ቅድስት ቤተ ክርስቲያን

ወደ ኤፌሶን ሰዎች 2:11–22 (አማ54)

ስለዚህ እናንተ አስቀድሞ በሥጋ አሕዛብ የነበራችሁ፥ በሥጋ በእጅ የተገረዙ በተባሉት ያልተገረዙ የተባላችሁ፥ ይህን አስቡ፤ በዚያ ዘመን ከእስራኤል መንግሥት ርቃችሁ ለተስፋውም ቃል ኪዳን እንግዶች ሆናችሁ በዚህም ዓለም ተስፋን አጥታችሁ ከእግዚአብሔርም ተለይታችሁ ያለ ክርስቶስ ነበራችሁ። አሁን ግን እናንተ በፊት ርቃችሁ የነበራችሁ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ሆናችሁ በክርስቶስ ደም ቀርባችኋል። እርሱ ሰላማችን ነውና፤ ሁለቱን ያዋሐደ በአዋጅ የተነገሩትንም የትእዛዛትን ሕግ ሽሮ በመካከል ያለውን የጥል ግድግዳን በሥጋው ያፈረሰ፤ ይህም ከሁለታቸው አንድን አዲስን ሰው በራሱ ይፈጥር ዘንድ ሰላምንም ያደርግ ዘንድ፥ ጥልንም በመስቀሉ ገድሎ በእርሱ ሁለታቸውን በአንድ አካል ከእግዚአብሔር ጋር ያስታርቅ ዘንድ ነው። መጥቶም ርቃችሁ ለነበራችሁ ለእናንተ ሰላምን፥ ቀርበው ለነበሩትም ሰላምን የምስራች ብሎ ሰበከ፤ በእርሱ ሥራ ሁላችን በአንድ መንፈስ ወደ አብ መግባት አለንና። እንግዲስ ከእንግዲህ ወዲህ ከቅዱሳን ጋር ባላገሮችና የእግዚአብሔር ቤተ ሰዎች ናችሁ እንጂ እንግዶችና መጻተኞች አይደላችሁም። በሐዋርያትና በነቢያት መሠረት ላይ ታንጻችላችሁል፥ የማዕዘኑም ራስ ድንጋይ ክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ነው፤ በእርሱም ሕንጻ ሁሉ እየተጋጠመ በጌታ ቅዱስ ቤተ መቅደስ እንዲሆን ያድጋል፤ በእርሱም እናንተ ደግሞ ለእግዚአብሔር መኖሪያ ለመሆን በመንፈስ አብራችሁ ትሠራላችሁ።

Ephesians 2:11–22 (ESV)

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.