Pistis Sophia

“It came to pass then, when I had come into the midst of the rulers of the æons, that I looked down on the world of mankind, by command of the First Mystery.”

I found Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptizer, before she had conceived him, and I sowed into her a power which I had received from the little Iaō, the Good, who is in the Midst, that he might be able to make proclamation before me

and make ready my way, and baptize with the water of the forgiveness of sins. That power then is in the body of John.

“Moreover in place of the soul of the ruler which he was appointed to receive,”

I found the soul of the prophet Elias in the æons of the sphere; and I took him thence, and took hi soul and brought it to the Virgin of Light, and she gave it over to her receivers; they brought it to the sphere of the rulers and cast it into the womb of Elizabeth.

So the power of the little Iaō, who is in the Midst, and the soul of the prophet Elias, they were bound into the body of John the Baptizer.

For this cause then were ye in doubt aforetime, I when I said unto you: 'John said: I am not the Christ,' and ye said unto me: 'It standeth written in the scripture: When the Christ shall come, Elias cometh before him and maketh ready his way.'

But when ye said this unto me, I said unto you: 'Elias verily is come and hath made ready all things, as it standeth written, and they have done unto him as they would.'

And when I knew that ye had not understood that I had discoursed with you concerning the soul of Elias which is bound into John the Baptizer,

“I answered you in the discourse in openness face to face: 'If ye like to accept John the Baptizer: he is Elias, of whom I have said that he will come.”

“And Jesus continued again in the discourse and said: It came to pass then thereafter, that at the command of the First Mystery”

I looked down on the world of mankind and found Mary, who is called 'my mother' according to the body of matter. I spake with her in the type of Gabriēl, and when she had turned herself to the height towards me, I cast thence into her the first power which I had received from Barbēlō--that is the body which I have borne in the height. And instead of the soul

“I cast into her the power which I | have received from the great Sabaōth, the Good, who is in the region of the Right. And the twelve powers of the twelve saviours of the Treasury of the Light which I had received from the twelve ministers of the Midst, I cast into the sphere of the rulers. And the decans of the rulers and their servitors”

thought that they were souls of the rulers; and the servitors brought them, they bound them into the body of your mothers. And when your time was completed, ye were born in the world without souls of the rulers in you. And ye have received your portion out of the power which the last Helper hath breathed into the Mixture, that [power] which is blended with all the invisibles and all rulers and all æons,

“--in a word, which is blended with the world of destruction which is the Mixture. This [power], which from the beginning I brought out of myself, I have cast into the First Commandment, and the First Commandment cast a portion thereof into the great Light, and the great Light cast a portion of that which it had received, into the five Helpers, and the last Helper took a portion of that which it received, and cast it into the Mixture. And [this portion] is in all who are in the Mixture, | as I have just said unto you.”

“This then Jesus said to his disciples on the Mount of Olives. Jesus continued again in the discourse with his disciples [and said]: Rejoice and exult and add joy to your joy, for the times are completed for me to put on my Vesture, which hath been prepared for me from the beginning,”

which I left behind in the last mystery until the time of its completion.

“Now the time of its completion is the time when I shall be commanded through the First Mystery to discourse with you from the beginning of the Truth to the completion thereof, and from the interiors of the interiors [to the exteriors of the exteriors], for the world will be saved through you. Rejoice then and exult, for ye are blessed before all men who are on the earth. It is ye who will save the whole world.”

“It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished saying these words to his disciples, that he continued again in the discourse, and said unto them: Lo, I have then put on my Vesture, and all authority hath been given me through the First Mystery. Yet a little while and I will tell you the mystery of the universe and the fulness of the universe; and I will hide nothing from you from this hour on, but in fulness will I perfect you in all fulness and | in all perfection and in all mysteries, which are the perfection of all perfections and the fulness of all fulnesses and the gnosis of all gnoses,--those which are in my Vesture. I will tell you all mysteries from the exteriors of the exteriors to the interiors of the interiors.”

But hearken that I may tell you all things which have befallen me.

“It came to pass then, when the sun had risen in the east, that a great light-power came down, in which was my Vesture, which I had left behind in the four-and-twentieth mystery, as I have said unto you.”

“And I found a mystery in my Vesture, written in five words of those from the height: zama zama ōzza rachama ōzai,--whose solution is this: O Mystery, which is without in the world, for whose sake the universe hath arisen,”

--this is the total outgoing and the total ascent, which hath emanated all emanations and all that is therein and for whose sake all mysteries and all their regions have arisen,--come hither unto us, for we are thy fellow-members. We are all with thyself; we are one and the same.