Gospel of Philip

On names, heritage, and the order of the Father — the difference between the Hebrew, the proselyte, and the Christian; the deception of names in this world; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

1A Hebrew man maketh a Hebrew, and such an one is called a proselyte. But the proselyte maketh not another proselyte. The proselyte is what he is, and is satisfied to be so.

2But the slave seeketh only to be free, and seeketh not after the estate of his master. The son, on the other hand, is not only a son: he claimeth the inheritance of the father.

3They that inherit the dead are themselves dead, and they inherit dead things. They that inherit the Living One are alive, and they inherit both the Living and the dead. The dead inherit nothing — for how shall the dead inherit? If a dead man inherit the living, the living shall not die, but the dead shall be made alive.

4A Gentile dieth not, for he hath never lived, that he should die. He that hath believed in the truth hath begun to live, and he is in danger of dying — for he liveth, since the day Christ came.

5The world was created. The cities were adorned. The dead were carried out. When we were Hebrews we were orphans, having only a mother. But when we became Christians we received both Father and Mother.

6They that sow in winter reap in summer. The winter is the world; the summer is the other age. Let us sow in the world, that we may reap in the summer. For this cause it is not fitting that in winter we should pray for the harvest. The summer is what cometh after the winter.

7But if any reap in winter, he shall not reap, but only pluck out the seed; for such an one will not gather a harvest. Not only doth not the seed yield him fruit at his sabbath, but it profiteth not at all.

8Christ came to ransom some, to save others, and to redeem still others. Them that were strangers He ransomed, and made them His own. He set apart His own, whom He had pledged of His own will, when it pleased Him.

9Not only when He appeared did He lay down His life when He chose, but from the day the world existed He laid down His life. Then, at the moment which pleased Him, He came forth to receive it again — for it had been pledged. It had fallen among robbers, and was taken captive; but He saved it, and ransomed both the good and the evil that were in the world.

10The light and the darkness, life and death, the right and the left, are brethren of one another. They are inseparable. Therefore the good are not good, neither are the wicked wicked, neither is life life, nor death death.

11For this cause each one shall be dissolved into his original beginning. But they that are exalted above the world are indissoluble; they are eternal.

12Names given to worldly things are exceedingly deceptive, for they turn the heart away from what is established to what is not established. He that heareth the word God thinketh not of what is established, but of what is not established. So also with the words Father, Son, Holy Spirit, life, light, resurrection, church, and all the rest. They do not perceive what is established; rather, they perceive what is not — except they have come to know what is established.

13The names heard in the world deceive. If they had been in the eternal realm, they would never have been used in the world. They would not be set among worldly things. They have an end in the eternal realm.

14One single name is not uttered in the world, the name which the Father gave unto the Son. It is the name above every name — the Father's name. The Son would not have become the Father had He not put on the name of the Father.

15They that have this name know it, but they speak it not. They that have it not know it not. But the truth begat names in the world for our sake, that no man might come to know it without these names. Truth is one; she is many for our sake, to teach us this one thing in love by means of many things.

16The rulers wished to deceive man, since they saw that he had a kinship with them that are truly good. So they took the name of them that are good, and gave it to them that are not good, that by means of names they might deceive him and bind him to them that are not good.

17And afterward, what a benefit they did for him! They made him to depart from them that are not good, and placed him among them that are good, even those whom they knew. For they wished to take the free man, and make him a slave to them forever.

18There are powers that contend with man, not wishing him to be saved, that they may continue to be. For if man is saved, sacrifices shall not be offered, and animals shall not be brought up unto the powers — for it was unto them the animals were brought up alive. When they brought them up, they died. But man they brought up unto God dead, and yet he lived.

19Before Christ came, there was no bread in the world, even as Paradise (where Adam was) had many trees for food for the beasts, but no wheat for the food of man. Man ate as the beasts. But when Christ came, the perfect man, He brought bread from heaven, that man might be fed with the food of man.

20The rulers thought they did the things they did by their own power and will. But the Holy Spirit was secretly working all things through them as she willed.

21Truth is sown everywhere — she that hath been from the beginning. And many see her sown, but few see her reaped.

22Some said: Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit. They are mistaken. They know not what they say. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? Mary is the virgin whom no power defiled. She is a great anathema unto the Hebrews, that is, unto the apostles and them that were apostles. This virgin whom no power defiled — the powers defiled themselves.

23And the Lord said: My Father which is in heaven. He would not have said My Father had He not had another father. He would have said simply My Father.

24The Lord said unto the disciples: Enter ye into the house of the Father, but take nothing in the house of the Father, neither carry away anything from it.

25Jesus is a hidden name; Christ is a revealed name. Therefore Jesus is rendered in no other tongue, but His name is called Jesus as it is. But the name Christ in the Syriac is Messias, and in the Greek is Christos. Surely all the others have it according to each one's own tongue. The Nazarene is the manifest of that which is hidden.

On the resurrection, the Lord and Mary, the truth that comes by parables and types, and the seventy-two colors of the dyer Jesus.

1Christ hath in Himself everything: man, angel, mystery, and the Father.

2They that say the Lord first died and then rose are mistaken. He first rose, and then died. If a man receive not first the resurrection, shall he not die? As God liveth, that man shall die.

3No man shall hide a great and precious thing in a great vessel; but oftentimes one entrusteth countless treasures to a vessel worth a single penny. So is it with the soul: a precious thing came to be in a despised body.

4Some men are afraid lest they rise naked. Therefore they wish to rise in flesh, and they know not that they which wear the flesh are they that are naked. They which strip themselves to be naked are they that are not naked.

5Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God. What is this flesh that shall not inherit? It is that which we are wearing. And what is the flesh that shall inherit? It is the flesh of Jesus, and His blood.

6For this cause He said: He that eateth not My flesh and drinketh not My blood hath not life in himself. What is this flesh? It is the Logos. And His blood — it is the Holy Spirit. He that hath received these hath food, and hath drink, and hath raiment.

7I find fault with the others who say it shall not rise. Then both are at fault. Thou sayest the flesh shall not rise; but tell me what shall rise, that we may honour thee. Thou sayest the spirit in the flesh, and also this light in the flesh. But this also is a thing that is in the flesh. For whatsoever thou shalt say, thou sayest nothing outside the flesh. It is needful to rise in this flesh, since everything is in it.

8In this world they that put on garments are better than the garments. In the kingdom of heaven the garments are better than them that have put them on.

9By water and fire is the whole place purified — the manifest by the manifest, the hidden by the hidden. There are some things hidden through the manifest. There is water in water; there is fire in chrism.

10Jesus took them all by stealth, for He revealed Himself not as He was, but in such manner as they could see Him. Unto them all He revealed Himself: He revealed Himself unto the great as great; He revealed Himself unto the small as small; He revealed Himself unto the angels as an angel, and unto men as a man.

11For this cause His word concealed itself from every one. Some indeed beheld Him, thinking they beheld their own selves. But when He revealed Himself unto His disciples in glory upon the mountain, He was not little. He became great — but He made the disciples great, that they might be able to behold Him in His greatness.

12He said in that day in the thanksgiving: Thou that hast joined the perfect Light with the Holy Spirit, join the angels with us also as the images.

13Despise not the lamb, for without it no man can see the King. None shall come unto the King if he is naked.

14The heavenly man hath many more sons than the earthly man. If the sons of Adam be many, even though they die, how much more the sons of the perfect man — they that die not, but ever beget anew.

15The Father maketh a son, but the son cannot make a son. For he that is begotten cannot beget. But the son obtaineth brethren, not sons.

16All they that are begotten in the world are begotten of nature, and the others are nourished from the place where they are begotten. Man receiveth nourishment from the promise of the heavenly place. Christ shall nourish him from the mouth — and the Word came thence.

17There were three that walked always with the Lord: Mary His mother, and her sister, and the Magdalene, who is called His companion. For Mary is His sister and His mother and His companion.

18Father and Son are simple names, but the Holy Spirit is a double name — for she is everywhere; she is above; she is below; she is in the hidden, and she is in the manifest. The Holy Spirit is in the manifest: she is below; she is in the hidden: she is above.

19The saints are served by evil powers, for these are blinded by the Holy Spirit, supposing that they are serving their own — when they are serving the saints. Therefore a disciple once asked the Lord for something of this world. He said unto him: Ask of thy mother, and she shall give thee of that which belongeth to another.

20The apostles said unto the disciples: May our whole offering obtain salt. They called Sophia salt. Without it, no offering is acceptable. But Sophia is barren without son. Therefore she is called the trace of salt. Wherever they shall be after their own fashion, the Holy Spirit will accompany them, and her sons are many.

21What the father possesseth belongeth to the son. And the son himself, so long as he is small, is not entrusted with what is his. But when he becometh a man, his father giveth him all that is his.

22Them that go astray, they whom the Spirit begetteth, do also go astray on account of her. So by one and the same breath the fire blazeth and is put out.

23Sophia is one thing; Death-Sophia is another. The little one is the sister of Jesus; she is called Echamoth. Now Echmoth is the Sophia of death, even she that knoweth death — she that is called the little Sophia.

24There are domestic animals — the bull, the ass, and others. There are wild animals which dwell apart in the wilderness. Man tilleth his field with the domestic animal, and from this he himself is fed, and the animal also, whether it be tame or wild. So is it with the perfect man: he tilleth by means of the powers that are subject unto him, that all things may stand fast.

25God is a dyer. As the good dyes — those they call true dyes — die together with the things dyed in them, so it is with them that God hath dyed: as His dyes are immortal, they become immortal by His pharmacy. Now God dippeth them whom He dippeth in water.

On the five mysteries — baptism, chrism, eucharist, redemption, and the bridal chamber — the temple, the holy of holies, and the rending of the veil.

1It is not possible that any should see anything of the things that truly are, save he be made like unto them. It is not so with man in the world: he beholdeth the sun without being a sun, and beholdeth the heaven and the earth and all things else, and is not them. But thou hast seen something of that place, and hast become those things; thou hast seen the Spirit, and hast become spirit; thou hast seen Christ, and hast become Christ; thou hast seen the Father, and shalt become Father.

2Therefore in this place thou seest everything, and thyself thou seest not. But in that place thou seest thyself — for thou shalt become what thou seest.

3Faith receiveth, love giveth. No man can receive without faith; no man can give without love. Therefore, that we may receive, we believe; and that we may truly give, we love. For if a man give without love, he hath no profit of what he gave.

4He that hath received aught not as the Lord giveth is yet a Hebrew.

5The apostles before us called things by these names: Jesus the Nazoraean, Messias — that is, Jesus the Christ. The last name is Christ; the first name is Jesus; and the middle name is the Nazarene. Messias hath two meanings: the Christ, and the Measured. Jesus in Hebrew is the Redemption; Nazara is the Truth. Therefore the Nazarene is the Truth. The Christ hath been measured. The Nazarene and Jesus are they who measured.

6When the pearl is cast down into the mire, it groweth not the more despised; nor, if anointed with balsam, doth it become more precious. But it ever holdeth its honour with its master. So with the children of God: wheresoever they may be, they hold their value with their Father.

7If thou say I am a Jew, none shall tremble. If thou say I am a Roman, none shall be troubled. If thou say I am a Greek, a barbarian, a slave, a free man — none shall be disquieted. If thou say I am a Christian — at this name the world shall tremble. May I receive him whose name the rulers cannot endure to hear.

8God is a man-eater, and for this cause man is sacrificed unto Him. Before man was sacrificed, beasts were sacrificed, for they were not gods unto whom they were sacrificed.

9Vessels of glass and vessels of clay are made by means of fire. But if vessels of glass break, they are made over again, since they came to be by a breath; vessels of clay, however, if they break, are destroyed, since they came to be without breath.

10An ass that turneth a millstone went a hundred miles walking; when he was loosed, he found himself yet in the same place. There are men that walk many roads and travel nowhere. When evening was upon them, they had seen no city, no village, no creature, no nature, no power, no angel; in vain have the wretches laboured.

11The Eucharist is Jesus. For He is called in Syriac Pharisatha — that is, the One spread out. For Jesus came to crucify the world.

12The Lord went into the dye-house of Levi. He took seventy-two colours and threw them into the vat. He took them all out white. And He said: Even so the Son of Man came as a dyer.

13Sophia, who is called barren, is the mother of the angels, and the companion of the Christ is Mary the Magdalene. The Lord loved Mary more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often upon the mouth. The rest of the disciples were displeased; they said unto Him: Why lovest thou her more than all of us? The Saviour answered and said unto them: Why love I not you as I love her?

14When a blind man and a sighted man are both in darkness, no difference is between them. But when the light cometh, the sighted shall see the light, and the blind shall remain in darkness.

15The Lord said: Blessed is he that is, before he came into being. For he that is, both was and shall be.

16The exaltation of man is not manifest, but it is hidden. Therefore he is master of the beasts that are stronger than himself, and great according to the manifest things and according to the hidden. So he giveth them their existence. But if a man be cut off from them, they kill one another and devour one another. They devoured one another because they had no food. But now they have food, for man tilled the soil.

17If any go down into the water and come up without having received aught, and saith I am a Christian, he hath taken the name as a loan. But if he receive the Holy Spirit, he hath the name as a gift. He that hath received a gift hath not to give it back; but to him that hath taken on loan, repayment is demanded. Such is what befalleth us when one is in a mystery.

18Great is the mystery of marriage. For without it, the world should not be. Yet the constitution of the world dependeth upon man, and the constitution of man dependeth upon marriage. Then think of the immaculate union; for it hath great power. Its image consisteth in defilement.

19Among the unclean spirits there are males and females. The males have congress with the souls that dwell in the female form, and the females are united in marriage with them that are in the male form. None can escape from these spirits if they take hold of him, save only he be a man and a woman together. The image and the angel are united with one another. Then no spirit shall presume to come upon man or woman.

20He that cometh out of the world cannot be detained, in that he was in the world. Plainly he is above both lust and fear; he is master of nature; he is mightier than envy. If they come and lay hold of him, and would choke him, how shall such an one not be able to escape, by means of the power of these two? How indeed shall they be afraid?

21The Lord did everything in a mystery: a baptism, a chrism, a eucharist, a redemption, and a bridal chamber.

22He said: I came to make the things below like unto the things above, and the things outside like unto the things inside. I came to make them one in this place. By means of types and images: they that say there is a heavenly man, and one above him, are wrong. For the heavenly man is the One revealed; he is called Him of the place below; and to whom the hidden belongeth — that one is above him.

23It is right to say: the inner and the outer, and that which is outside the outer. Therefore the Lord called destruction the outer darkness — for there is nothing outside it. He said: My Father is in the secret place. He said: Enter into thy chamber, and shut thy door behind thee, and pray to thy Father which is in the secret place — He that is the inmost. The inmost of these is the fulness, and beyond it there is nothing else within. This it is of which they say: It is the upmost.

24Before Christ some came forth. From whence they had been able to come, they could no more enter; and from whither they had been able to go, they could no more leave. But Christ came. Them that had entered He took out, and them that had gone out He put in.

25When Eve was yet in Adam, death existed not. When she was separated from him, death came to be. If she enter again, and he take her unto himself, death shall no more be.

26My God, my God! Why, O Lord, hast Thou forsaken Me? It was on the cross that He spake these words; for it was there that He was rent in twain.

27He that hath been begotten by Him, He hath begotten not from this place. The Lord arose from the dead. He came as He had been before. But His body was wholly perfect; for it was flesh, but it was true flesh. And our flesh is not true flesh, but our flesh is an image of the true flesh.

On the bridal chamber, the holy of holies, the image and truth, the trees of paradise, and the perfection of the children of light.

1The bridal chamber is not for the beasts, neither is it for the slaves, neither for the defiled women. But it is for free men and virgins.

2By the Holy Spirit are we born, but we are born again by Christ. In the two we are anointed by the Spirit. And when we were born, we were joined.

3None can see himself either in water or in a mirror without light. Neither again canst thou see in the light without water or mirror. Therefore must one be baptized in the two — in the light and the water. Now the light is the chrism.

4There were three houses of offering in Jerusalem. The one which opened to the west was called the holy. The other, which opened to the south, was called the holy of holy. The third, which opened to the east, was called the holy of the holy of holies, the place where only the high priest entereth.

5Baptism is the holy house. The chrism is the holy of holy. The bridal chamber is the holy of holy of holies. Baptism hath the resurrection joined to the redemption; the redemption is in the bridal chamber. But the bridal chamber is in that which is greater than these — to which thou shalt come. Thou wilt find no like unto its glory.

6They that pray are them that are in Jerusalem. There are some in Jerusalem who pray awaiting the kingdom of the heavens. These are called the holy of the holies, because the veil is rent, and our bridal chamber is none other but the image of the bridal chamber that is above. Therefore its veil was rent from above to below; for it was needful that some from below should ascend.

7The powers see not them that have put on the perfect light, and they cannot detain them. But one shall put on the light in the mystery of the union.

8If the woman had not been separated from the man, she should not die with the man. The separation became the beginning of death. Therefore Christ came, that He might cure the separation of the beginning, and unite the two; and that them which had died in the separation, He might give life and unite them. Now the woman is united unto her husband in the bridal chamber. They that are united in the bridal chamber shall be no more separated.

9Therefore did Eve become separate from Adam, because she was not joined unto him in the bridal chamber.

10The soul of Adam was made by a breath. Its consort is the spirit. That which was given unto him is his mother. Out of his soul was given unto him his spirit, in place of his soul. When he was joined together, he uttered words above the powers. They envied him, and they separated his spiritual companion from him secretly.

11It happeneth that he is hidden in the bridal chamber. So shall it not happen again. Therefore did Eve come forth from Adam, because she was not joined unto him in the bridal chamber.

12Adam came to be from two virgins — from the Spirit, and from the virgin earth. Therefore Christ was born of a virgin, that He might rectify the falling that was in the beginning.

13There are two trees in paradise: one bringeth forth beasts, and the other bringeth forth men. Adam ate of the tree which bringeth forth beasts, and he became a beast, and begat beasts. Therefore the children of Adam revere beasts. The tree, the fruit of which Adam ate, is a tree. Therefore many sons it begat. He ate of it, and the beasts came to exist. Therefore men beget beasts, and beasts beget men. So is it: God created man, and the man created God. So is it in the world. Men make gods, and worship their creations. It were fitting that the gods should worship men!

14Surely as a man's deeds proceed forth, so are they accomplished by the man's powers; therefore they are called powers. They are his works. The children are his works also. Therefore his power dwelleth in his children, but his works are not so. So the man worketh in power, but it is in his children that he beareth fruit. Thou seest that this is so in the example: this is the man of the image, that worketh by his power, but begetteth his children in repose.

15In this world the slaves serve the free. In the kingdom of heaven the free shall serve the slaves; the children of the bridal chamber shall serve the children of marriage. Even thus do the children of the bridal chamber bear one and the same name: rest. Together they have nothing of the other; they have only the contemplation. They are perfect in the form of the contemplation, in the heart that lives.

16Truth came not naked into the world, but came in types and images. The world shall not receive her in any other way. There is a rebirth, and there is the image of the rebirth: it behoveth indeed to be born again through the image. Which is the resurrection? It is the image, that hath risen by means of the image. The bridal chamber is the image; by means of the image must one enter into the truth, that is, the restoration.

17It is fitting not only for them to receive the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, but also that they receive these for themselves. He that receiveth them not, the name also shall be taken away from him. But one receiveth them in the chrism, with the oil of the power of the cross. The apostles call this the right and the left. For thereafter such an one is no more a Christian, but a Christ.

18The Lord did everything in a mystery — a baptism, a chrism, a eucharist, a redemption, and a bridal chamber.

19The Father was in the Son, and the Son was in the Father. Such is the kingdom of heaven.

20Well doth the Lord say: Some have entered into the kingdom of heaven laughing, and they have come out laughing. Yet another saith: A Christian. And again, He saith: A Christ. He that came down with us into the water and we did not know, this it is whom we put on, that we might be made kings.

21He that hath been anointed hath the All. He hath the resurrection, the light, the cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the bridal chamber; he received it.

22The Father was in the Son, and the Son in the Father. He that knoweth himself shall reach Him. He that hath knowledge of himself, who he is and whence he came, shall be received in the kingdom of heaven.

23Whoever shall come to know what is established, knowing whither he is bound, shall return to his place.

24Pearls were brought down from above, even from the Pleroma. They are not given unto them that are not worthy. The pearl is given unto the children of the bridal chamber. They are clothed with light.

25Animal man cannot beget for the bridal chamber. The bridal chamber is for the perfect alone. We must put on the perfect man before we go forth. He that doth so shall not stumble. None shall be able to torment him, even though he is in the world. Even when he goeth forth from the world he hath received the truth in images. The world is the eternal realm — for the eternal realm is the fulness for him.

On the labour of the perfect, the trees of life, the seal, the rest, and the inheritance of the children of the bridal chamber.

1Some say: He went out of the world. Let it be, then. He that is the perfect man — they cannot detain him.

2He hath received truth in images. The world hath become the eternal realm; for the eternal realm is fulness unto him. So is it manifest unto him alone — not hidden in the darkness or in the night, but hidden in a perfect day and a holy light.

3We are sown in the wintertime, and we are reaped in the summer. Winter is the world; summer is the other realm. Let us sow in the world that we may reap in the summer.

4The Lord saith: Blessed is he that hath the Word and laboureth in it. The Word laboureth in him also. The Word is the cooperation of the works. The Word and the deed agree.

5There are three offerings to the Lord: glory, mercy, and righteousness. Some give glory unto God by their tongue, and they have no mercy nor righteousness. Some give mercy by works, and they have no glory nor righteousness. The third hath all three: glory, mercy, and righteousness. The first is incomplete; the second is incomplete; the third is the seal of perfection.

6The seal of the Father is the Spirit. The seal of the Son is the cross. The seal of the Spirit is the bridal chamber. He that beareth the three seals shall stand at the gate of the kingdom, and the gate shall be opened unto him.

7Whatsoever a slave wisheth, his master demandeth not from him. The master, on the other hand, who is wise, knoweth the will of his slave, even as the slave knoweth the will of his master. The wise man, who is also a slave, looketh forward to the freedom of the will of his master.

8It behoveth the perfect man not only to do all the will of God; he ought also to know whence he is, and whither he goeth, and what manner of man he is, and what manner of man he hath become. Then shall the rest be at hand for him.

9He hath knowledge as one who being drunk hath turned away from his drunkenness, and being returned unto himself, hath set his own things in order.

10It is no light thing to know how to receive instruction, but it is harder to give instruction, that he that giveth and they that receive may stand firm in the doctrine. He that hath not received the Lord is yet a Hebrew.

11It is not possible for any to behold what is established, except he is made like unto it. So is it for man in this world: he beholdeth the sun without being a sun, the heaven and earth and other things without being them. So is it in the truth. But thou hast seen something there, and hast become those things. Thou hast seen the Spirit, and hast become spirit. Thou hast seen Christ, and hast become Christ. Thou hast seen the Father, and shalt become Father.

12There were many trees of every kind in paradise for him, but there was no wheat for the food of man. Man fed himself like the beasts. But when Christ came, the perfect man, He brought bread from heaven, that man might be nourished by the food of man.

13The rulers thought that what they did was by their own power and will. But the Holy Spirit was secretly accomplishing all things through them as she willed.

14Truth, which existed from the beginning, is sown everywhere. And many see her sown, but few see her gathered.

15Some say that Mary conceived by the Holy Spirit. They are mistaken. They know not what they say. When did a woman ever conceive by a woman? Mary is the virgin whom no power hath defiled.

16Glorious is this great anathema unto the Hebrews — that is to say, the apostles and the apostolic men. This virgin whom no power hath defiled — though the powers defiled themselves with her — the Lord would not have said: My Father in heaven, except He had another Father; rather He would have said only: My Father.

17The Lord said unto His disciples: Enter into the house of the Father, but neither take anything in the house of the Father, nor carry away anything from it.

18Jesus is a hidden name; Christ is a manifest name. For this cause Jesus is rendered in no other tongue, but His name is Jesus, as it is. But Christ in the Syriac is Messias; in the Greek, Christos.

19Echamoth is one thing, and Echmoth another. Echamoth is simply Wisdom; Echmoth is the wisdom of death — that is, the wisdom that knoweth death — which is called the little wisdom.

20Let us, therefore, abide in the truth. He that hath the knowledge of the truth is free, and the free sinneth not. For he that doeth sin is the slave of sin. The truth is the mother; knowledge is the father. They that are not yet able to sin, the world calleth them free. The knowledge of the truth uplifteth the heart of those who are not free; that is, it maketh them free, and maketh them above all the place.

21But love buildeth up. He that hath become free by knowledge is a slave because of love unto them which have not yet been able to attain the freedom of knowledge. Knowledge maketh them able to be free. Love calleth nothing its own. How can it have anything as its own, when it possesseth all things? It saith not: This is mine, or that is mine. Rather, it saith: All these are thine.

22Spiritual love is wine and fragrance. They which anoint themselves with it enjoy it, even all they that stand near. So long as they that are anointed are present, they that stand near them have part in their joy. If those that are anointed depart from them, those that stand near and have not been anointed shall remain in their own stench.

23The Samaritan gave nothing unto the wounded man save wine and oil — that is, the chrism. He cured the wounds, for love covereth a multitude of sins.

24If a woman bear a child of her own husband, the child shall be like the husband. If she bear it of a paramour, the child shall be like the paramour. So oftentimes when a woman lieth with her husband out of necessity, while her heart is with the adulterer, she beareth a child like the adulterer. But ye who are with the Son of God, love not the world; love the Lord, that what ye beget may not become like the world, but like the Lord.

25Man hath congress with man; horse hath congress with horse; ass hath congress with ass. Each kind keepeth to its own kind. So spirit hath congress with spirit; the Word hath converse with the Word; light hath converse with light. If thou be made man, the man shall love thee. If thou be made spirit, the spirit shall be joined unto thee. If thou be made Word, the Word shall have converse with thee. If thou be made light, the light shall be joined unto thee.

26If thou be made one of them which are above, them which are above shall rest in thee. If thou become a horse or an ass or a dog or a sheep or any other of the beasts, none shall be able to love thee, neither shall the Word be joined unto thee. None of those of the hidden things shall rest in thee. None of those of the manifest things shall be in thee. Thou shalt have part with them only, and shalt take of their substance.

27He that goeth forth from the world is no longer detained, even because he was once in the world. He is plainly above lust and fear, and is master over nature. He is mightier than envy. If any come and lay hold of him, and would choke him, how shall he not also escape by the power of these? Surely they shall be afraid of him.

28By means of the bridal chamber the daughters of God are joined unto the sons of God. They are no more two, but one. As long as they are two, the children of marriage are not yet perfected.

29If a man become a child of the bridal chamber, he shall receive the light. If a man receive it not while he is in this place, he shall not be able to receive it in the other place. Therefore he that hath received that light shall not be seen, neither can he be detained. Neither shall any harass such an one, even though he dwelleth in the world. And again, when he leaveth the world, he hath already received the truth in the images. The world hath become the eternal realm — for the eternal realm is fulness unto him.

30And so it is manifest unto him alone — hidden not in the darkness or the night, but in a perfect day and a holy light. Amen.