First Nations Version
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30“If Creator covers the wild grass in the plains with such beauty, which is here today and gathered for tomorrow’s fire, will he not take even better care of you? Why is your faith so small? 31There is no need to say, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32This is what the Nations who have lost their way have given their hearts to, but your Father from above knows you need these things.
33“If you will make Creator’s good road your first aim, representing his right ways, he will make sure you have all you need for each day. 34So do not worry about tomorrow’s troubles. It is enough to trust Creator to give you the strength you need to face today.
SEEING OTHERS CLEARLY
1“If you do not want to be judged, then do not judge others. 2For the way you judge others will come back to you—full circle. 3Think of it this way. How can you see the speck of wood in the eye of another23 when you cannot see the log in your own eye? 4How can you say, ‘Here, let me help you,’ when you cannot see that you need even more help? 5Stop pretending to be something you are not! If you will be honest about yourself, you will then see clearly enough to help others.a
WISDOM FOR SACRED THINGS
6“Take care not to give what is sacred to the ones who will turn on you and treat you with disrespect. For who would toss an eagle feather into the dirt to be trampled on?
KEEP DANCING YOUR PRAYERS
7“Let your prayers rise like smoke to the Great Spirit, for he will see and answer you. Every step is a prayer, and as you dance upon the earth for the things you seek, the way will open before you. In the same way, as you search for the true ancient pathways, you will find them. 8Answers will come to the ones who ask, good things will be found by the ones who search for them, and the way will open before the ones who keep dancing their prayers.”
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) took a piece of frybread and a fish from a basket. He lifted the frybread up high for all to see.
9“What father, if his son wanted frybread, would give him a stone to eat?”
Then he lifted the fish up high.
10“If he asked for a fish, would he give him a snake?
11“If fathers with bad hearts know how to give good gifts to their children, then how much more will the Great Spirit, who is your loving Father from above, give good gifts to the ones who ask?
THE MEANING OF MY TEACHINGS
12“Here is the meaning of what I have been saying: whatever good you want others to do for you is what you should do for them. This is the whole purpose of the instructions given by Drawn from the Water (Moses) and the words spoken by the prophets.
SMALL GATE AND NARROW WAY
13-14“To walk Creator’s good road you must enter this small gate and walk a narrow path that leads to the good life. Only a few find and walk this road. But the gate is large and the path is wide that leads to a bad end. Many walk this road.
15“Some who walk this wide road represent themselves as sheep, but inside they are hungry wolves. Watch out for these false prophets. 16You will know them by their fruit. Do grapes come from a thorn bush or pears from thistles? 17-18Will a sick tree give good fruit or a healthy tree bad fruit? No! Healthy trees give good fruit and sick trees give bad fruit. 19It is the trees with bad fruit that are cut down and used to make a fire. 20When you see the fruit of their ways, you will know them.
21“Not everyone who calls me their Great Chief is walking the good road from the spirit-world above. The ones who do what my Father from the spirit-world above wants are the ones walking this road.
22“On that day, the time when Creator reveals all hearts, many will say to me, ‘O Great Chief, did we not speak for you, force out evil spirits, and do great things all in your name—representing you?’ 23But this is what I will have to say to them, ‘Who are you? Go away from me, you who do what you know is wrong, for you never truly knew me.’24
WISE AND FOOLISH
24“The ones who listen to me and walk in my ways are like a wise man who built a grand lodge on solid ground. 25The rain poured down, the streams flowed, and the strong winds came. They all beat against the lodge, but it stood strong against the storm. Nothing could shake it, for it was built on solid ground.
26“The ones who hear my words but do not walk in these ways are like another man, a foolish one, who built his lodge on top of the sand. 27When the storm came against it, the lodge crashed to the ground, and all that was in it was lost.”
28-29Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was finished for the day with his teachings and wise stories. All the people were amazed and had great respect for him, for he was not like the other spiritual leaders—the scroll keepers. He spoke with true wisdom and dignity, showing he had the right to represent the Great Spirit.
POWER TO CLEANSE AND HEAL
1A great crowd of people followed Creator Sets Free (Jesus) as he walked down from the mountainside. 2A man with a skin disease all over his body came up to Creator Sets Free (Jesus). He humbled himself, bowed down, and pleaded with him, “Honored One! If you want to, you can heal and cleanse me.”
3“I want to!” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said as he reached out and touched the man.
Tribal law says that anyone who touches anything unclean would also be unclean and in need of cleansing.25 But Creator Sets Free (Jesus), instead of becoming unclean himself, cleansed the man with his touch.
“Be clean!” he said, and right away the disease left the man and he was healed.
4Creator Sets Free (Jesus) instructed the man, “Tell no one! Take the traditional ceremonial gift and show yourself to a holy man. Then have him perform the cleansing ceremony given by the lawgiver Drawn from the Water (Moses). This will show others that you have been healed and made ceremonially clean again.”
FAITH FROM A HEAD SOLDIER
5As Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked into Village of Comfort (Capernaum), a head soldier from the People of Iron (Romans) came up to him. 6“Honored One,” the head soldier begged, “my household servant that I care deeply about is lying in bed, unable to move and in great pain.”
7“I will come to your house and heal him,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) told the man.
8But the head soldier, knowing the tribal traditions, said to him, “Honored One, I am not worth the trouble that coming to my house would bring to you. If you will only speak the word, I know my servant will be healed, 9for I am also a man under orders with many soldiers under me. I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. My servants do what I say.”
10Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was amazed at this answer. He turned to the ones who were following him and said to them, “I speak from my heart, I have never seen such great faith, not even among the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).”
He let his words sink deep into the hearts of the people listening.
11Then he said, “Listen closely, for I tell you that this man is only one of many who will come from the four directions26 to sit in a great lodge and feast with our ancestors. They will sit down with Father of Many Nations (Abraham), He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), and Heel Grabber (Jacob) in the Land of Creator’s good road from above. 12But the ones who were first born to walk the good road will be forced out into the night. Outside in the darkness, they will howl with tears and grind their teeth together in anger and frustration.”
13Creator Sets Free (Jesus) then turned to face the head soldier.
“Go home,” he said to him, “Your faith in me has healed your servant.”
And right then the head soldier’s servant was healed!
IN THE HOME OF STANDS ON THE ROCK
14Creator Sets Free (Jesus) came to the home of Stands on the Rock (Peter). The mother-in-law of Stands on the Rock (Peter) was sick in bed with a fever. 15When Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw her, he reached out and touched her hand. Right then the fever left her. She felt so good she got up and made a meal for them.
16Later that day, when the sun was going down, many who were tormented by evil spirits were br
ought to him. He spoke to the spirits, forced them out with a word, and healed the ones who were sick. 17All this was done to bring full meaning to the ancient prophecy spoken by Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah), “He took upon himself our sickness and carried the weight of our diseases.”27
COST OF FOLLOWING
18Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw the great number of people around him and gave his followers instructions to prepare a canoe to cross over to the other side of the lake.
19On the way to the lake, a scroll keeper walked up to him, “Wisdomkeeper,” he said, “I will follow you wherever you want to go.”
20He answered the man, “The foxes live in their holes, the winged ones who fly above us live in their nests, but the True Human Being has no place to lay his head.”
21Another follower said to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), “Honored One, let me first go home to my father until it is time to bury him.”
22“Let the ones who are spiritually dead bury their dead,” he said to the man. “You come and walk the road with me.”
POWER OVER STORMS
23They came to the lake, and Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and his close followers climbed into a canoe and began to paddle across the lake.
A dark and menacing storm began to move in quickly, and the sound of distant thunder rolled over the waters. They paddled harder, trying to get to the other shore before the storm hit.
24Suddenly the violent storm overtook them and threatened to sink the large canoe, but Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had fallen into a deep sleep. 25In desperation they woke him up.
“Wisdomkeeper!” they cried out. “We are fighting for our lives! Save us!”
26“Why are you full of fear?” he asked them, “Is your faith so small?”
He stood up and spoke sharply to the wind and the raging water. At his words a great peace fell upon the surface of the waters.
27His followers were greatly amazed. They shook their heads and said to one another, “What kind of man is this? Even the wind and the waves do what he says.”
POWER OVER EVIL SPIRITS
28When they finished crossing the lake, they came to the territory of the people of Honored in the End (Gadarenes). As soon as Creator Sets Free (Jesus) stepped from the canoe, two men coming from the burial caves who were tormented by evil spirits came up to him. These men were so violent that no one dared to pass through that area.
29“Son of the Great Spirit!” they shrieked. “What do you want from us? Are you here to torment us before Creator’s chosen time?”
30In the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding on a hillside. 31The evil spirits spoke through the men. “If you must force us out,” they begged, “then send us into that herd of pigs.”
32“Be gone!” he said, giving them permission.
The evil spirits left and entered into the herd of pigs. Then the whole herd stampeded down the steep hill headlong into Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee) and drowned in the deep water.
33The ones who were watching over the pigs rushed away, shaken and afraid. They went to the village and told everyone all that happened.
34When they heard this, the whole village went out to find Creator Sets Free (Jesus). When they found him, they begged him to leave their land.
WHO CAN FORGIVE BROKEN WAYS?
1So Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and his close followers climbed back into the canoe and crossed over to the other side of the lake and went to the village where he was staying.
2Some people there came carrying a crippled man lying on a sleeping mat and brought him to Creator Sets Free (Jesus). When he saw their faith in him, he said to the crippled man, “Be brave, my son, you are released from your broken ways.”
3When they heard this, some of the scroll keepers began to grumble among themselves. “This man is speaking against the Great Spirit and his ways!”
4In his spirit, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew what they were thinking.
“Why are your hearts so full of dark thoughts?” he said to them. 5“Is it easier to tell a crippled man, ‘Get up and walk,’ or to say to him, ‘You are released from your broken ways’?”
The crowd grew quiet as all eyes turned to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), waiting to see what he would do.
6“This is how you will know that the True Human Being has the right to forgive bad hearts and broken ways on this earth.” He turned to the crippled man and said, “Get up, roll up your sleeping bundle and walk home.”
7So the man stood up and began to walk home. 8Then great respect and awe filled the hearts of all who were there. They gave honor to the Great Spirit for giving such authority to human beings.
A TRIBAL TAX COLLECTOR FOLLOWS HIM
9Creator Sets Free (Jesus) left there, and as he walked on, he saw a tribal tax collector named Gift from Creator (Matthew) sitting at his tax booth.
Tribal tax collectors were often Tribal Members who were given the right to collect taxes for the People of Iron (Romans). They could force their own people, under the threat of violence, to pay them. To make a living, they would take more than the People of Iron (Romans) required. But many of them became greedy and took even more than they were permitted. They were hated and looked down on by the people.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus), to the surprise of all, walked up to the tribal tax collector and said to him, “Gift from Creator (Matthew), come and walk the road with me.”
So he got up from his tax booth, left it all behind, and began to walk the road with Creator Sets Free (Jesus). 10In the house of Gift from Creator (Matthew), Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and his followers were sitting down at the table eating with the guests. Among the guests were many tax collectors and outcasts.
The Separated Ones (Pharisees) called certain people outcasts. They used their strict interpretation of tribal law as a way to point them out. These outcasts were not permitted to enter the gathering houses. They were looked down on and despised by the Separated Ones (Pharisees). Outcasts included tribal tax collectors, prostitutes, people who ate and drank too much, the ones with diseases that made them ceremonially unclean, and anyone who was not a member of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).
11When the Separated Ones (Pharisees) saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) eating with outcasts, they complained to his followers, saying, “Why does your wisdomkeeper eat with tribal tax collectors and outcasts?”
12Creator Sets Free (Jesus) overheard them and said, “People who are well do not need medicine. It is for the ones who are sick. 13Go and learn this wise saying, ‘What I want is kindness and mercy, not animal sacrifices.’28 I have not come for the ones with good hearts. I have come to help the outcasts find the path back home again.”
NEW WINESKINS FOR NEW WINE
14Some of the followers of Gift of Goodwill (John) came to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and asked him, “Why do your followers feast instead of going without food and praying often, like we and the Separated Ones (Pharisees) do?”
15“Do you expect wedding guests to be sad and go without eating when the groom is hosting a feast?” he asked. “The time will come when he is gone. Then they will be sad and go without eating.
16“No one uses a new piece of cloth to patch an old garment. It would shrink and make the tear worse. 17No one puts new wine into an old wineskin, for the new wine would burst the old skins. Then the wine would be lost and the skins ruined. New wineskins are what is needed. Then both wine and skins are preserved.”
He said this to show that the old ways of the spiritual leaders did not reflect the beauty of the new way he was bringing.
COME AND HEAL MY DAUGHTER!
18As Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was speaking, a tribal leader came and humbled himself before him.
“My little girl has just crossed over to death! But I know that if you will come and lay your hands on her, she will live again.”
19So Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and his followers went with him. 20There was a woman following with the crowd who had been bleeding in an unusual way for mor
e than twelve winters.
This would have made her ceremonially unclean and untouchable according to tribal law.
She came up close behind Creator Sets Free (Jesus), reached out her hand, and touched the fringe of his outer garment. 21For she had said to herself, “If I can only touch his clothes, I know I will be healed.”
22Creator Sets Free (Jesus) turned around and looked at her with kindness in his eyes and said, “Take courage, daughter, your faith has made you well.”
Right then the blood stopped flowing, and she was healed!
POWER OVER DEATH
23When they arrived at the tribal leader’s home, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw the noisy crowd of mourners and flute players.
24“Go from here!” he said. “This little girl is not dead. She only sleeps.”
But they scorned and laughed at him, for they knew she was dead.
25After they had gone, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went inside the house and took the little girl by the hand, and she stood up. 26The story of this began to spread far and wide.
TWO BLIND MEN
27As Creator Sets Free (Jesus) left from there, two blind men followed after him. They were calling out to him, “Be kind to us, descendant of Much Loved One (David).”