudim. And when they had assembled, Rav Sha'ul was saying to them, "Anashim, Achim, though I had done nothing keneged (against, in opposition to) our Jewish people or to the minhagei Avoteinu of Orthodox Judaism, I was arrested in Yerushalayim and delivered over into the hands of the Romans,
|18| "who, having examined me, were desiring to release me, because I had done nothing worthy of the death penalty.
|19| "But when the Yehudim spoke keneged (in opposition to, against) this, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, but only to defend myself, not to bring accusation against Am Yisroel, my people.
|20| "On account of this reason, therefore, I summoned you, to see you and to speak with you, since it is for the sake of the tikvat Yisroel that I am wearing these kevalim (chains)."
|21| And they said to Rav Sha'ul, "We neither received iggrot about you from Yehudah nor have any of the Achim arrived and reported or spoke any lashon hora about you.
|22| "But we desire to hear from you what you think, for lichora (apparently) with regard to this kat of Judaism, we have da'as that it is spoken keneged (against) everywhere."
|23| And they set a day for him, and they came to him in his lodgings, and there were many of them. And Rav Sha'ul was making a midrash, bearing solemn edut about the Malchut Hashem, and persuading them about Yehoshua from both the Torah of Moshe Rabbenu and from the Nevi'im, from haboker to haerev.
|24| And some Yehudim were being persuaded by the things being said, but others had no emunah.
|25| And so they disagreed with one another. And as they were leaving, Rav Sha'ul said a final dvar. "Rightly the Ruach Hakodesh spoke through Yeshayah HaNavi to your Avot,
|26| "saying, `Go to this people and say, In hearing SHIMU SHAMO'A V'AL TAVINU UR'U RA'O V'AL TEDA'U ("You will hear and yet by no means understand and seeing you will see and yet by no means perceive.")
|27| HASHMEN LEV HAAM HAZEH V'AZNAV HAKHBED V'ENAV HASHA PEN YIREH V'EINAV UV'AZNAV YISHMA ULEVAVO YAVIN VASHA V'RAFA LO ("For the heart of this people has become dull and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and with their ears may hear and with their heart they may have binah and they may turn and I will heal them. [TEHILLIM 119:70; YESHAYAH 6:9,10]
|28| "Therefore, let it be known to you that to the GOYIM (TEHILLIM 67:2)
this Yeshu'at Eloheinu of Hashem was sent, and they will listen."
THE HARD CENTER OF THE FAITH OF THE DERECH HASHEM, EVEN AS IT REACHES OUT
FOR THE SALVATION OF THE WHOLE WORLD, IS RUACH HAKODESH-FILLED ORTHODOX JUDAISM,
AND SO ITS ADHERENTS SHOULD QUALIFY FOR THE PROTECTION OF JULIUS CAESAR'S DECREE
OF JUDAISM AS A RELIGIO LICITA
|30| And he remained an entire two years in his own rented bais, and was welcoming all the ones coming to him,
|31| preaching the Malchut Hashem and saying shiurim concerning the Rebbe,
Melech HaMoshiach Adoneinu Yehoshua with all openness and without hindrance.