I: Concerning the Light
My father, the glad light, the glad light, the glorious.
My father, the glad light, the glad and blessed light.
My father, the glad light, the glad and honored light.
He evoked the aeons of light, he appointed them to the joy of his greatness.
He evoked the aeons of peace, in whom there is no waning or diminution.
He evoked the aeons of light, he summoned his sons and set them up in them.
He evoked the aeons of peace, he summoned his richnessses and set them up in them.
He evoked the aeons of rest, he summoned his angels and set them up in them.
He established dwellings of life and set up living images in them.
He set up living images in them which never perish.
He evoked clouds of brightness, dropping down dew and life,
He summoned a holy fire, giving a sweet burning.
He evoked a wind and and air, breathing the breath of the living.
He evoked holy mountains, sending up fragrant roots.
They are all in agreement and concord: there is no waning or diminution in them,
they are rejoicing and being glad in the glory, full, abiding in eternity.
I know not where the son of evil saw them.
He rose up saying "May I be one like them?"
Where did the son of evil see them?
He rose up saying, "May I be one like them?"
Where did the son of evil see them - the poor one who has nothing,
no riches in his treasure,
no eternity in his possession, no riches in his treasure?
He rose up saying, "May I be one like them?"
He caught the hand of seven companions and his twelve helpers.
He caught the hand of his seven companions,
he went, he looked to them in a moment, in order that,
if any should fall and come down, he might go and be one like them.
The great father therefore took the first step.
He strengthened all his angels, saying
"Assemble, all of you, and guard yourselves from the eye of the evil one which has looked up".
One of the sons of light looked from on high and saw him.
He said to his rich brethren:
"O my brethren, the sons of light, in whom there is no waning or dissolution:
I looked down to the abyss,
I saw the evil one, the son of evil,
I saw the evil one, the son of evil, desiring to wage war.
I saw their cruel armor which is ready to make the war,
I saw snares set and nets cast and spread,
so that the bird which should come might be caught and not escape from them.
I saw them reclining, drinking stolen wine, eating plundered flesh."
The little one passed his months until he . . .
He that is small among them that are on high stepped forth.
He armed himself and girt his loins.
The son of the brightnesses and the richnesses armed himself and girt his loins.
He leapt and sped down into the abyss.
He leapt, he came into their midst that he might make war with them
He humbled the son of evil and his seven companions and his twelve ministers.
He uprooted their tent and threw it down.
He put out their burning fire.
He fettered the poor wretches that were at hand, thinking to make war.
He seized their cruel armour, that had been provided to make a war.
He broke their snares that were set.
He burst also their nets that were spread.
He let the fish out to their sea.
He let the birds fly in the air.
He let the sheep into their fold.
He rolled up his wealth, he took it.
He took it up to the land of rest.
That which the living ones took therefore was saved.
They will return again to that which is theirs.
II: Concerning the coming of the Soul
They that are not as I am made themselves like me.
They that are unworthy of me made me angry.
The wretches that belong not to the house of my father rose,
they took arms against me,
they rose, they took arms against me, making war with me, making war with me,
fighting for my holy robe,
for my enlightening light, that it might lighten their darkness,
for my sweet fragrance, that it might sweeten their foulness,
because of my brethren, the sons of light,
that they might give a peace to their land,
because of my sister, the hour of light,
that she might be a strengthening of their building.
A part therefore went forth into my robe,
it went, it lightened their darkness:
my sweet fragrance went, it sweetened their stink;
my brethren, the sons of light, went, they gave a peace to their land;
my sister went, the hour of light,
she was a strengthening of their building.
They take arms against me, making war with me, crying out against me,
like men going to subdue a camp; they drew the swords against me,
like men going to kill lions; they stretched their hands to the bow against me,
like thieves going to attack a man, they did not stir from warring with me until they had made a wall against me:
the weak and paralyzed ones continually crept,
they did not stir until they had made a wall against me:
they established a watch outside me . . .
the bell was made to go round because of me,
my good fortune came on my behalf,
the wretches thinking in their heart that I was a man for whom none would seek.
I therefore was looking towards my father, that he might send aid,
looking towards my brethren, the sons of light, that they might come, tracking me.
My father therefore sent the aid to me,
my brethren arose, they became one with me.
Through a cry which only my brethren uttered, their wall tottered and fell,
their wall tottered and fell, their watches were unable to stop them,
nor was he that goes round with the bell and cries good fortune found,
against the cry which my brethren uttered.
The demons ran to the darkness,
the demons ran to the darkness, trembling seized their archon entirely.
But I said to my brethren, "Suffer me yet this hour".
I was quieting my brethren that they might not destroy their firmament:
for I await my robe until it comes and clothes him that shall wear it.
I will await my enlightening light until it strips itself of their darkness.
I will await my pleasant fragrance until it returns to its place.
I will await my sister, the hour of light, until she casts their corruption away.
I will await my brethren, the sons of light, until their stature is completed for them.
When therefore my shining robe comes and clothes him that shall wear it:
when my pleasant fragrance strips itself of their stink and returns to its place:
when my lightening light leaves the darkness:
when my brethren, the sons of light, are complete in their stature:
when my sister, the hour of light, goes up and sees the land of light:
then I will strike my foot on the earth and sink their darkness down.
I will smite their height with my head and shake their firmament
and the stars shall fall down like hail . . .
I will uproot the darkness and cast it out and plant the light in its place,
I will uproot the evil and cast it out and plant the good in its place.
The world shall be full of glory, the earth shall be without suspicion,
the whole world shall contain the righteous, they of the earth shall dwell in peace,
there being no more rebel from henceforth,
no name of sin shall be uttered again,
the rich ones of light shall rejoice on every side without any grief.
That which the living ones took was saved, they will return again to that which is their own.
III: Concerning the First Man
The ship whose keel is the dawn,
the ropes of light are they that are on it,
its helmsmen are glorious ones,
its crew are clothed with the dawn,
they that bring the treasure of the mighty one that is upon it,
immeasurable and countless,
laden with the wealth of the living ones which can never be counted.
I know not where the son of evil saw it.
He took thieves and sent them to it,
the thieves poured upon the ship,
they drew it out into the middle of the sea,
they wounded its helmsmen,
they that were entrusted with the treasure,
they were endangered.
They seized the treasure of the mighty one which is measureless and countless,
they stole the wealth of the mighty one which is measureless and countless,
they stole the wealth of the living ones which can never be counted.
The treasure which they stole from it they spread and scattered to their worlds,
they took roots and fragrant grasses and planted them in their land,
they filled it.
They took beryls and jewels,
nailed them and fixed them to their firmament.
The hungry ate and were sated,
the prostrate ones arose,
the naked were clothed,
they bound diadems upon their heads,
the poor became rich and gloried in things that were not theirs.
The report therefore reached the mighty one that an enemy had overtaken his ship
and its helmsmen were wounded
and they that were entrusted with the treasure were endangered.
He called an envoy, a storehouse of life, which is the mind,
he called an envoy and sent him forth unto the ship, saying,
"Go to the place hither; tend its helmsmen;
set them up that were entrusted with the treasure;
dig up their land and upturn the fragrant roots;
destroy and tumble down their firmament and cast down the jewels and the beryls;
gather all the treasure of the mighty one and take it and put it aboard the ship;
dishonour them, the poor ones, and cast the diadem from their head;
dishonour the poor ones that glory in things that are not theirs;
aid the righteous that there may be sent up to them the distilled part."
Then he armed himself and girt himself at once, the son of the lights and the richnesses,
he armed himself and girt his loins;
he leapt and came forth unto the ship;
he tended its helmsmen;
he aided its faithful ones;
he dug up their land with the spade;
he tore up the fragrant roots and took them;
he destroyed their firmament;
he cast the beryls and the jewels down;
he dishonoured them, the poor ones;
he cast the diadem from their head;
he helped his righteous that all the distilled part might be sent up to them on high;
he strengthened the ship and set a bulwark on it and took it up as a gift to the mighty one;
he took it up as a gift to the mighty one;
peacefulness came to the land of light; the ship sent a palm forth;
its helmsmen came to that which is theirs.
IV: Concerning the First Man: That of the Cross of Light.
The youth groaned and wept in the pit which is at the bottom of Hades;
the youth groaned and wept, his cry rose up:
"Hast thou not heard, O great brightness?
Has none informed you that Hades has been stirred up
and rebelled
and they of the abyss have put their arms upon them?
The false gods that have rebelled
have taken their armor against me.
The goddesses, the daughters of shame, have set up their armor against me;
the goddesses, the daughters of shame, have set up their spears:
the stinking and foul demons have prepared to make war with me."
When the mighty one heard,
when they told him the word,
he called an envoy,
the Adamas of light, the son of the . . . ;
he called the Adamas of light, the pitiless, the subduer of the rebels,
saying, "Go down, go, O Adamas; succour the youth;
succour the youth that is beneath the pit that is at the bottom of Hades;
the demons,
-- put fetters on their feet;
the goddesses,
-- put iron on their hands
the stinking and foul devils,
-- let their neck break beneath the collar;
the false gods that have rebelled,
-- bind them beneath the dark mountain;
strengthen and encourage the youth who is beneath the pit which is Hades below;
strengthen and encourage the youth, and go and come up before thy father".
The Adamas armed himself and sped down;
he succoured the youth;
he succoured the youth beneath the pit of Hades which is below;
he put fetters on the feet of the demons; he put iron on the hands of the goddesses;
the stinking and foul devils,
-- he made their neck break beneath the collar;
the false gods also that rebelled he bound beneath the dark mountain;
he strengthened and encouraged the youth that was beneath the pit of Hades below;
he strengthened and encouraged the youth;
he went and came up before his father;
his father said, "All hail to thee".
The rich ones of light said "Greeting and praise,
receive greeting and praise, O youth, for thou hast found rest, O little one".
V: The Soul, which is the First Man.
O the treasure of the great ones of life, the jewel of the living mighty ones.
O the great treasure of the living ones. Who are you from the storehouses?
Who are you from the storehouses?
He cast him beneath the dark mountain, the dwelling of them of the Hebdomad.
They of the Hebdomad came, they caused the treasure to run and it came forth.
They set sixty snares for me, they spread sixty traps;
they smeared madness on their snares;
they put fire in their traps,
the wretches thinking in their heart that I should fall into the snares and be defeated.
But they know not, they of the Hebdomad, that my eyes see the snares,
my eyes see the snares, my heart marks the traps.
I joined my feet, I seized them, the traps . . . . . of the . . . .
I run, they run after me . . . . me in the world:
I run, they run after me, that . . . . . . . . . forth to the man, for he has escaped from the snares,
he has got free from the traps.
I turned back, I said the them, the weaklings, the wretches that run after me,
"Go away, go, you of the . . . . ;
go, attend to your snares;
go, attend to your snares and let your snares attend to you.
Go, sink down in the madness and fall into the fire that is kindled;
I am not of the sons of the world that I should fall into the snares and be caught.
I am a . . . . of the living ones, a lamp of light entire". I
walked therefore, I . . . , I walked, until I reached the bank of the Euphrates:
on the bank of the river . . . . there is a youth sitting, making music,
the youth there sits and makes music in the scent of life which dwelt upon him.
He said, "My heart, be a mountain for me: my conscience, grow for me into a mind.
My heart, be a mountain for me.
Be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and the living ones send after you . . . . . . . . how long,
for they took an envoy, they sent him after me,
he grasped the . . . . of my hand,
he brought me up to the land of peace.
VI: Concerning the Living Spirit
I was clothed, as I stood, in a robe without spot,
a robe without spot, wherein there was no waning or diminution ever.
The living ones passed my cry . . . . . . my care, I arose;
they grasped . . . . . . . . . . . . me to that which . . . . gave to me;
the light no longer . . . . they said to me,
"Thou . . . the light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . full of light;
when the light therefore goes to its place
the darkness shall fall and not rise again henceforth.
VII : That of the Living Spirit.
O wise one of the . . . . . . who came to subdue the rebels of the word.
He floated in great power, he appeared in great brightness;
in his power and the power of his father he came,
he made war with them;
he subdued their camps;
he hurt their height; . . . he came,
he caught . . . . . , he threw the diadem from his head,
he threw the diadem from his head, he . . . . . . of the fire,
he fettered the tyrants of the earth,
he took from them their kingdom, he deprived them of their kingdom,
he caused them to be led away to the punishment,
he seized the authorities, he wrested from them their power,
he cast them from the . . . of the fire, he closed the fountains of fire,
he closed the fountains of fire that they might not again send up darkness,
he quenched the furnaces of fire,
he brought the light
he set it in its place,
he closed the doors of Hades that the righteous might not be shut in in them; he stopped,
he hindered the course that . . . . . . . .
he seized the goddesses and the gods, he wrest their vehicles from them,
he took their vehicles from them, he appointed them to . . . . . . of the living,
he blocked the troubled rivers,
he distilled the clear waters,
he uprooted the darkness and cast it out;
he brought the light and planted it in its place;
he closed all the fountains,
he put the . . . . . . . upon them,
He spread out the great sea,
he built the ships and launched them on it,
the ships of the great traders, the faithful men of truth,
the barks of the merchants, that will convey up the distilled part to life.
He subdued the great sea, he subdued the rebels also that are in it,
he sank its rebels also in it, he set guards over them to watch them,
he set up them that fell,
he healed them that were wounded,
he awakened them that sleep,
he gave memory to them that forgot,
he gave the light to the eyes of the righteous, that they might go up and see the land of light,
he gathered them that were scattered,
he enlightened the poor ones of darkness,
he appointed and made straight the course which his living father enjoined on him,
he made smooth the royal road that the righteous might go upon it,
the righteous might go upon it and see the land of light.
Brightness is set upon them there,
a diadem is bound upon their head and they are added to the number of the angels.
He planted him a plant in the lives,
he called his beloved ones,
he set them up upon it that they might purify the seed and take it forth
. . . . . . and purify . . . the seed and take it forth upon the ships and the barks.
On those ships of light therefore shall your souls go aboard.
VIII: That of the Envoy.
From the ranks of the kingdom, from the ranks of the exalted one,
one of the sons of light did . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of the darkness.
An image of light was revealed in the dwelling-place of the beasts,
an image of light was revealed in the land of the foul stink . . . . balsam spread.
The worlds and they of the . . . gathered and came to see his image,
they grovelled,
they became mad because of his brightness,
they arose that they might mark his likeness,
they fell,
they became mad by reason of his beauty,
they arose that they might mark his beauty,
they were sweetened with his fragrance,
they grovelled, they bent their knees,
they worshipped him,
they set up their . . . . ,
they sang to him:
"You have come in peace, O son of the brightnesses, son of the lights and richnesses.
You have come in peace, O son of the brightnesses, who shall be the illuminer of our worlds.
Come and rule over our land and set peace in our city".
The demons were saying this with their mouth, yet planning evil nevertheless in their heart:
Come, let us cast him into the stocks,
let us set a fetter on him,
let us shut him up in a cage and put him in the world and secure him.
Let us shut him up in the cage, that he may not return
and . . . . . . . the word that the demons spoke in truth,
the living ones desired to set it up,
they made it true, that which they planned, f
or . . . . . . his . . . . . . . . from them.
When . . . . . had gone to . . . . , the iron went to their hands,
they were shut up in the cage, because they loved not the truth . . . .
But the great light spoke and said to them . . . . .
It is not possible that the glorious light should go to the land of the demons of the darkness.
It is not possible again that the fragrant smell should . . . . the land of the stink,
It is not possible that the image of the living man should come to the dwelling-places of the beasts.
The light shall go to the light,
the fragrance shall go to the fragrance,
the image of the living man shall go to the living land from which it came.
The light shall return to its place, the darkness shall fall and not rise again.
IX: That of the Perfect Man.
There was a man weeping down in the abyss:
his cry was lifted up.
He said, ". . . . . . . . . . . . to me.
Have the householders of the house . . . . . . . . taking up our burden upon them?
. . . . . . . . . . in the world, while . . . . . . . daily, his burden being thrown . . .
I will throw the burden and dash it from me; the darkness shall fall and not rise again."
From the heights of truth the holy one did . . . . his rest:
"Bear that which the enduring one bears, that you may find that which the enduring one finds.
Strengthen yourself, stand fast, O righteous one; strengthen yourself, stand fast yet this hour.
For the lord of this house, the seducer of the whole world, has been given a number of months,
a number of years are in his hand . . . . . shall be ended now and thy aeons all be fulfilled.
His number shall . . . . and the world shall fall and not rise again.
Then the light shall go to the light and the darkness be blotted out from its place;
he that is below the . . . . shall come up, he that is cast in the stocks shall be released.
The souls of the lawless shall suffer in the world,
the men . . . . . . . . up unto him whom they have guarded.
X: Concerning the molding of the . . . .
. . . . a . . . , a king's son, a king's son, . one that belongs to the princes.
He was . . . . . . . . . . the princes, they did . . . . . . . . . . . . .
they conveyed me from temple to temple, they took me,
they cast me into two rivers, the two rivers received me, they took me,
they cast me out into the great sea.
Seven full years did I spend, receiving nourishment in the sea.
At the end of the seven years I, the little one, . . . shore, that I might come to land;
when they were about to receive me . . . . . . . . blatta;
when the worlds . . . . . . . . . but then when I saw them I wept.
XI: . . . . . . concerning his son.
The lion took my fair daughter, he seized her,
he took her within his lair with his great dragon also.
When they had taken her into their pit the lion roared within in his lair,
in his lair, his companions also gathered,
the dragon whistled and hissed,
all his . . . gathered unto him.
Lo, they with all their powers also roar out in every place,
not appearing unto my daughter lest their power should be lessened.
Therefore I call up with my cry unto the mighty one, the great one of all the powers;
I . . . . my father, the son . . . . . whose garment is set upon the universe, saying:
"If I have done wrong to the great lion, then let the lion eat me in his lair,
if I have done wrong to the great dragon, let him swallow me here . . . . .
but if I have not done wrong to the lion . . . . . . . . from his midst,
let me be able to escape from his lair and bring my daughter away from him
. . . . . . the father of us all, the garment of the . . . . . . all.
I struck all their ranks, . . . . . their nets also,
I opened up their lair; I cast . . . . . into it,
I . . . . the great dragon; the serpent, his consort also, I enmeshed;
I took my daughter from them and set her high above them all;
I shot at their troxos until I had thrown it beneath them all,
in order that I and my daughter might together destroy all the nets,
we . . . . the great lion and the dragon out of the universe,
we reaching the time of the . . . . . . in to the land of the righteous,
and that we might . . . . . land which they . . . . . . . . . they know it;
from the midst of the second lair brought my daughter into the . . . . . . . . .
they also shall rejoice . . . . . . . . . . shall come to pass
and the bride shall go to her bride-chamber.
XII: . . . . of the Savior
Jesus dug a river in the world;
he dug a river, even he of the sweet name.
He dug it with the spade of truth,
he dredged it with the basket of wisdom,
the stones which he dredged from it are like drops of incense;
all the waters that are in it are roots of light and . . . . .
three ships sail, they voyage in the river of testing:
one laden, one half-freighted, the third empty,
there being nothing in it.
The ship which is full and laden goes in it, being . . . . ;
it does not fear . . . . . voyages . . . . .
That which is half-freighted . . . . . . . . bank
. . . . . bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . which is empty,
It arrived at the middle, it . . . . . . that which is all laden,
it arrives; that which is empty is left behind.
Woe to it, the empty one, that comes empty to the place of the customs:
it shall be asked, having nothing to give.
Woe to it, for it has nothing aboard: it shall be despoiled evilly as it deserves and sent back to the metaaggismos.
It shall suffer what the corpses suffer, for they called into his ear, he did not hear.