Pistis Sophia

“And Jesus answered and said unto Mary: What is there in this world which is like unto them, or rather what region is there in this world which is comparable to them?”

It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished speaking these words unto his disciples,

And when the sphere turneth itself, she handeth it over to her receivers, that they may cast it into the æons of the sphere. And the servitors of the sphere will lead it to a water which is below the sphere; and it becometh a seething fire and eateth into it until it purifieth it utterly.

“and why the nine guards have arisen. And | that mystery knoweth why the twin-saviours have arisen”

and findeth not the mystery of the undoing of all the seals and all the bonds, so that it may undo itself from the counterfeiting spirit which is bound to it,--that soul which hath not found mysteries of the Light and hath not found the mysteries of detachment from the counterfeiting spirit which is bound to it,--if then it hath not found it, the counterfeiting spirit leadeth that soul to the Virgin of Light,

and he hath ceased from these for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and renounced the whole world and the whole matter therein, and we give him from the be-ginning onwards the mysteries of the Light which are in the first space from without,

and he had shone most exceedingly,

“and why the three Amēns have arisen. And that mystery knoweth why the five Trees have arisen and why the seven Amēns have arisen. And that mystery knoweth why the Mixture which existeth not, hath arisen”

“And the First Mystery answered and said: I give commandment unto thee, Matthew, to set forth the interpretation of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered.”

“Jesus answered and said unto Mary in the midst of the disciples: Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: The second Helper is distant from the first Helper in great immeasurable distance in regard to the height above and the depth below and the length and the breadth. For he is exceedingly distant from him in great immeasurable distance through the angels and all the archangels and through the gods and all the invisibles. And he is very considerably greater than the latter in an incalculable measure | through the angels and archangels and through the gods and all the invisibles.”

“She said: My Lord, give commandment unto me to speak in openness.”

“And Yaluham, the receiver of Sabaōth, the Adamas, bringeth the cup of forgetfulness and handeth it to the soul, and it drinketh it and forgetteth all regions and all things and all the regions through which it hath gone. And they deliver it unto a body which will spend its time being afflicted.”

that all the rulers who are with the two great triple-powers, and her invisible who is paired with her, and the other two-and-twenty invisible emanations gazed [at the light],--in as much as Pistis Sophia and her pair,

And again thou and John are 'Righteousness and peace kissed each other.'--'Truth hath sprouted forth out of the earth,

“He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all forefathers and will raise himself above them all.”

“and the Virgin of Light, yea that judge, handeth over that soul | to one of her receivers, and her receiver casteth it into the sphere of the æons, and it cometh not out of the changes of the body before it hath yielded the last circuit which is appointed for it. This then, my Lord, is the fourth thought.”

But he answered and said unto him: My lord, have patience with it still this year, until I dig round it and give it dung;

And they spend one-hundred-and-five years and six months, being chastized in her wicked chastisements; and they begin to be dissolved and destroyed.

and the counterfeiting spirit draweth into itself from the portion of the evil which is in the delights and in its lusts.

“Now, therefore, the rulers seal the counterfeiting spirit to the soul, [but] so that it doth not agitate it every hour, making it do all sins and all iniquities.”

And thou wilt have the power of going down into their twelve æons, | when it pleaseth thee, and also of returning and going into thy region, which is below the thirteenth æon, and in which thou now art. But thou wilt not have the power of passing through the gate of the Height which is in the thirteenth æon, so as to enter into thy region whence thou didst come down.

“And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said unto his disciples: It came to pass again thereafter that Pistis Sophia cried unto me, saying: O Light of lights, I have transgressed in the twelve æons, and have descended from them;”

“who hate me without a cause and wink with their eyes. 20. For indeed they discourse with me with words of peace, though they plot wrath with craft.”

and if he receiveth the mysteries, and after a little while again if he returneth and transgresseth,

Now, therefore, to what am I to liken them, or rather what am I to say concerning them? For nothing existeth in this world to which I shall be able to liken them, and no form existeth in it which is able to be like them. Now, therefore, nothing existeth in this world which is of the quality of the heaven.

And the seven virgins of the Light prove that soul, baptize it with their baptisms and give it the spiritual chrism and lead it into the Treasury of the Light and put it in the last order of the Light until the ascension of all the perfect souls.

“that he said unto them: Understand ye in what manner I discourse with you?”

“And Jesus gave his hand unto Martha and said unto her: Blessed is every one who humbleth himself, for on him they shall have mercy. Now, therefore, Martha, art thou blessed. But proclaim then the solution of the thought of the repentance of Pistis Sophia.”

“But I will give you and tell you the great mysteries | of every allotment, those which are higher than every region, that is the heads according to every region and according to every order which will lead the whole race of men into the higher regions, according to the space of the Inheritance. Of the rest of the lower mysteries, therefore, ye have no need; but ye will find them in the two Books of Yew, which Enoch hath written whilst I spake with him out of the tree of gnosis and out of the tree of life in the paradise of Adam.”

Moreover, if then the three times are completed, Self-willed and all his rulers will again constrain thee, to take thy light from thee, being enraged against thee and thinking that thou hast imprisoned his power in the chaos, and thinking that thou hast taken its light from it.

and if it beareth in another year, thou hast let it, but if thou dost not find any [fruit] at all, then hast thou [to] cut it down.'

“And Martha answered and said unto Jesus in the midst of the disciples: Concerning the repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, O | my Lord Jesus,”

“This is the chastisement of the slanderer.”

“And when they prepare to draw apart the veils of the region of those of the Right, they cleanse that soul anew and purify it and put it in the orders of the first saviour who [is] in the | Treasury of the Light.”

And on the other hand the body draweth into itself the matter which senseth not, which is in the delights.

And he shineth more than the latter in an utterly immeasurable measure,

“21. They opened their chops wide against me and said: Well indeed, our eyes have filled our sight with him. 22. Thou hast seen, O Lord. Keep not silence, O Lord, withdraw not thyself from me. 23. Arise, O Lord, |”

“And Jesus, the compassionate, answered and said unto Mary: Mary, thou blessed one, whom I will perfect in all mysteries of those of the height,”

“And Matthew answered and said: “Concerning the interpretation of the song which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, thus thy light-power prophesied aforetime thereon through the Ode of Solomon: “1. He who hath led me down out of the higher regions which are above, hath led me up out of | the regions which are in the bottom below. 2. Who hath there taken those in the midst, he hath taught me concerning them. 3. Who hath scattered my foes and my adversaries,”

“and why it is purified.”

“Andrew came forward and said: “My Lord, concerning the solution of the sixth repentance of Pistis Sophia, thy light-power prophesied aforetime through David in the one-hundred-and-twenty-ninth Psalm, saying: | 1. Out of the depths I have cried unto thee, O Lord. 2. Hearken unto my voice; let thine ears give heed to the voice of my supplication.”

they and the other two-and-twenty emanations make up four-and-twenty emanations, which the great invisible Forefather

[But] amēn, I say unto you: Every one of the invisibles is nine times greater than the heaven and the sphere above it and the twelve æons all together, as I have already said unto you at another time. And no light existeth in this world which is more excellent than the light of the sun. Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: The four-and-twenty invisibles shine ten-thousand times more than the light of the sun which is in this world, as I have already| said unto you at another time. For the light of the sun in its shape in truth is not in this world, for its light pierceth through many veils and regions.

“wherefor have I uttered the twelve repentances, [one] for each æon. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, forgive me my transgression, for it is exceedingly great, because I have abandoned the regions of the height and have come to dwell in the regions of the chaos.' When then Pistis Sophia had said this, she continued again in the thirteenth repentance, saying: 1. Hearken unto me singing praises unto thee, O Light of lights.”

“And thereafter, when the sphere turneth itself, and the little Sabaōth, the Good, he of the Midst, who is called in the world Zeus, cometh, and he cometh to the | eighth æon of the sphere which is called the Scorpion, and when Boubastis, whom they call Aphroditē, cometh, and she cometh to the second æon of the sphere which is called the Bull,”

“He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all invisibles and will raise himself above them all.”

and thereafter again if he turneth and ceaseth from all sins and turneth and | renounceth the whole world and the whole matter therein, so that he cometh again and is in great repentance,

And they give commandment moreover unto the counterfeiting spirit, saying: 'If the soul cometh out of the body,

“Now, therefore, when I shall have explained unto you the whole expansion, I will give you and tell you the great mysteries of the three allotments of my kingdom, that is the heads of the mysteries which I will give you and tell you in all their figures and all their types and in their ciphers and the seals of the last space, that is the first space from without.”

and righteousness looked down from heaven,'--this is, during the time when thou didst minister unto thyself,

and there was no measure for the light which was on him.

He will then be embittered against thee, to take from thee thy light, in order that he may send it down into the chaos

“then the veils which are between those of the Right and those of the Left draw themselves aside and Zorokothora Melchisedec looketh out of the height; and the world and the mountains are agitated and the æons become alarmed. And he looketh on all the regions of Hekatē, so that her regions are dissolved and destroyed, and all the souls which are in her chastisements, are carried off and cast back anew into the sphere, because they are dissolved in the fire of her chastisements.”

he hath bestowed power on me over the bonds, to unloose them.

“He is a man in the world, but he towereth above the great invisible forefather and will raise himself above him.”

“The destiny on the contrary taketh nothing from the delights, because it is not mingled with them, but it departeth again in the condition in which it cometh into the world. And little by little the power and the soul and the counterfeiting spirit grow, and every one of them senseth according to its nature:”

“Hearken unto me uttering the repentance for the thirteenth æon, the region out of which I have come down, in order that the thirteenth repentance of the thirteenth æon may be accomplished,--those [æons] | which I have overstepped and out of which I have come down. “2. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, hearken unto me singing praises unto thee in the thirteenth æon, my region out of which I have come down. 3. Save me, O Light, in thy great mystery and forgive my transgression in thy forgiveness. 4. And give unto me the baptism and forgive my sins”

“3. O Lord, if thou heedest my iniquities, who will be able to pass [the test]? “4. For pardon is in thy hands; for the sake of thy name have I waited for thee, O Lord. “5. My soul hath waited for thy word. 6. My soul hath hoped in the Lord from the morning until the evening. Let Israel hope in the Lord from the morning until the evening. 7. For grace standeth by the Lord”

“there being no measure for the light in which he is, and no measure for him through angels and archangels and through the gods and all the invisibles, as I have already said unto you at another time. In like manner also the third Helper and fourth and fifth Helper,--one is greater than the other . . .”

“And I will tell you the answers and the apologies and the tokens of that space. The second space which is within, possesseth no answers nor apologies nor tokens nor ciphers nor seals; but it possesseth only types and figures.”

But the light of the sun in its shape in truth, which is in the region of the Virgin of Light, shineth ten-thousand times more than the four-and-twenty invisibles and the great invisible forefather and also the great triple-powered god, as I have already said unto you at another time.

“discourse in openness, thou, whose heart is raised to the kingdom of heaven more than all thy brethren.”

and if we know truly in truth that he longeth after God, so that we give him the second mystery of the first space which is from without;

“Mary said: Woe, woe, unto sinners!”

“And Jesus continued again and said unto his disciples: Still further, O my disciples, be sober and let every one of you bring hither the power of sensing the Light before him, that ye may sense with sureness. For from now on I will discourse with you concerning the whole region in truth of the Ineffable and concerning the manner, how it is.”

do not agitate it, being assigned to it and transferring it to all the regions of the judgments, region by region, on account of all the sins which thou hast made it do, in order that it may be chastized in all the regions of the judgments, so that it may not be able to go | on high to the Light and return into changes of the body.'

“It came to pass then, when the Saviour had finished speaking these words unto his disciples, that Mary answered and said unto Jesus: My Lord, I have heard thee say: 'He who shall receive of the mysteries of the Ineffable or who shall receive of the mysteries of the First Mystery,--they become flames of light-beams and light-streams and penetrate all the regions until they reach the region of their inheritance.”

thou didst have the form of Gabriēl,

“of it thy light-power in David prophesied aforetime in the sixty-ninth Psalm, saying: 1. O Lord God, give heed to my help. 2. Let them be put to shame and con-founded who seek after my soul.”

And the disciples had not seen Jesus because of the great light in which he was, or which was about him;

“and the two great triple-powers have emanated.”

“Lo, my Lord, this is the solution of the word.”

“and purify me from my transgression. 5. And my transgression is the lion-faced power, which will never be hidden from thee; for because of it have I gone down. 6. And I alone among the invisibles, in whose regions I was, have transgressed, and have gone down into the chaos.”

the power senseth to seek after the light of the height;

“The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: If they receive the mystery when still in life, and if they come out of the body, they become light-beams and light-streams and penetrate all the regions until they reach the region of their inheritance.”

“thou didst look down upon me from heaven and speak with me. And when thou hadst spoken with me, thou didst sprout up in me,--that is the 'truth,' that is the power of Sabaōth, the Good, which is in thy material body, that is the 'truth' which 'sprouted up out of the earth.”

“4. Who hath smitten the serpent with the seven heads with my hands,”

and it may get down to that emanation of his, so that it may be able to come up out of the chaos and go to his region.

“3. May they turn straightway and be put to shame, who say unto me: Ha, ha.”

and shineth more than the latter and is distant from him in a great immeasurable distance through the angels and archangels and the gods and all the invisibles, as I have already said unto you at another time.

“He is a man in the world, but he towereth above all those of the Midst and will raise himself above them all.”

It came to pass then, when Jesus had said this unto his disciples,

“In a word, they give commandment to the counterfeiting spirit, saying: 'Do not agitate it at all at any hour unless it doth not speak mysteries and undo all the seals and all the bonds with which we have bound thee to it.”

“The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: Well said, spiritual [one]. This is [the solution of] the word.”

for their eyes were darkened because of the great light in which he was.

It came to pass then, when the disciples had heard Jesus utter these words, that they gave way and let go entirely.

“He continued and said: The fourth order is called Parhedrōn Typhōn, who is a mighty ruler, under whose authority are two-and-thirty demons. And it is they which enter into men and seduce them to lusting, fornicating, adultery and to the continual practice of intercourse.”

“Then said Mary to the Saviour: My Lord, the word which thou hast spoken unto us: 'Who | hath ears to hear, let him hear,”

“When the Saviour had finished saying all this unto his disciples, | Andrew came forward and said: My Lord, be not wroth with me, but have mercy upon me and reveal unto me the mystery of the word concerning which I shall question thee, for it hath been hard for me and I have not understood it.”

--in like manner if he turneth anew and transgresseth and is again in the sins of the world, and again if he thereafter turneth and ceaseth from the sins of the world

“Salome answered and said: My Lord Jesus, a murderer who hath never committed any sin but murdering, if he cometh out of the body, what is his chastisement?”

“Now, therefore, Mary, there is no form in this world, nor any light, nor any shape, which is comparable to the four-and-twenty invisibles, so that I may liken it to them. But yet a little while and I will lead thee and thy brethren and fellow-disciples into all the regions of the Height and will lead you into the three spaces of the First Mystery, save only the regions of the space of the Ineffable, and ye shall see all their shapes in truth without similitude.”

“and with him is great redemption. 8. And he will deliver Israel from all his iniquities.”

“he hath set me up above its root, that I may extinguish its seed. 5. And thou wert with me, helping me; in all regions thy name surrounded me. 6. Thy right hand hath destroyed the venom of the slanderer; thy hand hath cleared the way for thy faithful.”

“And I will tell unto you also the type of every one [of them] at their expansion.”

“Then Mary Magdalene came forward, threw herself at the feet of Jesus, kissed them and wept aloud and said: Have mercy upon me, my Lord, for my brethren have heard and let go of the words which thou saidest unto them. Now, therefore, my Lord, concerning the gnosis of all the things which thou hast said, that they are in the mystery | of the Ineffable; but I have heard thee say unto me: 'From now on I will begin to discourse with you concerning the total gnosis of the mystery of the Ineffable,”

“And if I lead you into the height and ye shall see the glory of them of the height, then will ye be in very great amazement. And if I lead you into the region of the rulers of the Fate, then will ye see the glory in which they are, and because of their overtowering great glory ye will deem this world before you as darkness of darknesses, and | ye will look at the whole world of men, how it will have the condition of a speck of dust for you because of the great distance it is far distant from it, and because of the great condition it is considerably greater than it.”