ENEMIES OF THE GOOD STORY AND ALSO LOVED
28Looking through the eyes of the good story, the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) have become its enemy. But looking through the eyes of the ancestors, they are greatly loved because Creator chose them for his good purposes. 29For the Great Spirit will never take back his calling and gifts once he has given them.
30Here is another way to see what I am saying: In the past you Outside Nations said no to these ways of the Great Spirit. But now, because the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) have said no to Creator’s good story, you have said yes to it, and received the mercy they turned away from. 31Since they have also failed the Great Spirit, they can now receive mercy from him in the same way you have. 32Creator has rounded up into one corral all who have failed to do what he wants, so that he can show his great kindness and mercy to everyone.
GIVING HONOR TO THE GREAT MYSTERY
33O how deep are the treasures of both the wisdom and knowledge held by the Great Mystery!58 His decisions go far beyond our weak ways of thinking! 34“For who has understood the thoughts of the Great Spirit? Who has given him counsel?”59 35“Who could give him a gift that would require a gift in return?”60
36For from him all things come, by him all things exist, and in him all things find their true meaning and purpose. All honor belongs to him, both now and in the world to come, to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!
BECOMING A TRUE HUMAN BEING
1So then, my sacred family members, because Creator has shown us such mercy and kindness, I now call on you to offer your whole beings, heart, mind, and strength, to the Great Spirit as a living sacrifice. Do this in a sacred and spiritual manner that will make his heart glad.
2Do not permit the ways of this world to mold and shape you. Instead, let Creator change you from the inside out, in the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He will do this by giving you a new way of thinking, seeing, and walking. Then you will know for sure what the Great Spirit wants for you, things that are good, that make the heart glad, and that help you to walk the path of becoming a mature and true human being.
WISDOM FROM SMALL MAN
3Because Creator, in his great kindness, has made me a message bearer,61 I give this message to each of you. Do not think too highly of yourself. Instead, understand that the Great Spirit calls us to different purposes in answer to our trust in him. 4For just as our bodies have many members and each member has a different purpose, 5it is the same way with the body of the Chosen One. We are members of his body, and each member belongs to all the others.
USE YOUR GIFTS IN A GOOD WAY
6Creator’s gift of great kindness has been poured out on us in many ways, giving us different kinds of gifts. If your gift is to speak the heart and mind of the Great Spirit in a prophecy, then let trust guide your words. 7If your gift is helping others, then give yourself to help others. If teaching is your gift, teach well. 8If your gift is to speak courage and strengthen the hearts of others, then speak bravely. The one whose gift is giving should not hold back. If your gift is leading, lead with honor. And the one whose gift is showing mercy and kindness to others should do so freely, with a glad heart!
MORE WISDOM FROM A WISDOMKEEPER
9Love with a true heart. Hate what is evil and hold on tight to what is good. 10Love like family and honor others by putting them first.
11Be a good fire keeper, and never let your spiritual fire go out as you serve our Honored Chief. 12Let hope make your heart glad. Keep sending your voice to the Great Spirit, even when the road gets hard to walk.
13Give what you can to help the sacred family members62 who are in need. Open your homes and hearts to others.
14Bless the ones who seek to harm you. Bless and do not curse! 15Dance with the ones who dance for joy, and shed tears with the ones whose hearts have fallen to the ground.
16Seek to live in harmony with all. Do not think you are better than others. Walk the road of life with the humble of heart, and do not be wise in your own eyes.
17No one should pay back evil with evil. Do what you know to be honorable in the eyes of another. 18If it is within your power, walk the road of peace with everyone.
19My much-loved family members, do not take the punishment of others into your own hands. Instead, turn all anger and wrath over to the Great Spirit. For the Sacred Teachings tell us, “Punishment for wrongs belongs to me,” says the Great Spirit Chief. “I will make sure that wrongs are made right again.”63
20You should do the opposite. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy thirsts, give him a drink. Your kindness will be like burning coals poured on his head, as his shame for the way he has treated you bursts into flame.”64 21Do not let evil take over in your heart, but overcome evil with good.
GOVERNMENTS, RULERS, AND THE GREAT SPIRIT
1The Great Spirit is over all powers and authorities that rule the lands. Since he is the one who created them to serve his purposes by providing protection and order for all, then each person should follow the laws that have been set in place. 2Do not rise up against these authorities, for you will be going against what Creator has put in place. This will only bring their laws down on your head.
3Rulers need only be feared by evildoers, not by those who walk in a good way. So do what is good, and the rulers should honor you, 4for they are Creator’s servants to bring good to you. But if you follow evil ways, you will have something to fear, for this will be a reason for them to use their power to punish you. When they punish evil, they are serving Creator’s purpose, for his anger is against all who walk a path of evil. 5So you should follow their laws, not just because of Creator’s anger against evil, but because you know deep inside it is the right thing to do.
6This is also the reason you pay taxes, so that government officials can serve the purpose given to them by the Great Spirit. 7So pay all the different kinds of taxes you owe, and show respect and honor to all. 8Owe no one anything but love. If you follow the trail of the law to its end, you will find love. For the one who loves others has found the law’s true meaning and purpose.
THE LAW AND THE ROAD OF LOVE
9There are many instructions in the law, such as, “Do not be unfaithful in marriage,” “Do not kill a fellow human being,” “Do not take what is not yours,” and “Do not long for what belongs to another.”65 All of these, and any other instructions there might be, all come together in this one saying, “Love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourself.”66 10Love does no harm to another, so loving others fulfills the purpose of the law.
11-12So keep walking the road of love. This is what is needed for the times we live in. The night is almost over. The first rays of the new day are already shining! For the day when Creator will finish setting us free and making us whole is now closer than when we first began walking this road. We must turn away from the path of darkness and put on the war garments of light.
13Let the light of this new day guide you onto a path of honor. We must walk away from wild drinking parties, from sexual impurity and improper desires, and from arguing and jealousy. 14Instead, wrap our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One around you like a blanket, and do not let your broken human desires control you.
FOOD, DRINK, AND SACRED DAYS
1Welcome into our sacred gatherings those who are weak in their understanding of our spiritual ways. Do not try to prove them wrong about the things they have decided for themselves.
2One person trusts that all foods are good to eat, while another whose understanding is weak might only eat herbs and plants. 3The one who eats all foods must not look down on the one who eats only herbs and plants. In the same way, the one who eats only herbs and plants should not decide the other is wrong, for the Great Spirit has accepted both of them.
4What gives anyone the right to judge the servant of another? It is before the one they serve that they will stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Great Spirit has the power
to make them stand.
5One person may decide that one day is more sacred than another, while another may decide that all days are the same. Each of you should be sure in your own mind that you have made the right decision. 6The one who keeps a day as sacred does so to honor the Great Spirit. It is the same for the one who eats all foods and for the one who does not. For they are both doing so to honor and give thanks to the Great Spirit.
LIFE, DEATH, AND HONORING THE GREAT SPIRIT
7For we who follow Creator Sets Free (Jesus) do not live or die to bring honor to ourselves. 8If we live, it is to honor the Great Chief with our lives. If we die, it is to bring honor to him with our deaths. So in life or in death we belong to him. 9The reason the Chosen One chose to die and rise to life again was to be Chief of both the dead and the living.
10Since this is true, why then do you look down on and decide the guilt of a sacred family member? For the time will come when we all will stand before the Great Spirit, and he will be the one to decide who has done right and who has done wrong.
11For it is written in the Sacred Teachings, “As surely as I live,” says the Great Spirit, “Every knee will bow down to honor me, and every tongue will speak truth to Creator.”67
12So then, each of us must give an answer to the Great Spirit for how we have walked on this earth. 13Since this is true, we should no longer point the finger at each other. Instead, we should decide to never do anything that would make a sacred family member stumble and fall as they walk this good road.
THE GOOD ROAD IS A ROAD OF LOVE
14Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One has shown me that no food by nature is ceremonially impure, but if someone considers it to be impure, for that person it is impure. 15If you cause pain and sorrow by looking down on how a sacred family member sees food, then you are no longer walking the road of love. Do not let your strong feelings about food become the ruin of one for whom the Chosen One died.
16Give no one a reason to speak evil of what you see as good. 17For Creator’s good road is not about eating or drinking. Instead, it is about doing what is right in Creator’s eyes, about walking his path of peace, and finding the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 18For all who serve the Chosen One in this manner find goodwill in the eyes of the Great Spirit and will be honored by their fellow human beings.
WALKING IN THE WAY OF PEACE
19So then, let us walk the path of peace in a manner that lifts up and strengthens the heart of each person. We must not tear down the good things Creator has done because of how we see food. 20While it is true that all foods are ceremonially pure, it is not good to force the way you eat on others and make them stumble. 21It would be better not to eat, drink wine, or do anything that would make a sacred family member stumble on the path.
22So in these situations keep what you believe about these things between you and the Great Spirit. The ones who are doing what they know to be right have no reason to feel any guilt, for Creator’s blessing rests on them. 23But the ones who are not sure they are doing right will feel their guilt, for whatever does not come from trusting in Creator comes from our broken ways.
THE STRONG AND THE WEAK
1So we who are strong in our spiritual ways should be willing to lend a shoulder to the ones who are weak and unable to walk this road with firm steps. For this road is not only for our own good, 2but also for the good of all who walk with us. 3When the Chosen One walked this earth, he came not only to please himself but to help others.
The Sacred Teachings say, “The insults they spoke against you have landed on me.”68
4These words were written down long ago so we would learn from them. It is from the Sacred Teachings that we find the hope and strength we need to walk this road of life. 5I pray that the Great Spirit who walks beside you, keeping your steps firm, will help you walk together in step with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. 6In this way you will speak with one voice, giving honor to the Great Spirit, the Father of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) our Honored Chief, who is the Chosen One.
THE OUTSIDE NATIONS ARE SACRED FAMILY
7So welcome each other with open arms in the same way the Chosen One has honored the Great Spirit by welcoming you. 8This is what I am saying: the Chosen One came as a servant to our Tribal People, to show that the Great Spirit has kept the promises he made to our ancestors. 9He also came to show his kindness and mercy to the Outside Nations so they would also give honor to the Great Spirit.
For the Sacred Teachings say, “I will tell the truth about you to all the Nations, I will sing songs to them to honor your name.”69
10They also say, “Dance for joy, all you Nations, along with his people.”70
11And again, “Give praise to the Great Spirit, all you Outside Nations. Let all people honor him!”71
12And again the prophet Creator Helps Us (Isaiah) says, “The one who is the root of Original Man (Jesse) will rise up to rule over the Outside Nations, and they will put their hope and trust in him.”72
A PRAYER FOR THE OUTSIDE NATIONS
13My prayer for the Outside Nations is that the Great Spirit, who gives you this hope, will fill you with the joy and peace that comes from trusting him, so that this hope will flow like a river through your lives by the power of his Holy Spirit.
14My sacred family members, I can see that goodness and wisdom have already found a home in you. You have become wise teachers able to instruct each other in the ways of the Great Spirit.
15-16Even though this is true, I have used strong words to remind you about these things. I have spoken boldly because, in his great kindness, the Great Spirit has chosen me to be a holy man in the way of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. He has called me to perform the sacred task of telling Creator’s good story. In this way I can present the Outside Nations as a sweet-smelling smoke offering, pleasing to him and set apart in a sacred manner by the Holy Spirit.
SMALL MAN’S SERVICE TO THE OUTSIDE NATIONS
17The Chosen One Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has given me reason to brag about my work among you Outside Nations, but only to bring honor to Great Spirit. 18For I can only speak about what the Chosen One has done through me. He used my words and what I have done to bring the Outside Nations into step with Creator’s plan for them. 19It was through signs and wonders, done by the power of Creator’s Spirit, that I was able to finish the work of telling them the good story about the Chosen One. I traveled from Village of Peace (Jerusalem) all the way around to Land of Outside Nations (Illyricum).
20It has been my aim to tell this good story to people who have never heard about the Chosen One. In this way I am not trying to build on the work that someone else has already started. 21For the Sacred Teachings say, “The Ones who have not been told about him will see, and the ones who have never heard will understand.”73
SMALL MAN’S DESIRE TO VISIT VILLAGE OF IRON
22This is the reason it has taken me so long to come to Village of Iron (Rome) to see you face to face. 23It has been my desire for many winters to do so, and now that I have finished my work here, it is my plan to see you 24on my journey to Setting Sun (Spain). I hope to stay with you for a while, for some good food and talk, and then have you sing a traveling song over me and send me on my way.
25But for now I am on my way to the sacred family members74 who live in Village of Peace (Jerusalem) to bring some much-needed help to the ones who live there. 26For the sacred family members from Land of Tall People (Macedonia) and Land of Sorrow (Achaia) are happy to give of their goods to help the poor among our sacred family members in Village of Peace (Jerusalem). 27For since the Outside Nations have shared in the spiritual blessings of our Tribal People, they are bound by honor to also share their material blessings with them—which they do with glad hearts!
28Once I have brought to them this offering and delivered it safely to them, then I will visit you who live in Village of Iron (Rome) on my way to Setting Sun (Spain). 29And I know that when I come to you, I will bring with me a heart-basket
full of the blessings of the Chosen One!
WRESTLE WITH ME IN YOUR PRAYERS
30My sacred family members, I now call on you by the power of our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, and by the love of the Spirit, to wrestle with me in prayer when you send your voice to the Great Spirit. 31Pray that he will be a shield to protect me from the ones in the Land of Promise (Judea) who have refused to believe our message. Also pray for the sacred family members in Village of Peace (Jerusalem), that they will have open hearts to receive what I bring to them.
32Then, with the help of your prayers, and by the will of the Great Spirit, I will come to Village of Iron (Rome). Then with a glad heart I will be refreshed as we sit together with good food and much talk!
33I pray that the Great Spirit of Peace will be close to all of you. Aho! May it be so!
LOVE AND GREETINGS TO ALL
1I am sending to you Morning Light (Phoebe). She is of the sacred family that gathers at Small Seed Village (Cenchreae). She is a sacred servant75 and a woman of honor. 2Welcome her, as one who trusts in our Honored Chief, in a manner that brings honor to our sacred family. Help her with anything she needs, for she has helped not only me but many others as well.
3Give my greeting to Lives Long (Priscilla)76 and her husband Strong Eagle (Aquila), who have worked side by side with me as sacred servants of the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 4They have risked their own lives for my sake, for which they have not only my thanks, but also the thanks of the sacred family members of the Outside Nations. 5Also greet the sacred family members who gather for ceremony at their house.
First Nations Version Page 51
