Apocryphon of John

The archons bring the flood, and Noah's hidden ark preserves the race. The fallen angels corrupt the daughters of men with the counterfeit spirit.

1But the greatness of the light of the Foreknowledge informed Noah; and he proclaimed it to all the offspring, that is, to the sons of men.

2But those who were strangers to him did not hear him. It was not as Moses said, 'They hid in an ark,' but they were sheltered in a place — not only Noah, but also many others from the unwavering race.

3They went into a place and hid themselves in a luminous cloud. And Noah recognized his authority; and with him was the Luminous One who enlightened them, since the first archon had brought darkness upon all the earth.

4And he took counsel with his powers. He sent his angels unto the daughters of men, that they might take some of them for themselves, and raise up offspring for their enjoyment.

5And at the first they did not succeed. When they saw that they had no success, they gathered together again, and they made a plan together.

6They created a counterfeit spirit after the likeness of the Spirit who had descended, that they might pollute the souls through it. And the angels changed their appearances into the likeness of each one's mate, filling them with the spirit of darkness which they had mingled for them, and with evil.

7They brought gold, and silver, and a gift, and copper, and iron, and metal, and every kind of thing; and they steered the people who had followed them into great troubles, and into many cares.

8And these men became very aged, not having any leisure; for they did not find one another when they would be stricken with evils, because they had received again the spirit of darkness.

9They took wives for themselves, and they begat children out of the darkness, after the likeness of their spirit.

10And they closed their hearts, and they made themselves hard through the hardness of the counterfeit spirit until the present day.

11I, therefore, the perfect Forethought of the All, changed myself into my seed.

12For I existed first, going every way. I am the riches of the light. I am the remembrance of the fullness.

13And I went into the realm of darkness, and I persevered until I entered the midst of the prison. And the foundations of chaos shook, that they might fall upon those who are in chaos and destroy them.

14And I fled up again to my root of light, that they might not be destroyed before their time.

15Again a second time I went. I am the Forethought of the pure light. I entered the midst of darkness and the inward parts of Hades, wishing to fulfill my task.

16And the foundations of chaos shook, as though they would fall down upon those who dwell in chaos, and destroy them. And again I went up to my root of light, that they might not be destroyed before their time.

17Yet a third time I went forth — I, who am the light which dwells in the light, I, the remembrance of the Forethought — that I might enter into the midst of darkness and the inward parts of Hades.

18And I veiled my face through the terror of them, and I entered into the midst of their prison, which is the prison of the body.

19And I said, "He who hears, let him rise up out of deep sleep."

20And the sleeper wept and shed tears. Bitter tears he wiped from himself, and he said, "Who is it that calls my name, and from whence has this hope come unto me, while I am in the bonds of the prison?"

21And I said, "I am the Forethought of the pure light. I am the thought of the virginal Spirit, who raises thee up to the honored place.

22Arise, and remember that it was thou who hearkened, and follow thy root — who am I, the merciful one — and guard thyself against the angels of poverty and the demons of chaos and all who ensnare thee, and beware of the deep sleep and the enclosure of the inward parts of Hades."

23And I raised him up, and sealed him in the light of the water with five seals, that death might no more have power over him from that time forth.

24Behold now, I will ascend to the perfect aeon. I have completed everything for thee in thy hearing.

25And I have told thee every thing, that thou mayest write it down, and give it secretly to thy fellow spirits. For this is the mystery of the unwavering race.

26And the Savior gave these things unto him, that he might write them down, and place them in safekeeping.

27And he said unto him, "Cursed is every one who shall exchange these things for a gift, or for food, or for drink, or for clothing, or for anything of this kind."

28And these things were given to him in a mystery, and at once the Savior vanished from before him.

29And he went to his fellow disciples, and began to declare unto them the things which had been spoken to him by the Savior.

30This is the Apocryphon — the hidden teaching — of John. Now I, John, wrote this down that you might walk in it, and that those who come after might be established therein.

31Now I have declared unto thee, O John, the things that are, and the things that were, and the things that shall be.

32I have revealed unto thee the whole of the perfect aeon, and its twelve dwellings, and the fullness which is within it.

33I have revealed unto thee the Mother, the Father, the Son, the perfect power — three in one — who is one in all, the Invisible Spirit.

34I have taught thee the foundations of all things, the beginning of the aeons, the likeness of the Man, the descent of the spirit, the fashioning of the body, the bond of forgetfulness, and the path of the ascent.

35Now the fullness of the aeons calls upon thee, and all the powers of light. Thou shalt go and give them my words.

36Let no one hear them who is not worthy. But to them that are worthy of these things — speak them, and be not silent.

37For those who receive the word, and keep it, and walk in its way, shall be raised up unto the eternal life.

38They shall become as I am, and I shall become as they are. And there shall be no division between us.

39For we shall be one body, and one light, and one Father, who is over all, and through all, and in all.

40The knowledge of the Father is life; and the knowledge of the Son is the resurrection; and the knowledge of the Spirit is the ascent.

41These three are one. They are the beginning, the middle, and the end of the mystery.

42Therefore, O John, receive this testimony unto a witness, and bear it.

43Write down the things thou hast seen, and the things thou hast heard, and the things I have revealed to thee.

44And hide them in a sacred place. For they shall come forth again in a latter time, when the Spirit shall call them forth.

45And those who are of the unwavering race shall receive them with joy, and they shall know their own, and return unto their own, and be established in their own.

46But those who are not of the unwavering race — they shall turn away, and the words shall be as a stumbling unto them, and they shall not find the path.

47For the word is life to the living, and death to the dead.

48Therefore guard these sayings, and hold them precious.

49And when thou seest thy brothers among the sons of men, greet them as those who are from the fullness, and say, "Peace be with you, from the Father of the perfect light."

50And when they hear, they will remember; and when they remember, they will return; and when they return, they will be saved.

51For this is the teaching of the Mother-Father of the All: that none of her children shall be lost.

52The light is not quenched, though it pass through darkness; and the soul is not destroyed, though she be cast into the body.

53The fullness is not diminished, though a part of it descend; and the aeons are not shaken, though the lower powers rage.

54For the Invisible Spirit is above all, and nothing can be taken from him, and nothing can be added unto him.

55This is the mystery of the hidden Father, which was from the beginning, and is now, and shall be forever.

56Blessed is he who has heard these sayings, and has kept them in his heart.

57For he shall find the way of the ascent, and shall return to the light from whence he came.