First Nations Version
Page 79
3No curse will be found there, for the seat of honor of the Great Spirit and the Lamb will be in that village, and in that place his people will honor him with their service. 4They will see his face, and his name will be tattooed on their foreheads.
5Night will be no more. There will no longer be any need of a torch to light the way, or for the light of the sun, because Creator himself, who is their Honored Chief, will be their light. And they will rule with him to the time beyond the end of all days.
6“These words are true and trustworthy,” the spirit-messenger said to me, “for our Honored Chief, the Great Spirit of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his spirit-messenger to show the ones who serve him what must soon take place.”
7“Behold! I am coming very soon,” said Creator Sets Free (Jesus). “Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who follow the instructions of the words of the prophecy of this sacred book.”
FINAL WORDS
8I, He Shows Goodwill (John), am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I did, I humbled myself before the spirit-messenger who was showing these things to me.
9“Do not humble yourself before me,” the spirit-messenger told me. “I stand beside you and your family members who are prophets and beside all who follow the words of this book, as one who serves the Great Spirit. Honor the Great Spirit and serve him alone!
10“Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this sacred book,” the spirit-messenger continued, “for the time is almost upon us. There is little time left for those who do wrong to change their ways, or for the impure to cleanse themselves. 11So leave the evil and the impure to continue in their wrong ways. Let the ones who do what is right stay on a good path, and the holy ones, let them continue to walk that good road.”
12“Behold! I am coming very soon,” said Creator Sets Free (Jesus). “I am ready to reward everyone for what they have done, whether good or bad. 13I am Alpha and Omega,52 first and last. beginning and end.
14“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who have washed their regalia. This gives them the right to eat from the life-giving tree and to enter through the gates into the sacred village. 15Outside the gates are wild-dog people, bad-medicine people, the sexually impure, those who murder, the ones who pray to spirit-images, and all who love to speak lies.
16“I, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), have sent my spirit-messenger to you to tell you these things for the sacred families. I am the descendant of Much Loved One (David), who has sprouted from his roots. I am the bright Morning Star.”
17The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” Let the ones who hear say, “Come.” Let all who hear say, “Come.” Let all who are thirsty come and freely drink from the wellspring of life-giving water.
18To all who hear the words of this prophecy, I speak from my heart, “If anyone adds anything to them, Creator will add to that person the disasters found in this book. 19If anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, then Creator will take away that person’s place in the life-giving tree and in the sacred village this book tells about.”
20The one who tells the truth about these things, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), says, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Aho! May it be so! Come, our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus)!
21May the gift of great kindness from Creator Sets Free (Jesus) remain with everyone.
Aho! It is so!
GLOSSARY OF BIBLICAL TERMS
TO HELP THE READER with the historical and cultural context, we have included some background information here. While this is not comprehensive, it should provide guidance to help set the story in its proper context and explain some cultural crossovers. The Bible is a book, the writing of which spans several millennia, and by the time of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), many thousands of years of history had already passed.
Also, there are many important key terms in Bible translation. The author has worked with both biblical and Native cultural consultants to determine the most appropriate ways to translate these key terms for general relevance to our First Nations people. Below are a few of the more important biblical terms with some explanation of why these terms were chosen.
APOSTLE (MESSAGE BEARER)
The Greek word translated as apostle literally means “sent one.” It is used as the carrier of an official message. These sent ones not only carried a message but also carried with it the authority of the person sending them. In this translation, we have translated apostle as “message bearer.”
BAD HEARTS AND BROKEN WAYS (SIN)
For many of our Native people, the English word sin evokes the memories of boarding school, where “sin” was often the length of our hair, or speaking in our native language, or anything related to our cultures. The biblical concept of sin is expressed in the Greek word hamartia, which means “to miss the mark” or “to fail to do what is right”—in other words, not living in the ways Creator wants us to live. All human beings are broken and fail to live in Creator’s ways. Some try but fail, some don’t even try, and others give themselves over to evil ways. We have translated sin as either “bad hearts,” “wrongdoings,” or “broken ways,” depending on which one best fits the context.
CEREMONIAL FESTIVALS
The tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were given three primary annual festivals to remind them of Creator’s goodness when he set them free from slavery in Black Land (Egypt) and made them into a holy nation. We will list them here, with a short explanation.
Passover Festival (Passover). This festival is celebrated in conjunction with the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It commemorates the time when Creator delivered the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) from slavery in Black Land (Egypt) through Drawn from the Water (Moses). The highlight of this story is when the blood of a slain lamb was put on the doorposts of each home for protection from a destroying spirit-messenger, who would “pass over” the house with blood on the doorposts. According to 1 Corinthians 5:7, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb we now celebrate in the bread and wine of the ceremonial meal of the Chosen One in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 (see Deuteronomy 16:1-8; Leviticus 23:4-8).
Festival of Weeks (Pentecost). The word Pentecost means “fifty,” and is called that because it was celebrated seven weeks from the Passover Festival, on the fiftieth day. The Festival of Weeks was a harvest festival when the people would bring the firstfruits of the harvest to Creator’s sacred lodge in the Village of Peace (Jerusalem) to give thanks for his provision and remember how he provided for them in the desert wilderness. This festival found its fulfillment in Acts 2 with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (see Deuteronomy 16:9-12; Leviticus 23:15-22).
Festival of Shelters (Feast of Tabernacles). This festival was celebrated at the end of the harvest. The tribes were instructed to make temporary shelters made from tree branches. They were to live in these shelters for seven days. In this way, they remembered the time after they had been set free from slavery in Black Land (Egypt) when their ancestors migrated in the desert wilderness under the care of Drawn from the Water (Moses) and lived in temporary shelters. It was during this time in the wilderness that Creator gave them water to drink from a rock (Exodus 17:5-7). Creator Sets Free (Jesus) announced himself as the fulfillment of this during this festival when he said, “The ones who thirst must come to me and drink” (John 7:37). Small Man (Paul) confirms this in 1 Corinthians 10:4 (see Leviticus 23:33).
CHOSEN ONE (CHRIST)
Creator spoke to the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) through many prophets. These prophets spoke of a coming deliverer called Messiah, which means “Anointed One.” In the Greek language of the New Testament, Messiah is translated as Christos and then in English as “Christ,” which means “Anointed One.” This Messiah, or Christ, was to be Creator’s Chosen One to set his people free. In this retelling of the story of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), we use the term Chosen One in place of Christ, since few English-speaking people understand the meaning of the word Christ. Scripture
uses the term Chosen One to refer to Jesus in many English translations (see Luke 9:35).
CREATOR SETS FREE (JESUS)
The name Jesus was a common name in first-century Palestine. The name Jesus finds its roots in the Hebrew language. His name in Hebrew is Yeshua (pronounced yeh-shoo-wah). The name comes from two words. The first is Yah, the shortened form of Yahweh, the Hebrew name for Creator. The second comes from a word that means “to rescue, deliver, save, or simply set free”—Yah Sets Free. From the Hebrew to the Greek of the New Testament, Yeshua became Iesous (pronounced yeh-soos). From the Greek to the English, Iesous became Jesus.
The Jewish people in biblical times gave names that had meaning. For example, Abraham means “Father of Many Nations.” This is similar to the traditions of our First Nations people, so we decided to follow this practice in the First Nations Version. We have chosen to call Jesus by the translated meaning of his name, which is Creator Sets Free. This is one possible rendering of his name in English as it would have been heard and understood in the language of his own people. We have also done this with all other names found in the New Testament.
DAY OF RESTING (SABBATH)
The instructions from the law given by Drawn from the Water (Moses) included a day of resting called the Sabbath, which means “rest.” This was to honor the Great Spirit, who created all things in six days and then rested on the seventh. It was also given as a reminder to the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) of their time of forced labor in Black Land (Egypt), where they had no day of resting (see Deuteronomy 5:15). From sunset Friday evening until sunset Saturday evening, no work was to be done (see Exodus 20:8-11). Also, how far a person could walk on that day was limited by this law. Its proper interpretation and practice became a point of controversy between the spiritual leaders and Creator Sets Free (Jesus) (Matthew 12:1-8) and later by his first followers.
GATHERING HOUSES (SYNAGOGUES)
In the time of the gospel story, the Jewish people in most villages had a meeting place called the synagogue, which simply means “gathering place.” The synagogue was used primarily for religious purposes, such as the study of the Scriptures and prayer, but also for local village council meetings. We have chosen to call synagogues simply “gathering houses.”
GOOD ROAD (KINGDOM OF GOD)
Today, many First Nations people speak of the “good way” or “red road” as a way to understand a way of life that seeks to live in harmony with the Great Spirit’s plan for all of creation. To live in harmony with fellow human beings and all of creation could be called “walking the good road.”
With the advice of some of our Native American friends and insights from prominent American Indian theologian George E. Tinker, we have chosen to translate kingdom of God as “Creator’s good road.”1 Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came to call us to walk in a new way, a way of beauty and harmony, that reflects the government of God/heaven. To walk the road with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is to be on this path.
HOLY MEN (PRIESTS)
According to the law of Moses, only men were permitted to be priests. By this same law, priests could only be chosen from the tribe of He Brings Together (Levi). We have translated priest in the following ways: for the high priest we chose “chief holy man,” for the chief priests we chose “head priests,” and for priest we chose “holy man.”
OUTCASTS (SINNERS)
The Separated Ones (Pharisees) identified certain people as “sinners.” This word carries a more disturbing meaning than just someone who sins. These “sinners” were the outcasts of Jewish society and designated as such by the Pharisees’ oppressive interpretation of the law of Moses. These outcasts were not permitted to enter the gathering houses and were despised by the Separated Ones (Pharisees). Outcasts included tribal tax collectors, prostitutes, people who ate and drank too much, those with diseases that made them ceremonially unclean, and all Gentiles (non-Jews).
OUTSIDE NATIONS (GENTILES)
The members of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) called all people from other nations Gentiles. No Gentile was permitted to enter the sacred lodge under the penalty of death. There was a Court of the Gentiles in the temple where they could learn about the Great Spirit. In this translation, for the word Gentiles we have used “Nations,” “other nations,” “Outside Nations,” “Outsider,” and in certain contexts “People of the Village of Iron” when referring to the Romans, who were also Gentiles.
PURIFICATION CEREMONY (BAPTISM)
In the time of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), baptism in water was a cultural and spiritual practice among the Jewish people. Baptism was a sacred ceremony symbolizing purification or cleansing. It also was used as an initiation rite into the spiritual and social community. To be baptized in the name of someone was to accept their teachings and become identified with them. Baptism was most often practiced by immersing a person in flowing water, which is why rivers were often used. In this translation, we have chosen to call baptism “the purification ceremony.”
SACRED FAMILY (CHURCH)
Most English translations translate the Greek word ekklesia as “church.” This word literally means “called-out ones” and was used for community gatherings, whether religious, social, or governmental. We have chosen “sacred family” for this translation, highlighting the relational aspect of this sacred gathering of the followers of Creator Sets Free (Jesus). This meaning is reflected in several Scriptures where the ekklesia is called a “household,” Greek oikos, meaning a family member or one living in the same house. First Timothy 3:15; Ephesians 2:19; and 1 Peter 4:17 are examples of this. We have also used sacred family members in many places where “brothers” is used. This was a familial term referring to both men and women as believers in Creator Sets Free (Jesus), making them members of the ekklesia or “sacred family members.”
SACRED OR CEREMONIAL LODGE (TEMPLE)
Under Chief Much Loved One (King David), Creator instructed the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) to build a sacred lodge in Jerusalem. This sacred lodge was a permanent structure to replace the tent also called the tabernacle, which was used when Israel was wandering in the wilderness. Creator did not allow Much Loved One (David) to build the sacred lodge because he was a man of violence and warfare.
The first sacred lodge was built by Chief Stands in Peace (King Solomon) and was later destroyed by the People of the Village of Confusion (Babylonians) who defeated the tribes and took most of the people into exile in a foreign land. When they returned from their exile, they built a second sacred lodge, but it was smaller and much less impressive. Leading up to the time of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), Chief Looks Brave (King Herod the Great) had used his fantastic wealth to further rebuild the sacred lodge in an attempt to restore much of its ancient glory. The sacred lodge built by Looks Brave (Herod) contained four courtyards—the Court of the Holy Men, the Court of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), the Court of the Women, and the Court of the Gentiles. Many biblical scholars agree that it was in the Court of the Gentiles that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) drove out the moneychangers. In the FNV we have translated temple as “lodge,” “sacred lodge,” and “ceremonial lodge.”
The Holy Place was another inner chamber within the sacred lodge. The Holy Place was entered often by holy men who performed daily ceremonies and offered morning and evening prayers.
The Most Holy Place, also called the Holy of Holies, was the innermost chamber of the temple, a small room separated from the Holy Place by a thick double curtain. It contained sacred objects from Israel’s tribal history. No one was allowed to see behind this curtain except the chief holy man, and then only once a year, when he entered for a special ceremony. It was this curtain that was torn in two, from top to bottom, when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) gave up his Spirit.
SPIRIT-MESSENGERS (ANGELS)
In the Greek of the New Testament, the word most often translated as “angel” is angelos. The primary meaning of this word is “messenger.” It can refer to human me
ssengers or spirit-messengers, which are spirits sent from Creator to help humans in distress or simply to convey a message. In the FNV we have translated this word as “spirit-messenger” or “messenger” depending on the context.
SPIRITUAL LEADERS
In the time of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), were divided into many different religious groups with differing beliefs. The members of these religious groups had set themselves up as the spiritual leaders of Israel.
Separated Ones (Pharisees). Pharisees are mentioned most often. The title Pharisees means “separated ones.” The Pharisees were the most vocal and influential of the spiritual leaders and held a very strict and oppressive interpretation of the law of Moses. As their name indicates, they separated themselves from those they deemed to be sinners and pressured others to do the same. They also banned people from participating in their local synagogues or gathering houses. We have translated Pharisees as “Separated Ones.”