Apocryphon of John

From the union of the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo proceed the Son, the Four Luminaries, and the heavenly Adam. The fullness of the invisible realm is ordered.

1The Self-Begotten willed to make a work through the Word of the Invisible Spirit. And his Will became a deed.

2It was manifested with the Mind and the Light, glorifying him. And the Word followed the Will.

3For through the Word, the Christ — the divine Self-Begotten — created all things; and Eternal Life, with the Will, and Mind, and Foreknowledge, stood and glorified the Invisible Spirit and Barbelo, for whose sake they had come into being.

4The Holy Spirit brought to completion the divine Self-Begotten — his Son — together with Barbelo, that he might stand beside the Invisible Spirit as the Son whom he honored with a great voice.

5From the Foreknowledge of the perfect Mind, through the revelation of the Will of the Invisible Spirit and the Will of the Self-Begotten, came forth the perfect Man, the first revelation, the Truth.

6It is he whom the Virgin Spirit called Pigera-Adamas; and he set him over the first aeon with the great Self-Begotten, the Christ, beside the first Luminary, Harmozel.

7And his powers are with him. The Invisible One gave unto him a spiritual, invincible power.

8And he spoke, glorifying and praising the Invisible Spirit, saying, "For thy sake all things have come into being, and unto thee shall all things return.

9I shall praise and glorify thee, and the Self-Begotten, and the aeons — the Three: the Father, the Mother, and the Son, the perfect power."

10And he set his son Seth over the second aeon, beside the second Luminary, Oroiael.

11And in the third aeon was placed the seed of Seth — the souls of the saints who are forever with the third Luminary, Daveithai.

12And in the fourth aeon were placed the souls of those who did not know the fullness, and did not repent at once, but held back for a time, and then repented — they abide with the fourth Luminary, Eleleth.

13These are the four Luminaries who stand before the divine Self-Begotten, and the twelve aeons who stand before the Son of the great Self-Begotten, the Christ, through the Will and the gift of the Invisible Spirit.

14The twelve aeons belong to the Son of the Self-Begotten; and through the Will of the Holy Spirit, the Self-Begotten was established — and the All was established through the Will of the Holy Spirit through the Self-Begotten.

15And from the Foreknowledge of the perfect Mind, through the Will of the Invisible Spirit and the Will of the Self-Begotten, came forth the perfect Man, the first manifestation, the Truth: the Invisible Spirit called him Adam.

16He was set over the first aeon with the mighty Self-Begotten, the Christ, beside the first Luminary Harmozel, and with him are his powers.

17And the Invisible Spirit gave him a spiritual, invincible power. And he spoke and glorified and praised the Invisible Spirit, saying, "It is for thy sake that everything has come into being, and unto thee shall everything return.

18I shall praise and glorify thee and the Self-Begotten and the aeons — the Three: the Father, the Mother, and the Son, the perfect power."

19And he set his son Seth upon the second aeon beside the second Luminary, Oroiael.

20And in the third aeon was placed the seed of Seth, upon the third Luminary, Daveithai; and the souls of the saints were placed there.

21And in the fourth aeon were placed the souls of those who knew their own fullness and did not repent at once, but persisted for a season and at last repented — they were placed upon the fourth Luminary, Eleleth.

22These are the dwelling places of those who glorify the Invisible Spirit.

23Now the Sophia of the Foreknowledge, being an aeon, conceived a thought of herself.

24The thinking of the Spirit and the Foreknowledge was her reflection; and she willed to manifest a likeness out of herself without the consent of the Spirit — who had not approved — and without her consort, and without his consideration.

25Though the person of her maleness had not consented, and she had not found her agreement, and she had considered without the consent of the Spirit and the knowledge of her consort, yet she brought forth.

26And because of the invincible power which was in her, her thought did not remain idle; and there came forth out of her a work which was imperfect and different from her appearance, for she had created it without her consort.

27And it was not conformed to the likeness of its mother, but was of another form.

28When she saw the consequence of her desire, it had changed into the form of a serpent with the face of a lion, and its eyes were as flashing fires of lightning.

29She cast it away from her, outside those places, that none of the immortals might see it, for she had brought it forth in ignorance.

30And she surrounded it with a luminous cloud, and set a throne in the midst of the cloud, that none might see it except the Holy Spirit, who is called the Mother of the Living.

31And she called his name Yaldabaoth. This is the first archon, who took great power from his mother.

32And he departed from her, and he moved away from the places in which he had been born.

33He grew strong, and he fashioned for himself other aeons in a flame of radiant fire, which yet endures.

34And he joined himself with the Ignorance which is within him, and he begot authorities for himself.

35The name of the first is Athoth, whom the generations call the Reaper.

36The second is Harmas, who is the Eye of Envy. The third is Kalila-Oumbri. The fourth is Yabel. The fifth is Adonaiou, called Sabaoth. The sixth is Cain, whom the generations of men call the Sun. The seventh is Abel. The eighth is Abrisene. The ninth is Yobel. The tenth is Armoupieel. The eleventh is Melceir-Adonein. The twelfth is Belias, the one who rules over the depth of Hades.

37And he placed seven kings — one according to the firmament of heaven for each of the seven heavens — over the seven heavens, and five over the depth of the abyss, that they might rule.

38And he shared his fire with them, but he did not give them of the pure light of the power which he had taken from his Mother.

39For this cause he lorded over them, because of the glory which was in him from the power of the light of his Mother.

40Therefore he called himself God, and he was not obedient to the place from which he had come.

41And he joined with the authorities which were in him, seven powers in his thought.

42As he spoke, it came to pass. And he named each power, beginning with the highest.

43The first is Goodness with the first Athoth. The second is Forethought with the second, Eloaios. The third is Divinity with the third, Astaphaios. The fourth is Lordship with the fourth, Yao. The fifth is Kingdom with the fifth, Sabaoth. The sixth is Envy with the sixth, Adonin. The seventh is Understanding with the seventh, Sabbataios.

44And these have a firmament corresponding to each heavenly sphere. They were given names in accord with the glory which belongs to the heavens for the destruction of the powers.

45And in the names given to them by their Originator there was power. But the names given them by the glory of the heaven mean for them destruction and loss of power.

46Thus they have two names.

47And Yaldabaoth arranged every thing according to the likeness of the first aeons which had come into being, that he might create them in the pattern of those which are imperishable.

48Not that he had seen the imperishable ones, but the power which was in him, which he had taken from his Mother — that produced in him the likeness of the ordered world.

49When he saw the creation which surrounded him, and the multitude of angels around him who had come forth from him, he said unto them, "I am a jealous God, and there is no other God beside me."

50But in saying this, he indicated unto the angels who stood before him that there is another God; for if there were no other, of whom would he be jealous?

51Then the Mother began to move to and fro, for she had perceived the deficiency when the brightness of her light diminished.

52She grew dark, because her consort had not agreed with her.

53And I said, "Lord, what is the meaning of 'she moved to and fro'?" But he smiled and said, "Do not think it is, as Moses said, 'upon the waters.'

54Rather, when she had seen the evil which had come to pass, and the theft which her son had committed, she repented. And in the forgetfulness which is in the darkness of ignorance, she began to be ashamed.

55And she did not dare to return, yet she was moving about.

56And the moving is the going to and fro.

57And the Arrogant One took a power from his Mother, for he was ignorant, thinking that no one else existed save his Mother alone.

58And when he had beheld the multitude of the angels which he had created, then he exalted himself above them.