Apocryphon of John

Pronoia — the perfect Forethought — sings of her threefold descent into the darkness to awaken the sleeper. The Savior commissions John to write these things, and departs.

1Then the Savior lifted up his voice, and sang the hymn of the perfect Forethought, saying:

2"I, even I, am the perfect Forethought of the All.

3I have become as the light; I have shone forth as the remembrance of the fullness.

4I went forth into the greatness of the darkness; I endured, until I entered into the midst of the prison.

5And the foundations of chaos trembled; and I hid myself, that they might not perish before their time.

6And I returned again unto my root of light.

7A second time I descended; I am the Forethought of the pure light.

8I entered into the midst of darkness, and into the inward parts of Hades, seeking to accomplish my task.

9And the foundations of chaos trembled; and I sheltered them that were mine, that they might not perish before their time.

10And again I returned unto my root.

11Yet a third time I went forth — I, the light dwelling in the light; I, the remembrance of the Forethought.

12I entered into the midst of darkness, and the inward parts of Hades.

13And I veiled my face, for the terror of them; and I entered into the midst of the prison, which is the prison of the body.

14And I said, 'He that heareth, let him rise up out of the deep sleep.'

15And the sleeper wept, and shed bitter tears, and wiped them from his face, and said, 'Who is it that calleth my name? And from whence has this hope come unto me, while I am in the bonds of the prison?'

16And I said, 'I am the Forethought of the pure light. I am the thought of the virginal Spirit, who raiseth thee up to the honored place.

17Arise, and remember — for it was thou who hearkened — and follow thy root, which is I, the merciful one.

18Guard thyself against the angels of poverty, and the demons of chaos, and all them that would ensnare thee. Beware of the deep sleep, and of the enclosure of the inward parts of Hades.'

19And I raised him up. I sealed him in the light of the water with five seals, that death should have no more power over him from that day forth.

20Behold — I shall now ascend to the perfect aeon.

21I have finished every thing for thee in thy hearing.

22I have said unto thee all things, that thou mayest write them down, and give them secretly unto thy fellow spirits.

23For this is the mystery of the unwavering race.

24Then the Savior gave these things unto John, that he might write them down, and place them in safekeeping.

25And 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."

26And these things were given unto him in a mystery. And at once the Savior vanished from before him.

27And he went unto his fellow disciples, and began to declare unto them the things which had been spoken to him by the Savior.

28And they marveled greatly; and some believed, and some doubted; but he wrote them down, as he had been commanded.

29And the things that are written are these: the Monad, and the Pleroma, and the emergence of Barbelo, and the begetting of the Self-Begotten, and the four Luminaries, and the perfect Man, and his son Seth, and the seed of Seth.

30And the transgression of Sophia, and the bringing forth of Yaldabaoth, and his archons, and his boast, and Sophia's repentance.

31And the making of Adam, and the breath of the Spirit, and the Afterthought of the Light hidden within him.

32And the tree of knowledge, and the coming forth of Eve, and the defilement of the first archon, and the begetting of Eloim and Yave.

33And the birth of Seth after the likeness of the Son of Man, and the preservation of the seed.

34And the flood, and the hiding of Noah in the luminous cloud, and the descent of the fallen angels, and the counterfeit spirit which they fashioned.

35And the destinies of souls: they that ascend, they that are held for judgment, and they that are returned for further teaching.

36And the three descents of the Forethought, and the sealing of the awakened, and the promise of the ascent unto the perfect aeon.

37All these things the Savior revealed, and all these things John wrote, and hid for the race that cometh after.

38Blessed is he who reads, and they that hear, and they that keep the things which are written therein.

39For the time is at hand when the sleepers shall awaken, and the hidden shall be revealed, and the light shall return unto the light.

40O John, thou art a beloved disciple. Thou hast held fast the word. Go in peace unto thy fellow spirits, and be a witness among them.

41Say unto them, 'I have seen the Lord, and he hath revealed the mysteries of the beginning and of the end.

42He is the Father, and the Mother, and the Son, abiding in unity, though manifest in the many.

43He is the light of the aeons, and the source of the living water, and the remembrance of them that have forgotten.

44He hath come forth, and hath descended, and hath ascended, and hath sealed them that are his with the five seals.'

45Say unto them, 'Gather yourselves out of the world, and be as strangers in it. For your citizenship is in the perfect aeon, and your dwelling is in the fullness.'

46Say unto them, 'The days of the counterfeit shall be shortened for the sake of the elect. Endure, and watch, and pray, and love one another, and be as one body under one Head.'

47Say unto them, 'The Savior is not far from any of us. He is within, and he is without; he is before, and he is behind; he is above, and he is beneath. He filleth the All, and lacketh in nothing.'

48Say unto them, 'The knowledge is not taken by force, nor gotten by cunning, nor bought with silver. It is given unto them that seek with the whole heart, and it is withheld from them that seek for any other cause.'

49Say unto them, 'Fear not the threats of the archons, nor the terrors of the last hour. For the Spirit of Life hath overcome the archons, and the counterfeit shall be exposed as counterfeit.'

50Say unto them, 'The Mother-Father is with you always, even unto the end of the age.'

51Thus spake the Savior. And John bowed his face unto the earth, and worshipped.

52And he arose, and went his way, and did as the Lord had commanded.

53And he wrote down the mysteries, and hid them, and gave them unto them that were worthy.

54Blessed is the race that receiveth these things, and walketh therein. For they shall be called the sons and daughters of the Living Father.

55And they shall see his face, and shall be with him in the aeon of aeons, in the fullness without measure, in the light without shadow, and in the peace which abideth forever.

56This is the Apocryphon of John, which is the hidden teaching.

57Amen.