Small Man To The Sacred Family In VIllage Of Iron Romans

⁶Even if my human relatives have turned away, this does not mean the promise25 of the Great Spirit has fallen to the ground. For not all who are from the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) are the true Tribal Members. ⁷Just because they are descendants of Father of Many Nations (Abraham) does not make them the children of promise. For the Sacred Teachings say, “It is the descendants of He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) who will carry on your name.”26

⁸This means it is not the children physically descended from Father of Many Nations (Abraham) who are counted as children of the Great Spirit, but only the ones who are born because of Creator’s promise.

He Made Us Laugh (Isaac) was born because of a promise the Great Spirit made to Father of Many Nations (Abraham). ⁹For the promise said, “Next year at this time I will return and your wife Noble Woman (Sarah) will have a son.”27

^10-12There is more to this story. She Holds Together (Rebecca), the wife of our ancestor He Made Us Laugh (Isaac), gave birth to twins. But before they were born, the Great Spirit said to her, “The elder son will serve the younger.”28 The reason Creator chose one son over the other had nothing to do with what they had done, good or bad, but only to show that the Knower of Hearts chooses according to his own purpose. ¹³That is why the Sacred Teachings say, “My love caused me to choose Heel Grabber (Jacob) over Hairy Man (Esau).”

¹⁴Do not get the wrong idea. We are not saying that the Great Spirit chooses unfairly. ¹⁵We are saying the same thing that Creator said to Drawn from the Water (Moses), “If I want to show kindness to someone, that is what I will do. I will have pity on anyone I choose.”29

¹⁶The choice does not depend on the desire of one’s heart or the strength of ones legs, but on the pity and kindness of the Great Spirit.

¹⁷The Sacred Teachings make this clear when the Great Spirit said to Great House (Pharaoh), “I raised you up, so that when I defeated you, my power and reputation would be known to all the earth.”30

¹⁸So the Great Spirit does whatever he desires. He gives hard hearts to some and takes pity on others. ¹⁹But, some might ask, “If Creator is the one who decides these things, then what choice do we have, for who can stand against what he wants?”

²⁰How can anyone talk back to the Great Spirit? We are weak human beings with small minds who do not understand his ways. Does a clay pot say to its maker, “Why did you give me this shape?” ²¹Does not the one who forms the clay give it its purpose? From one lump of clay he can make one pot for ceremonial use and the other for everyday use.

²²So then, what if Creator, who has the right to show his great anger and power against pots of clay he is angry with, which are ready to be broken into pieces, has instead shown them great patience? ²³Does not the Great Spirit also have the right, from the treasures of his beauty, to pour out his kindness and mercy on pots of clay he has already chosen from the Outside Nations? ²⁴He did this so everyone can see how honorable he is. He still chose us, whether we are Tribal Members or from the Outside Nations.

²⁵For the prophet He Helps Us (Hosea) has said, “To Nations who are not mine I will give the name ‘You Are My People.’ To Nations who have not known my love I will give the name ‘You Are Loved!’”31

²⁶He Helps Us (Hosea) also said, “In the same place where they were told, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘The family32 of the living Creator.’”33

²⁷But the prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) cries out to the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), “Even though the number of the children of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) are as many as the grains of sand on the seashore, only a small number will return to be made whole and set free. ²⁸For very soon the word of Creator will be fully carried out on the land.”34

²⁹And just as Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) has foretold, “If the Chief of Spirit Warriors had not left some of our descendants alive, we would have become like the people of Village of Bad Spirits (Sodom) and Village of Deep Fear (Gomorrah).”

Long ago, in the time of Father of Many Nations (Abraham), Village of Bad Spirits (Sodom) and Village of Deep Fear (Gomorrah) were destroyed, and none of the people survived.

³⁰What can we say about this? We are saying that the Outside Nations found good standing in the eyes of the Great Spirit even though they did not follow our tribal law. Instead, they trusted in what Creator has done. ³¹We are also saying that our own Tribal People, who worked so hard to earn this good standing by following the law, have failed.

³²Why did they fail? It was because they were depending on what they could do, by keeping the law, instead of trusting in what the Great Spirit would do for them. They tripped over the great stumbling stone,35 ³³just as it is written in our Sacred Teachings, “Be aware! For in Strong Mountain (Zion) I have set a lodgepole that many will trip over, a large chief pole that will make them stumble—and the hearts of all who trust in him will never fall to the ground.”36

¹Hear me, my sacred family! I want you to know that when I send my voice to the Great Spirit my heart beats with a great longing to see my own Tribal People set free and made whole. ²I speak the truth when I say that their dedication to the Great Spirit burns like a wildfire! But this fire has been set ablaze with no understanding. ³Since they did not understand Creator’s path to good standing, they tried to make their own way. But in doing so, they did not walk Creator’s path and never found good standing in his eyes. ⁴The law finds its true meaning and purpose in the Chosen One, for good standing with the Great Spirit comes from trusting in what he has done.

⁵Here is what the lawgiver Drawn from the Water (Moses) has written down about finding good standing by following the law: “The man who seeks good standing through the law must find it by keeping the law all the days of his life.”37

⁶But here is what is written down for the ones who trust in Creator for their good standing: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into the spirit-world above?’38”—to bring the Chosen One down—⁷“or ‘Who will go down into the deep dark pit of the world below?’39”—to raise the Chosen One up from the dead.

⁸But if it does not say that, what does it say to us? It says, “The word is not far away from you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.”40 It is not far away in the spirit-world above or buried in the earth below.

So then, this is the message of trusting that we speak: ⁹if you will lift up your voice and make it known that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) is the Honored Chief over all the earth, and trust in your heart that the Great Spirit has raised him from the dead, you will be set free and made whole. ¹⁰For trusting comes from the heart and leads to good standing. Then the mouth says what the heart believes, which takes us down the path of being set free and made whole.

¹¹The Sacred Teachings tell us, “All who trust in him will never be dishonored or put to shame.”41 ¹²So it matters not whether one is a Tribal Member42 or from an Outside Nation,43 for the same one we call Chief is the Great Spirit of all people. He pours out his treasures on all who call out to him. ¹³For “anyone who calls out to our Great Spirit Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) will be set free and made whole.”44

¹⁴But how can anyone trust in or call out to one they have never heard of? And how can they hear if no one has told them? And how will his message reach their ears if no one is sent? ¹⁵Just as it is written down in the Sacred Teachings, “How beautiful are the feet of the good story bringers, who tell about the good things Creator has done for us through the Chosen One!”45

¹⁶But not everyone who heard this good story has trusted in its message. For the prophet Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah) has said, “Great Spirit, who has trusted in our message?”46 ¹⁷So you can see that hearing and trusting must walk together and follow the path given to us by Creator’s Chosen One.

¹⁸But our Tribal People have not heard this message, have they? Yes, they have! The book of Sacred Songs tells us, “The voice of the stars in the night sky has spoken to all the land. Their message has traveled the four directions to the furthest places on earth.”47

¹⁹But the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) did not know that this message was also for the Outside Nations, did they? Yes, they did! For Drawn from the Water (Moses) was the first to say to them, “I will make you jealous by a nation that has no standing in my eyes,” says the Great Spirit. “I will make you angry by a nation that does not understand my ways.”48 ²⁰And Creator Will Help Us (Isaiah), speaking with bold words, also said, “A people who were not looking for me found me. I made myself known to a people who never asked for me.”49

²¹But here is what he has to say about the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), “From the rising of the sun to its setting,” says the Great Spirit, “I have reached my hands out with love to people who are stubborn and fail to represent me in a good way.”50

¹If you think that I am saying the Great Spirit has turned away from his own people in the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel), you are mistaken. I am proof that he did not. I myself am a Tribal Member, a descendant of Father of Many Nations (Abraham), from the tribe of Son of My Right Hand (Benjamin). ²Creator has not turned away from ones he knew ahead of time would be his people. Do you remember the story of Great Spirit Is Creator (Elijah) as it is told in the Sacred Teachings, when he was complaining to the Great Spirit about the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel)?

³He said, “O Great Spirit, your people have put to death your prophets and have torn down your sacred altars. I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me!”51

⁴How does Creator answer him? “I have seven thousand men who have not bowed down to serve Dark Ruler (Baal).”52

⁵It is the same for the time we live in. There are some from among our Tribal People who have been chosen not by working to keep our tribal law, but through the gift of his great kindness. ⁶Now if they are chosen by the gift of Creator’s great kindness, then this choosing cannot come from working hard to keep the law, but only by his great kindness. Otherwise it would not truly be a gift.

⁷This means that only a chosen few have found what all the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) were looking for. The rest have hearts that have become as hard as stone.

⁸It is written in the Sacred Scrolls, “Creator has given them over to a spirit that makes them slow to understand. To this very day, they have eyes but fail to see and ears but fail to hear.”53

⁹Chief Much Loved One (David), speaking of our tribes, also says, “Let their traditional food laws54 become a trap to catch them by surprise, so they will stumble and have their own ways fall back on their heads. ¹⁰Let the darkness blind their eyes, and let their backs be always bent under the weight of their broken ways.”55

¹¹Have our Tribal People then stumbled with no way to get back up again? I tell you they have not! Creator knew ahead of time that they would fail, and he knew their failure would open the way for the people of all Nations to be set free and made whole. One reason the Great Spirit did this was to make the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) jealous by giving the people from the Outside Nations equal standing in his eyes. ¹²But if the failure and loss of our Tribal Members brings such great blessings to the nations of this world, how much greater these blessings will be when they fully become the people he created them to be!

¹³I am now speaking to you who are the people from the Outside Nations. I consider it an honor that I have been sent to you as a message bearer. ¹⁴I make sure that my flesh-and-blood Tribal Members know how much I honor you, in the hope that it will make some of them jealous, so that they can also trust in Creator Sets Free (Jesus) to be set free and made whole.

¹⁵So think about it this way. If the turning away of our Tribal Members from the Great Spirit means that he then turned toward the rest of the world, to bring them back to himself, then what will it mean when our Tribal Members turn back to welcome him? It can only mean that they have come back to life from the dead!

¹⁶If the piece of ceremonial bread that is offered first to the Great Spirit is sacred, then the whole loaf is also sacred. If the root of a tree is holy, then its branches are also holy.

¹⁷Some of the branches of this olive tree were broken off, and you Outside Nations have been grafted in from a wild olive tree. This means you now share in the health-giving sap that comes from the roots. ¹⁸So do not think that you are better than those broken-off branches. For you are also a branch supported by what the root supplies.

¹⁹But someone might say, “Those branches were broken off so I could be grafted in.”

²⁰What you say is true. But they were broken off because they did not believe, and you stand only by your faith. So do not get big-headed, but show deep respect. ²¹For if Creator did not have pity on the original branches, why should he have pity on you?

²²So you can see how kind and how strict the Great Spirit can be. He was strict toward the ones who walked away but is kind toward you, as long as you keep walking in his kindness. If not, you also will be cut off. ²³And if the ones who walked away turn around and begin trusting again, then Creator has the power to graft them back in because of his great kindness. ²⁴It is not a natural thing for wild branches to be grafted into an olive tree that is grown in a garden. It is much easier for the natural branches to be grafted back into the same olive tree they were cut from.

²⁵My sacred family members, to keep you from being wise in your own eyes, I want you to know about a great mystery Creator has shown to me. A hardening of hearts has come upon a part of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) until the Outside Nations have fully entered in. ²⁶And this is the way all of the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) will be set free and made whole.

As the Sacred Teachings tell us, “The one who Sets Us Free will come from Strong Mountain (Zion). He is the one who will turn Heel Grabber (Jacob) from his worthless ways, back to the ways of the Great Spirit. ²⁷This is the peace treaty56 I will make with them when I take away their bad hearts and broken ways.”57

²⁸Looking through the eyes of the good story, the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) have become its enemy. But looking through the eyes of the ancestors, they are greatly loved because Creator chose them for his good purposes. ²⁹For the Great Spirit will never take back his calling and gifts once he has given them.

³⁰Here is another way to see what I am saying: In the past you Outside Nations said no to these ways of the Great Spirit. But now, because the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel) have said no to Creator’s good story, you have said yes to it, and received the mercy they turned away from. ³¹Since they have also failed the Great Spirit, they can now receive mercy from him in the same way you have. ³²Creator has rounded up into one corral all who have failed to do what he wants, so that he can show his great kindness and mercy to everyone.

³³O how deep are the treasures of both the wisdom and knowledge held by the Great Mystery!58 His decisions go far beyond our weak ways of thinking! ³⁴“For who has understood the thoughts of the Great Spirit? Who has given him counsel?”59 ³⁵“Who could give him a gift that would require a gift in return?”60

³⁶For from him all things come, by him all things exist, and in him all things find their true meaning and purpose. All honor belongs to him, both now and in the world to come, to the time beyond the end of all days. Aho! May it be so!

¹So then, my sacred family members, because Creator has shown us such mercy and kindness, I now call on you to offer your whole beings, heart, mind, and strength, to the Great Spirit as a living sacrifice. Do this in a sacred and spiritual manner that will make his heart glad.

²Do not permit the ways of this world to mold and shape you. Instead, let Creator change you from the inside out, in the way a caterpillar becomes a butterfly. He will do this by giving you a new way of thinking, seeing, and walking. Then you will know for sure what the Great Spirit wants for you, things that are good, that make the heart glad, and that help you to walk the path of becoming a mature and true human being.

³Because Creator, in his great kindness, has made me a message bearer,61 I give this message to each of you. Do not think too highly of yourself. Instead, understand that the Great Spirit calls us to different purposes in answer to our trust in him. ⁴For just as our bodies have many members and each member has a different purpose, ⁵it is the same way with the body of the Chosen One. We are members of his body, and each member belongs to all the others.

⁶Creator’s gift of great kindness has been poured out on us in many ways, giving us different kinds of gifts. If your gift is to speak the heart and mind of the Great Spirit in a prophecy, then let trust guide your words. ⁷If your gift is helping others, then give yourself to help others. If teaching is your gift, teach well. ⁸If your gift is to speak courage and strengthen the hearts of others, then speak bravely. The one whose gift is giving should not hold back. If your gift is leading, lead with honor. And the one whose gift is showing mercy and kindness to others should do so freely, with a glad heart!

⁹Love with a true heart. Hate what is evil and hold on tight to what is good. ¹⁰Love like family and honor others by putting them first.

¹¹Be a good fire keeper, and never let your spiritual fire go out as you serve our Honored Chief. ¹²Let hope make your heart glad. Keep sending your voice to the Great Spirit, even when the road gets hard to walk.

¹³Give what you can to help the sacred family members62 who are in need. Open your homes and hearts to others.

¹⁴Bless the ones who seek to harm you. Bless and do not curse! ¹⁵Dance with the ones who dance for joy, and shed tears with the ones whose hearts have fallen to the ground.

¹⁶Seek to live in harmony with all. Do not think you are better than others. Walk the road of life with the humble of heart, and do not be wise in your own eyes.

¹⁷No one should pay back evil with evil. Do what you know to be honorable in the eyes of another. ¹⁸If it is within your power, walk the road of peace with everyone.

¹⁹My much-loved family members, do not take the punishment of others into your own hands. Instead, turn all anger and wrath over to the Great Spirit. For the Sacred Teachings tell us, “Punishment for wrongs belongs to me,” says the Great Spirit Chief. “I will make sure that wrongs are made right again.”63

²⁰You should do the opposite. “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If your enemy thirsts, give him a drink. Your kindness will be like burning coals poured on his head, as his shame for the way he has treated you bursts into flame.”64 ²¹Do not let evil take over in your heart, but overcome evil with good.

¹The Great Spirit is over all powers and authorities that rule the lands. Since he is the one who created them to serve his purposes by providing protection and order for all, then each person should follow the laws that have been set in place. ²Do not rise up against these authorities, for you will be going against what Creator has put in place. This will only bring their laws down on your head.

³Rulers need only be feared by evildoers, not by those who walk in a good way. So do what is good, and the rulers should honor you, ⁴for they are Creator’s servants to bring good to you. But if you follow evil ways, you will have something to fear, for this will be a reason for them to use their power to punish you. When they punish evil, they are serving Creator’s purpose, for his anger is against all who walk a path of evil. ⁵So you should follow their laws, not just because of Creator’s anger against evil, but because you know deep inside it is the right thing to do.

⁶This is also the reason you pay taxes, so that government officials can serve the purpose given to them by the Great Spirit. ⁷So pay all the different kinds of taxes you owe, and show respect and honor to all. ⁸Owe no one anything but love. If you follow the trail of the law to its end, you will find love. For the one who loves others has found the law’s true meaning and purpose.

⁹There are many instructions in the law, such as, “Do not be unfaithful in marriage,” “Do not kill a fellow human being,” “Do not take what is not yours,” and “Do not long for what belongs to another.”65 All of these, and any other instructions there might be, all come together in this one saying, “Love your fellow human beings in the same way you love yourself.”66 ¹⁰Love does no harm to another, so loving others fulfills the purpose of the law.

^11-12So keep walking the road of love. This is what is needed for the times we live in. The night is almost over. The first rays of the new day are already shining! For the day when Creator will finish setting us free and making us whole is now closer than when we first began walking this road. We must turn away from the path of darkness and put on the war garments of light.

¹³Let the light of this new day guide you onto a path of honor. We must walk away from wild drinking parties, from sexual impurity and improper desires, and from arguing and jealousy. ¹⁴Instead, wrap our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One around you like a blanket, and do not let your broken human desires control you.

¹Welcome into our sacred gatherings those who are weak in their understanding of our spiritual ways. Do not try to prove them wrong about the things they have decided for themselves.

²One person trusts that all foods are good to eat, while another whose understanding is weak might only eat herbs and plants. ³The one who eats all foods must not look down on the one who eats only herbs and plants. In the same way, the one who eats only herbs and plants should not decide the other is wrong, for the Great Spirit has accepted both of them.

⁴What gives anyone the right to judge the servant of another? It is before the one they serve that they will stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Great Spirit has the power to make them stand.

⁵One person may decide that one day is more sacred than another, while another may decide that all days are the same. Each of you should be sure in your own mind that you have made the right decision. ⁶The one who keeps a day as sacred does so to honor the Great Spirit. It is the same for the one who eats all foods and for the one who does not. For they are both doing so to honor and give thanks to the Great Spirit.

⁷For we who follow Creator Sets Free (Jesus) do not live or die to bring honor to ourselves. ⁸If we live, it is to honor the Great Chief with our lives. If we die, it is to bring honor to him with our deaths. So in life or in death we belong to him. ⁹The reason the Chosen One chose to die and rise to life again was to be Chief of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰Since this is true, why then do you look down on and decide the guilt of a sacred family member? For the time will come when we all will stand before the Great Spirit, and he will be the one to decide who has done right and who has done wrong.

¹¹For it is written in the Sacred Teachings, “As surely as I live,” says the Great Spirit, “Every knee will bow down to honor me, and every tongue will speak truth to Creator.”67

¹²So then, each of us must give an answer to the Great Spirit for how we have walked on this earth. ¹³Since this is true, we should no longer point the finger at each other. Instead, we should decide to never do anything that would make a sacred family member stumble and fall as they walk this good road.

¹⁴Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One has shown me that no food by nature is ceremonially impure, but if someone considers it to be impure, for that person it is impure. ¹⁵If you cause pain and sorrow by looking down on how a sacred family member sees food, then you are no longer walking the road of love. Do not let your strong feelings about food become the ruin of one for whom the Chosen One died.

¹⁶Give no one a reason to speak evil of what you see as good. ¹⁷For Creator’s good road is not about eating or drinking. Instead, it is about doing what is right in Creator’s eyes, about walking his path of peace, and finding the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁸For all who serve the Chosen One in this manner find goodwill in the eyes of the Great Spirit and will be honored by their fellow human beings.

¹⁹So then, let us walk the path of peace in a manner that lifts up and strengthens the heart of each person. We must not tear down the good things Creator has done because of how we see food. ²⁰While it is true that all foods are ceremonially pure, it is not good to force the way you eat on others and make them stumble. ²¹It would be better not to eat, drink wine, or do anything that would make a sacred family member stumble on the path.

²²So in these situations keep what you believe about these things between you and the Great Spirit. The ones who are doing what they know to be right have no reason to feel any guilt, for Creator’s blessing rests on them. ²³But the ones who are not sure they are doing right will feel their guilt, for whatever does not come from trusting in Creator comes from our broken ways.

¹So we who are strong in our spiritual ways should be willing to lend a shoulder to the ones who are weak and unable to walk this road with firm steps. For this road is not only for our own good, ²but also for the good of all who walk with us. ³When the Chosen One walked this earth, he came not only to please himself but to help others.

The Sacred Teachings say, “The insults they spoke against you have landed on me.”68

⁴These words were written down long ago so we would learn from them. It is from the Sacred Teachings that we find the hope and strength we need to walk this road of life. ⁵I pray that the Great Spirit who walks beside you, keeping your steps firm, will help you walk together in step with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. ⁶In this way you will speak with one voice, giving honor to the Great Spirit, the Father of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) our Honored Chief, who is the Chosen One.

⁷So welcome each other with open arms in the same way the Chosen One has honored the Great Spirit by welcoming you. ⁸This is what I am saying: the Chosen One came as a servant to our Tribal People, to show that the Great Spirit has kept the promises he made to our ancestors. ⁹He also came to show his kindness and mercy to the Outside Nations so they would also give honor to the Great Spirit.

For the Sacred Teachings say, “I will tell the truth about you to all the Nations, I will sing songs to them to honor your name.”69

¹⁰They also say, “Dance for joy, all you Nations, along with his people.”70

¹¹And again, “Give praise to the Great Spirit, all you Outside Nations. Let all people honor him!”71

¹²And again the prophet Creator Helps Us (Isaiah) says, “The one who is the root of Original Man (Jesse) will rise up to rule over the Outside Nations, and they will put their hope and trust in him.”72

¹³My prayer for the Outside Nations is that the Great Spirit, who gives you this hope, will fill you with the joy and peace that comes from trusting him, so that this hope will flow like a river through your lives by the power of his Holy Spirit.

¹⁴My sacred family members, I can see that goodness and wisdom have already found a home in you. You have become wise teachers able to instruct each other in the ways of the Great Spirit.

^15-16Even though this is true, I have used strong words to remind you about these things. I have spoken boldly because, in his great kindness, the Great Spirit has chosen me to be a holy man in the way of Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. He has called me to perform the sacred task of telling Creator’s good story. In this way I can present the Outside Nations as a sweet-smelling smoke offering, pleasing to him and set apart in a sacred manner by the Holy Spirit.

¹⁷The Chosen One Creator Sets Free (Jesus) has given me reason to brag about my work among you Outside Nations, but only to bring honor to Great Spirit. ¹⁸For I can only speak about what the Chosen One has done through me. He used my words and what I have done to bring the Outside Nations into step with Creator’s plan for them. ¹⁹It was through signs and wonders, done by the power of Creator’s Spirit, that I was able to finish the work of telling them the good story about the Chosen One. I traveled from Village of Peace (Jerusalem) all the way around to Land of Outside Nations (Illyricum).

²⁰It has been my aim to tell this good story to people who have never heard about the Chosen One. In this way I am not trying to build on the work that someone else has already started. ²¹For the Sacred Teachings say, “The Ones who have not been told about him will see, and the ones who have never heard will understand.”73

²²This is the reason it has taken me so long to come to Village of Iron (Rome) to see you face to face. ²³It has been my desire for many winters to do so, and now that I have finished my work here, it is my plan to see you ²⁴on my journey to Setting Sun (Spain). I hope to stay with you for a while, for some good food and talk, and then have you sing a traveling song over me and send me on my way.

²⁵But for now I am on my way to the sacred family members74 who live in Village of Peace (Jerusalem) to bring some much-needed help to the ones who live there. ²⁶For the sacred family members from Land of Tall People (Macedonia) and Land of Sorrow (Achaia) are happy to give of their goods to help the poor among our sacred family members in Village of Peace (Jerusalem). ²⁷For since the Outside Nations have shared in the spiritual blessings of our Tribal People, they are bound by honor to also share their material blessings with them—which they do with glad hearts!

²⁸Once I have brought to them this offering and delivered it safely to them, then I will visit you who live in Village of Iron (Rome) on my way to Setting Sun (Spain). ²⁹And I know that when I come to you, I will bring with me a heart-basket full of the blessings of the Chosen One!

³⁰My sacred family members, I now call on you by the power of our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, and by the love of the Spirit, to wrestle with me in prayer when you send your voice to the Great Spirit. ³¹Pray that he will be a shield to protect me from the ones in the Land of Promise (Judea) who have refused to believe our message. Also pray for the sacred family members in Village of Peace (Jerusalem), that they will have open hearts to receive what I bring to them.

³²Then, with the help of your prayers, and by the will of the Great Spirit, I will come to Village of Iron (Rome). Then with a glad heart I will be refreshed as we sit together with good food and much talk!

³³I pray that the Great Spirit of Peace will be close to all of you. Aho! May it be so!

¹I am sending to you Morning Light (Phoebe). She is of the sacred family that gathers at Small Seed Village (Cenchreae). She is a sacred servant75 and a woman of honor. ²Welcome her, as one who trusts in our Honored Chief, in a manner that brings honor to our sacred family. Help her with anything she needs, for she has helped not only me but many others as well.

³Give my greeting to Lives Long (Priscilla)76 and her husband Strong Eagle (Aquila), who have worked side by side with me as sacred servants of the Chosen One, Creator Sets Free (Jesus). ⁴They have risked their own lives for my sake, for which they have not only my thanks, but also the thanks of the sacred family members of the Outside Nations. ⁵Also greet the sacred family members who gather for ceremony at their house.

I also send greetings to Worthy of Praise (Epaenetus), our much-loved one, who was the firstfruits of Land of the Rising Sun (Asia), the first to walk the road with the Chosen One in that territory.

⁶Give my greeting to Tears of Sorrow (Mariam), who has worked tirelessly for you.

⁷I send greetings also to Victory Man (Andronicus) and Younger One (Junia), my fellow Tribal Members and fellow prisoners, who have a good reputation as message bearers. They walked with the Chosen One before I did.

⁸Greet Large Man (Ampliatus), who is a much-loved one in our Honored Chief.

⁹Greet Village Dweller (Urbanus), who has worked side by side with us for the Chosen One, and Ear of Corn (Stachys), who is also a much-loved one.

¹⁰Greet Stands Alone (Apelles), who by walking a rough road has proven himself to be a faithful follower of the Chosen One. Also greet Gives Wise Guidance (Aristobulus) and his family.

¹¹Greet Walks Brave (Herodion), a member of my Tribal Family. Greet the family of Sleepy Head (Narcissus) who are also in our Honored Chief.

¹²Greet Soft Garden (Tryphaena) and Sweet Garden (Tryphosa), who work hard for our Honored Chief. Also greet my much-loved friend Woman Rides Horses (Persis), another who has worked hard for our Honored Chief.

¹³Greet Red Man (Rufus), one who stands tall for our Honored Chief, and his mother, who has also been a mother to me.

¹⁴Greet No One Like Him (Asyncritus), Fire Starter (Phlegon), High Messenger (Hermes), Follows His Father (Patrobas), Keeps Things Steady (Hermas), and the sacred family members who are with them.

¹⁵Give my greeting to Likes to Talk (Philologus), Soft Haired Woman (Julia), Shining River (Nereus) and his sister, Bright Mountain (Olympas), and all the sacred family members who gather with them.

¹⁶When you greet each other, do so with a holy kiss. All the Chosen One’s sacred family gatherings under my care also send their greetings to you.

¹⁷And now, my sacred family members, I warn you to be on the lookout and stay away from the ones who cause trouble and place stumbling stones in your path by teaching things that are against what you have learned. ¹⁸For the ones who do this are not walking in the ways of our Honored Chief and Chosen One. Instead, they are feeding their own selfish desires, and like tricksters they use smooth words and big talk to fool the hearts of the ones who lack wisdom.

¹⁹Even though you have a good reputation for following Creator’s ways, which makes my heart glad, I still felt the need to give you this counsel. But I want you to walk in wisdom toward what is good and to keep your path free from evil ways. ²⁰For it will not be long before the Great Spirit of Peace flattens the head of Accuser (Satan), that evil snake, under your feet.77 May the great kindness of our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) be your guide on the road of life.

²¹He Gives Honor (Timothy), who works side by side with me, greets you, along with Bright Light (Lucius), Healer (Jason), and Sets His Father Free (Sosipater), my tribal relatives.

²²I, Third Born (Tertius), the one who is writing this message from Small Man (Paul), send my greetings to you as one who also trusts in our Honored Chief.

²³Glad Heart (Gaius), who has opened his home not only to me but to all the sacred family, greets you. Much Desired (Erastus), who keeps track of the money pouch for the village, and Fourth Born (Quartus), a member of the sacred family, also greet you.

²⁴May the great kindness of our Honored Chief Creator Sets Free (Jesus) rest on all of you.78

²⁵I pray that the Great Spirit will make you stand strong and firm by my telling of the good story about Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One. From the time before all days this message has been kept secret, ²⁶but it has now been made clear. The Great Eternal One told his prophets to write this down in our Sacred Teachings, so that all nations would hear, put their trust in his good story, and follow all his ways.

²⁷May the Great Mystery, from whom all wisdom comes, be honored through Creator Sets Free (Jesus) the Chosen One, to the time beyond the end of all days.

Aho! May it be so!