The Tripartite Tractate

(I)

1.
   As for what we can say about the things which are exalted, what is appropriate is that we begin with the Parent who is the root of the All, the one from whom we have received the gift to speak of him.

2.
        He existed before anything other than himself came into existence. The Parent is a single one, in the manner of a number, for he is the first one and is unto himself alone. Yet he is not like a solitary individual: otherwise, how could he be a father? For whenever there is a "father", a "son" follows after. But the single one, who is alone the Parent, is like a root with tree, branches, and fruit. It is said of him that he is a father in the sovereign sense since he is inimitable and immutable. Concerning this he is single in the sovereign sense and is a god since none are gods for him and no one is a father to him. For he is unbegotten and there is no other who begot him, and no other who created him. For whoever is the father of someone or creator, he, too, has a father and creator. It is clearly possible that he be the father and creator of the one who came into being from himself--the one whom he created. Yet he (this one) is not a father in the sovereign sense, nor a god, as he has someone who begot him and created him. In the sovereign sense then, it is the Parent himself--God--whom no one else begot. As for the All, it is he who begot them and created them: he himself is without beginning and without end.

3.
        Not only is he without end; concerning this he is immortal since he is unbegotten. But further, he is unchanging: he is in eternity, and eternity is in him, by which he is extant, and by which he is great. Neither will he remove himself from that by which he is, nor will anyone else force him to produce an end which he has not ever intended. He has not had anyone who initiated his own existence. In this manner he is unchanged, nor is there anyone(f.) able to remove him from his existence, that which he is--his identity and greatness.
 He is not able to be grasped,
 nor is it possible for another(f.)
 to alter him in some manner or diminish him,
 to transform him or reduce him,
 since this is so in the sovereignty of Truth (Aletheia)--
he who is unchanging and immutable,
 with immutability clothing him.

4.
        Not only is he the one called "Beginningless" and "Endless" because he is unbegotten and immortal, but in the manner in which he has < > no beginning and no end as he is, he is unattainable in his greatness, inscrutable in his Sophia (Wisdom), incomprehensible in his power, and unfathomable in his sweetness.

 5.
        In the sovereign sense, he alone, the good, the unbegotten Parent and the complete perfect one, he is the one who is filled with all of his offspring and with every virtue and with everything of value. Further, he lacks any envy, so that it may be discovered that those who have are indebted to all that he gives, being himself unaffected and unwearied by this. For he is wealthy in the gifts which he bestows and at rest in the favours which he grants.

6.
He is of such a kind, and form, and great magnitude
that none have been with him since the beginning
nor is there a place in which he is,
or from which he has come forth,
or into which he will go;
nor is there an archetypal form
used by him as a model as he works;
 nor does difficulty accompany him in what he does;
nor is any matter set forth
from which he creates what he creates,
nor any substance within him
from which he begets what he begets,
 nor a companion with him
        working with him on the things at which he works.
To say anything of this sort is ignorant;
rather, he is good,
blameless, perfect, complete,
being himself the All.

7.
        Not one of the names which are conceived, spoken, seen or grasped, not one of them applies to him, even though they are exceedingly glorious, exalting and honoured. However, it is possible to utter these names for his glory and honour, in accordance with the power of those ones who give him glory. Yet as for him, in the manner of his own existence, being, and form, it is impossible for Nous (Mind) to conceive him,
nor can any speech interpret him,
nor can any eye see him,
nor can any body grasp him
because of his inscrutable greatness,
and his incomprehensible Bythius (Depth),
and his immeasurable height,
and his illimitable will.
This is the nature of the unbegotten one, which does not touch anything else, nor is it bound in the manner of something determined. Rather, he possesses this constitution, without having a face or form, things which are known in perception which the incomprehensible one transcends. If he is incomprehensible, then it follows that he is unknowable, that he is the one who is inconceivable by any thought,
        invisible in any thing,
        ineffable by any word,
        untouchable by any hand.
        He alone is the one who knows himself
        as he is, along with his form
        and his greatness and immensity,
        and since he has the power to conceive of himself
        to see himself, to name himself,
        to apprehend himself, he is his own mind,
        his own mouth, his own form,
        he is what he thinks, what he sees,
        what he speaks, what he apprehends--
        He, the incomprehensible, ineffable,
        illimitable, unchangeable:
he is sustenance,
he is Felicity (Macariotes),
he is Aletheia (Truth),
he is rejoicing,
he is repose;
that which he contemplates
is that which he sees,
that which he utters,
 that which he has as thought < >
By him, all of Sophia (Wisdom) is raised up
and is above Nous (Mind),
and is above all honour and beauty,
and all sweetness and greatness,
and is above Bythius (Depth) and every exaltation.

8.
        If this one who is unknowable in his nature, to whom all power which I mentioned pertains, if out of his exceeding sweetness he wishes to bestow Gnosis that he be known, he has the ability to do so. He has his power, which is his will. Now, however, he holds back in Silence (Sige), he who is the great cause, begetting the eternal existence of the All.

9.
  It is in the sovereign sense
         that he begets himself ineffably;
         he alone is self-begotten;
         he realizes himself
         and knows himself in the way that he is.
        What is worthy of admiration and glory
         honour and esteem,
         he brings forth
         because of the boundlessness of his greatness,
         the unsearchability of his Sophia (Wisdom),
         the immeasurability of his power,
         and his untasteable sweetness.
        He is the one who manifests himself in conception,
         having glory and honour, marvelous and lovely,
         the one who glorifies himself,
         the one who wonders, honours, and also loves;
He is the one who has a Son
(and) who subsists in him,
who is Silence (Sige) to him,
who is the ineffable one in the ineffable one,
the invisible one,
the incomprehensible one,
the inconceivable one in the inconceivable one.
        It is in this manner that he exists: the Parent, as we said earlier, in his underivative state, knows himself and begot him (the Son) by having a thought, which is the thought of him, that is, the perception of him which is [the hypostasis] of his constitution forever. That is, then, the sovereign sense given in Silence (Sige), Sophia (Wisdom), and Charis (Grace ), named properly in this way.

 10.
        Just as the Parent exists in the sovereign sense, the one before whom there was no one else, and the one apart from whom there is no other unbegotten one; so, too, the Son exists in the sovereign sense, the one before whom there was no other (Son), and after whom no other Son exists. Therefore he is a firstborn and an only Son (Monogenes), "firstborn" because no one exists before him, "only Son" (Monogenes) because no one is after him. Furthermore, he has his fruit , that which is unknowable because of its surpassing greatness. Yet he wanted it to be known because of the wealth of his sweetness, and he revealed the unexplainable power (of his fruit) and combined it with the great abundance of his generosity.

11.
        Not only does the Son exist from the beginning, but Ekklesia (Church), too, exists from the beginning. Now, he who thinks that to find the Son a son, alone, opposes the statement (about Ekklesia)--because of the mysterious nature of the issue it is not so. For just as the Parent is one, alone, and has revealed himself as a father for him (the Son) only, in this way the Son himself was found to be a brother to himself alone, (he being) also unbegotten and without beginning. He wonders at himself, along with the Parent, and he gives himself glory, and honour and [Agape (Love)]. As well, he conceives himself as Son in accordance with conditions "beginningless" and "endless." The issue (of the Son) exists in the manner of that which is fixed. His offspring are innumerable, illimitable, and indivisible, having come forth from the Son and the Parent like kisses because of the majority of those ones who kiss one another by means of a remembrance good and insatiable. The kiss is one, alone, although the remembrances are many. This is to say it is Ekklesia (Church), consisting of many, who existed before the aeons and who is therefore called "the aeons of the aeons" in the sovereign sense. This is the nature of the holy imperishable spirits, upon which the Son rests as it is his nature, in the same manner as the Parent rests upon the Son.

12.
        [...] Ekklesia (Church) exists in the dispositions and excellences in which the Parent and Son exist , as I have previously said. Because of this she is appointed to give birth to innumerable aeons, and in an unaccountable way they too beget, by the excellences and dispositions in which she exists. For these comprise her consorting which they enact toward one another, and as well those who come forth (as a result of this)1 toward the Son, for whose glory they exist. Because of this it is not possible that Nous (Mind) conceive of them. They were the completion of that place, yet words cannot express them for they are ineffable, unnameable, and inconceivable. Nor do they have the power to name themselves and to conceive of themselves, for they (the names) have not been produced in these places.

13.
        The things which pertain to that place are ineffable,
innumerable in the system which is
the manner, the extent,
the joy, the gladness of the unbegotten,
nameless, unnameable,
inconceivable, invisible,
unapprehendable one:
his is the Pleroma of (this) family
so that his abundance
is a begetting [...] of the aeons.

14.
        They were forever in Idea (Ennoea), which the Parent produced in the manner of a thought and a realm (for the aeons). When their generations had been established, the one with authority over the All desired to apprehend and bring forth that which was deficient in the [Pleroma], [...and he brought] forth those who [are] in him. But since he is [as] he is, [he is] a spring, which is not diminished by the water which abundantly flows from it. At the time they existed in the Idea (Ennoea) of the Parent, that is, in the hidden Bythius (Depth), Bythius knew them, but they were powerless to know the Depth in which they existed; nor could they know themselves, nor could they know anything else. They existed together with the Parent; they did not exist by themselves. Rather, they were only able to become like a seed, so that it has been discovered that they existed like a fetus. In the same manner as the Logos (the Word), he begot them, (they) subsisting spermatically along with those who had not yet been brought into existence by him. The Parent, therefore, initially thinking of them--not only that they might exist for him, but that they might exist for themselves as well, that they might then exist in his thought in the substance of Idea (Ennoea) and that they might exist for themselves too--sows Idea (Ennoea) like a seed of [knowledge] so that they might conceive of what exists for them. He graciously [granted this] initial impetus that they might realize who the Parent is who exists [for them]. He provided the name "Parent" by means of a voice promising that which exists in that name--by virtue of the fact of their existence--that is exalted, and was not realized by them in the name.

15.
    The infant, existing in the form of a fetus, is self-sufficient before ever seeing the one who sowed it. Therefore, they (the aeons) had the sole task of searching after him, realizing that he exists, desiring to seek after that which exists. Since, however, the perfect Parent is good, just as he did not hear (of) them until they came into being in his thought, yet he granted that they might come into being. In this manner he will also give them Grace (Charis ) to know that which exists, that is to say his own eternal Gnosis. [...] form to [know] what exists, and in this manner are begotten in this place, (and) they exist in the light and see those who have begotten them.

16.
The Parent brought forth the All
 like a small child,
like a drop from a spring,
like a blossom from a [vine],
like a [flower],
like a planting.
[...] in need of gaining nourishment and growth and faultlessness. He apprehended it1 for a time. He who had thought of it from the very beginning, possessed it from the very beginning, and saw it, but he closed it off to those who first came from him. (He did this,) not out of envy, but in order that the aeons from the very beginning not receive their faultlessness, and might not exalt themselves in glory to the Parent, and might think that they alone have this. But just as he desired that they might come into being, so too, this is the manner for them to exist without deficiency, as when it suited him, he gave the fulfilled Idea (Ennoea) of (his) beneficence toward them.

17.
        The one whom he raised up as a light for those who came from himself, the one from whom they take their name, he is the Son, who is full, complete, and without deficiency. He brought him forth joined with what came forth from him [...] partaking of the [...] the All, in accordance with [...] in so far as each one can receive [him] for himself, for such was not his power before they received him. He does exist in the parts of himself, in his own manner and form and power. Since it is possible for them to see him, and to speak about that which they know of him, since they wear him while he wears them, [because] it is possible for them to comprehend him. He, however, is as he is, the incomparable one. In order that he might receive honour from each one, the Parent reveals himself, and yet in his ineffability he is concealed as an invisible one, and they marvel at him in Nous (Mind). Therefore his exalted power--in that they speak about him and see him--becomes manifest, so that he may be hymned because of the abundance of his sweetness, with Charis (Grace) of [...] And just as the wonderment of Silence (Sige) are in eternal generations, and are the offspring of Nous (Mind), in this manner the dispositions of the Logos (Word) are pneumatic emanations. Both of them (Silence and Mind), since they belong to Logos (Word), are seeds and thoughts of his offspring, and roots made manifest forever, appearing to be offspring which have come forth from themselves, being minds and pneumatic offspring to the glory of the Parent.

18.
There is no need for voice and spirit
mind and word,
nor is there need to labour
for that which they are willing [to do],
but in the form that he was,
in this way
those who have come forth from him
they beget everything they desire;
and the one whom they conceive of
and whom they speak of,
the one toward whom they move
and the one in whom they are raised,
 the one whom they hymn
they give glory.
        They have sons: for this is their procreative power, like those from whom they have come, according to their mutual assistance, since they assist one another like the unbegotten ones.

19.
        The Parent, in accordance with his exalted position over the All, being unknowable and illimitable, has power of such magnitude, that, if he had revealed himself suddenly, sharply, to (even) all the exalted ones among the aeons who had come forth from him, they would have perished. Therefore he (merely) apprehended his power and inexhaustibility within that in which he is. [He is] ineffable [and] unnameable and exalted above every mind and every word. This one, however, extended himself out and it was that which he extended forth which gave a basis and realm and a dwelling place for the All, a name of his being "the one through whom," since he is the Parent of the All. Out of the concern for those who exist, he sowed in their thought that they might seek after him. The benefit of their [nature] is in their conceiving that he exists, and that they seek what it is [that] he was. This one was given to them for enjoyment and nourishment, and joy and a wealth of enlightenment, which consists in the fellowship of his travail, the Gnosis of him, and the Intercourse (Mixis) with them, that is, the one who is called and is, in fact, the Son, since he is the All, and the one who is known by them, and who clothes himself (with them). This is the one who is called "Son", by which they conceive of him, that he exists, and that they sought after him. This is the one who exists as Parent, the one about whom they cannot speak, and the one of whom they do not conceive. This is the one who first came into being.

 20.
It is impossible for anyone to conceive of him or to think of him. Who can approach there, toward the exalted one, toward the first existence in the sovereign sense? But all the names conceived or spoken about him are presented in honour, as (but) a trace of him, according to the ability of each one of those who glorify him. Now he who arose from him when he extended himself to learn begetting and Gnosis of the All, he [is also] all of the names, without falsification, and he is in the sovereign sense, the first alone, Man (Anthropos) of the Parent, that is, the one whom I call:
the form of the formless,
the body of the incorporeal,
the face1 of the invisible,
the Logos (Word) of [the] unutterable,
the Nous (Mind) of the inconceivable,
the spring which flowed forth from itself,
the root of those who are planted,
the god of those raised up,
the light of those whom he illumines,
the desire of those whom he desired,
the providence of those for whom he providentially cares,
the wisdom of those whom he made wise,
the power of those to whom he gives power,
the assembly of those whom he assembles,
the revelation of the things which are sought after,
the eye of those who see,
the spirit of those who breathe,
the Life (Zoe) of those who live,
the unity of those mixed with the All.
    All of them exist in the one, alone, as he clothes himself (with them) completely and by his single name he is never called. And in this singular manner they are equally all one, alone, and the All. He is neither divided as a body, nor separated into the names which he has (received), (so that) he is one thing in this way and another in [another way.] [Yet] he does not change in [...], nor does he become the names which he conceives of. He becomes now this, now something else, with each item being different, yet he is manifestly himself to the furthest extent. [He] is each and every member of the All forever at the same moment. He is what all of them are. He brought the Parent to the All (and) he also is the All, for he is the one who is Gnosis for himself and he is each aspect of (his) excellence. He has the powers and [he is] beyond all that which he knows, while seeing himself in himself fully, having a son and a form. Therefore his powers and excellence(s) are innumerable and inaudible because of the begetting by which he begets them. Innumerable and indivisible are the begettings of his words, his commands, and his All. He knows that which he himself is, since they are in the single name, and are all speaking in it. And he brings (them) forth so that it might be discovered that they exist in their individual excellence in a unified way. And he did not reveal the multitude to the All at once and he did not reveal his equality to those who had come forth from him.

21.
        All those who came forth from him, being the aeons of the aeons, emanations and offspring of his procreative nature, they too, in their procreative nature, have given glory to the Parent, as he was the cause of their establishment. This is what we said previously, namely that he created the aeons as roots and springs and fathers, and that he is the one to whom they give glory. They have begotten, for he has knowledge and wisdom, and the All knew that it was from knowledge and wisdom that they have come forth. They would have brought forth a seeming honour: "The Parent is the one who is the All" if the aeons had risen up to give honour individually. Therefore, in the song of glorification and in the power of the Union (Henosis)2 of him from whom they have come forth, they were drawn into Intercourse (Mixis), agreement, and Union (Henosis) with one another. They offered glory worthy of the Parent from the congregation of the Pleroma, which is One, alone, although many, as it was brought forth as a glory of One, alone, and because they came forth towards the One who is himself the All. Now this was an honour [...] the one who brought forth the All, he being an eternal one and a first-fruit of the immortals because, having come forth from the living aeons, being completed and full because of the One who is completed and full, he left full and completed those who have given glory in fulfillment out of fellowship. For, like the faultless Parent as he is glorified, he also hears the glory which glorifies him, so as to make them manifest as that which he is.

22.
        The cause of the second honour which accrued to them is that which was returned to them from the Parent with regards to their having known Charis (Grace ), and having given themselves (the) fruit by means of her. They were with each other in the Parent; as a result, just as they were brought forth in glory of the Parent, in this manner also so that they be revealed and fulfilled, they lived in their ability to give glory.

23.
They were fathers of the third glory according to the independence and power which was begotten with them, since each one of them individually does not exist so as to give glory, as singularity only, to the One whom (they) desire.

24.
        They are the first and the second and thus both of them are completed and filled, for they are manifestations of the Parent who is complete and filled, as well as of those who came forth fulfilled in that they give glory to the One who is complete. The fruit of the third, however, is in the glories of the will of each one of the aeons and each individual excellence. The Parent has power: it exists in pleromatic fulfillment [in Idea (Ennoea)] which is a product of consensus as much as it is a product of individuality of the aeons. It is this which he desires and that from which he has his power, as it gives glory to the Parent.

25.
And so they are Nous (Mind) of minds
found in Logos (Word) of words
elders of elders,
Bythius (Depth) of depths
exalted above one another,
each one of whom gives glory
has a place and exaltation,
dwelling and rest,
which is the glory that is brought forth.

26.
    All those who glorify the Parent have their begetting eternally--they beget in the act of assisting one another--since the emanations are limitless and immeasurable and since there is no envy on the part of the Parent toward those who came forth from him in regard to their begetting something equal or similar to him, since he is the one who exists in the All, begetting and revealing himself. Whomever he wishes he makes into a father, of whom in fact is Parent, and a god, of whom he in fact is God, and he makes them the All, whose entirety he is. All the names which are great are appointed in the place in which they (the aeons) are in the sovereign sense. These (names) the angels share, (those) who have come into being in the cosmos along with the archons, although they are not of the same quality as the eternal beings.

27.
        The entire system of the aeons has a love and a longing for the total, complete discovery of the Parent and this is their unimpeded consensus. Though the Parent reveals himself eternally, he did not desire that they should know him, since he grants that he be conceived (only) in being sought after, while keeping watch himself over his unsearchable primordial being.

28.
        It is he, the Parent, who gave the root impetus to the aeons, since they (occupy) positions on the path which leads toward him, in the manner of a university of conduct. He has extended to them Faith (Pistis) in the consolation of him whom they do not see; and victorious Elpis (Hope) in him of whom they do not conceive; and fruitful Agape (Love) who looks into that which she does not understand; and a bearable understanding of the eternal Nous (Mind); and Makarios (Blessing) of riches and freedom; and Sophia (Wisdom) of the one who desires the glory of the Parent in Idea (Ennoea).

29.
         The Parent, the one who is exalted, is known by virtue of his desire, that is, (by) the spirit which breathes in the All and it gives them an idea that they seek after the unknown one, just as one is beguiled by a lovely fragrance to search for the thing in which the fragrance exists, (it is) because of it, since the lovely fragrance of the Parent surpasses those that are mundane. For his sweetness bequeaths ineffable Hedone (Voluptuousness) to the aeons and it gives them their idea1 of Intercourse (Mixis) with him who desires that they know him in Union (Henosis) and to assist one another in the spirit which is sown within them. Though set under a great burden, they are renewed in an inexpressible way, since it is impossible for them to be separated from that in which they are preserved in an inconceivable way, and so they will not speak, being silent about the Parent's glory, about the one who has power to speak, for they take (their) form from him. He revealed [himself, though] it is impossible to speak of him. They have him, concealed in Idea (Ennoea), since from this one [...]. They are silent about the way the Parent is in his form and his quality and his power, while the aeons have become worthy of knowing through his spirit that he is unnameable and incomprehensible. It is through his spirit, which is the trace of the quest for him, that he gives them the ability to conceive of him and to speak of him.

30.
        Each one of the aeons has a name, each of which is a quality and power of the Parent, since he exists in many names, which are intermingled and harmonious with one another. It is possible to speak of him because of the bounty of the Logos (Word), in the same manner as the Parent is a single name, because he is solely one, yet innumerable in his qualities and names.

31.
        The emanations of the All, which exist from the one who exists, did not occur according to a separation from each other, as something cast off from the one who begets them. Rather, this begetting is produced by him in the form of an extension, as the Parent extends himself to those whom he desires, so that those who have come forth from him might become him as well.

32.
        Just as the present aeon Unity (Henosis) is divided into ages, and ages divided into years, and years divided into seasons, and seasons into months, and months into days, and days into hours, and hours into moments, in this manner too, the aeon Truth (Aletheia), since she is One and Many, receives honour in the small and great names according to the power of each to receive it--by way of analogy--like a spring which is what it is, yet flows into rivers and lakes and canals and branches; or like roots spread out beneath trees and branches laden with fruit; or like the human body, which is apportioned in an indivisible way into members of members, primary members and secondary, great [and] small.

33.
        The aeons have brought [themselves] forth in accordance with the third fruit by the freedom of the will and by Sophia (Wisdom) with whom he (the Son) favoured them for their thought. They do not wish to give honour [with] that which comes from consensus, [though] it was produced for words of [praise] by each member of the Pleromas. Nor do they wish to give honour with the All. Nor do they wish (to do so) with anyone else who was originally above Bythius (the Depth) of that one (the Parent), or (above) his place, except, however, for the one (the Son) who is unrestrained in the exalted name and in the exalted place, and only if he receives from the one who desired (Sophia ), and takes it to him(self) for the one above him (the Parent). And he begets--in a manner of speaking--himself, and, through that one (the Logos), begets him(self) along with that which he is, and is himself renewed along with the one who came upon him (Sophia), through his brother (the Logos ) who sees him and entreats him about the matter, namely the one(Sophia) who desired to ascend to him.

34.
    So that it might be in this way, the one who wished to give honour does not say anything to him about this, except that there is Horus (Limit) to speech set in the Pleroma, so that they are silent about the incomprehensibility of the Parent, but they speak about the one who desires to comprehend him: she (Sophia ) came to one of the aeons (the Logos ) that he should attempt to reach into incomprehensibility and give glory to it and even more so to the ineffability of the Parent. He is a Logos (Word) of the unity, he is one, though he is not from the consensus of the All, nor from the one who brought them forth, namely he who brought forth the All--the Parent.

35.
        This aeon (the Logos ) was among those to whom was given Sophia (Wisdom), so that he could produce primordiality in the Idea (Ennoea) of each. By that which he desires will they (the Ideas) be produced. Because of this he received the nature of Sophia (Wisdom) in order to examine the hidden ground since he is the fruit of Sophia (Wisdom); the free-will which was begotten with the All was a cause for this one, that he do what he desired, with no one to restrain him.

36.
        The intent, then, of the Logos , who is this one, was good. When he came forth, he gave glory to the Parent, even if it brought on a work beyond possibility, (he) desiring to bring forth one who is complete, from no consensus he had been a part of, and not having the command.

37.
        This aeon was the last to have been brought forth by mutual assistance, and was young in age. And before he (she) begot anything else for the glory of the desire in consensus with the All, he (she) acted magnanimously, from abundant Agape (Love), and set about seeking that which encompasses the completed glory, for it was not without the desire of the Parent that the Logos (Word) was produced, which is to say--nor will he set about searching without it. But he, the Parent, had brought him forth for those about whom he knew that it was appropriate that they exist.

38.
        The Parent and the All drew away from him (her), so that Horus (Limit) which the Parent had imposed, might be fixed--for it is not from reaching into incomprehensibility but by the desire of the Parent,--and furthermore, (they withdrew) so that the things which have come to be might become an arrangement which would come into being. If it were to come, it would not come into being through the declaration of the Pleroma. Therefore it is not fitting to criticize the movement which is the Logos (Word), but it is fitting that we should say about the movement of the Logos (Word) that it is a cause of an arrangement (which) it determines to exist.

39.
        The Logos (Sophia ) begot him(her)self completely on his (her) own, for the glory of the Parent whom he (she) desired, and (he/she did so) being content with it, but those whom he (she) wished to take hold of firmly he (she) begot in shadows [and] copies and likenesses. For he (she) was not able to bear the sight of the light, but he (she) looked into Bythius (the Depth) and he (she) doubted. Out of this there was a division-he (she) was deeply pained--and a turning away because of his (her) self-doubt and division, forgetfulness and ignorance of him (her)self and [of] that which is.

 40.
        His (Her) self-exaltation and expectation of comprehending the incomprehensible strengthened in him (her) and existed in him (her). But the sicknesses followed him (her) when he (she) went beyond him (her)self, having come into being from self-doubt, that is, from the fact that he (she) did not attain the glories of the Parent, the one whose exaltation is among the unlimited ones. This one did not attain him (her), for he (she) did not receive him.

41.
        The one whom he himself brought forth (Sophia) as a solitary one rushed up to that which is his (hers) and to his (her) kin in the Pleroma. He (she) abandoned that which came to be in defect along with those who had come forth from him (her) in a phantasmic manner, since they are not his (hers).

42.
        When he (she) who produced him (her)self as largely fulfilled actually did bring him (her)self forth, he (she) became weak in the form of (this) female nature (Sophia ) who has abandoned its (her) virile counterpart (Theletos).

43.
        From that which was deficient in itself there, there occurred those things which came into being from his (her) thought and vanity, but in that which is completed in him (her), it left and raised [itself] up to those who are his (hers). His (Her) being was in the Pleroma as a remembrance so that he (she) would be saved from his (her) arrogance.

44.
        The one who ran on high and the one who drew him (her) to himself were not barren, but in bringing forth a Fruit (Gnosis) in the Pleroma, they disturb those who were in the Defect.

45.
        The ones that came to be in the arrogant thought are like (the members of) the Pleroma, (but) these are likenesses, copies, shadows, and phantasms, lacking the Logos (Word) and the light, these which belong to the vain thought, since they are begotten by no one. Therefore their end will be as their beginning: from the nonexistent, that they return to the nonexistent. It is they (the aeons), however, by themselves who are greater, more powerful, and more honoured than the names which are given them, those who are their shadows. (Yet) in the manner of a reflection they are beautiful. For the[face] of the image is able to take its beauty from that of which it is an image.

46.
        They thought of themselves as beings existing by themselves and beginningless, since they do not see anything existing before them. Therefore, they [lived] in disobedience [and] apostasies, without modesty before the one who brought them into existence.

47.
    They wanted to command one another, attaining victory over one another in their empty ambition, while the glory which they possess contains a cause of the system which was to be.

48.
        They are similitudes of the things which are exalted. They were brought to a lust for power in each one of them, according to the greatness of the name of which each is a shadow, each one imagining that it is greater than the others.

49.
        The thought of these others was not barren, but just like those of which they are shadows, all of those whom they thought about they have as promised sons: those of whom they thought they had as offspring. Therefore it happened that many offspring came forth from them, as fighters, as agitators, as apostates. They are disobedient beings, lovers of power (as are) all the others brought forth in this manner.

 50.
        The Logos (Sophia ) was a cause of those [who] came into being and he (she) was repeatedly more and more at a loss, and astonished. Instead of completion he (she) saw defect; instead of Blending (Syncrasis) he (she) saw division; instead of order he (she) saw disturbances; instead of [placidity], tumults. Neither was it [possible] to make them cease from [loving] disturbance, nor was it possible for him (her) to destroy it. He (She) was completely powerless once his (her) All and his (her) exaltation abandoned him (her).

 51.
        Those who had come into being therefore not knowing themselves, did not know of the Pleroma from which they came forth and did not know the one who was the cause of their existence.

 52.
        The Logos (Sophia ) then, existing in such a disordered state, did not continue to bring forth (anything) in the manner of emanations, those which exist in the Pleroma, the glories which exist for the honour of the Parent. Rather, he (she) brought forth weaknesses, small [and hindered] by the diseases by which he (she) too was hindered. It was the imitation of the establishment which was one, only, that which was the cause of the things which do not exist from the beginning by themselves.

 53.
        Until the one who brought forth into the defect these things which were thus in need, until he (she) judged those who came into being because of him contrary to reason--the judgement which became a condemnation-he (she) struggled against them unto destruction, that is, those who struggled against the condemnation and whom the wrath pursues, while it (the wrath) accepts and redeems (them) from their (willful) opinion and apostasy, since from it [is] the conversion which is also called "metanoia." The Logos (Sophia ) turned to [another] opinion and another thought, turning away from evil (and) turned towards that which is good. Following the conversion, the thought of the things which exist and the prayer came to the one who converted him (her)self to the good.

 54.
    The one who is in the Pleroma was what he (she) first prayed to and remembered; then (remembering) his (her) brothers individually and (yet) always with one another; then all of them together; but before all of them the Parent. The prayer of the accord assisted him (her) in returning to him (her)self and (to) the All, for it caused him (her) to remember those who have existed from the beginning, (as) they remember him (her). This is the thought which calls out from afar, bringing him (her) back.

 55 .
    All his (her) prayer and remembering were numerous powers according to Horus (Limit) who was established. For there is nothing barren in his (her) thought.

 56.
  The powers were good and greater than those of the similitude. For those belonging to the similitude also belong to a nature of [deceit]. From a phantasm of similarity and a thought of arrogance has [come about] that which they became; however, they originate from the thought which first knew them.

 57.
   To what do the former beings pertain? They are like forgetfulness and a heavy sleep, being like those who dream troubled dreams, to whom a sleep comes (by which) those who dream are oppressed. But the others are like creatures of light for him, looking for the rising of the sun, since it happened that they saw in him dreams which are truly sweet. She immediately put a stop [to] the emanations of the thought. They [did] no longer had their substance and, as well, they no longer had honour..

 58.
        Though he (she) is not equal to those who pre-existed, if they were superior to the similitudes, it was he (she) alone through whom they were more exalted than those, for they are not from a good intent.

 59.
        It was not from the sickness which came into being that they (the psychics) were produced--from which is the good intent--but (from) the one who sought after the pre-existent. Once he (she) had prayed, he (she) both exalted him (her)self to the ones who are good and sowed in them a pre-disposition to seek and pray to the glorious pre-existent one, and he (she) sowed in them their thought of him (her) and an idea, so that they should think that something greater than themselves exists prior to them, although they did not understand what he(she) was. Begetting harmony and love for one another through that thought, they acted in Union (Henosis) with one accord, since from Union (Henosis) and one accord they have received their very being.

60.
        They were stronger than them in the lust for power, for they were more honoured than the first ones who had been raised above them. Those had not humbled themselves. They thought of themselves as self-originating , alone, and without a source. As they brought [forth] at first according to their own birth, the two orders assaulted one another, fighting for command because of the character of (their) existence. As a result they were engulfed in forces and natures as is determined by internal strife, having lust for power and all other things of this sort. It is from these that the vain love of glory beguiles them into desiring a lust for power, while none of them produces the exalted thought nor acknowledges it.

61.
        The powers of this thought were prepared in the works of the pre-existent ones, those of which they are the representations. For the order of those of this sort (psychics) had mutual harmony, but it struggled against the order of those of the similitude (hylics), while the order of those of the similitude wages war against the representations and acts alone, because of its (the order's) wrath. Therefore it [...] them [...] one another, many [...] necessity appointed them [...] that they persevere [...] was not a multitude [...] and their envy and their malice and wrath and violence and desire and prevailing ignorance produced empty matters and powers of various sorts, mixed in great number with one another; while the being of the Logos (Sophia ), who was a cause of their begetting, was open to a revelation of the Elpis (Hope) which would come to him(her) from above.

62.
        The Logos (Sophia ) which stirred had Elpis (Hope) and the expectation of the one who is exalted. As for those of the shadow, he(she) separated him (her)self from them in accordance with each form finally, since they fight against him(her) and are not at all humble before him(her). He(She) was relieved with the beings of the thought. And as for the one who is set forth in this manner and who is in the exalted Boundary (Horus ), remembering the one who is defective, the Logos (Sophia ) brought him forth in an invisible way, among those who came into being according to the thought, according to the one who was with them, until the light shone upon him(her) from above as a lifegiver, the one who was begotten by the thought of brotherly love of the pre-existent (members of the) Pleroma.

63.
        The disruption, which happened to the aeons of the Parent of the All who did not suffer, was brought to them, as if it were their own, in a careful and non-malicious and immensely sweet manner. [It was brought to the] All so that they might be instructed about the [defect] of the single one, from whom [alone] they all [received strength] to eliminate the defects.

64.
        The order [which] was his(hers) came into being from him(she) who ran [on] high and that which brought itself forth from him(her) and from all of the completion. The one who ran on high (Sophia ) became a consolation for the one who was defective (Sophia Achamoth) against the emanation of the aeons which came into being according to those who exist. When he(she) prayed to them, they consented with joy and free-will, and they were in agreement, and in harmonious consent, to aid the defective one. They gathered together, asking the Parent with a virtuous thought, that there be aid from above, from the Parent, for his glory, since the defective one could not be redeemed in any other way, unless it was the desire of the Pleroma of the Parent, which he had attracted to himself, revealed, and given to the defective one. Then from the harmony, in joyous willingness which had come into being, they brought forth the fruit, which was the product of (their) harmony. It is one, only, a possession of the All, revealing the countenance of the Parent of whom the aeons thought as they gave glory and prayed for assistance with a wish in which the Parent included himself. Thus it was willingly and gladly that they bring forth the fruit. And the accomplishment of the revelation of Intercourse (Mixis), he made manifest as the Son of (this) will. But the Son, in whom the All is content, put himself on them as a garment, through which he gave redemption to the defective one, and gave resolution to those who are redeemed, (he) the one who in the sovereign sense is called "Savior" and "the Redeemer"(Paracletus) and "the Pleasing One" and "the Beloved" "the entreated One" and "the Christ" and the light of those appointed in accordance with the ones from whom he was brought forth, since he has become the names of the comprehensiveness [which] was given to him. Yet what other name may be applied to him except "the Son" as we originally said, since he is the Gnosis of the Parent which he wanted them to know.

65.
        Not only did the aeons generate the disposition of the Parent to whom they gave praise, which was written previously, but they also generated their own; for the aeons who give glory generated their disposition and their face. They were produced as an army for him, as for a king, since the beings of the thought have an effective fellowship and an accomplishment by means of Intercourse (Mixis). They came forth in a multi-faceted form, so that the one to whom help was to be given might see those to whom he(she) had prayed for assistance. He(She) also sees the one who gave it to him.

66.
        The fruit of his accomplishment, of which we previously spoke, is subject to the power of the All. For the Parent has established the All within him, both the ones which pre-exist and the ones which are, and the ones which will be. He was capable (of doing it). He revealed those which he had established within him. When he gave them, he entrusted (them) to him. He directed the organization of the universe according to the power which was given him from the beginning and (according to) the power of the task. Thus, he began and effected his revelation.

67.
        The one in whom the Parent is and the one in whom the All are (was) created before the one who lacked sight. He instructed him about those who search for their sight, by means of that fulfilled light. He completed him first in ineffable joy. He completed him for himself as a fulfilled one, and he gave to him also what is fitting for each individual. For this is the determination of the first joy--and we were sown in him in an invisible way as a word which is destined to be knowledge. And he gave him power to divide and cast out from himself those who are disobedient to him. Thus he made himself manifest to him. But to those who came into being because of him he revealed a form surpassing them. They acted in an injurious manner toward one another. He revealed himself to them suddenly, beguiling them in the form of lightning. And in putting an end to the entanglement they have with one another he stopped it by the sudden revelation which they were not informed about, did not expect, (and) did not know of. Because of this, they were afraid and fell down, since they were not able to bear the appearance of the light which struck them. The one who appeared was an assault to the two orders. Just as the beings of thought had been given the name "little one," so they have some idea that they have the exalted one,--he exists before them,--and they have astonishment sown within them for the exalted one who will become manifest. Therefore they welcomed his revelation and they worshipped him. They became witnesses acknowledging, in their opinion, the Light which had come into being as one stronger that those who fought against them. The beings of the similitude, however, were exceedingly afraid, since they were not able to hear about him in the beginning, that there is (can be) a vision of this kind. Therefore they fell into the pit of ignorance which is called "the Outer Darkness," and "Chaos" and "Hades" and "the Abyss." He established what existed beneath the order of the beings of thought as it had become stronger than they. They were worthy of ruling over the unspeakable darkness, since it is theirs and is the lot assigned to them. He permitted them that they, too, should be of use for the establishment which was to come, to which he had [assigned] them.

68.
        There is a great difference between the revelation of the one who came into being and the one who was defective and to those things which are to come into being because of him. For he revealed himself to him, within him, since he is with him, is a fellow sufferer with him, gives him rest little by little, makes him grow, raises him up, gives himself to him completely for enjoyment in a vision. But to those who fall outside, he revealed himself quickly and in a striking way and he immediately withdrew himself without having let them see him.

69.
        When the Logos (Sophia ) which was defective was illumined, his(her) pleroma began. He(She) broke with those who had disturbed him(her) at first. He(She) became unmixed with them. He(She) stripped off that arrogant thought. He(She) received Intercourse (Mixis) and relief when those who had been disobedient to him(her) at first bent down and humbled themselves before him(her). And [he/she] rejoiced over the visitation of his(her) brothers who had visited him(her). He(She) gave glory and praise to those who had become manifest as an aid to him(her), while he(she) gave thanks, because he(she) had broken with those who had revolted against him(her), and admired and honoured the greatness with those who were destined to manifest themselves to him(her). He(She) generated manifest images of the living visages, beautiful in that which is good, existing among things which exist, resembling them in beauty, but unequal to them in truth, since they are not compatible with him(her), between the one who brought them forth and the one who revealed himself to him(her). But through Sophia (Wisdom) and knowledge he(the Logos ) acts, (through) Intercourse (Mixis) of the Logos with him(her)self entirely. Therefore, those which came forth from him(her) are great, just as the one who exists is truly great.

70.
        Following his(her) astonishment at the beauty of those who had (thus) appeared to him(her), he(she) professed gratitude for this visitation. The Logos (Sophia ) enacted this deed through those from whom he(she) had received aid, for the establishment of those who had come into being because of him(her), and so they might receive that which is good, thinking to pray for the organization of all those who came forth from him(her), which is stabilized, that it (the organization) establish them. Therefore those whom he(she) intentionally produced are in chariots, just as those who came into being, those who have revealed that they shall pass through all places of the affairs which are below, so that each one might be given the place which is constituted as he(she) is. This is destruction for the beings of the similitude, yet is an act of beneficence for the beings of the Thought (Ennoea), a revelation of those who are from the determination, which was one, only, suffering as they are seeds, not (yet) Self-existent (Autophyes).

71.
        The one who appeared was a visage of the Parent and of the harmony. He was a garment composed of every Charis (Grace ), and sustenance which exists for those whom the Logos (Sophia ) brought forth while entreating and (thereafter) receiving glory and honour. This is the one whom he(she) glorified and honoured while looking to those whom he(she) entreated, so that he(she) might complete them through the images which he had brought forth.

72.
        The Logos (Sophia ) repeated even further their mutual assistance and to the Elpis (Hope) of the promise, since they have Felicity (Macariotes) and abundant rest and undefiled Hedone (Voluptuousness). He(She) generated those whom he(she) remembered first, when they were not with him(her), (he/she generated them) having the completion. Now, while he(she) who belongs to the vision is with him(her), he(she) exists in Elpis (Hope) and Faith (Pistis) in the perfect Parent, as much as the All. He appears to him(her) in order that the things which have come into being might not perish by looking upon the light, for they cannot accept (this) great stature which is exalted.

73.
        The thought of the Logos , who had returned to his establishment and ruled over those who had come into being because of him, was called "Aeon" and "Place" of all those whom he had brought forth in accord with the destiny. And it (Sophia ) is also called "Synagogue of Salvation," because he(she) healed him(her)[self] from the dissolution, which is the multifarious thought, and returned to the single thought. Similarly, it(she) is called "Storehouse," because of the repose he(she) obtained, giving (it) to him(her)self, alone. And it(she) is also called "Bride," because of the joy of the one who gave him(her)self to him in the hope of fruit from the Union (Henosis), and who appeared to him. It(She) is also called "kingdom," because of the establishment which he(she) received, while he(she) rejoices at the domination over those who fought him(her). And it is called "the Felicity (Macariotes) of the Lord," because of the gladness in [which he(she)] clothed him(her)self. The light exists with him(her), giving him(her) recompense for those existing in him(her) who are good (and have) the thought of freedom.

74.
        The aeon, of whom we previously spoke, is above the two orders of those who fight against one another. It(she) is not a companion of those who seize dominion and is not mixed with the diseases and weaknesses--(those) things belonging to the thought and to the similitude.

75.
   That in which the Logos preserves himself, complete in joy, was an aeon (Sophia Achamoth), having the form of matter, but also having the constitution of the cause, which is the one who revealed himself. (The aeon was) an image of those things which are in the Pleroma, those things which came into being from the abundance of the enjoyment of the one who exists joyously. It(She), moreover, the countenance of the one who revealed him(her)self, was in the sincerity and the attentiveness and the promise concerning the things for which he(she) asked.
It(She) had the Logos (Word) of the Son
and his essence and his power
and his form,
who is the one whom he loved
and in whom he was pleased,
who was entreated in a loving manner.
It(She) was light
and a desire to be established
it(she) was instructed
and it(she) was an eye of vision,
these aspects of the exalted it(she) possessed
and it(she) is Sophia (Wisdom)
that his thought oppose
those things beneath the organization;
it was a word
for the utterance and the completion
of things in this manner.
And it is these who took form with him(her), but according to the image of the Pleroma, having fathers who are the ones who gave them life, each one being a copy of each one of the faces, which are forms of maleness, since they are not from the affliction which is femaleness, but are from this one who has already left behind the affliction. It has the name "Ecclesiastical"(Ekklesiasticus) for in harmony they resemble the harmony of the assembly of those who have revealed themselves.

76.
        That which came into being in the image of the light, it too is complete, insofar as it is and image of the one existing Light, which is the All. Indeed, (although) it was diminished in regards to the one of whom it is an image, nevertheless it has its indivisibility as it is an expression of the indivisible light. Those, however, who came into being in the image of each one of the aeons, they in their essence are in the one whom we previously mentioned, but in power they are not equal, because it (the power) is in each of them. In this Intercourse (Mixis) with one another they have equality, but each has not cast off what is (uniquely) his. Therefore, they are passions, for passion is an affliction, since they are not begotten by the consensus of the Pleroma, but of this one(Sophia ), prematurely, before he(she) received the Parent. Hence the consent of his All and his Will was something beneficial for the establishment which was to come. It was granted them to pass through the places which are below, since the places are unable to accommodate their precipitous arrival, unless (they come) individually, one by one. Their coming is necessary, since by them will everything will be completed.

77.
        The Logos received the vision of all things, those which pre-exist and those which are now and those which will be, since he has been entrusted with the establishment of all which exists. Some things are already in things which are worthy to exist, but the seeds which are to exist he has within himself, because of the promise which belonged to the one (Sophia ) whom he conceived, as something belonging to seeds which are to be. And he produced his offspring, that is, the revelation of that which he conceived. For a time, however, the seed of promise is watched over, so that those who were destined to be sent forth were (also) destined to exist through the coming of the Saviour and of those who are with him, the ones who are first in Gnosis and glory of the Parent.

78.
        It is fitting, from the entreaty which he(she) made and the preservation which occurred because of it, that some should perish while others benefit and still others be set apart. He(She) first prepared the punishment of those who are disobedient, making use of the power of the one (the Logos ) who appeared, the one from whom he(she) received authority from the All, that he(she) be separate from him. He(She) is the one who is below and he(she) also keeps him(her)self apart from that which is exalted, until he(she) prepares the establishment of all those who are external, and gives to each an assigned place.

79.
        The Logos established himself at first, when he beautified the All, as a ground and a cause and governor of the things which came to be, in the form of the Parent, the one who was the cause of the right order, which was the first to exist after him. He set in order the pre-existent images, which he brought forth in graciousness and glorification. Then he beautified the place of those he had brought forth in glory, which is called "Paradise" and "the Enjoyment" and "Felicity (Macariotes) full of sustenance" and "Felicity (Macariotes) " (all of) which pre-exist. And of every goodness which exists in the Pleroma, it preserves the image. Then he beautified the kingdom, like a city filled with everything pleasing, which is brotherly love and (a) great generosity filled with the holy spirits and [the] mighty powers which govern them, which the Logos produced and confirmed in power. Then (he beautified) the place of the church which assembles in this place, having the form of Ekklesia (Church) who exists among the aeons, and who glorifies the Parent. After these (he beautified) the place of belief and obedience in Elpis (Hope), those whom the Logos received when the light appeared; then (he beautified) the disposition, which is prayer [and] consolation, which were followed by forgiveness1 and the word concerning the one who would appear.

80.
        All the spiritual places are in spiritual power. They are separate from the beings of the thought, since the power is established in an image, which is that which separates the Pleroma from the Logos , while the power which is active in prophesying about the things which will be, directs the beings of the thought which have come into being toward that which is pre-existent, and it does not allow them to merge with those who have come into being as a vision countenanced by those who are in him.

81.
        The beings of the thought who are outside are modest; they maintain the pleromatic aspect (in themselves), or the most part because (they) share in the names by which they are beautiful.

82.
        The conversion is modest towards the beings of the thought, and the law, too, is modest towards them, (this law) of judgement, which is the condemnation and wrath. Also modest towards them is the power which separates those who fall below them, casting them far off (and) not allowing them [to] extend into the beings of the thought and the conversion, which (power) consists in fear and perplexity and forgetfulness and astonishment and ignorance and the things which have come into being as a similitude, through phantasy. And these ones, too, who were in fact lowly, are called by exalted names. (But) there is no knowledge for those who have come forth from them with arrogance and lust for power, and disobedience, and falsehood.

83.
        To each one he gave a name, that the two orders (exist) in a name. Those belonging to the thought and those of the representation are called "Those on the Right" and "Psychic" and "Those on Fire" and "Those in the Middle." Those who belong to the arrogant thought and the similitude are called "Those on the Left," "Hylic," "Those that are Dark," and "Those that are Last."

84.
        After the Logos established each one in his order, both the images and the representations and the similitudes, he kept the aeon of the images pure from all those who fight against it, since it is an abode of Felicity (Macariotes). However, to those of the thought he revealed the thought which he had stripped from himself, desiring to beguile them into a hylic union, for the sake of their organization and abode and so that they might also bring forth an impulse for reduction from their attraction to evil, so that they would no longer rejoice in the glory of their realm and be (eventually) dispersed, but might rather see their disease--that which causes them pain--so that they might beget love and daily seeking after the one with the power to cease their diminution. (Thus) over those who belong to the similitude, he set the word of beauty, that he might preserve them up in a form, (and) he also set over them the law of judgement. Again, he appointed over them [the] powers which the roots had produced [in] their lust for power. He placed them as rulers over them, so that so that either by the composition of the word which is beautiful or by the threat of the [law] or by the power of lust for power the order might be preserved from those who have reduced it to evil, since the Logos (Word) is willing that they be of use to the establishment.

85.
        The mingled lust for power of the two orders is known by the Logos (Word). To these and to all the others he graciously granted their desire. He gave to each one the appropriate rank, and it was commanded so that each one shall become a ruler over a place and an activity. He yields to the place of the exalted one, in order to command the other places in an activity which exists in the allotted activity which confirms his control of the form(s) of existence. As a result, there are commanders and subordinates in lordship and servitude among the angels and archangels, while the activities are of various types and are different. Each one of the archons with his race and his privileges to which his lot has claim, according to the manner in which they appeared, each was on guard, since they have been entrusted with the establishment and none lacks a command and none is without kingship from the end of the heavens to the end of the [earth], even to the [formations] of the [earth] and to the places beneath the earth. There are kings, there are lords and those who give commands, some for administering justice, still others for administering relief and healing, others for teaching, others for guarding.

86.
        Over all the archons he set an Archon with no one commanding him, since he is lord of all of them, namely, the countenance which the Logos (Word) brought forth in his thought as a representation of the Parent of the All. Therefore, he is adorned with every name which is a representation of him, since he is characterized by all that is excellent and glorious. For he too is called "father" and "god" and "demiurge" and "king" and "judge" and "place" and "dwelling" and "law."

87.
        The Logos (Word) uses him (the Demiurge) as a hand, to beautify and work on the things below and he uses him as a mouth, to say the things which will be prophesied.

88.
        The things which he has spoken he puts into effect. When he (the Demiurge) saw that they were great and good and wonderful, he was pleased and rejoiced, as if he himself in his own thought had been the one to say them and enact them, ignorant that the stirring within him is from the spirit who moves him, (fulfilling) a destiny for those whom it desires.

89.
        In regard to the things which came into being from him, he spoke of them and they came into being as the representation of the spiritual realm which we mentioned previously in the discussion about the images.

90.
        Not only did he work, but also, as the one who is appointed as the Parent of the establishment, he engenders by himself and by the seeds--[by the spirit] which, however, is elect and will descend through him to the places which are below. He (can) only speak spiritual words of his own in an invisible way, by means of the spirit which speaks and begets (in a capacity) greater than his own essence.

91.
         Since in his essence he is a "god" and "father" and all the remaining honourific titles, he thought they were elements of his own essence. He established a reprieve for those who those who obey him, but for those who disobey him he also established punishments. With him, too, there is a paradise and a kingdom and everything else which exists in the aeon before him. They (the aeons) are more exquisite than the impressions, because of the thought which is connected with them, which is like a shadow and a shawl, so to speak, because he does not see in what manner things actually do exist.

92.
        He established workers and servants, assisting in what he will do and what he will say, (so) that in every place where he worked he preserved his countenance in his beautiful name, effecting and speaking of the things which he thinks about.

93.
        He established in his realm images of light which were displayed and of [those who are] spiritual, while (only) they (the images) were of his own essence. Thus they were honoured in every place by him, being pure, from the countenance of the one who appointed them, and they were established (in) paradises and kingdoms and repose and promises and multitudes of servants of his will, and though they are lords of dominions, they are set beneath the one who is (their) lord, the one who appointed them.

94.
        After he heard in this way, properly, about the lights which are the source and the system, he set them over the beauty of those below. The invisible spirit moved him in this way, so that he would desire to administer through his own servant(s), whom he too used, as a hand and as a mouth--in the manner of his countenance--(and his servants effect) the things which he brings: order and threat and fear, so that those (with) whom he has performed ignorant (deeds) might despise the order which [was given for them to] keep, since they are fettered in the [bonds of the] archons which are on them [securely].

95.
        The entire consolidation of matter [is divided] into three. The strong powers which the spiritual Logos (Word) brought forth from phantasy and arrogance, he established in the first spiritual order. Then those who were produced by their lust for power, he set in the middle area, since they are powers of ambition, so that they might rule and command the establishment which is beneath them with compulsion and force. Those who came into being through envy and jealousy and all the other offspring from dispositions of this sort, he set in a servile order (where) they prevail in extremes, commanding all those who exist and all (the realm) of generation. From the hands of these come rapidly destroying illnesses which eagerly desire to come to be in anyone, from the place where they are from and to which they will return. And therefore, he appointed over them authoritative powers, acting [continuously] in matter, so that the offspring of those which exist might also exist continuously, for this is their glory.
        

(Part II)

96.
        The cause by which the matter flows through its form which is the invisibility which exists through the powers [...], for them all, for [...], begetting before them and [destroying.]

97.
        The thought which is set between those of the right [and] those of the left is a power of generation. All the things which the [first ones] will wish to make, so to speak, (exist) as an extended aspect of theirs, a shadow (extended) through and beyond corporeality. These things are the roots of the revealed order, namely, the entire preparation of the adornment of the images and representations and similitudes, which have come into being because of those who need nourishing and teaching and formation, so that (their) minority might grow, little by little, as through a mirror image. For it was thus that he created Man (Anthropos) lastly, having first prepared and provided for him the things which he had set in order because of him.

98.
        In the manner of all else Man (Anthropos) is also set in order. The spiritual Logos (Word) moved him invisibly, as he completed him through the Demiurge and his angelic servants, who shared in the act of fashioning in [multitudes; yet he] took counsel with his archons, being like a shadow is the (resulting) earthly Man (Anthropos), so that he might be like [those] cut off from the All. And so he is prepared by all of them, those of the right and those of the left, with regards to each one in [the] orders who gives a form to [corporeality], in which it exists.

99.
        The [substance] which the Logos (Word) [who was] defective (Sophia ) brought forth, in the form which [was] sickness, did not resemble him(her) because he(she) brought it forth [forgetfully], ignorantly, and [defectively], and in all the other afflicted ways. He(She) gave the first form that the Logos (Word), acting through the Demiurge, out of (this) ignorance would acquire the knowledge that the exalted one exists and would understand that he needs [him]. This is what the prophet called the "Breath of Life" and "Mind of the Exalted Aeons" and "[The] Invisible" and this is the living soul which has given life to the power which was dead at first: for what is dead is ignorance.

 100.
         It is fitting that we explain about the soul of the first human being, that it is from the spiritual Logos , while the creator thinks that it is his, since it is from him, as from a mouth through which one breathes. The creator also sent down souls from his substance, since he, too, has a power of procreation, because he is something which has come into being from the representation of the Parent. Also those of the left brought forth (a) manner of men of their own in the similitude of (their) being.

 101.
        The spiritual substance is a [single thing] and a single representation, [and] its affliction is in the delimitation [in many] forms. As for the substance of the psychics, its determination is double, since it has the Understanding(Synesis) and confession (given by) the exalted one, and it is not bent toward evil due to the inclination of Thought(Ennoea). As for the hylic substance its way is different and in many forms, and it was a sickness which existed in many forms of inclination.

 102.
        The first human being is a mixed formation, and a mixed ordering, and a setting forth of those of the left and those of the right, and a spiritual word whose opinion is apportioned to each of the two substances from which it assumes (mortal) existence. Therefore, it is also said that a paradise was planted for him, so that he might eat of the food of three kinds of tree, since it is the power of the threefold order, and since it is that which gives enjoyment.

 103.
        The noble elect substance which is in him was greatly exalted. It provided and it wounded them. Therefore they issued a command, making a threat and bringing upon him a great danger, which is death. Only the enjoyment of the things which are evil did he allow him to taste, and from the other tree with the double (fruit) he did not permit him to eat, still less of the living (tree), so that [they would not] acquire honour [...] them and so that [they would not be...] by the evil power [which] is called "the serpent" who is more cunning than all the evil powers. He led man astray [through] the determination of those things which belong to the thought and the desires. He made him transgress the command so that he would die. And he was cast out, away from every enjoyment of that place.

 104.
        This is the expulsion which was made for him, when he was cast out from the enjoyments of the beings of the similitude and those of the representation. It was a work of providence, so that in a short while it will be found that man will receive the enjoyment of the things which are eternally good, in which exists the place of repose. This the spirit determined when it first intended that Man (Anthropos) should experience the great evil which is death: the complete ignorance of the All, and all those who are evil who come into existence from this and, after the depredations and anxieties which exist in these, that he should receive the greatest good, which is life eternal, that is, the Gnosis of the All which saves (one) and the receipt of all that is good. Because of the transgression of the first Man death ruled. And so it came about that each man would die according to the manifest [dominion](of death) which had been given it [as] a kingdom, because of the establishment of the Parent's will, of which we spoke previously.

(Part III)

 105.
        If both the orders, those on the right and those on the left, are brought together with one another by the thought which is set between them, which gives them their establishment with each other, it happens that the two emulate in accordance with their deeds, as one, with those of the right resembling those of the left and those of the left resembling those of the right. And if betimes the evil order begins to do evil with an appearance of irrationality, the hidden order emulates in the form of a man of violence, even labouring for that which is evil, as if it were the power of a man of violence. At other times the irrational order attempts to labour for good, zealously approximating the hidden order when it does so. Just as it is with those who are established, [or] in the works which have come to exist resembling the works which are unlike one another, those who were not instructed were unable to understand the cause of the works which exist. Therefore, they have introduced other types (of explanation), some saying that those who exist have their being in accordance with providence. These are the people who observe the orderly movement and foundation of creation. Others say that it is something alien. These are the people who observe the diversity and lawlessness and the powers of evil. Others say that the things which exist are (simply) fated to occur. These are the people who are occupied with this matter. Others say that it (existence) is in accordance with nature. Others say that it is Self-existent (Autophyes). The majority, however, all those who have reached (only) as far as the manifest elements, do not know anything more than them.

 106.
        Those who were wise among the Greeks and the barbarians have advanced to the powers which have come into being according to phantasy and empty thought. Those who have come from these, (are) in accord with the mutual conflict and the character of apostasy active in them, and they spoke with a dissembling arrogance, under the influence of a thought of phantasy. The things which they though of as wisdom was the similitude deceiving them: they thought that they had attained the truth when they had (only) attained error, (not just) in the small names alone, but by the powers who stopped them from (seeing) that they (only) resemble the All. Therefore the order was caught up in fighting itself alone, because of the arrogant hostility of one [of the offspring] of the archon who is superior, who exists before him. Therefore nothing was destined to obtain agreement with its companion; of the works, nothing: neither philosophy, nor the craft of physicians, nor rhetoric, nor music, nor logic... they are but opinions and theories of truth. It happened therefore that unutterable confusion prevailed due to the indescribable quality of those who ruled, and who gave them their thoughts.

 107.
        Now, as for the things which came forth from the race of the Hebrews, things which are written by the hylics who speak in the fashion of the Greeks, the powers of those who think about all of them, attributing them to the right, the powers which move them all to think of words together with a representation which is theirs and (which) they apprehended so as to attain the truth using the confused powers which act in them. Afterwards they attained to the order of the unmixed ones, the one which is established, the one, only, who is preserved as a representation of the representation of the Parent. He is not invisible in his nature, but Sophia (Wisdom) envelopes him, so that he might sustain the form of the truly invisible one. Therefore, many angels have not been able to see it, and other men of the Hebrew race, of whom we already spoke, namely the righteous ones and the prophets, did not think of anything and did not say anything out of phantasy, or out of similitude or out of limited thinking, but each one by the power which was at work in him, and while listening to the things which he saw and heard, spoke of them in [...]. They have (attained) a consensus of each other's entanglement (in thought) in accordance with the behaviour of those who worked in them, since they save the scattering (of thought) in a mutual consensus primarily by the confession of the one more exalted than they. And there is one who is greater than they, who was appointed since they have need of him, and whom the spiritual Logos (Word) begot along with them as one who needs the exalted one, in Elpis (Hope) and expectation in accord with the Thought (Ennoea) which is the seed of salvation And he is the enlightening word, which consists of the Thought (Ennoea) and his offspring and his emanations. Since the righteous ones and the prophets, whom we have previously mentioned, preserve the confession and the testimony concerning the one who is great made by their fathers who were looking for Elpis (Hope) and the hearing, in them is sown the seed of prayer and the seeking which is sown in many who have sought to become strong. It appears and draws them out to love the exalted one, to proclaim those in the condition of (being) solely one. And it was a unity which worked in them when they spoke. Their vision and their words differ because of the many who have given them the vision and the word. Therefore, those who have listened to what they have said concerning this do not reject any of it but have, in an altered way, accepted the scriptures which they have interpreted, establishing many heresies which exist to the present among the Jews. Some say that God is one, who made a proclamation in the ancient scriptures. Others say that he is many. Some say that God is simple and was a single mind in nature. Others say that his activity is linked with the origin of good and evil. Still others say that he is the craftsman of that which has come into being. Still others say that it was by means of the angels that he worked.

 108.
        The many ideas of this sort of this sort are the multitude of customs, and the many forms of scripture, that which is produced by their teachers of law. The prophets, however, did not say anything of their own accord, but each of them (spoke) of the things which he had seen and heard through the proclamation of the Saviour. This is what he proclaimed, with the main subject of their proclamation being that which each said concerning the coming of the Saviour, which is the coming. Sometimes the prophets speak about it as if it shall be. Sometimes (it is) as if the Saviour speaks from their mouths, saying that the Saviour will come and show favour to those who have not known him. They (the prophets) are not companions with one another in confessing anything, but each one, on the basis of the activity from which he received power to speak about him and on the basis of the place which he saw, thinks that it is from it that he will be begotten and that he will come from that place. Not one of them understood whence he would come nor by whom he would be begotten, but he alone is the one of whom it is worthy to speak, the one who will be begotten and suffer on earth. With respect to the state in which he originally existed and which he is eternally, unbegotten, untroubled (aspect) of the Logos (Word), who came to be in flesh, he did not come into their (the prophets') thought. And this is the story about which they received an impulse to tell about the state of his flesh which was to appear. They say that it is obtained by all of them (the archons), but that before all things it is from the spiritual Logos (Word) who is the cause of the things which have come into being, from whom the Saviour received his flesh. He had conceived (the flesh) at the revelation of the light, according to the word of the promise, at his manifestation out of the seminal state. For the one who exists is not a seed of the things which exist, since he was begotten at the end. But to the one by whom the Parent ordained the uncovering of salvation, who is the fulfillment of the promise, to him belonged all these means for his descent with Life (Zoe), and through which he descended. His Parent is one and alone is truly a Parent to him, the invisible, unknowable, the incomprehensible in his nature, who alone is God in his will and his form, who has granted that he might be seen, known and comprehended.

 109.
        He it is who is our Saviour in willing compassion, who is that which they were. For it was for their sake that he became manifest in unwished-for suffering. They became flesh and soul, that is eternally, in which they are seized and in corruptibility, die. As for those who [came into being] 11 .1[the] invisible one taught them invisibly about himself.

110.
        Not only did he take upon himself the death of those whom he thought to send, but he also accepted their diminished state to which they had descended when they were born in body and soul because of the one who enabled herself to be conceive and they were) born as infants, in body and soul.

111.
        Among all the others who shared in them (body and soul) and those who fell and received the light, he came exalted because of (his state of) sinlessness, unpollutedness, and undefilement. The one who allowed himself to be begotten in Life (Zoe), being (now) in life because the former and the latter are in passion and changing opinion from the Logos (Word) who so moved, established them to be body and soul. He it is who has taken to himself the one who came from those whom we previously mentioned.

112.
        He came into being from the glorious vision and the unchanging thought of the Logos (Word) who returned to himself, after his movement from the establishment, just as those who came with him took body and soul and an order and confirmation and judgement of things. They too intended to come.

113.
        When they thought of the Saviour they came when he knew; they also came more exalted in the emanation according to the flesh than those who had been brought forth from a defect, because in this way, they, too, received their bodily emanation along with the body of the Saviour, through the manifestation and the fusion with him. These others were those of one substance and it indeed is spiritual. The establishment is different: this is one thing, that is another. Some come forth from passion and division, needing healing. Others are from prayer, so that they heal those who are sick; they have been appointed to treat those who have fallen. These are the apostles and the evangelists. They are the disciples of the Saviour, and teachers who need instruction. Why then, did they, too, share in the passions in which those who have been brought forth from passion share? Because, indeed, they are in accord with the establishment and the Saviour--in accordance with this body (of his) which did not share in the passions.

114.
        The Saviour was a bodily image of the unitary one, he who is the All. Therefore, he preserved the form of indivisibility, from which comes dispassion. They, however, are images of each one which became manifest. Therefore, they assume division from the pattern, having taken form for the planting which exists beneath [the heaven.] This also is what shares in the evil in the places which they have attained. For the will held the All under sin so that by that will he might have mercy on the All and they might be saved, while a single one alone is destined to give Life and all the rest need salvation. Therefore, it was from (reasons) of this sort that it began to receive Grace (Charis ) to give the honours which were proclaimed by Jesus, which were suitable for him to proclaim to the rest, since a seed of the promise of Jesus the Christ, he whom we have served in the manifestation and Intercourse (Mixis). Now the promise possessed the instruction and the return to what they have been from the beginning, from which they possess the drop (of light), so as to return to him, which is that which is called "the redemption." And it is the release from captivity and the acceptance of freedom. Those who existed in the ignorance of slavery functioned as kings in her place. The freedom is the Gnosis of the Truth (Aletheia) which existed before the ignorance came to be ruling, forever without beginning and without end, being something good and a salvation of the affairs and a release from the servile nature in which they have suffered.

115 .
        Those who have been brought forth in a lowly thought of vanity, that is, (a thought) which goes to things which are evil through the thought which [draws] them down to the lust for power, these have received the possession which is freedom, from the abundance of Grace (Charis ) who looked upon the children. It was, however, a disturbance of the passion and a destruction of those things which he(she) cast off from him(she)self at first, when the Logos (Sophia ) separated them from him(her)self, who was (therefore) the cause of their being destined for destruction, though he(she) kept them to the end of the establishment and allowed them to exist because even they were useful for the things which were ordained.

116.
        Man (Anthropos) came to be according to three essential types: the spiritual, the psychic, and the hylic, conforming to the triple disposition of the Logos (Word), from which were brought forth the hylics, the psychics, and the pneumatics. Each of the three essential types is known by means of her fruit. And they were not known at first but only at the coming of the Saviour, who enlightened the holy ones and revealed what each was.

117.
        The spiritual race, being like light from Light and like spirit from Spirit, when his head appeared ran unto him and became a body of his head. It suddenly received Gnosis in the revelation. The psychic race is like light from a fire, since it delayed accepting knowledge of him who appeared to it, (and) even more to run toward him in Faith (Pistis). Moreover, through a voice they were instructed, as in this way it was sufficient and not distant from Elpis (Hope) according to the promise, since it received, so to speak as a pledge, the confirmation of the things which were to be. The hylic race, however, is alien in every way, since it is dark and shuns the shining of the light as its appearance destroys it. And since it has not received its unity, it is something excessive and hateful toward the Lord at his revelation.

118.
        The spiritual race will receive complete salvation in every way. The hylic (race) will receive destruction in every way, just as one who resists him. The psychic race, since it is in the middle when it is brought forth and also when it is created, is dual according to its inclination for both good and evil. It takes its appointed departure suddenly and the escape is complete for those who are good. Those whom the Logos (Sophia ) brought forth in accordance with the first element of his(her) thought, when he(she) remembered the exalted one and entreated for salvation, have salvation [suddenly.] They will be saved completely [because of] the salvific thought. As he(she) was brought forth, so, [too], were these brought forth from him(her), whether angels or men. In accordance with the confession that there is one who is more exalted than themselves, and in accordance with the prayer and the search for him, they also will attain the salvation of those who have been brought forth, since they are from the disposition which is good. They were appointed for service in proclaiming the coming of the Saviour who was to be and his revelation which had come. Whether angels or men, when he was sent as a service to them, they received, in fact, the essence of their being. Those, however, who are from the thought of the lust for power, who have come into being from the stroke of those who fight against him, those whom the Thought brought forth from these, since they are mixed, they will receive their end suddenly. Those who will be brought forth from the lust for power which is given to them for a time and for certain periods, and who will give glory to the Lord of glory and who will relinquish their wrath, they will receive the reward for their humility, which is to remain forever. Those, however, who are proud because of the desire of ambition, and who love fleeting glory forget that the power which they have been entrusted was only for certain seasons and times which they have, and for this reason did not acknowledge that the Son of God is the Lord of the All and Saviour, and were not brought out of the wrath and the resemblance to the evil ones, they will receive judgement for their ignorance and their senselessness, which is suffering, along with those who went astray, anyone of them who turned away; and even more (for) evil in doing to the Lord things which were not fitting, which the powers of the left did to him, even including his death. They persisted saying, "We shall become rulers of the All, if the one who has been proclaimed king of the All is slain," (they said this) when the men and angels laboured to do this, those who are not from the good disposition of the ones on the right but from the mixture. And they first chose for themselves honour, though it was only a temporary wish and desire, while the path to eternal rest is by way of humility for the salvation of those who will be rescued, those of the right. After they confess the Lord and the thought of that which is pleasing to Ekklesia (Church) and the song of those who are humble along with her to the full extent possible, in that which is pleasing to do for her, in sharing in her sufferings3 and her pains in the likeness of those who conceive what is good for Ekklesia (Church), they will have a share in [her] Elpis (Hope). This is to be said on the subject of how men and angels have a path to error--those from the order of the left. Not only did they deny the Lord and plot evil against him, but also toward Ekklesia (Church) was their hatred and envy and jealousy directed; and this is the reason for the condemnation of those who have bestirred themselves for the trials of the church.

119.
        The election shares body and essence with the Saviour, since it is like a bridal chamber because of its unity and its agreement with him. For, in advance of every path (to salvation), the Christ came for her sake. The calling, however, has the realm of those who rejoice at the bridal chamber and who are glad and happy at the Intercourse (Mixis) of the bridegroom and the bride. The place which the calling will have is the aeon of the images (Sophia Achamoth), where the Logos (Sophia ) has not yet joined with the Pleroma. And since the Man (Anthropos) of Ekklesia (Church) was happy and glad at this, as he was hoping for it, he separated spirit, soul, and body in the establishment of the one who thinks he is a solely one, though within him is the man who is the All, and he is all of them. And though he has the escape from the [...] which the realms will receive, he also has the members about which we previously spoke. When the redemption was proclaimed, the derived man received Gnosis immediately, so as to return in haste to his unitary state, to the place from which he came, to return there joyfully, to the place from which he came, to the place from which he flowed forth. His members, however, needed a place of instruction, which is in the realms that are beautiful, so that [they] might receive from them resemblance to the images and archetypes, in the form of a mirror, until all the members of the body of Ekklesia (Church) are in a single place and receive the restoration at one time, into the Pleroma, when they have been manifested as the whole body. It has an initial agreement towards (the attainment of) a mutual consensus, which is the attainment which belongs to the Parent, until the All receives a countenance within him. The restoration is at the end, after the All reveals what he is--the Son, who is the redemption, that is, the path toward the incomprehensible Parent, that is, the return to the primordial, and the All manifests itself in Lordship--the one who is the inconceivable and the ineffable, the invisible and unapprehended--that it receive redemption. It was not only release from the lordship of the ones on the left, nor was it only [escape] from the power of those on the right, those who thought individually that we were slaves and sons, from whom none escapes without quickly becoming theirs again; but the redemption also is an ascent [to] the degrees which exist in the Pleroma and [to] those who have named themselves and who conceive of themselves according to the power of each of the aeons, and an entrance into the one who is Silence (Sige),
where there is no need for voice
nor for Understanding (Synesis)
nor for conceptualizing
nor for enlightenment,
but where all things are light
while they do not need to be illumined.

120.
        Not only do mortals need redemption, but the angels, too, need redemption along with the image and even the Pleromas of the aeons and the wondrous powers of illumination. So that we might not be in doubt about the state of the others, even the Son (Saviour) himself, who has preserved the realm of redemption for the All, [needed] redemption as well, he who had become men, since he gave himself for each thing that we need, we in the flesh, who are his church. Now, when he first received redemption from Logos (Word) who had descended upon him, all the rest received redemption from him, namely those who had taken him to themselves. For those who received the one who had received (in this way) also received what was in him.

121.
        Among the men who are in the flesh he began to give redemption, (through) his first born, and his Agape (Love), the son who existed in the flesh, while the angels who are in heaven asked to associate, so that they might form an association with him upon the earth. Therefore, he is called "the Redemption (Paracletus) of the angels of the Parent," he who comforted those who were distressed beneath the All for the sake of (seeking) his Gnosis, because he was given Grace (Charis ) before anyone else.

122.
        The Parent had his (the Saviour's) Gnosis first, since it existed in the meditation of him before anything came into being, and he also had those to whom he made him manifest. He set the deficiency on the one who remains for certain periods and times, as a glory for his Pleroma, since the fact that he is unknown is a cause of his production from his agreement [...] of him. Just as the partaking of Gnosis of him is a revelation of his lack of envy and the manifestation of the Profundity (Bythus) of his sweetness, which is the second glory, so, too, he has been found to be the cause of ignorance, although he is also a begetter of Gnosis.

123.
        In Sophia (Wisdom) he kept the Gnosis until the end, until the All became distressed while searching after God the Parent, whom no one found by means of his Wisdom (Sophia ) or his power. He gives himself, so that they might receive Gnosis of the abundant thought of his great honour, which he has given, and the cause, which he has given, which is his unceasing thanksgiving, he who, from the immobility of his design, reveals himself eternally to those who have been worthy of the Parent who is unknown in his nature, that they receive Gnosis of him, through his desire that they should come to experience the ignorance and its pains.

124.
        Those of whom he first thought that they should attain Gnosis and the good things which are in it, Sophia (Wisdom) of the Parent caused them to ponder, so that they would experience the evil things and might train themselves in them, as a [...] for a time, [so that they might] receive the enjoyment [of good things] for eternity. They possess the change and their perpetual release and the cause of those who struggle against them as a beautification and marvelous quality of those who are exalted, so that it is manifest that the ignorance of those who will be ignorant of the Parent is theirs. The one who gave them Gnosis of him was one of his powers that they attain the Gnosis in the sovereign sense which is called "the knowledge of all that which is thought of" and "the treasure" and "the addition for the1 increase of knowledge, "the revelation of those known at first," and "the path toward harmony and toward the pre-existent one," which is the increase of those who have abandoned the greatness which was theirs in the establishment of the will, so that the end shall be as the beginning.

125.
   The baptism exists in the sovereign sense, into which the All will descend and in which they will be. There is no other baptism apart from this alone, which is the redemption into God the Parent, and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and the confession that exists by means of Faith (Pistis) in those names, which are a single name of the gospel. They, believing what has been said to them--that they exist--have the salvation (therefore) of those who have believed that they exist. This is attaining in an invisible way to the Parent, Son, and Holy Spirit in an undoubting Faith (Pistis) and bore witness to them. And with the resolution of Elpis (Hope) they apprehended them, so that the return to them will be the fulfillment of those who have believed in them and (so that) the Parent might be one with them, the Parent, the God, whom they have confessed in Faith (Pistis) and who gave their Intercourse (Mixis) with him in Gnosis.

126.
        The baptism of which we previously spoke is called "garment of those who do not strip themselves of it," for those who shall put it on and those who have received redemption wear it, and it is called "the affirmation of Truth (Aletheia) who has no fall." In an unwavering state and Immovable (Acinetos) it apprehends those who have received the separation as they apprehend it. It (the separation) is called Silence (Sige) because of the stillness and tranquility. It is also called "bridal chamber" because of the Blending (Syncrasis) and the indivisible state of those who know they have known him. It is also called "the light which does not set and is without flame." It does not give light, but those who have worn it are made into light, they being also the ones whom he wore. It is also called "the eternal life," which is immortality; and it is called "all that which simply is" --in the sovereign sense of what is pleasing, indivisibly and irremovably, faultless and unwavering, toward the one who exists in those who have received a beginning. For what else is there to call it apart from the name "it is the All"? that is, even if it is called by numberless names, they are spoken as a description of it.
Just as he transcends every word
and he transcends every voice
and he transcends every mind
and he transcends everything
and he transcends every silence,
so it is with those
who are that which he is;
this is what they find it to be,
ineffable and inconceivable in visage,
the coming to be of those with Gnosis
through the one to whom they have attained,
the one to whom they gave glory.

127.
        Even if on the matter of the election there are many more things for us to say, in a manner that is fitting to say then, concerning the state of those of the calling--for those of the right are called thus--it is therefore necessary that we again turn to them and it is not profitable for us to forget them. We have spoken about them. If there is enough (said about them) before, in some measure, how have we spoken? in a partial way. Since I said about all those who came forth from the Logos , either from the judgement of the evil ones or from the wrath which struggles against them and the turning away from them, which is the return to the exalted ones, and the prayer and the remembrance of those who pre-existed in the company of Elpis (Hope) and Faith (Pistis), that he receive their salvation from good work since they have been deemed worthy as they are beings from the good disposition. They embody the cause of their begetting which is an intent of the one who exists. Yet also (it was said) that before the Logos (Word) accepted them in himself in an invisible way, the exalted one desired to set them in his thought, as they existed [last] in him, the one who was the cause of their existence. They did not exalt themselves when they were saved, as if there were nothing existing before them, but they confess that they have a beginning to their existence and they desire this:
to know him
the one who exists before them
above all
they kissed the revelation
of the light in the appearance of lightning
and they bore witness
that it was manifest salvation for them.

128.
        Not only those who have come forth from the Logos (Word)--about whom alone we said that they would assign the good work--but also those whom these brought forth according to the good dispositions will share in the repose according to the bounty of Grace (Charis ). And those who have been brought forth from the desire of lust for power, having the seed in them which is the lust for power, they will receive the reward for good works--those who so acted and those who have the predisposition toward the good, if they intentionally desire and wish to abandon the vain, temporal ambition and keep the command of the Lord of glory, and receive the eternal kingdom.

129.
        Now, it is necessary that we join the causes and the effects of Grace (Charis ) to them, and the impulses, since it is fitting that we say what we previously mentioned concerning the salvation of all those of the right, of all those unmixed and those mixed, to join them [with] one another. And the repose [which] is the manifestation of [the] form (in) which they believed, (it is fitting) that we should treat it with an account that is suitable. For when we confessed the kingdom which is in Christ, they escaped from the whole multiplicity of forms and from inequality and change. For the end shall receive an existence which is solely one, in the same way also that the beginning is solely one, where there is no male or female, nor slave and free, nor circumcision and uncircumcision, neither angel nor man, but the All in the All (which is) the Christ. What is the form of the one who did not exist at first? It will be found that he will exist. And what is the nature of the one who was a slave? He shall take a place with a free man. For, they will receive the vision more and more by nature and not only through mere speech--that they believe only through a voice.

130.
        That is the way it is: the restoration to that which used to be is solely one. Even if some are exalted because of the establishment, as they have been appointed as causes of the things which have come into being (and) are more active as natural forces--because of these things it pleased them, angels and men, to receive the kingdom, the affirmation [and] the salvation. These, then, are the causes.

131.
        Those who appeared in the flesh believed without any doubt that he is the Son of the unknown God. He(the Son) it is who was not previously spoken of and who could not be seen. They abandoned their gods whom they had previously worshipped, as well as the lords who are in heaven and on earth. Before he had taken them up--but (while) still he was a child--they testified that he had already begun to preach, and the time he was set in the tomb as a dead man the [angels] thought that he lived, [receiving] life from the one who had died. They first desired their numerous services and wonders, which were in the temple on their behalf, to be performed continuously as the confession. That is, it can be done on their behalf by means of their approach to him.

132.
        The preparation which they did not accept because of the one who had not been sent from that realm, but [they granted to] Christ, of whom they thought that he exists in [that] realm, the realm from which they had accompanied him, a realm of gods and (a) lord whom they served, worshipped and ministered to in the names which they had received and accepted: they were given to the one who is invoked by them in the sovereign sense. However, after his assumption, they received the state (of being) by means of Understanding (Synesis) that he is their Lord, over whom no one else is lord. They gave him their kingdoms, they rose from their thrones (and ) they were kept from their crowns. He, however, revealed himself to them, for the reasons we have already mentioned, their salvation and [the return to a] good thought until [...][...]companion and the angels [...] and the many of those who are good [which they did] with it. Thus, they were entrusted with the services which benefit the elect, bringing their iniquity up to heaven. They tested them eternally for the lack of humility from the inerrancy of the creation, persevering because of them until all come to Life (Zoe) and leave life, while their bodies [remain] on earth, serving all their [...], sharing [with them] in their sufferings [and] persecutions and tribulations, which were brought upon the holy ones before all places.

133.
        The servants of the evil ones, though evil is worthy of destruction, they are in [...]. But because of the [...] which is above all the worlds, which is their good thought and the fellowship, Ekklesia (Church) will remember them as good friends and faithful servants, once she has received redemption [from the one who gives] requital. Then Grace (Charis ), who exists in the bridal chamber and [...][...] in her house [...][...] in the thought of the giving and the one who [...]Christ is the one with her [and the] expectation of the Parent [of] the All, as she will beget for them angels as guides and servants.

134.
        They will think pleasant thoughts (as) they are services for her. She will give them requital for all that which the aeons will think about. He is an emanation from them, so that, in the manner in which Christ effected his will which he brought [forth and] exalted the greatnesses of Ekklesia (Church) [and] gave them to her, so she shall become a thought for [those.] And to men he gives [their] eternal dwelling places that they shall exist therein, [leaving] behind the allure towards the defect, while the power of the Pleroma draws them up in the greatness of the generosity and [the] sweetness of the pre-existent aeon. This is the nature of the entire begetting of those whom he had when he shone on them [in] a [light] which he revealed [...]. In the manner of his [...] which shall become [...] in this way too his [lord][while] the change itself is in those who have changed which [...] by him of [...] to drink in the form [...] said, while the hylics will be left behind until the end for destruction, since they will not betake themselves beyond their [names]. If [they would] return once again to that which [will not be], as they were [...] they were not1 [...] but they were of use [in the] time that they were [in it] among them, although they were not [chosen] at first. If [...] to do something else concerning the possession they have taken of the preparation, [...] before them.--For though I continuously use these words, I have not understood his meaning--Some [elders...] him [greatness.] [...][...][...][...] all [...] angels [...] word and [the sound of] a trumpet he will proclaim the great amnesty fulfilled in the beauteous east, in the bridal chamber which is the love of God the Parent [...] according to the power which [...]1 of the greatness [...] the sweetness of [...] him.
 He reveals himself to the greatnesses
 [...] his goodness [...] the praise,
the possession, [and] the [glory]
through [...] the Lord the Saviour,
the Redeemer (Paracletus) of all those
of the one filled with Agape (Love),
by means of his pure mercy
from now up until the end,
up to the generations of generations,
forever and ever,
Amen.

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