First Nations Version

by Terry M. Wildman

  30The people of the village went out to find him. 31Meanwhile, the ones who walked the road with him said, “Wisdomkeeper, here is some food to eat!”

  32“I have food to eat you know nothing about,” he said.

  33His followers whispered to each other, “None of us brought him anything to eat.”

  34He knew what they were saying, so he said to them, “What feeds me is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work. 35It has been said, ‘Is it not four moons until the harvest?’ Open your eyes! The harvest is upon you now! 36The ones who reap the harvest are rewarded because they are gathering grain for the life of the world to come that never fades away. Both the ones who plant the seed and the ones who harvest will celebrate together. 37This is a true saying, ‘One plants and another reaps.’ 38I send you to reap where others have done the work of planting, and now it is you who will gather.”

  MANY BELIEVE

  39Soon many people from the woman’s village in High Place (Samaria) arrived. Many believed in him because the woman had said, “He knows everything about me.” 40They asked him to stay, so he remained there for two more days. 41When they heard him speak, many more believed in him.

  42They said to the woman, “We believe now, not just because of your words, but because we have heard him ourselves. We now see that this is the one who will restore the world and set all people free.”

  HE CONTINUES HIS JOURNEY

  43After the two days he continued on his journey to Circle of Nations (Galilee), the territory near his boyhood home. 44Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had said that a prophet is given much honor except in his own village, among his own clan, and in his own house. 45But even so, the people there welcomed him, because they had seen with their own eyes the powerful things he had done at the Passover festival.

  SECOND SIGN

  46He returned to Village of Reeds (Cana), where he had turned the water into wine. At Village of Comfort (Capernaum), almost a day’s walk away, the son of a government official was sick and near death. 47When the man heard that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had come to Circle of Nations (Galilee) from the Land of Promise (Judea), he came to him and asked him to come and heal his son.

  48Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked around at the crowd and said, “Why do you need to see signs and wonders before you will believe?”

  49“Honored one,” the man spoke, with desperation in his voice. “Please come before my child dies!”

  50“Go home!” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) instructed him. “Your son will live.”

  The man believed him and left to go home. 51On the way his servants met him and told him his son was getting stronger. 52He asked them the hour when this occurred.

  “Yesterday, at the seventh hour, the fever left him,” they answered.

  53The father knew it was the same time that he was told, “Your son will live,” so he and his family believed.

  54This was the second powerful sign Creator Sets Free (Jesus) performed in Village of Reeds (Cana), having come from the southern territory of the Land of Promise (Judea) to Circle of Nations (Galilee).

  WORKING ON THE DAY OF RESTING

  1A short time later Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went again to Village of Peace (Jerusalem) to another traditional feast for all the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).

  2In Village of Peace (Jerusalem) near the Sheep Gate, there is a water hole with five covered porches called House of Kindness (Bethesda) in our tribal language. Under these porches 3lay a great number of people who were sick, blind, or could not walk or stand. They were waiting for the swirling of the water, 4because from time to time a spirit-messenger would go down into the water hole and make the water swirl. Then the first one to get into the water would be healed.

  5A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight winters. 6Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw him lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time.

  He asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”

  7“Honored One,” the man answered. “When the water swirls, there is no one to help me into the water, and someone else gets there first.”

  8“Get up!” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to the man. “Roll up your sleeping bundle and walk.”

  The man felt his body begin to change. Strength rushed into his legs and arms.

  9Right then the man was healed! He got up, rolled up his bundle, and walked.

  Creator Sets Free (Jesus) healed this man on the Day of Resting. 10The strict traditional Tribal Members saw the healed man carrying his bundle.

  “It is the Day of Resting,” they said to him. “Tribal law forbids you to carry your sleeping bundle.”

  11He said to them, “The one who healed me instructed me to take up my bundle and walk.”

  12“Who is the man who told you this?” they asked.

  13But the man who was healed did not know who he was. Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had left because too many people were there.

  14Later on, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw the man in the sacred lodge.

  “Look! You are healed,” he said to him. “Now that you have been set free, do not use your freedom to walk a path that leads to broken ways, or something worse may come to you.”

  15The man went back to the strict traditional people and told them it was Creator Sets Free (Jesus) who had made him well again. 16Because of this, the tribal leaders were giving Creator Sets Free (Jesus) trouble and wanted to put him to death, because he was doing this on the Day of Resting.

  17Creator Sets Free (Jesus) made it clear to them, “My Father has been working, so I am working also.”

  18This made them want to kill him all the more, for he not only showed no regard for the Day of Resting, but he also was making himself out to be equal with the Great Spirit—calling him his own Father.

  EQUAL HONOR BELONGS TO THE SON

  19“I speak from my heart,” he said to them, “the Son only does what he sees the Father doing, for the Father and the Son do the same things. 20The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does. He will show him great and powerful medicine, things that will fill you with wonder. 21You will see the Son give life to whomever he wants and bring the dead back to life again—just like the Father does.

  22“The Father does not make the final decision about anyone. He has given that decision to the Son. 23He did this so all will honor the Son in the same way they honor the Father. The ones who do not honor the Son do not honor the Father who sent him.

  24“I speak from my heart. The ones who listen to me and trust the one who sent me have the life of the world to come that never fades away. The final decision about their end has been made, for they have already crossed over from death to life. 25The time has now come when the ones who are spiritually dead will hear the voice of Creator’s own Son, and all who hear it will live. 26Just as all life comes from the Father, in the same way he has made all life come from the Son.

  27“I speak from my heart. The final decision about everyone has been given to the Son. It is his right, because he is the True Human Being.

  28“Do not look so surprised! For the day is dawning when the dead and buried will hear his voice and come out of their graves. 29The ones who have done good will rise to a new life, but the ones who do what has no worth will rise to face the final decision about their end.

  FATHER AND SON

  30“I do nothing on my own. I listen to my Father before I decide about anyone. What I decide is right because I am not seeking my own way but the way of the one who sent me. 31If I am the only one who speaks for myself, then my words are empty, 32but there is another who speaks for me, and what he says is true.

  33“You sent messengers to Gift of Goodwill (John), and he told you the truth about me, 34-35but I do not need a human being to speak for me. Gift of Goodwill (John) shined like a burning torch, and for a short time you were glad to walk in his light. Now, to be set free from your broken ways, you must listen to me. 36My words carry more weight than his and are proven by the thing
s I do. I have done the things the Father sent me to do. That is all the proof that is needed.

  37“The Father is the one who sent me, and he is the one who speaks for me. But, since you have never seen his form or heard his voice, 38you do not trust the one he sent, so his words have no root in you.

  39“You search the Sacred Teachings, for you think they will give you the life of the world to come—but they tell my story. 40Why do you refuse to come to me for this life?”

  The tribal leaders had heard enough! They just shook their heads and started to walk away.

  41Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, “I came representing my Father, yet you show me no respect. But I am not looking for honor or respect from you, 42for I know you are empty inside, and the love of the Great Spirit has no place in you. 43But you will honor the one who comes representing himself. 44If you only look for honor from each other, and not from the only Creator, how will you believe?

  45“I have not come to tell the Father how wrong you are. It is Drawn from the Water (Moses), the one you have put your hope in, who will do this. 46If you trust him, then you should trust me, for he told my story. 47But if you do not believe his words, how will you ever believe mine?”

  HE FEEDS FIVE THOUSAND

  1After this Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went over to the other side of Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee), also called Sea of Rolling Water (Sea of Tiberias). 2A great crowd of people followed him because they saw the powerful signs he performed, healing the sick. 3Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked up to the mountainside and sat down with his followers. 4Soon it would be time again for the yearly Passover festival for the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).

  5From the mountainside Creator Sets Free (Jesus) could see how large the crowd following behind him had become. There were over five thousand men, along with women and children!

  He then looked at Friend of Horses (Philip) and said, “Where will we find enough food to feed all these people?”

  6He said this to test him, for he already knew what he would do.

  Friend of Horses (Philip) took a step back and looked at him with wide eyes. He was not sure whether Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was serious or not.

  7Friend of Horses (Philip) answered, “‘Eight moons’ worth of gathered food would only give them enough for one small bite apiece!”

  8Stands with Courage (Andrew), one of the twelve, the brother of Stands on the Rock (Peter), tried to be helpful and said, 9“Here is a boy with five pieces of frybread and two small fish, but how would that possibly be enough?”

  10Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, “Have the people sit down on the grass.”

  There was much grass there, so all of the five thousand men began to sit down, along with women and children.

  Creator Sets Free (Jesus) waited patiently for them to finish. When they were all settled down, he had the ones who walked the road with him bring baskets and stand in a circle around him.

  11He took the five pieces of frybread given by the little boy and held them up to the sky. He gave thanks to the Great Spirit and began to break the frybread into smaller pieces and gave them to his followers to give to the people. In the same manner he also divided the two fish, and they were given out to the people. 12Everyone ate until they were full!

  When they were done eating, he instructed them to gather the leftovers of fish and frybread, so nothing would go to waste. 13It took twelve baskets to hold it all.

  HE MUST BE THE PROPHET

  14The people began to realize what had happened. This was a powerful sign that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had just performed.

  They began to wonder who this man was who could do such amazing things. Like wildfire, the hopes and dreams of many generations began to rise in their hearts and minds.

  They were saying to one another, “This must be the Prophet, spoken of long ago, who would come into the world!”

  15Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew in his spirit that the people were about to take him by force to make him their chief, so he left the crowd and went to a quiet place on the mountainside to be alone and pray.

  WATER WALKER

  16Later, as the sun began to set, his followers climbed into a canoe to go to Village of Comfort (Capernaum) on the other side. 17Darkness was beginning to creep across the water with no sign of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), so they pushed off from shore.

  As they continued to paddle, lightning flashed in the distance, and the sound of thunder rolled across the sky.

  18-19A strong wind blew in over the waters. The waves grew large and pounded against them, threatening to overturn the canoe. They were pulling hard on the paddles, trying to make headway, but had only traveled partway across13 the great lake and were still a long way from land.

  They looked out through the storm, and their eyes grew wide with fear, for they saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) coming toward them, walking on the water!

  20Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw the fear in their faces and called out to them, “Do not fear. Take heart, it is I!”

  21When they knew it was Creator Sets Free (Jesus), they were glad to bring him into the canoe, and suddenly they were at the shoreline on the other side of the great lake.

  LOOKING FOR THE WRONG FOOD

  22It was now morning, and the crowd of people on the other side of Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee) began to look for Creator Sets Free (Jesus), for they knew there was only one canoe and that he did not go with his followers. 23Just then some canoes arrived from Rolling Water (Tiberias) at the same place where Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had given thanks for the frybread and fed them all. 24When they could not find Creator Sets Free (Jesus) or his followers, they climbed into the canoes to go to Village of Comfort (Capernaum) to find him.

  25When they arrived on the other side and found Creator Sets Free (Jesus), they asked, “Wisdomkeeper, when did you get here?”

  26Creator Sets Free (Jesus) ignored their question and said to them, “Listen closely to my words, you are not looking for me because of the powerful sign you saw, but only because you filled your bellies with food. 27Why are you working so hard for food that fades away? You should work for the food that gives you the life of the world to come that never fades away. The True Human Being will give you this food, for he has the Father’s full approval.”

  28“What does Great Spirit require from us,” they asked, “so we can do what he wants and have his approval also?”

  29“Here is what he wants you to do,” he answered, “put your trust in the one he has sent.”

  BREAD FROM THE WORLD ABOVE

  30“What powerful sign will you show us, that we should trust in you?” they asked. “What sign will you perform? 31When our ancestors were wandering in the desert they ate bread, just as the Sacred Teachings tell us, ‘From the spirit-world above he gave them bread to eat.’14”

  32“Listen closely,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered. “Drawn from the Water (Moses) did not give you the bread from the spirit-world above. It is my Father who gives you the true bread that comes down from the spirit-world above. 33This bread gives the life of beauty and harmony to the world.”

  34“Honored One,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”

  35Creator Sets Free (Jesus) smiled, held out his arms to them, and said, “I am the bread of life that came down from the spirit-world above. The ones who come to me will hunger no more. The ones who trust me will thirst no more.”

  36He lowered his arms and with a heavy heart he continued, “But even as I told you before, you have seen me but you still do not trust me. 37The ones my Father has given to me will come to me. They are a gift from my Father that I will always keep.

  38“I came down from the spirit-world above, from the one who sent me, to walk his path, not to walk my own. 39He wants me to keep safe the ones he has given me and bring them back to life again at the end of all days. 40The ones who see who the Son truly is will put their trust and hope in him and have the life of the worl
d to come that never fades away. Yes! I will bring them back to life again at the end of all days, for this is what my Father who sent me wants.”

  41Upon hearing this, the Tribal Members complained, “Who is this ‘Bread from the spirit-world above’? 42Is this not the son of He Gives Sons (Joseph)? We know who his mother and father are. How can he say ‘I came down from the spirit-world above’?”

  43“Stop grumbling to each other,” he answered. 44“The only ones who come to me have been drawn by my Father. These are the ones I will bring back to life at the end of all days. 45The Sacred Teachings from the prophets of old tell us, ‘There will come a time when the Great Spirit will instruct everyone.’15 That is why the ones who hear and listen to the Father come to me.

  46“The only one who has seen the Father is the one sent from the Great Spirit. This one has clearly seen the Father. 47I speak truth from my heart, the ones who trust in me have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.

  48“I am the bread that gives this life. 49Your ancestors ate bread in the desert wilderness, and they died. 50Here, standing before you, is the bread that comes down from above. The ones who eat this bread will not die. 51I am the living bread from above. The ones who eat this bread will live beyond the end of all days. And this is the bread that I will give as a gift to the world—my human body.”

  52His words caused a great division among the Tribal Members, and they began to argue with one another.