First Nations Version

by Terry M. Wildman

  4But then the kindness of the Great Spirit who sets us free and makes us whole appeared, along with his love for all human beings. 5He set us free from our bad hearts and broken ways, not because of any good thing we did to deserve this, but because in his love he took pity on us. He set us free by the washing that birthed us into a new life through the power of the Holy Spirit. 6Creator freely rained down his Spirit on us through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, our Sacred Deliverer. 7We have been given good standing by his great kindness, so that we now can have our share in the hope of the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.

  STAY AWAY FROM FOOLISH ARGUMENTS

  8You can be sure that the things I have told you are true and good and helpful for everyone. I want you to speak boldly about these things, so that those who trust in Creator will give themselves to doing good things for others. 9But stay away from foolish arguments about ancestors, from things that cause division, and from conflicts about our tribal law. Arguments like these are worthless and will not help anyone. 10If anyone among you keeps stirring up division, warn him once, then a second time. After that have nothing more to do with him. 11For you know that people like this are walking in broken and twisted ways that show how guilty they are.

  FINAL WORDS

  12After I send Free from Harm (Artemas) or He Is at Ease (Tychicus) to you, make it your aim to come to me at Village of Victory (Nicopolis). I have decided to stay there for the winter. 13Do all you can to give traveling help to Counsel Giver (Zenas), who is an expert in tribal law, and He Tears Down (Apollos), so they will have all they need. 14Our sacred family members must learn to give themselves to doing good for others when they are in need. In this way, they will not fail to bear good fruit in their lives.

  15All who are with me send greetings to you. Pass on our greetings to all who share our deep friendship in our spiritual ways.4

  May the gift of Creator’s great kindness rest on all of you.

  Aho! May it be so!

  SMALL MAN TO HE SHOWS KINDNESS

  PHILEMON

  GREETINGS

  1From Small Man (Paul), a prisoner of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, and from He Gives Honor (Timothy) our spiritual brother.

  To He Shows Kindness (Philemon), our much-loved friend who works side by side with us as we walk the good road. 2And also to our spiritual sister Protected One (Apphia), to Horse Chief (Archippus) our fellow warrior, and to all the sacred family members who gather for ceremony at your house.

  3I greet you with peace and the gift of great kindness that comes from our Father the Great Spirit and from our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

  SENDING UP PRAYERS

  4When I send my voice to the Great Spirit, I always remember to thank him for you. 5For I keep hearing about the trust you have toward our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and the love you have for all his holy ones. 6I pray that as you share with others the trust you have in the Chosen One, your understanding of all the good things we have in him will keep growing deeper and stronger. 7The love you have shown toward others, my much-loved spiritual brother, has encouraged me and made my heart glad and has refreshed the hearts of Creator’s holy ones.

  A PERSONAL REQUEST

  8I have the freedom in the Chosen One to boldly order you to do the right thing, 9but instead, I am asking for your help out of love. I ask as Small Man (Paul), your elder, who is a prisoner because of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

  10I call on you for the sake of He Is Helpful (Onesimus) my spiritual child, to whom I have become a spiritual father while in prison. 11In the past he was not helpful to you, but he has now become helpful to both you and me. 12I am now sending him back to you, and with him I send my own heart. 13I would have liked to keep him here with me, so that while I am in prison for telling the good story he would take your place in serving me.

  14But I do not want to do anything unless you agree to it. In this way, you will help me willingly and not because you think you must. 15It may be that he was away from you for a little while so he can remain with you from now on. 16Treat him not as a slave, but as more than your slave—treat him as a much-loved spiritual brother. If he is loved by me in this way, he should be loved all the more by you, both as a human being and as one who belongs to our Honored Chief.

  17So if you think of me as a fellow traveler on the good road, then welcome him the same way you would welcome me. 18If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, tell me how much is owed and I will make it right. 19I, Small Man (Paul), write this with my own hand—I will pay what is owed. But must I remind you that you owe me your whole life as well? 20Yes, I am asking you to do this for me as a brother in the family of our Honored Chief. Then you will make this old heart glad in the Chosen One.

  FINAL WORDS

  21I write this letter to you knowing you will do all I have asked and much more. 22I also ask you to get a guest room ready for me, for my hope is that through your prayers I will be given back to you.

  23Walks in Beauty (Epaphras), my fellow prisoner in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, sends his greetings to you, 24along with War Club (Mark), Good Chief (Aristarchus), Leader of the People (Demas), and Shining Light (Luke), who work side by side with me.

  25May the gift of great kindness that comes from our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, be with your spirit.

  Aho! May it be so!

  TO THE PEOPLE OF THE TRIBES OF WRESTLES WITH CREATOR

  HEBREWS

  THE GREAT SPIRIT SPEAKS THROUGH HIS SON

  1Long ago, in many ways and at many times, the Great Spirit spoke to our tribal ancestors through the prophets. 2But now, in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son—the one he has chosen to give all things to. It is through his Son that the Great Spirit made the world that is, the world that was, and the one that is coming.

  3This Son is the light coming from the face of the Great Spirit in all its bright-shining beauty. What is true about the Great Spirit is true about the Son, for he represents Creator in every way. It is his powerful word that holds the stars above, the earth below, and all things seen and unseen in their place. He came into this world to purify the bad hearts and broken ways of all people. When he was finished, he returned to the One Above Us All to sit in the place of greatest honor at the right hand of the Great Mystery.

  GREATER THAN SPIRIT-MESSENGERS

  4The Son was lifted up to a higher place than all the spirit-messengers, for the name that he was given has much more beauty and honor than theirs.

  5For did the Great Spirit ever say to a spirit-messenger, “You are my Son. Today I make it known that I am your Father”?1

  Or again, “I will be a Father to him, and he will be a Son to me”?2

  6And again, when the Great Spirit was about to bring his honored Son3 into the world above, he said, “Let all of Creator’s spirit-messengers honor and serve him.”

  7When speaking of his spirit-messengers the Sacred Teachings tell us, “He makes the winds his spirit-messengers, and flames of fire to be his servants.”4

  8But when speaking of the Son the Sacred Teachings tell us, “O Great Spirit, your seat of honor will last beyond the end of all days. Your chief’s staff is your walking stick on the good road where you make wrongs right again. 9You love right ways and hate wrong ways. So the Great Spirit, your Creator, has chosen you to be a Chief, by pouring the oil of joy on you, honoring you more than all who walk the road with you.”5

  10Our Sacred Teachings have also said of the Son, “O Honored Chief, in the beginning it was you who formed the earth and sky. 11-12They will fade away, but you will live on. They will become old, and you will roll them up like a worn-out blanket. You will take them off like old, ragged clothes. But you remain the same, and your years will never come to an end.”6

  13Has the Great Spirit said this to any spirit-messenger, “Sit down beside me at my right hand, my
place of greatest honor, until I defeat your enemies and humble them before you”?7

  14Are not all spirit-messengers spirits who have been sent out with the sacred task of serving those who will share in the blessings of being set free and made whole?

  WALKING WITH FIRM STEPS

  1This is the reason we, who are followers of the Chosen One, must walk with firm steps, holding true to what we have heard, so we will not wander away from the good road. 2For if the message of our tribal law, spoken to us by spirit-messengers, has always stood firm, and every failure to walk in that law was given the punishment deserved, 3how will we escape if we do not honor such a great and powerful way to be set free and made whole?

  It was our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) himself who first spoke about this. Then those who heard him clearly passed on to us what they heard. 4The Great Spirit also confirmed the truth of what they were saying with many signs, wonders, and works of power. He also gave them gifts of the Holy Spirit in harmony with his desire.

  WHY CARE ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS?

  5The Great Spirit did not put the world that is coming, which we will now speak about, under the guidance of spirit-messengers. 6Instead, somewhere in our Sacred Teachings it has been said, “O Great Spirit, why do you think so much of humanity? Why do you watch over human beings so carefully? 7For a short time you made them a little lower than the spirit-messengers. You placed a headdress of honor on their heads 8and made them the caretakers over all things.”8

  When Creator gave human beings the sacred calling of being the caretakers over all things, he left nothing that was not under their care. But we still do not see all things under the care of humankind.

  THE TRUE HUMAN BEING

  9But we can see that there is one human being who has taken on himself this sacred calling—Creator Sets Free (Jesus). For a short time he was made a little lower than the spirit-messengers so that by the gift of Creator’s great kindness, he might taste death for everyone. Because he did this, he has been highly honored with the headdress of a chief.

  10The Great Spirit is the maker and upholder of all things. So it was only right that he would be the one to lift his children back up to the honored place for which he created them. The one who would blaze the trail before them had to suffer, so he would be fully prepared to set them free and make them whole. 11Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the one who makes people holy, and those he makes holy are all from one Father. For this reason he is not ashamed to call them his family.

  12For Creator Sets Free (Jesus) speaks to us through our Sacred Teachings, saying, “O Great Spirit, I will honor your name before my brothers and sisters. I will sing sacred songs to you when we gather as a sacred family.”9

  13He also says, “I will trust in the Great Spirit.” And again he says, “Behold! Here I am standing side-by-side with the brothers and sisters of the sacred family Creator has given to me.”10

  14So then, since these brothers and sisters all share in what it means to be weak human beings, he also became a weak human being just like them. He did this so that by dying he would bring an end to the one who holds the power of death—the evil trickster. 15He died to set all people free who have lived their lives as slaves to the evil trickster because of their fear of death.

  16It is clear that he did not come for spirit-messengers, but he came to set free the descendants of Father of Many Nations (Abraham). 17I am saying that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) needed to become fully and truly human. In this way, he could serve as Creator’s honorable and merciful chief holy man and perform the ancient mercy-seat ceremony one last time11 to heal the bad hearts and broken ways of the people. 18Since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) suffered temptation, he is able to help all who are being tempted.

  The tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were given this mercy-seat ceremony to show that the Great Spirit had washed them clean from their bad hearts and broken ways. Once a year the chief holy man would take the blood of a ceremonial animal into the Most Holy Place in Creator’s sacred lodge and sprinkle the blood onto the lid of a wooden box covered with gold. The lid of this wooden box was called the mercy seat.

  A NEW AND GREATER CHIEF HOLY MAN

  1So then, my sacred family members, you who share in Creator’s high calling, take a good look at Creator Sets Free (Jesus). He is the great message bearer and chief holy man of our spiritual ways. 2He stayed true to the purpose for which he was chosen, just as Drawn from the Water (Moses) stayed true to serving the people of Creator’s lodge.

  3But Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has been given greater honor than Drawn from the Water (Moses), just as the maker of a lodge is given more honor than the lodge itself. 4Now every lodge has a builder, but the builder and maker of all things is the Great Spirit.

  5Drawn from the Water (Moses), as Creator’s family servant, stayed true to Creator’s family. He was a truth teller who prophesied about what would be said in the last days.12 6But the Chosen One is Creator’s own Son, the headman who stayed true to the people of Creator’s lodge, and we are his people if we keep holding firmly and honorably to our hope in him.

  CREATOR’S PLACE OF REST

  7So then, we should do what the Holy Spirit, through our Sacred Teachings, tells us.

  He says, “Today, when you hear his voice 8-9do not harden your hearts as your ancestors did when they turned away from me and put me to the test in the desert wilderness. It was there that they tested my patience and saw the powerful things I did for forty winters. 10I became angry with them and said, ‘You are a people with wandering hearts who have not learned my ways.’ 11Then in my great anger, I made a solemn promise that they would not enter my place of rest.”13

  12So then, my sacred family members, make sure none of you have wandering hearts that fail to trust, hearts that turn you away from our living Creator. 13Speak courage to each other every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that no one’s heart will grow hard and be led astray by broken ways. 14As long as we keep walking this road with firm steps from beginning to end, we will share in all the blessings of the Chosen One.

  15The Sacred Teachings tell us, “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as your ancestors did when they turned away from me and put me to the test.”

  16Who were these people who heard Creator’s voice and turned away from him? Was it not all of those who followed Drawn from the Water (Moses) out from Black Land (Egypt)? 17And who was it who angered the Great Spirit for forty winters? Was it not the ones who followed their bad hearts and broken ways, whose dead bodies lay scattered across the desert? 18And to whom did Creator make the solemn promise that they would not enter into his rest? It was to the ones who did not trust him and do what he said.

  19So we can see that our tribal ancestors did not enter into Creator’s place of rest because they failed to trust him.

  THE PROMISE OF REST REMAINS OPEN

  1So then, my sacred family members, since the promise of entering into Creator’s place of rest still remains open, we must take care that none of you would fail to enter into this promised rest. 2For this good message has been told to us, just as it was told to our tribal ancestors. But the message they heard did them no good, because they failed to put their trust in the one who gave them the promise.

  3So then, we are the ones who will enter into this promised rest, but only if we keep trusting in the Great Spirit. For he said, “In my great anger, I made a solemn promise that they would not enter my place of rest.”14 He said this, even though his work was finished from the time the world was formed. 4As for the seventh day, it has been said in the Sacred Teachings, “The Great Spirit rested on the seventh day from all his work.” 5And again as he already said, “They will never enter into my rest.”

  6This shows us that there are still some who will enter his rest. Since those who first heard this good message did not enter because they failed to trust, 7many winters later Creator chooses another day and calls it “today,” as he speaks through the mouth of
Much Loved One (David) and says again, “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” 8If Creator Gives Freedom (Joshua) had led our ancestors into their place of rest, then Creator would not have spoken through Chief Much Loved One (David) of another day of rest for his people.

  9There now remains a sacred rest, a true and spiritual Day of Resting, for the people of the Great Spirit. 10For just as Creator rested from his work after creating the world, the ones who enter into Creator’s promised rest have also rested from their work. 11So then, let us pour all of our strength into entering Creator’s rest. In this way, no one will stumble away from the path of trusting, like our ancestors did.

  CREATOR’S LIVING WORD

  12For the Word of the Great Spirit is alive, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged long knife. His Word cuts deep into the inner being, separating soul from spirit and joints from marrow. His Word uncovers the true nature of the human heart, its thoughts and intentions. 13Not one thing in all creation is hidden from his sight. All things are stripped bare before the eyes of the one to whom we must give an answer for how we have walked on this earth.

  A NEW CHIEF HOLY MAN

  14Seeing that we are served by such a great chief holy man who has walked the road of the spirit-world above, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the Son of the Great Spirit, let us walk true to this way of life in which we have put our trust. 15For we do not have a chief holy man who is unable to feel the same kind of pain and sorrow we feel. Even though he faced the same temptations we face, he never gave in to them or did anything wrong. 16So with brave hearts let us come before Creator’s seat of honor to receive mercy and the gift of his great kindness to help us in our time of need.