THE GREAT SPIRIT SPEAKS THROUGH HIS SON

¹Long ago, in many ways and at many times, the Great Spirit spoke to our tribal ancestors through the prophets. ²But now, in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son—the one he has chosen to give all things to. It is through his Son that the Great Spirit made the world that is, the world that was, and the one that is coming.

³This Son is the light coming from the face of the Great Spirit in all its bright-shining beauty. What is true about the Great Spirit is true about the Son, for he represents Creator in every way. It is his powerful word that holds the stars above, the earth below, and all things seen and unseen in their place. He came into this world to purify the bad hearts and broken ways of all people. When he was finished, he returned to the One Above Us All to sit in the place of greatest honor at the right hand of the Great Mystery.

GREATER THAN SPIRIT-MESSENGERS

⁴The Son was lifted up to a higher place than all the spirit-messengers, for the name that he was given has much more beauty and honor than theirs.

⁵For did the Great Spirit ever say to a spirit-messenger, “You are my Son. Today I make it known that I am your Father”?1

Or again, “I will be a Father to him, and he will be a Son to me”?2

⁶And again, when the Great Spirit was about to bring his honored Son3 into the world above, he said, “Let all of Creator’s spirit-messengers honor and serve him.”

⁷When speaking of his spirit-messengers the Sacred Teachings tell us, “He makes the winds his spirit-messengers, and flames of fire to be his servants.”4

⁸But when speaking of the Son the Sacred Teachings tell us, “O Great Spirit, your seat of honor will last beyond the end of all days. Your chief’s staff is your walking stick on the good road where you make wrongs right again. ⁹You love right ways and hate wrong ways. So the Great Spirit, your Creator, has chosen you to be a Chief, by pouring the oil of joy on you, honoring you more than all who walk the road with you.”5

¹⁰Our Sacred Teachings have also said of the Son, “O Honored Chief, in the beginning it was you who formed the earth and sky. ^11-12They will fade away, but you will live on. They will become old, and you will roll them up like a worn-out blanket. You will take them off like old, ragged clothes. But you remain the same, and your years will never come to an end.”6

¹³Has the Great Spirit said this to any spirit-messenger, “Sit down beside me at my right hand, my place of greatest honor, until I defeat your enemies and humble them before you”?7

¹⁴Are not all spirit-messengers spirits who have been sent out with the sacred task of serving those who will share in the blessings of being set free and made whole?

WALKING WITH FIRM STEPS

¹This is the reason we, who are followers of the Chosen One, must walk with firm steps, holding true to what we have heard, so we will not wander away from the good road. ²For if the message of our tribal law, spoken to us by spirit-messengers, has always stood firm, and every failure to walk in that law was given the punishment deserved, ³how will we escape if we do not honor such a great and powerful way to be set free and made whole?

It was our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) himself who first spoke about this. Then those who heard him clearly passed on to us what they heard. ⁴The Great Spirit also confirmed the truth of what they were saying with many signs, wonders, and works of power. He also gave them gifts of the Holy Spirit in harmony with his desire.

WHY CARE ABOUT HUMAN BEINGS?

⁵The Great Spirit did not put the world that is coming, which we will now speak about, under the guidance of spirit-messengers. ⁶Instead, somewhere in our Sacred Teachings it has been said, “O Great Spirit, why do you think so much of humanity? Why do you watch over human beings so carefully? ⁷For a short time you made them a little lower than the spirit-messengers. You placed a headdress of honor on their heads ⁸and made them the caretakers over all things.”8

When Creator gave human beings the sacred calling of being the caretakers over all things, he left nothing that was not under their care. But we still do not see all things under the care of humankind.

THE TRUE HUMAN BEING

⁹But we can see that there is one human being who has taken on himself this sacred calling—Creator Sets Free (Jesus). For a short time he was made a little lower than the spirit-messengers so that by the gift of Creator’s great kindness, he might taste death for everyone. Because he did this, he has been highly honored with the headdress of a chief.

¹⁰The Great Spirit is the maker and upholder of all things. So it was only right that he would be the one to lift his children back up to the honored place for which he created them. The one who would blaze the trail before them had to suffer, so he would be fully prepared to set them free and make them whole. ¹¹Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the one who makes people holy, and those he makes holy are all from one Father. For this reason he is not ashamed to call them his family.

¹²For Creator Sets Free (Jesus) speaks to us through our Sacred Teachings, saying, “O Great Spirit, I will honor your name before my brothers and sisters. I will sing sacred songs to you when we gather as a sacred family.”9

¹³He also says, “I will trust in the Great Spirit.” And again he says, “Behold! Here I am standing side-by-side with the brothers and sisters of the sacred family Creator has given to me.”10

¹⁴So then, since these brothers and sisters all share in what it means to be weak human beings, he also became a weak human being just like them. He did this so that by dying he would bring an end to the one who holds the power of death—the evil trickster. ¹⁵He died to set all people free who have lived their lives as slaves to the evil trickster because of their fear of death.

¹⁶It is clear that he did not come for spirit-messengers, but he came to set free the descendants of Father of Many Nations (Abraham). ¹⁷I am saying that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) needed to become fully and truly human. In this way, he could serve as Creator’s honorable and merciful chief holy man and perform the ancient mercy-seat ceremony one last time11 to heal the bad hearts and broken ways of the people. ¹⁸Since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) suffered temptation, he is able to help all who are being tempted.

A NEW AND GREATER CHIEF HOLY MAN

¹So then, my sacred family members, you who share in Creator’s high calling, take a good look at Creator Sets Free (Jesus). He is the great message bearer and chief holy man of our spiritual ways. ²He stayed true to the purpose for which he was chosen, just as Drawn from the Water (Moses) stayed true to serving the people of Creator’s lodge.

³But Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has been given greater honor than Drawn from the Water (Moses), just as the maker of a lodge is given more honor than the lodge itself. ⁴Now every lodge has a builder, but the builder and maker of all things is the Great Spirit.

⁵Drawn from the Water (Moses), as Creator’s family servant, stayed true to Creator’s family. He was a truth teller who prophesied about what would be said in the last days.12 ⁶But the Chosen One is Creator’s own Son, the headman who stayed true to the people of Creator’s lodge, and we are his people if we keep holding firmly and honorably to our hope in him.

CREATOR’S PLACE OF REST

⁷So then, we should do what the Holy Spirit, through our Sacred Teachings, tells us.

He says, “Today, when you hear his voice ^8-9do not harden your hearts as your ancestors did when they turned away from me and put me to the test in the desert wilderness. It was there that they tested my patience and saw the powerful things I did for forty winters. ¹⁰I became angry with them and said, ‘You are a people with wandering hearts who have not learned my ways.’ ¹¹Then in my great anger, I made a solemn promise that they would not enter my place of rest.”13

¹²So then, my sacred family members, make sure none of you have wandering hearts that fail to trust, hearts that turn you away from our living Creator. ¹³Speak courage to each other every day, as long as it is still called “today,” so that no one’s heart will grow hard and be led astray by broken ways. ¹⁴As long as we keep walking this road with firm steps from beginning to end, we will share in all the blessings of the Chosen One.

¹⁵The Sacred Teachings tell us, “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as your ancestors did when they turned away from me and put me to the test.”

¹⁶Who were these people who heard Creator’s voice and turned away from him? Was it not all of those who followed Drawn from the Water (Moses) out from Black Land (Egypt)? ¹⁷And who was it who angered the Great Spirit for forty winters? Was it not the ones who followed their bad hearts and broken ways, whose dead bodies lay scattered across the desert? ¹⁸And to whom did Creator make the solemn promise that they would not enter into his rest? It was to the ones who did not trust him and do what he said.

¹⁹So we can see that our tribal ancestors did not enter into Creator’s place of rest because they failed to trust him.

THE PROMISE OF REST REMAINS OPEN

¹So then, my sacred family members, since the promise of entering into Creator’s place of rest still remains open, we must take care that none of you would fail to enter into this promised rest. ²For this good message has been told to us, just as it was told to our tribal ancestors. But the message they heard did them no good, because they failed to put their trust in the one who gave them the promise.

³So then, we are the ones who will enter into this promised rest, but only if we keep trusting in the Great Spirit. For he said, “In my great anger, I made a solemn promise that they would not enter my place of rest.”14 He said this, even though his work was finished from the time the world was formed. ⁴As for the seventh day, it has been said in the Sacred Teachings, “The Great Spirit rested on the seventh day from all his work.” ⁵And again as he already said, “They will never enter into my rest.”

⁶This shows us that there are still some who will enter his rest. Since those who first heard this good message did not enter because they failed to trust, ⁷many winters later Creator chooses another day and calls it “today,” as he speaks through the mouth of Much Loved One (David) and says again, “Today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” ⁸If Creator Gives Freedom (Joshua) had led our ancestors into their place of rest, then Creator would not have spoken through Chief Much Loved One (David) of another day of rest for his people.

⁹There now remains a sacred rest, a true and spiritual Day of Resting, for the people of the Great Spirit. ¹⁰For just as Creator rested from his work after creating the world, the ones who enter into Creator’s promised rest have also rested from their work. ¹¹So then, let us pour all of our strength into entering Creator’s rest. In this way, no one will stumble away from the path of trusting, like our ancestors did.

CREATOR’S LIVING WORD

¹²For the Word of the Great Spirit is alive, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged long knife. His Word cuts deep into the inner being, separating soul from spirit and joints from marrow. His Word uncovers the true nature of the human heart, its thoughts and intentions. ¹³Not one thing in all creation is hidden from his sight. All things are stripped bare before the eyes of the one to whom we must give an answer for how we have walked on this earth.

A NEW CHIEF HOLY MAN

¹⁴Seeing that we are served by such a great chief holy man who has walked the road of the spirit-world above, Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the Son of the Great Spirit, let us walk true to this way of life in which we have put our trust. ¹⁵For we do not have a chief holy man who is unable to feel the same kind of pain and sorrow we feel. Even though he faced the same temptations we face, he never gave in to them or did anything wrong. ¹⁶So with brave hearts let us come before Creator’s seat of honor to receive mercy and the gift of his great kindness to help us in our time of need.

HOW A CHIEF HOLY MAN IS CHOSEN

¹Among the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) every chief holy man is chosen from among the men of his tribe. He is given the sacred task of representing the people to the Great Spirit by offering ceremonial gifts and sacrifices for the people’s bad hearts and broken ways. ²Since the chief holy man is also a weak human being, he can take pity on those whose understanding is weak and have lost their way. ³And because he is a weak human being, he must first offer sacrifices for his own broken ways and then for the broken ways of the people. ⁴No one chooses this honor for himself. It is the Great Spirit who chooses a chief holy man, just as he chose the first chief holy man Light Bearer (Aaron).

CHOSEN TO BE A HOLY MAN

⁵In the same way, the Chosen One did not take for himself the honor of being the chief holy man. It was the Great Spirit who chose him by saying to him, “You are my Son. Today I make it known that I am your Father.”15 ⁶And in another place Creator says to him, “You are a holy man whose days will never end. The same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).”16

⁷In the days when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked among us as a human being, he sent his voice to the Great Spirit with tears and loud cries to the only one who could rescue him from death. His prayers were heard because of the honor and respect he showed to the One Above Us All. ⁸Even though he was Creator’s Son, he still had to learn, through suffering, what it means to stay true to the ways of the Great Spirit. ⁹When he was fully prepared, he became the one through whom all people who listen and do what he says will be set free and made whole, to the time beyond the end of all days. ¹⁰This is because the Great Spirit chose him to be a chief holy man just like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).

SPIRITUAL MILK OR SOLID FOOD

¹¹I have much more I would like to say about this, but it is hard to make the meaning clear because your ears have become slow to hear. ¹²By now you should be able to teach others, but instead you need someone to teach you the simple spiritual truths of Creator’s message all over again. You are like children who need milk and are not ready for solid food. ¹³For all those who drink only milk are still like nursing babies who have not yet learned how to walk in right ways. ¹⁴But solid food is for those who are mature. For the ones who have walked the road many times have learned the difference between what is right and what is wrong.

WALKING TOWARD MATURITY

¹It is time for us to move beyond the beginning spiritual truths of the teachings that prepared the way of the Chosen One and start to see things through more mature eyes. There is no need to go back to the beginning of the trail to learn things all over again. You have already been taught to turn away from meaningless efforts to please the Great Spirit and to simply trust him. ²You have been given instructions about different kinds of ceremonies for purification and for laying on of hands. You have also been taught about the rising of the dead and the final judgment. ³So then, as the Great Spirit permits, we will now walk forward toward more mature teachings.

WALKING AWAY FROM THE GOOD PATH

⁴For there are some who once walked in the light. They tasted the gift that comes from the spirit-world above. They shared together with us in the Holy Spirit. ⁵They tasted Creator’s good word and the powers of the world to come. ⁶If people like this walk away from the path, it is not possible to bring them back. For to their own harm they are nailing the Son of the Great Spirit to the cross again and shaming him before others.

⁷The ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and grows many plants that are useful for those who work the ground shares in the blessings of the Great Spirit. ⁸But if the ground grows only thorns and thistles, it has failed in its purpose, and will soon be seen as cursed and its crops burned.

BETTER THINGS FOR YOU

⁹My much-loved relatives, even though we are speaking in this way, we are sure of much better things about you, the things that come from being set free and made whole. ¹⁰The Great Spirit will not fail to do what is right. He will not forget how hard you have worked and how much love you have shown in representing him. He sees how you have served his holy ones, in the past and even now.

¹¹It is our desire that you walk with firm steps, keeping your eyes straight, as you travel this sure path of hope to its end. ¹²Do not limp along, dragging your feet, but follow firmly in the footsteps of those who through trust and patience share in the promises.

¹³When the Great Spirit made his promise to Father of Many Nations (Abraham), it was a solemn promise. And since there was no one greater to hold him to his promise, he held himself to it. ¹⁴He said, “I give you my word of honor that I will greatly bless you and give you many descendants.”17 ¹⁵So by staying true to the path and never giving up, Father of Many Nations (Abraham) received what had been promised.

A SOLEMN PROMISE FROM THE GREAT SPIRIT

¹⁶When people give their word of honor and make a solemn promise, they make it before someone who is greater than themselves. This kind of promise brings an end to all disagreements. ¹⁷The Great Spirit wanted to prove to his people that his promise would remain true and never change, so he made this kind of solemn promise. ¹⁸The Great Spirit cannot speak with a forked tongue! So his word of honor and his solemn promise are two things that can never be changed. This gives us, the ones who have taken shelter under his wings, brave hearts to take a firm hold on the hope he has set before us.

¹⁹This hope is like a tent-stake, holding our lives firmly and safely in place. This hope goes behind the blanket that hangs in the sacred lodge and reaches into the Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above.

²⁰Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the one who was first to enter into this Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above to open the way for us to follow. For he has been made chief holy man whose days will never end, the same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).

A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOLY MAN

¹Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) was both the chief of a village named Peace (Salem) and a holy man of Creator Most High. When Father of Many Nations (Abraham) was returning from the battle where he defeated many warring chiefs, Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) met with him and blessed him.18 ²Then Father of Many Nations (Abraham) gave him a tenth of all the spoils of war. The meaning of the name of Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) comes first from his being a chief who stands for what is right, and then also from being chief of Salem, which means chief of peace. ³There is no record of his father or mother or a family ancestry of any kind. No one knows when his life began or when it ended. In this way, he is like the Son of the Great Spirit, whose place as a holy man continues without end.

⁴Can you see how great this man was? Our ancestor, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), gave him a tenth of the best of the spoils of war! ⁵Our tribal law instructs the descendants of He Brings Together (Levi), who are the holy men of our tribes, to receive a tenth from their own tribal family—even though our tribal family is also descended from Father of Many Nations (Abraham).

⁶But this man, Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), received a tenth from Father of Many Nations (Abraham), even though he is not descended from He Brings Together (Levi), and he blessed the one to whom the Great Spirit gave the promises. ⁷Everyone knows that the one with the power to bless is greater than the one to whom the blessing is given.

⁸There is another way to see what I am saying. Our tribes pay a tenth to holy men who die, but here a tenth is paid to a holy man who, we are told, continues to live. ⁹It could be said that He Brings Together (Levi), the ancestor of the tribe of holy men who receive a tenth, also paid a tenth through Father of Many Nations (Abraham), ¹⁰because he was still in the body of his ancestor when Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek) met Father of Many Nations (Abraham).

A NEW KIND OF HOLY MAN AND A NEW LAW

¹¹So then, if Creator’s full purpose was to come through the holy men who are descended from He Brings Together (Levi), for our tribal law was given in harmony with these holy men, why would there be a need for another holy man to appear, one like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), instead of one who is descended from Light Bearer (Aaron)? ¹²For if the way to become a holy man has changed, then it means our tribal law must also change.

¹³Now Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the one spoken of here, is not from the tribe that holy men come from. He is from another tribe, and no one from that tribe has ever served at the ceremonial altar. ¹⁴We all know that our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is descended from Give Him Praise (Judah), and Drawn from the Water (Moses) never said anything about holy men coming from that tribe.

¹⁵So if another holy man appears, one who is like Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek), it becomes even more clear ¹⁶that it is the power of a life that can never end that makes him a holy man, not a law about physical ancestry. ¹⁷For it says in our Sacred Teachings, “You are a holy man whose days will never end, the same kind of holy man as Chief Who Stands for What Is Right (Melchizedek).”

¹⁸Because it was weak and useless, the former instruction had to be done away with. ¹⁹For our tribal law could not bring anyone or anything to full meaning and purpose. But the Chosen One has brought to us an even greater hope, and it is this hope that moves us to draw near to the Great Spirit.

^20-21Under our tribal law no one was ever made a holy man by a solemn promise. But it was by a solemn promise that the Chosen One was made a holy man, when it was said to him, “The Great Spirit has made a solemn promise and will never change his mind, ‘You are a holy man whose days will never end.’”19 ²²In this way, Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has become the promise keeper of a better peace treaty.

A CHIEF HOLY MAN WHO WILL NEVER DIE

²³The holy men who came before were many in number, because death kept them from continuing. ²⁴But since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) will never die, his place as a holy man will never come to an end. ²⁵This means he is able to fully set free and make whole all who draw near to the Great Spirit through him, since he always lives to pray and represent them in a good way.

²⁶This kind of chief holy man is just what we weak human beings need. One who remains holy, blameless and pure. One who differs from weak human beings because he has a good heart with no broken ways. One who has been lifted up to the highest place in the spirit-world above. ²⁷He has no need to make offerings every day like other chief holy men. They make offerings first for their own broken ways, and then for the broken ways of the people. But when Creator Sets Free (Jesus) offered himself on the cross, he performed a ceremony—once for all time—to set people free from their bad hearts and broken ways.

²⁸So you can see that our tribal law chooses weak human beings with broken ways to be chief holy men. But it was a solemn promise, given many winters after our tribal law, that chose the Son of the Great Spirit. His suffering has fully prepared him to be a chief holy man whose days will never end.

THE NEW CHIEF HOLY MAN

¹The heart of what I am saying is that we now have this kind of chief holy man, one who has taken his place in the spirit-world above at the right hand of the seat of honor held by the Great Honored One. ²He serves as a holy man in the true sacred tent, the one pitched by our Honored Chief and not by human beings.

³Every chief holy man is chosen to offer ceremonial gifts and sacrifices, so our chief holy man must also have something to offer. ⁴Remember, if he were on earth, he would not be a holy man, seeing that there are holy men on earth who offer gifts required by our tribal law. ⁵But these holy men serve in a sacred tent that is only a dim shadow of the one in the spirit-world above. For Drawn from the Water (Moses) was given this counsel by the Great Spirit just before he completed making the sacred tent, “Make sure that everything you make follows the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.”20

A NEW AND BETTER PEACE TREATY

⁶So you can see that the Chosen One has been given a more honorable place as chief holy man than all the others. In the same way, the peace treaty he made for us with the Great Spirit is better than the first one, for it depends on better promises. ⁷For if there had been nothing wrong with the first peace treaty, then there would have been no need to look for a second one.

⁸But finding something wrong, the Great Spirit said to his people, “Behold! The time is coming when I will make a new peace treaty with the northern tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) and the southern tribes of Give Him Praise (Judah). ⁹This peace treaty will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to walk them out of Black Land (Egypt). They did not honor that peace treaty, so I let them go their own way.

¹⁰“But here is the new peace treaty I will make with the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) after that time. I will plant my laws in their minds and carve them into their hearts. I will be their Great Spirit, and they will be my people, my sacred family. ¹¹There will be no need to teach others to know their Honored Chief, for all, whether small or great, will know me. ¹²I will take pity on wrongdoers, and their broken ways I will remember no more.”21

¹³When Creator tells of a new peace treaty, this means he has done away with the first one—for it is old, worn out, and ready to fade away.

CEREMONIES AND THE FIRST PEACE TREATY

¹Under the first peace treaty, there were instructions for ceremonies and a sacred lodge tent that is of this world. ²The first room in the sacred lodge tent was called the Holy Place. In that room, there was a lampstand and a table for the sacred bread and other ceremonial items.

³A blanket was hung between the Holy Place and the next room, which was called the Most Holy Place. ⁴In this room, there was a sacred altar for the burning of sweet-smelling herbs and spices, and a cedar box22 of the peace treaty that was covered with gold on all sides.

Inside the cedar box was a golden pot filled with the mysterious bread,23 the walking stick of Light Bearer (Aaron) that blossomed, and the stone tablets of the peace treaty. ⁵Above the cedar box were the bright-shining winged ones whose wings overshadowed the mercy seat. But we cannot speak at length about these things at this time.

⁶When all these things had been made ready in a good way, the holy men would go into the outer room of the sacred lodge tent over and over again to perform the sacred ceremonies. ⁷But only the chief holy man could enter into the second room, the Most Holy Place, and then only once a year. He must also take blood from a sacrificed animal in with him to offer first for himself and then for the wrongs the people did not mean to do.

A NEW WAY IS REVEALED

⁸By all these things the Holy Spirit is showing us that the way into the Most Holy Place in the spirit-world above was not yet open as long as the first sacred lodge tent in this world was still standing. ⁹This has spiritual meaning for the time we live in. It shows us that the gifts and offerings made in the sacred lodge tent that now stands cannot truly set free the heart and mind of the one who brings the offerings. ¹⁰These things are only concerned with food and drink and different kinds of ceremonial washings—rules about outward things. They were needed until it was time for a new way to be revealed.

¹¹But now the Chosen One has appeared as the chief holy man of the good things that have now come. He entered into the true and greater sacred tent lodge, the one not made with human hands, meaning not of this creation. He entered into the Most Holy Place once for all time and for all people. ¹²He did not go in with the blood of goats and calves but with his own lifeblood. In doing so, he paid the highest price to set us free and make us whole for all time.

A ONCE-FOR-ALL-TIME CEREMONY

¹³If the blood of goats and young bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean can purify our bodies, ¹⁴then how much more will the lifeblood of the Chosen One accomplish? Through the eternal Spirit he offered his life to the Great Spirit to purify our hearts and minds from the meaningless things we have done to try to please the Great Spirit. Now we can serve the living Creator with the life that comes from him!

¹⁵This is why it must be the Chosen One who makes a new peace treaty between human beings and the Great Spirit. His death was the price he paid to release people from their failure to walk true to the first peace treaty. This new peace treaty was needed so that those who answer his call will share in all the promised blessings that will never fade away.

DEATH AND THE NEW PEACE TREATY

^16-17This kind of peace treaty24 does not begin while the one who made it remains alive. It begins after the death of the one who made it. ¹⁸This is why even the first peace treaty required blood to be shed. ¹⁹Drawn from the Water (Moses) told the people all that our tribal law required them to do. Then he used red wool and a hyssop25 branch to sprinkle the book of the law and the people with water and the blood of bulls and goats.

²⁰He said to our people, “This is the blood of the peace treaty the Great Spirit has made with you. You must do all that it says.”26

²¹In the same way, he sprinkled the sacred lodge tent and all the ceremonial objects with blood. ²²So then, according to our tribal law, almost all things need to be washed clean with blood, and unless lifeblood has been poured out in death there is no being set free from broken ways. ²³If the earthly copies of what is in the spirit-world above needed purification in this way, then better offerings are needed to purify the things in the spirit-world above.

HE REPRESENTS US

²⁴For the Chosen One did not go into a Holy Place made with human hands—an earthly copy of the true Holy Place. He went into the spirit-world above, where he now represents us before the Great Spirit. ²⁵He did not go in to offer himself again and again like the chief holy man who every year goes into the earthly Holy Place with lifeblood that is not his own. ²⁶For then, from the time when the world was formed, he would have had to suffer over and over again. But now, at the fullness of the ages, he appeared to bring an end to broken ways by performing the once-for-all-time ceremony when he offered himself.

²⁷Human beings die once, and then they must stand before the one who decides what they have done right and what they have done wrong. ²⁸So the Chosen One also died once when he took on himself the bad hearts and broken ways of many people. He will appear a second time, not to die for broken ways but to set free and make whole all who keep their eyes wide open as they wait for him.

A DIM SHADOW

¹Our tribal law is only a dim shadow of the good things to come, not the things themselves. The ceremonial sacrifices and offerings required by our law are repeated over and over again year after year. These ceremonies cannot fully set free and make whole those who draw near to the Great Spirit. ²If they could, would they not have stopped offering them? For once the ceremonies had been performed, the people would be purified in their hearts and minds, and no longer feel the guilt of their broken ways.

³But these yearly ceremonies keep reminding the people that their bad hearts and broken ways have not been fully purified. ⁴For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away bad hearts and broken ways.

NO MORE SACRIFICES

⁵So then, when the Chosen One came into this world, he said, “O Great Spirit, sacrifice and offering is not what you want, but you have given me a human body to bring an end to these sacrifices once and for all. ⁶Burnt animal sacrifices and other offerings for broken ways do not make your heart glad.” ⁷Then the Chosen One said, “In the Sacred Book, it has been written about me. ‘Behold! I have come to do what you want done, O Great Spirit.’”

⁸First, the Chosen One said that “the Great Spirit does not want sacrifices and offerings, nor is he pleased with them,” even though they are required by our tribal law. ⁹Then he said, “Behold, I have come to do what you, the Great Spirit, wants done.” This means that he has taken away the first peace treaty with its law of sacrifices and offerings to put in its place the second. ¹⁰The Chosen One did what Creator wanted when he made us holy by offering his body once for all time.

¹¹Under our tribal law holy men keep performing the same ceremonies day after day and making the same sacrifices over and over again. Those sacrifices can never take away bad hearts and broken ways.

¹²But the Chosen One, after performing the once-for-all-time ceremony to heal our broken ways, sat down at Creator’s right hand—the place of greatest honor. ¹³He now rules from there and waits until all his enemies have been defeated and humbled.27 ¹⁴For by this one offering he has for all time completely set free the ones he is making holy.

¹⁵The Holy Spirit tells us the same truth. First, he says, ¹⁶“‘This is the peace treaty I will make with them in the coming days,’ says the Great Spirit Chief. ‘I will carve my laws on their hearts and plant them into their minds.’”28

¹⁷Then he says, “And their broken ways and wrongdoings I will remember no more.”29

¹⁸Now when broken ways and wrongdoings have been forgiven like this, there is no longer any need for further offerings.

A NEW AND LIVING WAY

¹⁹So then, my sacred family members, since Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has offered his own lifeblood in this way, this gives us the courage to walk boldly into the Most Holy Place. ²⁰He has made a new and living way for us to pass through the blanket—that is, his human body—to go into the Most Holy Place.

²¹Since we have such a great chief holy man, who is headman of Creator’s family lodge, ²²let us draw near with honest hearts, trusting fully in what the Chosen One has done. For our hearts have been washed clean from guilt and shame and our bodies washed with pure water. ²³Let us get a firm and steady hold on this hope we say is ours, for the one who made the promise to us can be fully trusted.

²⁴We should think about how to stir each other up toward love and doing good. ²⁵To do this, we must never give up on gathering together, as some have. Instead, we should encourage each other, and all the more as you see the day of his appearing coming near.

²⁶For if we keep stubbornly walking in broken ways after the truth has been made clear to us, then no further sacrifice can be made for our broken ways. ²⁷All that remains is to wait for the fiery judgment that will burn up all who are hostile to Creator’s right ways.

²⁸Under the law given by Drawn from the Water (Moses), anyone who set aside that law was put to death without pity on the word of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment do you think is deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of the Great Spirit, who treats the lifeblood of the peace treaty that makes us holy as having no value, and treats with disrespect the Spirit who gives us the gift of his great kindness?

³⁰For we know Creator has said, “Punishment for wrongs belongs to me. I will make sure that wrongs are made right again.”30 And the Sacred Teachings have also said, “The Great Spirit Chief will decide for all his people who has done right and who has done wrong.”31 ³¹It is a fearful thing to come before the living Creator to give an answer for the wrongs we have done.

KEEP WALKING FORWARD

³²Remember those early days when you first started walking in the light of the good story. You kept walking the road even when the way forward was a struggle filled with pain and suffering. ³³At times the path was hard to walk, as you faced open shame and insults. At other times you walked side by side with those who were being mistreated. ³⁴You shared in the pain of those who were in prison. When your own possessions were stolen, you accepted it with glad hearts, knowing that you have been given better possessions that will never fade away.

³⁵So keep your hearts from falling to the ground. Hold your heads high. For a great honor awaits you at the end of the trail. ³⁶All you need is to keep walking with firm steps, doing what Creator wants. He will make sure you receive all that he has promised.

³⁷For the Sacred Teachings tell us, “It will not be long until the Coming One arrives. He will be here soon! ³⁸Until then the ones who are in good standing with Creator will walk the road of life by trusting in him. But he will not be pleased with any who turn back.”32

³⁹We are not the ones who turn back and lose their way, but we are the ones whose whole beings are kept safe and made whole by trusting in him.

BRAVE ONES WHO TRUSTED CREATOR

¹Trusting Creator is the solid ground our hope rests on. It means we can be sure of the things we do not yet see. ²For it was this kind of trusting that brought honor to our tribal ancestors. ³By trusting, we understand that the Great Spirit, by his voice, created all that we can see. By trusting we understand that the things we see were brought into being by that which we cannot see.

⁴Because he trusted Creator, His Breath Goes Up (Abel) offered a ceremonial gift that was more acceptable to the Great Spirit than the offering of Spear Maker (Cain).33 Because he trusted, Creator was pleased with his gift, which gave him the reputation of being in good standing. So because he trusted, his voice still speaks to us today, even though he died long ago.

⁵Because he trusted the Great Spirit, Walks with Creator (Enoch) did not die. No one could find him because Creator took him.34 Before he was taken, he had the reputation of one who makes Creator’s heart glad. ⁶For no one can make Creator’s heart glad without trusting him. So then, those who draw near to the Great Spirit must believe that he is and that he honors all who truly seek him.

⁷Because he trusted the One Above Us All, One Who Rests (Noah) took to heart the warning given to him by the Great Spirit and made a great wooden canoe for the safety of his family. By trusting he showed the world how terrible their ways had become. By trusting he took his place among those who, by trusting, share in the blessing of good standing with Creator.

⁸Because he trusted the Great Mystery, Father of Many Nations (Abraham) left his homeland to go to another land that was promised to him and his descendants. He followed the voice of the Great Spirit even though he was going to a land he had never been before. ⁹By trusting in this way, he lived in the Land of Promise as a stranger in a strange land. Father of Many Nations (Abraham) settled his family in tents, along with his sons, He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) and Heel Grabber (Jacob), who would share with him in the same promise. ¹⁰There he waited, for he was looking for a village that would remain—one built on solid ground. A village whose maker and builder is the Great Spirit.

¹¹Because he trusted the Maker of Life, Father of Many Nations (Abraham) was able to father a child, even though his wife Noble Woman (Sarah) was barren and they were both too old. For they were sure the Great Spirit could be trusted to keep the promise he made to them. ¹²So from this one man, his body as good as dead, many descendants were born, as many as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

LONGING FOR A BETTER LAND

¹³Every one of these people died still trusting in Creator. Even though they did not receive all that had been promised, they took the promises to heart and welcomed them from afar. They said of themselves, “We are strangers and wanderers on the land.” ¹⁴People who say things like this make it clear that they are looking for a land of their own. ¹⁵If they had been longing for the land from which they had come, they could have returned. ¹⁶But they are longing for a better land—one from the spirit-world above. That is why Creator is not ashamed to be called their Great Spirit and has prepared for them a village to live in.

MORE EXAMPLES OF TRUSTING

^17-18Because he trusted the Giver of Breath, Father of Many Nations (Abraham), when he was tested by the Great Spirit, offered up He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) as a ceremonial sacrifice. For Creator had promised him, “It is through He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) that your descendants will be born.” But there he was, ready to offer up his only son! ¹⁹For he was sure that Creator had the power to raise him up, even from the dead. So in a spiritual way of thinking, he did receive He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) back from the dead.

²⁰Because he trusted the Most Holy One, He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), when he spoke the family blessing over Heel Grabber (Jacob) and his brother Hairy Man (Esau), told them about things to come.

²¹Because he trusted the Great Spirit, Heel Grabber (Jacob), at the end of his days, blessed each of the sons of Creator Gives More (Joseph) as he leaned on his walking stick and humbled himself before Creator.

²²Because he trusted the One Above Us All, Creator Gives More (Joseph), at the end of his days, spoke of the time when the children of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) would go out from Black Land (Egypt), and he gave instructions about where to bury his bones.

²³Because his parents trusted the Great Mystery, they hid Drawn from the Water (Moses) for three moons. They saw Creator’s beauty in the child and did not fear the instructions of the ruler of Black Land (Egypt).

²⁴Because he trusted the Maker of Life, Drawn from the Water (Moses), as a full-grown man, refused to be called the son of the daughter of Great House (Pharaoh), the ruler of Black Land (Egypt). ²⁵He chose to suffer with Creator’s people, rather than finding joy in the passing pleasures of the broken ways of Black Land (Egypt). ²⁶He knew that the honor he would receive by suffering with the Chosen One was greater than all the treasures of Black Land (Egypt), because he kept his eyes on the honor that was to be his. ²⁷By trusting he left Black Land (Egypt) without fear of its ruler. He kept walking forward, keeping his eyes on the one who cannot be seen.

²⁸Because he trusted the Giver of Breath, Drawn from the Water (Moses) participated in the first Passover while he was still in Black Land (Egypt) when the blood of a lamb was sprinkled on the doorposts. This is how the firstborn sons of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were not killed by the spirit-messenger of death.35 ²⁹By trusting Creator, the people walked through the Red Sea as if they were on dry land. But when the soldiers of Black Land (Egypt) tried to cross, they were swallowed up by the sea.36

³⁰Because the people trusted the Great Spirit, they walked around Moon Village (Jericho) for seven days, and the walls fell to the ground. ³¹Boastful Woman (Rahab), who lived in Moon Village (Jericho), made her living by trading her body for possessions. But because she trusted and welcomed the spies with peace, she did not die with the ones who refused to obey Creator.

SO MANY BRAVE ONES TO HONOR

³²If I had more time, I would tell you about He Tears Down (Gideon), Lightning Flashing Across the Sky (Barak), Strength of the Sun (Samson), and He Breaks Out (Jephthah). I would also tell the stories of Chief Much Loved One (David), of Creator Hears Him (Samuel), and the prophets. ³³Because men such as these trusted the Great Spirit, they won the victory over nations, made wrongs right again, took hold of promises, and closed the mouths of mountain lions. ³⁴They defeated the power of fire and escaped the long knives of their enemies. The weak were made strong and became great warriors who drove their enemies away. ³⁵Women received their loved ones back from the dead.

Others were tortured, refusing to be set free, knowing they would be honored when the dead are raised. ³⁶Some were insulted and mocked, whipped with leather straps, or chained and thrown into prison. ³⁷Some were killed with rocks. Others were cut in two. Others faced temptation. And some were cut down by long knives. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, hunted down, mistreated, and in need of many things. ³⁸They roamed aimlessly through deserts and mountains, living in caves and holes in the ground. The world is not worthy of people like this.

CREATOR PROVIDED SOMETHING BETTER

³⁹Even though these faithful ones have been honored for showing what it means to trust Creator, they did not receive all that was promised. ⁴⁰But the Great Spirit has provided something better for us who live in these last days. So now those who came before us can finally see Creator’s promise come to its full meaning and purpose. For without us they would not be complete in the Chosen One.

A GREAT CLOUD OF TRUTH TELLERS

¹We are surrounded by a great cloud of truth tellers who have shown us what it means to trust the Great Spirit. So let us lay to the side everything that weighs us down and the broken ways that so easily wrap around our legs to trip us. And let us run as if we are in a long-distance race, setting a steady pace and heading toward the goal.

²This means we must keep our eyes on Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the trailblazer of our spiritual ways,37 the one who was first to reach the end of the trail. The joy that lay before him gave him the strength to suffer on the cross and willingly bear its shame. He now sits at Creator’s right hand in the place of greatest honor.

³If you will keep your thoughts on how much hostility Creator Sets Free (Jesus) endured from those with bad hearts and broken ways, it will keep you from growing weary and your hearts from falling to the ground. ⁴For in your struggle against bad hearts and broken ways you have not yet had to face your own blood being shed.

THE DISCIPLINE OF THE GREAT SPIRIT

⁵Have you forgotten the wise counsel in our Sacred Teachings that speaks to you as mature sons and daughters? “Do not treat lightly the wise counsel of the Great Spirit Chief or let your heart fall to the ground when he shows you where you have gone wrong. ⁶For he brings correction to the ones he loves and disciplines every child he takes into his family.”38 ⁷So accept difficult times as the loving discipline of a parent, for Creator is treating you as one of his children. Are not all children disciplined by their fathers? ⁸But if you never receive the discipline that all take part in, it means you are not truly his children and not part of the family.

⁹When our earthly fathers disciplined us, we respected them for it. So how much more should we accept and respect Creator’s discipline, for he is our spiritual Father and the one who gives us the life of beauty and harmony! ¹⁰For a short time, our earthly fathers disciplined us as they saw best, but the Great Spirit disciplines us for our own good, so we can be holy like him.

¹¹Now, all discipline at the time seems to create more sorrow than joy. But for those who have learned its worth, it grows into a life of peace and doing what is right. ¹²So lift up your arms that hang down and begin using your weak knees. ¹³Make the path you walk straight, so that those with weak knees may not stumble from the path but instead be healed.

WALK IN PEACE WITH EVERYONE

¹⁴Live in a sacred way by walking the road of peace with all people, for those who fail to walk in this way will not see our Honored Chief. ¹⁵See to it that no one among you misses out on the gift of Creator’s great kindness and that no bitter root springs up among you, making trouble and poisoning many hearts. ¹⁶See that no one becomes an impure or unspiritual person like Hairy Man (Esau), who for a single meal traded away his family birthright. ¹⁷For you know that later on, he wanted it back. But even though he begged his father with many tears, it was too late to undo what he had done.

LEARN FROM THE ANCESTORS

¹⁸For you have not come, as your ancestors did, to something that can be touched—a mountain blazing with fire and smoke, with clouds of darkness and gloom, and a windstorm.

¹⁹There the eagle bone whistle40 was sounded. A voice spoke out from the mountain, but the people begged the voice to stop and not speak to them again. ²⁰For the instruction, “Even if an animal touches the mountain, it must be put to death with stones,”41 was too much for them to bear. ²¹The vision set before their eyes was so fearful that Drawn from the Water (Moses) cried out, “I am trembling with fear!”

A NEW PEACE TREATY

²²But you, my much-loved relatives, have not come to a mountain like this. Instead, you have come to Strong Mountain (Zion) and to the Village of Peace (Jerusalem) from the spirit-world above, the village of our Creator who is the Maker of Life. This is where many thousands of the spirit-messengers have gathered to celebrate a great festival!

²³This is also a gathering of the great sacred family, who are the firstborn whose names have been written down in the book of life kept in the spirit-world above. You have come to the Great Spirit, the one who decides for everyone who has done right and who has done wrong, and to the ones in good standing whose spirits have been made whole. ²⁴Yes, you have come to Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the peacemaker of the new peace treaty between the Great Spirit and human beings. You have come to the blood that has been sprinkled, which says better things than the blood of His Breath Goes Up (Abel).

A SHAKING OF ALL THINGS

²⁵Make sure you do not turn away from the voice of the one who now speaks! For if the ones who turned away from him who warned them on earth did not escape, how will we escape if we turn away the one who speaks from the spirit-world above? ²⁶At that time his voice shook the earth, but he has now promised once more to shake both the earth and the spirit-world above.42 ²⁷When he says “once more,” this means he is removing those things that can be shaken, things that are of this creation, so that which cannot be shaken will remain.

²⁸So then, since we are welcoming a good road that cannot be shaken, let us give thanks to the Great Spirit and serve him in a good way, with much honor and respect. ²⁹For our Creator is an all-consuming fire.

LOVE AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS

¹Keep loving each other as brothers and sisters of the sacred family. ²Do not forget to be kind and welcoming to strangers, for in this way some have welcomed spirit-messengers without knowing it. ³Keep the ones who are in prison in your thoughts as if you were there with them, and those who are mistreated as if you in your own body shared their suffering.

⁴Marriage is honorable, and the marriage bed is pure, but Creator will decide the guilt of all who are sexually impure and unfaithful in marriage. ⁵Keep yourselves free from the love of possessions and be at peace with what you have. For the Great Spirit himself has said, “I will never leave you or give up on you.”43 ⁶Because of this we can boldly say, “The Great Spirit Chief is the one who stands with me. Why would I fear what human beings can do?”44

WISE WORDS OF COUNSEL AND COURAGE

⁷Never forget the ones who blazed the trail before you, the ones who were first to tell you the message of Creator’s good story. Think deeply about the manner in which they lived and died, and follow in their way of trusting.

⁸Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One remains the same yesterday, today, and to the time beyond the end of all days.

⁹Do not let all kinds of strange teachings take you down a wrong path. For our hearts are made strong by the gift of Creator’s great kindness, not from following rules about what foods to eat. These kinds of rules have not helped those who have followed after them.

¹⁰The ones who still serve in the tent lodge on earth have no right to share in45 our ceremonial altar. ¹¹For each year the chief holy man takes the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as an offering for the people’s broken ways. The bodies of those animals are then burned outside the camp. ¹²Creator Sets Free (Jesus) offered his own lifeblood to make the people holy and suffered outside the village gate. ¹³So then, let us join him outside the camp, sharing in the same kind of disrespect and shame that he suffered. ¹⁴For we are not seeking an earthly village that will fade away. We are seeking the village that is coming down from the spirit-world above, one that will remain.46

MORE WISE COUNSEL

¹⁵So then, through Creator Sets Free (Jesus), let us keep giving thanks as a sacrificial offering to the Great Spirit. This is the fruit of our lips, giving honor to him and all that his name represents. ¹⁶And do not forget to do good and share with those who are in need, for these are also sacrificial gifts that make Creator’s heart glad.

¹⁷Follow the guidance of your spiritual leaders and give way to their instructions. For they must give an answer for the guidance they provide. So let them do so with glad hearts and not with sorrow, for that would not be a good thing for you.

KEEP SENDING UP PRAYERS

¹⁸Keep sending up prayers for us, for deep inside we are sure that we are walking in a good and honorable way. ¹⁹I ask you this with all my heart, so that I may soon return to you.

²⁰The Great Spirit of Peace is the one who raised up from the dead our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus), the Great Shepherd of the sheep. It is through his lifeblood that we now have a peace treaty that will last beyond the end of all days. ²¹May the Great Provider give you everything you need to do what he wants done. He is working, through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, to do in us the things that make his heart glad. He is to be given all honor to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

FINAL WORDS

²²So now, my relatives, I counsel you to take to heart this short message. I have written it to lift you up and give you strength. ²³I want you to know that our spiritual brother He Gives Honor (Timothy) has been set free from prison. If he comes soon, we will travel together to see you. ²⁴Greet all your spiritual leaders and all of Creator’s holy ones. I send you greetings from those in Land of Young Bulls (Italy).

²⁵May the gift of Creator’s great kindness be with you all.