First Nations Version

by Terry M. Wildman

  SUFFERING FOR DOING GOOD

  13If you give yourselves fully to doing good, who would want to harm you? 14But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, remember that Creator’s blessing rests on you. So do not fear what they can do to you or be troubled by their threats. 15Instead, set your hearts on the Chosen One as your Honored Chief. Always be ready to give an answer to the ones who ask about the hope you carry inside you. 16Give your answer to them in a kind and respectful way. Do what you know deep inside to be right, so when outsiders accuse you, they will be put to shame as you walk in a good way following the Chosen One. 17For if it is what the Great Spirit wants, it is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong.

  18The Chosen One died once for the broken ways of all people. The one who always does right suffered for those who do wrong to make a way for us to come to the Great Spirit. In his weak human body he was put to death, but he was made alive in the Spirit.

  LESSONS FROM THE TIME OF THE GREAT FLOOD

  19In the Spirit the Chosen One went and told his story to the spirits that had been held captive from long ago. 20These were the spirits of human beings who refused to walk in the ways of the Great Spirit. This was before the great flood in the time of One Who Rests (Noah), when Creator waited patiently for the great wooden canoe to be built. A small number, only eight people, were brought safely through the waters of the flood.

  This happened long ago in ancient times when the world was filled with violence and almost every human heart was taken over with violence and evil. Creator had to cleanse the earth with a great flood that drowned all living things. The only ones who survived were the family of One Who Rests (Noah), along with the animals he chose, who entered into the great wooden canoe Creator told him to build.11

  21The story of what happened then is a way to understand our purification ceremony with water,12 a ceremony that is performed to set us free and make us whole. This ceremony does not just wash the dirt from our bodies. It shows that from deep inside we are crying out for Creator to set us free by what he did when he raised Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One from the dead.

  22The Chosen One now sits in his honored place at Creator’s right hand in the spirit-world above. From there the Chosen One rules over all spirit-messengers, authorities, and powers.

  SUFFERING WITH THE CHOSEN ONE

  1Since the Chosen One suffered for us while in his earthly body, we must also be ready to suffer and to think about it in the same way he did. The ones who are willing to suffer while still in their weak human bodies have chosen to stop walking in broken ways. 2They also have chosen to live out their remaining days in these weak human bodies doing what the Great Spirit wants and not following broken human desires. 3For in the past you walked long enough following the evil desires of the nations who have lost their way. Like them, you walked a path of selfish and uncontrolled desires. You became drunks who went to wild drinking parties. You even prayed to forbidden spirit-images.

  4The ones who walk in this way think it strange that you no longer join them in their wild and reckless way of life, so they speak evil of you. 5But they will have to give an answer to the Great Spirit for what they have done. He stands ready, for both the living and the dead, to decide who has done right and who has done wrong. 6This is the reason the good story has been told to the dead. In this way, even though they were found guilty in their weak human bodies, they might still live spiritually before the Great Spirit.

  NEVER STOP LOVING AND SERVING

  7The end of all things is near, so think good thoughts and be single-minded in your prayers. 8Above all, never stop loving each other, for like a warm blanket love covers a great number of broken ways. 9Open your homes to each other and share your food without grumbling. 10Each one of you has been given a gift, so use it to serve one another, as a good manager of the many kinds of gifts Creator gives. 11If your gift is speaking, then your words should come from the Great Spirit. If your gift is serving, then serve with the strength Creator gives you. In this way, the Great Spirit will be honored by everything you do through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. To him belongs all power and shining-greatness to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

  MORE ABOUT SUFFERING

  12My much-loved ones, do not be caught off guard by the fiery trial that you now face, as if something strange were happening to you. 13Instead, be glad that you share in the sufferings of the Chosen One. The more you share in his sufferings, the more you will dance for joy when his shining-greatness is revealed. 14If you are treated with scorn and contempt because you follow the Chosen One, you are blessed. For this is a sign that the beauty of his Spirit and of Creator is resting on you. 15Make sure no one among you suffers as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a troublemaker. 16But if you suffer as a follower of the Chosen One, do not be ashamed. Represent his name well, and you will bring honor to the Great Spirit.

  17The time has come for judgment to begin with Creator’s own family. If it begins with us, what will become of the ones who do not respect and follow Creator’s good story? 18If the ones in good standing come through with much difficulty, then what will be the end of the bad-hearted ones and those who walk in broken ways? 19So the ones who suffer for doing what is right, as the Great Spirit wants them to, should fully trust our faithful Creator with their lives and continue to do good.

  WISDOM FOR THE ELDERS

  1Knowing the times we live in, I speak with strong words to the elders among you who serve as spiritual leaders. I am a fellow elder who saw the sufferings of the Chosen One with my own eyes and who will share in the beauty of his shining-greatness that will be revealed. 2I counsel you to watch over Creator’s family like a shepherd watching over a flock of sheep. Do this willingly, as Creator wants you to, not to gain more possessions but from an honest desire to serve. 3Do not use your authority to boss people around. Instead, show them the way by doing first what you are asking of them. 4Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, he will honor you with a headdress of many feathers that will never lose its beauty.

  WISDOM FOR THE YOUNG

  5In the same way, those who are young should listen to their elders. All of you must wear the regalia of humility as you walk together. “The Great Spirit stands against the proud and arrogant, but he shows great kindness to the humble of heart.”13 6So humble yourselves under Creator’s powerful hand, and when the time is right he will highly honor you. 7The Great Spirit cares deeply about you, so gather all your worries into a blanket and throw them on his shoulders. He will carry them for you.

  STAND FIRM AGAINST THE EVIL ONE

  8Stay alert and remain calm, for your opponent, the evil trickster,14 prowls about, roaring like a mountain lion, looking for someone to devour. 9Take your stand against him, firm in your trust, knowing that all over the world other sacred family members are suffering in the same way. 10But you will not have to suffer for long, for the Great Spirit who gives us his gift of great kindness will restore you, set your feet on solid ground, and strengthen you. For he has called you into the bright-shining greatness of the Chosen One that will never fade away. 11All power belongs to him to the time beyond all days. Aho! May it be so!

  12I have written this short letter to you by the hand of Forest Walker (Silvanus). He is a spiritual brother whom I count as trustworthy. With a few strong words, I have told you the truth about the gift of Creator’s great kindness. So stand firm in this truth!

  13The sacred family15 who gathers in Village of Confusion (Babylon) and who were chosen in the same way you were sends greetings to you. Also War Club (Mark), who is a son to me, sends his greetings.

  14Greet each other in a loving way with a holy kiss. Peace be upon all of you who belong to the Chosen One.

  Aho! May it be so!

  SECOND LETTER FROM STANDS ON THE ROCK

  2 PETER

  GREETINGS

  1From Stands on the Rock (Peter), a sacred servant and message bearer of Creator Sets Free (Jesus
) the Chosen One.

  To all who have taken hold of and share together with us in the way of trusting that comes from the right ways of the Great Spirit and from our Sacred Deliverer, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

  SHARING HIS SACRED NATURE

  2May the gift of Creator’s great kindness and peace rest on you in greater measure as you grow in your knowledge and understanding of the Great Spirit and Creator Sets Free (Jesus), our Honored Chief. 3Creator’s own power has given us all we need to walk the road of life in a sacred manner. This power comes from knowing the Chosen One, who has called us to share in his honor and goodness. 4He has given us promises full of honor and beauty so that through them we may share the sacred nature that belongs to him and, through these promises, be set free from the evil desires that corrupt this world.

  5This is why you must put your whole heart into uniting trust with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-discipline. Unite self-discipline with never giving up, and never giving up with walking in a sacred way. 7Unite walking in a sacred way with family kindness, and family kindness with love. 8For if you are growing in these things, they will keep you spiritually strong and fruitful in the true knowledge of our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

  MAKE SURE YOU HAVE HEARD HIS CALL

  9The ones who do not walk in these ways are nearsighted and blind to spiritual things, and have forgotten that they were washed clean from their old broken ways. 10So then, my sacred family members, do all you can to make sure you are among the ones Creator has called and chosen to be his own. If you walk in these ways, you will never stumble. 11And you will be given a warm welcome onto Creator’s good road that never fades away, the same road walked by our Honored Chief and Sacred Deliverer, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

  12-13Even though you know these things and stand firm in the truth you now have, as long as I live in this body I will never stop reminding you about these things. I think it is the right thing to do, 14for our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, has made it clear to me that I will soon walk on. 15I am making it my aim to share these things with you, so that after I have walked on you will always be able to remember what you have been taught.

  A TRUE WORD OF PROPHECY

  16We were not following slyly crafted, manmade stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. With our own eyes we saw his chiefly greatness. 17For he received honor and shining-greatness from his Father, the Great Spirit, who spoke to him with his voice of honor, saying, “This is my much-loved Son, the one who makes my heart glad.”

  18With our own ears we message bearers who were with him on the sacred mountain heard this voice from the spirit-world above.1 19We have an even more sure word of prophecy—one that will guide you well if you follow it as you would a torch that shines in the dark. So stay alert until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

  20Above all else, you must understand that no prophecy found in our Sacred Teachings is a matter of one’s own interpretation. 21For prophecy did not come from the mind2 of human beings but from those who through the Holy Spirit spoke Creator’s words.

  A WARNING ABOUT FALSE TEACHERS

  1But just as there were false prophets among the people of tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), there will also be false teachers among you. They will sneak into your gatherings and teach things that are harmful to our spiritual ways. They will even deny the Honored One who paid a great price to set them free. In doing so, they will quickly bring ruin down on their own heads. 2Many will follow their shameful ways, and because of them the way of truth will be spoken against. 3Because of their greed, they will use made-up stories to prey on you for their own gain. Their punishment for this that was spoken of long ago is not sleeping. It is still coming and will not fail to bring them to a bad end.

  EXAMPLES FROM THE PAST

  4The Great Spirit did not take pity on spirit-messengers who were guilty of wrongdoing. He banished them into the dark caves of the underworld, to be held there until the time comes for their fate to be decided. 5Neither did he spare the ancient world when he sent a great flood to cleanse the world from evil. But along with seven others he spared One Who Rests (Noah), who told others about Creator’s right ways.

  6Creator decided that the people of Village of Bad Spirits (Sodom) and the people of Village of Deep Fear (Gomorrah) needed to be punished for their evil ways. So he covered them with burning ashes. He left those ruined villages as a warning for all who would walk in evil ways. 7But he rescued Covers His Head (Lot), a good-hearted man living among them, who was deeply troubled by the people who had given themselves over to their bad hearts and evil ways. 8The soul of this good man was tormented day after day by the evil things he saw and heard.

  WARNINGS ABOUT BAD-HEARTED ONES

  9So then, all of these stories show us that the Honored One knows how to rescue his holy ones from trouble and hold the bad-hearted ones captive until the day comes when he will decide their punishment. 10This is true most of all for those who give themselves over to their bad-hearted, corrupt desires and who have no respect for authority. These bad-hearted ones are reckless, stubborn, and puffed up with pride. They do not even tremble with respect when they speak evil against spirit-beings of shining-greatness. 11Even so the spirit-messengers, who are greater in strength and power, do not accuse these bad-hearted ones or speak evil of them before our Honored Chief.

  12But these people act without thinking. They are like wild animals born to be captured and killed. They speak against things they know nothing about, but they will be captured in their own cages and come to a bad end. 13In this way, they will suffer for the wrongs they have done. It makes their hearts glad to run wild in the light of day. They are dark spots and stains on your garments, gladly feasting with you while deep inside they laugh about how they have tricked you. 14They are always looking for someone willing to be unfaithful in marriage. They lure weak souls into their evil ways. Their hearts are well trained to want more and more. They are children living a cursed life, 15who have left the good road to walk a path of lies. They have followed in the footsteps of People Destroyer (Balaam), the son of Burning Man (Beor), who loved the things he could gain from wrongdoing. 16But a donkey, which cannot talk, spoke with a human voice and gave him a good tongue-lashing, turning the prophet away from his madness.

  17These bad-hearted ones are like dried-up watering holes and clouds that scatter and melt in the wind. A place of deep darkness is kept ready for them. 18With empty boasts and puffed-up words, they prey on people’s weak human desires and lure them back into the wrong ways of those they have just escaped from. 19They promise them freedom, but they are themselves slaves to evil desires, for people are slaves to whatever controls them.

  BAD HEARTS LEAD TO A BAD END

  20What would happen to those who, after being set free from the shameful ways of the world through knowing our Honored Chief and Sacred Deliverer, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, were to be overcome by these ways and to choose to walk once again on that bad path? If that happened, they would be in a worse place than they were at first. 21It would have been better if they had never known about the good road than, after learning about it, to walk away from the sacred teaching that was handed down to them. 22They have proved the truth of these wise sayings: “A dog returns to its own vomit,”3 and, “A pig after being washed goes back to wallowing in the mud.”

  WISDOM FOR THE LAST DAYS

  1My much-loved ones, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both letters to stir up your memories and awaken good thoughts. 2I want you to remember the things foretold by the holy prophets of old and the instructions given by the message bearers of our Honored Chief and Sacred Deliverer.

  3I want to remind you, first of all, that in the last days there will come scoffers who will laugh with scorn. Following their own bad hearts, 4they wi
ll say things like, “Where is he? Did he not promise to appear again? Our fathers have walked on since then, but all things remain the same as they were at the creation of the world.”

  5But they choose to ignore the truth that long ago, when Creator spoke his word, the universe came into existence, and the land was brought forth from water and by water. 6It was also through water that the ancient world was brought to an end by a great flood. 7By the same word, the skies above and the earth below that now exist will be brought to an end by fire. They will remain until the great day of deciding arrives, which will bring an end to those who walk in evil ways.

  8But do not forget this one thing, my much-loved friends: with the Great Spirit there is no difference between one day or one thousand winters. 9So then, our Honored Chief is not slow in keeping his promise, even if some see it that way. Instead, he is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to come to a bad end. He wants all people to return to the right way of thinking.