GREETINGS

¹From Small Man (Paul), Forest Walker (Silvanus), and He Gives Honor (Timothy).

To the sacred family that gathers in village of False Victory (Thessalonica) who belong to our Father the Great Spirit and to Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. ²We greet you with the gift of great kindness and peace that comes from our Father the Great Spirit and from our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

GIVING THANKS FOR YOU

³My sacred family members, it is only right and good that we are always giving thanks to Creator for you. We give thanks for the way your trust in him and your love for each other keeps growing stronger day by day. ⁴We tell the other Sacred Families of Creator about you, bragging about the way you keep trusting even when the path you walk is full of pain and trouble from others.

CREATOR WILL HONOR YOU

^5-6Creator will honor you as you walk his good road even when it means suffering. This shows that it is right for Creator to punish those who have made you suffer. ⁷It is also right that he will bring comfort to all of us who share in these troubles. This will happen when our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is revealed from the spirit-world above along with all his powerful spirit-messengers.

In flaming fire ⁸he will punish the ones who refuse to see who Creator truly is, and those who do not respect and follow the good story of our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus). ⁹They will come to a bad end and to a punishment that will last beyond the end of all days. They will be removed far away from the beauty and power that shines from the face of our Honored Chief. ¹⁰This will happen on the day he comes to be honored by all his holy people and to be looked on in amazement by all who have trusted in him. This includes you, because you trusted the truth we told you.

SENDING UP PRAYERS

¹¹This is the reason we never stop sending our voice to the Great Spirit for you. We pray that our Creator will give you what you need to walk with honor on the path he has chosen for you. We pray that, as you trust in his power, he will fulfill every desire you have to walk in a good way. ¹²We also pray that you will show the beauty that is in the name of our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) and that his beauty will be seen in you. He will do this by the gift of Creator’s great kindness that comes through our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

THE DAY OF OUR HONORED CHIEF

¹My sacred family members, we have something to say to you about the time when our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, will appear and we will all be gathered around him. ²Do not be suddenly shaken in your mind or troubled if you hear that the day of our Honored Chief has already arrived. It does not matter whether you hear it by a prophecy or a spoken word or by a written message that someone says came from us.

BEFORE THAT DAY COMES

³Do not be fooled by anyone. Before that day comes, there must first be an uprising —a turning away from Creator. Then the man who respects no law will be revealed, the son whose father is destruction. ⁴He will speak out against and consider himself to be greater than all the so-called powerful spirit-beings and all that is seen as sacred or holy. He will even set himself up in Creator’s sacred lodge and represent himself as the Great Spirit. ⁵Have you forgotten that when I was still with you I told you about these things?

MORE ABOUT THE LAWLESS ONE

⁶You know what it is that now holds him back until it is time for him to be revealed. ⁷For the mysterious power of the lawless one is already at work in secret. The lawless one is ready and waiting to be revealed, but not until the one who holds him back steps out of the way. ⁸Then the mask will come off and the lawless one will be revealed. And when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) our Honored Chief comes, he will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and put an end to him with the light that shines from his face.

⁹This lawless one will come performing all kinds of misleading signs and wonders, but the one who gives him this power is Accuser (Satan) the evil trickster. ¹⁰He will use his trickster ways to lead people down a path to a bad end. They will follow him because they did not love the truth that would rescue them and set them free. ¹¹Because they did not love the truth, the Great Spirit will give them over to the full power of this lie, so they will believe it. ¹²In this way, all who did not trust the truth but instead found joy in wrongdoing will come to the bad end they deserve.

STAND STRONG AND HOLD ON FIRMLY

¹³My sacred family members loved by our Honored Chief, we owe thanks to the Great Spirit for you. He has chosen you to be first among those he will set free and make whole, as you trust in the truth through his Spirit who makes you holy. ¹⁴Creator used our telling of the good story to call you to himself so that you would share in the honor that shines from the face of our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One.

¹⁵So then, my sacred family members, stand strong and hold firmly to the traditions we taught you, either by voice or by letter. ¹⁶We are loved by our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, and by our Father the Great Spirit. It is through the gift of his great kindness that he has given us good hope and comfort that will never fade away. ¹⁷We pray that he will now lift up your hearts and strengthen you in all the good things you do or say.

MORE PRAYER IS NEEDED

¹Now, my sacred family members, I have some final things to write to you. Would you send up prayers for us asking that the message of our Honored Chief will run like the wind and be given honor in the same way it has among you? ²Pray that we will be rescued from bad-hearted and evil men—for not all follow our spiritual ways.1 ³But our Honored Chief is trustworthy. He will set your feet on solid ground and protect you from the evil one.

⁴The trust we have in our Honored Chief makes us feel sure that you will keep following all the instructions we gave you. ⁵So we pray that he will guide your hearts into the path of Creator’s love and help you walk in the steady steps of the Chosen One.

FOLLOW THE TRADITIONS WE GAVE YOU

⁶So, my sacred family members, as we represent our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, we instruct you to keep away from any sacred family member who walks in a bad way and fails to follow the traditions we gave you. ⁷For you all know that you should walk in our footsteps. We walked in a good way when we were with you. ⁸We did not expect people to feed us for free. Instead, we wore ourselves out working hard night and day so we would not be a burden to anyone.

⁹We had the right not to work, but we wanted to set a good example for you to follow. ¹⁰Do you remember when we were still with you, we gave you the instruction, “The ones who will not work should not be fed”? ¹¹We say this because we hear that there are some among you who are walking in a bad way. They do nothing but put their noses into the business of others.

¹²So, representing our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, we speak firmly to those who walk in this way, “Settle down, go to work, and quietly earn your own food.”

WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

¹³But to the rest of you, my sacred family members, do not let your hearts fall to the ground as you keep walking in a good way. ¹⁴Take note of any among you who do not follow these instructions. Have nothing to do with them, so they will feel the shame of their ways. ¹⁵Do not see them as enemies, but give them this firm and wise counsel as members of the sacred family.

FINAL WORDS

¹⁶Now may our Honored Chief of peace give his peace to you at all times and in every way. May our Honored Chief be with you all.

¹⁷I, Small Man (Paul), write this final greeting with my own hand. Take note of how I sign my letters. This way you will know the letter is from me.

¹⁸May the gift of great kindness that comes from our Honored Chief, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, be with you all.