I don’t know how many English Bible versions exist, but it’s a lot. If you go beyond what’s available in English, you’ll find that the Bible (or portions of it) has been translated into over 3600 languages. Amazing!
One of my new favorites is the First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. Take a look here.
In the FNV, God is called “the Great Spirit.” Jesus goes by the name “Creator Sets Free.” The Gospel is known as “the Good Story.” When Jesus calls people to follow him, the language in the FNV is that he invites them to “walk the road with me.” The Apostle Paul is named “Small Man.” I don’t know why, but I sort of resonate with that.
Like other versions, the FNV widens the aperture of my understanding and helps me to access biblical truths in different and meaningful ways. Take the Lord’s Prayer, for instance, from Matthew 6:9-13.
Creator Sets Free says, “When you send your voice to the Great Spirit, here is how you should pray:
O Great Spirit, our Father from above,
we honor your name as sacred and holy.
Bring your good road to us,
where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above
is reflected in the earth below.
Provide for us day by day—the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon.
The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the things we need for each day.
Release us from the things we have done wrong,
in the same way we release others for the things done wrong to us.
Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road,
and set us free from the evil one and his worthless ways.Aho! May it be so!
Indeed. And all God’s people said, Aho!
Much love,
Pastor Gregg
