Pistis Sophia
translated by G. S. R. Mead
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Pistis Sophia
translated by G. S. R. Mead
It came to pass then, when Jesus |179. had finished saying these words, that Philip came forward and said: "Jesus, my Lord, my thought is exalted, and I have understood the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. The prophet David hath prophesied concerning it aforetime in the one-hundred-and-sixth Psalm, saying:
Philip interpreteth the song from Psalm cvi."'1. Give ye thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his grace is eternal.
"'2. Let the delivered of the Lord say this, for it is he who hath delivered them out of the hand of their foes.
"'3. He hath gathered them together out of their lands, from the east and from the west and from the north and from the sea.
"'4. They wandered round in the desert, in a waterless country; they found not the way to the city of their dwelling-place.
"'5. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them.
"'6. He saved them out of their necessities. They cried unto the Lord and he hearkened unto them in their affliction.
"'7. He led them on a straight way, that they might go to the region of their dwelling-place.
"'8. Let them give thanks unto the Lord for
his graciousness and his wondrous works unto the children of men.
"'9. For he hath satisfied a hungering soul; he hath filled a hungering soul with good things,
"'10. Them who sat in darkness and the shadow of death, who were fettered in misery and iron.
"'11. For |180. they had provoked the word of God and made wroth the determination of the Most High.
"'12. Their heart was humbled in their miseries; they become weak and no one helped them.
"'13. They cried unto the Lord in their affliction; he saved them out of their necessities.
"'14. And he led them out of the darkness and the shadow of death and brake their bonds asunder.
"'15. Let them give thanks unto the Lord for his graciousness and his wondrous works unto the children of men.
"'16. For he hath shattered the gates of brass and burst the bolts of iron asunder.
"'17. He hath taken them unto himself out of the way of their iniquity. For they were brought low because of their iniquities.
"'18. Their heart abhorred all manner of meat and they were near unto the gates of death.
"'19. They cried unto the Lord in their affliction and he saved them out of their necessities.
"'20. He sent his word and healed them and freed them from their miseries.
"'21. Let them give thanks unto the Lord for
his graciousness and his wondrous works unto the children of men.'
"This then, my Lord, is the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered. Hearken, therefore, my Lord, that I may say it clearly. The word in Booth which David hath spoken: 'Give ye thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his grace is eternal,'--it is the word which Pistis Sophia hath spoken: 'I will give thanks unto thee, O Light, for thou art a saviour and thou art a deliverer for all time.'
"And the word which hath David spoken: |181. 'Let the delivered of the Lord say this, for he hath delivered them out of the hand of their foes,'--it is the word which Pistis Sophia hath spoken: 'I will utter this song to the Light, for it hath saved me and saved me out of the hand of the rulers, my foes.' And the rest of the Psalm.
"This then, my Lord, is the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered in the midst of the four-and-twenty invisibles, desiring that they should know all the wondrous works which thou hast done for her, and desiring that they should know that thou hast given thy mysteries to the race of men."
It came to pass then, when Jesus had heard Philip say these words, that he said: "Well said, blessed Philip. This is the solution of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered."