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1The Gospel of Philip
2
3CONVERTS
4
5A Jew  makes a Jew whom we call a convert.
6A convert makes no convert.
7
8Some are and make others like them,
9while others simply are.
10
11
12SLAVES
13
14A slave longs for freedom
15and doesn’t hope to own a master’s estate.
16
17A child claims the father’s legacy,
18but those who inherit the dead are dead.
19
20Heirs to the living are alive
21and are heirs to life and death.
22
23The dead are heirs to nothing.
24
25How can the dead inherit?
26Yet if the dead inherits the living,
27the living won’t die and the dead will survive.
28
29
30GENTILES, JEWS, CHRISTIANS
31
32A gentile doesn’t die, never
33having been alive to die.
34
35You who find truth are alive;
36another may die, being alive.
37
38Since Christ came the world was made,
39cities adorned, and the dead buried.
40
41When we were Jews we were orphans
42with only a mother.
43
44When we turned Christian we had a father
45and a mother.
46
47
48SOWING IN SEASON
49
50Those who sow in winter reap in summer.
51Let us sow in the world to reap in summer.
52Winter is the world, summer the other realm.
53
54It is wrong to pray in winter.
55
56From winter comes summer.
57
58If you reap in winter you will not reap.
59
60You will pull up young plants.
61
62At the wrong season no crop is yours.
63
64Even on the days of the Sabbath
65the field is barren.
66
67
68CHRIST AND THE SOUL
69
70Christ came to buy. He rescued and redeemed,
71redeeming aliens. He made strangers his own.
72
73He brought his own and made promises,
74construing a strategy, and gave his life
75when he appeared and when the world began.
76
77Then he came and took back what he promised,
78which fell into the hands of thieves. They captured it,
79but he rescued it back. Then he redeemed
80both the good and evil people in the world.
81
82
83LIGHT AND DARKNESS
84
85Light and darkness, life and death, on the right and left,
86these are children, they are inseparably together.
87
88But the good are not good, the wicked not wicked,
89life not life, death not death.
90
91Each element fades to an original source.
92
93But those who live above the world cannot fade.
94
95They are eternal.
96
97
98NAMES
99
100The names of earthly things are illusory.
101
102We stray from the real to the unreal.
103
104If you hear the word “god,” you miss the real
105and hear the unreal.
106
107Father, son, holy spirit, life, light, resurrection, church.
108
109These words are not real. They are unreal
110but refer to the real, and are heard in the world.
111
112They fool us. If those names were in the eternal realm,
113they would never be heard on earth.
114
115They were not assigned to us here.
116
117Their end dwells in the eternal realm.
118
119
120THE NAME NOT UTTERED
121
122Only one name is not uttered in the world:
123the name the father gave the son.
124
125Above the name of all others is the father’s name.
126
127The son would not be father without wearing
128the father’s name.
129
130Those with his name know it but do not speak it.
131
132Those without his name do not think it.
133
134TRUTH MADE NAMES
135
136Truth made names in the world,
137and without them we can’t think.
138
139Truth is one and is many,
140teaching one thing through the many.
141
142
143RULERS
144
145The rulers  wanted to fool us,
146since they saw we were connected with the good.
147
148They took the names of the good
149and gave them to the not good
150so with names they could trick
151and rope us to the not good.
152
153As though doing us a favor,
154they took names from the not good
155and placed them on the good.
156
157They knew what they were doing.
158
159They wanted to grab those of us who were free
160and make us eternal slaves.
161
162
163FORCES
164
165There are forces that don’t want us to be saved.
166
167They act for their own sake. . . .
168
169If we are saved there will be no sacrifices,
170no animals offered to the forces.
171
172Yes, they made sacrifices to the animals.
173
174They were alive when they offered them,
175and then they died.
176
177They offered us dead to god,
178and we lived.
179
180ONCE THERE WAS NO BREAD
181
182Before Christ came there was no bread in the world,
183just as paradise, with its Adam, had many trees
184for nourishing animals but no wheat for humans.
185
186Once we nourished ourselves like animals,
187but when the perfect Christ came,
188he carried bread down from heaven
189so we could eat like humans.
190
191
192RULERS AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
193
194The rulers thought they had done everything
195alone, but in secret
196the holy spirit on her own accomplished it all.
197
198
199SOWING TRUTH
200
201Truth from the beginning is sown everywhere.
202
203Many see it sown. Few see it reaped.
204
205
206MARY AND THE HOLY SPIRIT
207
208Some say the holy spirit inseminated Mary.
209
210They are wrong and don’t know what they are saying.
211
212When did a woman ever get a woman pregnant? 
213Mary is a virgin and no powers dirtied her.
214
215She is a great repugnance to the Jews
216who are apostolic, who are the messengers.
217
218No powers dirtied the virgin.
219
220They dirtied themselves.
221
222
223THE LORD’S FATHER
224
225The lord would never say, “My father who is in heaven” 
226unless he had another father elsewhere.
227
228He would have simply said, “My father.”
229
230
231POSSESSIONS
232
233The lord said to the students,
234“From every house you are in, take out possessions,
235but take things into the father’s house
236and do not steal what is inside and run off.”
237
238
239JESUS IS A HIDDEN NAME
240
241Jesus is a hidden name, Christ is an open one.
242
243So Jesus is not a word in any tongue but a name
244they call him.
245
246In Syriac the Christ is messias, in Greek he is christos.
247
248All languages have their own way of calling him.
249
250Nazarene is the revealed name for what is secret.
251
252
253WHAT IS CHRIST?
254
255In himself Christ has everything, be it human
256or angel or mystery and the father.
257
258
259THE LORD ASCENDING
260
261Some say the lord died first and then ascended.
262
263They are wrong. He rose first and then he died.
264
265Unless you are first resurrected, you will not die.
266
267As god lives, you would already be dead.
268
269
270PENNY AND SOUL
271
272No one would hide a beautiful and valuable object
273under a lovely cover, but often vast monies are held
274in a bag worth only a penny.
275
276Consider the soul. It is a precious spirit and it came
277in a contemptible body.
278
279
280SOME ARE AFRAID
281
282Some are afraid that they will ascend from death naked,
283and they want to climb back to life in their flesh.
284
285They are unaware that those who wear their flesh are naked,
286and those who strip are not naked.
287
288“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god.” 
289What will we not inherit? The flesh we wear on us.
290
291But what then will we inherit as our own?
292The body of Jesus and his blood. And Jesus said,
293“Whoever will not eat my flesh and drink my blood
294has no life within him.”  What does he mean?
295His flesh is the word and blood the holy spirit.
296
297Who has received these has food and drink and clothing.
298
299I condemn those who say the flesh won’t rise.
300
301Then both are wrong. You say the flesh won’t ascend.
302
303Tell me, what will rise so I can honor you?
304You say spirit in the flesh and light in the flesh.
305
306What is the flesh?
307You say there is nothing outside the flesh.
308
309Then rise in the flesh, since everything exists in it.
310
311In this world those wearing garments are better than garments.
312
313In heaven the garments are better than the wearers.
314
315
316THROUGH WATER AND FIRE
317
318Through water and fire this wide realm is purified,
319and the visible cleaned by the visible,
320and the hidden by the hidden,
321but there are elements concealed in the visible.
322
323There is water within water
324and fire in the oil of chrism.
325
326
327JESUS TRICKED EVERYONE
328
329Jesus tricked everyone. He did not appear as he was
330but in a way not to be seen.
331
332Yet he appeared to all of them.
333
334 
335To the great he appeared as great,
336to the small as small. To angels he appeared as an angel,
337and to humans as a human.
338
339And he hid his word from everyone.
340
341Some looked at him and thought they saw themselves.
342
343 
344When before his students he appeared gloriously
345on the mountain, he was not small.
346
347No, he became great, and he made his students grow
348so they would know his immensity.
349
350
351UNION WITH ANGELS
352
353On the day of thanksgiving prayer he said, 
354“You who have joined perfect light with holy spirit,
355join the angels with us as a single image.”
356
357
358THE LAMB
359
360Don’t hate the lamb.
361
362Without the lamb you can’t see the king.
363
364
365MEETING THE KING
366
367You don’t meet the king
368if you are naked.
369
370
371CONCEIVING WITH A KISS
372
373The heavenly man has more children
374than a man on earth. If the offspring of Adam
375are many and die,
376how many more are the offspring of perfect beings
377who do not die and are born each second?
378The father makes a child.
379
380The child cannot make a son. He has not the power
381to make children. One recently born is not a parent.
382
383The son has brothers and sisters, not children.
384
385In this world there is a natural order to birth,
386and one is nourished by ordinary means.
387
388We are nourished by the promise of heaven,
389from the mouth of the word.
390
391If the word emanated from the mouth, it is perfect.
392
393By a kiss the perfect conceive and give birth.
394
395That is why we kiss.
396
397From the grace in others we conceive.
398
399
400THREE MARYS
401
402Three Marys walked with the lord:
403His mother, his sister, and Mary of Magdala,
404his companion.
405
406His sister and mother and companion
407were Mary.
408
409
410THE HOLY SPIRIT
411
412Father and son are single names.
413
414Holy spirit is a double name and everywhere:
415above and below, hidden and revealed.
416
417The holy spirit lives in the revealed.
418
419It is concealed below. It is above.
420
421
422BLINDERS
423
424Even evil powers serve the saints.
425
426The holy spirit blinds the powers
427who suppose they are treating a simple man
428when they are treating saints.
429
430
431ASK YOUR MOTHER
432
433A student once asked the lord for something
434from the world, and he said, “Ask your mother,
435and she will give you something
436from another realm.”
437
438
439SOPHIA AND SALT
440
441The messengers said to the students,
442“Let our offering all be for obtaining salt.”
443Salt is what they called Sophia.
444
445Without salt no offering is acceptable.
446
447But Sophia is barren. She has no child,
448and so she is called a trace of salt.
449
450Yet wherever others are will be the holy spirit.
451
452Her children are many.
453
454
455FATHER AND CHILD
456
457What a father has belongs to his child,
458but not while the child is still little.
459
460When the child is grown, however,
461then the father turns over all he possesses.
462
463
464THE LOST
465
466Those who have gone astray are those born
467of the spirit. And they are usually lost
468because of the spirit. So from one single breath
469of spirit the fire blazes and is blackened.
470
471
472WISDOM AND THE WISDOM OF DEATH
473
474Echamoth is one thing and Echmoth another.
475
476Echamoth is simply wisdom, 
477but Echmoth is the wisdom of death,
478who is the one who knows death,
479who is called little wisdom.
480
481
482DOMESTIC ANIMALS AND BEASTS
483
484Domestic animals may be the bull and the donkey
485and other species.
486
487Others are wild and live in the deserts.
488
489A man plows the field with a domestic animal,
490and from the fruit of his labor
491he feeds himself and the animals, tame or wild.
492
493Compare the perfect human.
494
495Through submissive powers he plows
496and prepares for everything to come into being.
497
498So his world holds together, good or evil, the right and the left.
499
500The holy spirit shepherds everyone and rules all the powers,
501those tame and wild and running loose.
502
503He gathers them and shuts them in
504so, like it or not, they cannot escape.
505
506
507CAIN
508
509The one who has been created  is beautiful,
510and you would expect his sons to be noble creations.
511
512If one was not created but engendered,
513you would find his seed was noble,
514but now he was created and he engendered.
515
516Is this nobility? Adultery came into being,
517then murder. One  was engendered in adultery,
518since he was the child of the serpent.
519
520So like his father he too became a murderer and killed his brother.
521
522Every sexual act between unlike persons is adultery.
523
524
525GOD IS A DYER
526
527God is a dyer.
528
529The good dyes, true dyes, dissolve into things
530dyed in them.
531
532So too for things god has dyed.
533
534His dyes are imperishable because of their colors.
535
536What god dips he dips in water.
537
538
539SEEING
540
541It is impossible to see anything in the real realm
542unless you become it.
543
544Not so in the world. You see the sun without being the sun,
545see sky and earth but are not them.
546
547This is the truth of the world.
548
549In the other truth you are what you see.
550
551If you see spirit, you are spirit.
552
553If you look at the anointed, you are the anointed.
554
555If you see the father, you will be father.
556
557In this world you see everything but yourself,
558but there, you look at yourself and are what you see.
559
560
561FAITH AND LOVE
562
563Faith receives, love gives.
564
565No one receives without faith.
566
567No one gives without love.
568
569To receive, believe; to love, give.
570
571If you give without love,
572no one derives a thing from what is given.
573
574Whoever has not accepted the lord
575is still a Jew.
576
577
578NAMES OF JESUS
579
580The messengers  who were before us had these names
581for him: Jesus, the Nazorean, messiah,
582that is, Jesus, the Nazorean, the Christ.
583
584The last name is Christ,
585the first is Jesus,
586the middle name is the Nazarene.
587
588Messiah has two meanings, both “Christ” and “measured.”
589Jesus in Hebrew is “redemption.”
590Nazara is “truth.”
591Christ has been measured.
592
593The Nazarene and Jesus are they who have been measured.
594
595
596PEARL IN THE MUD
597
598If a pearl is thrown into mud, it loses no value,
599and if rubbed with balsam oil, it gains no value.
600
601It always is precious in its owner’s eyes.
602
603Wherever they are, the children of god
604are precious in the eyes of the father.
605
606
607JEW, ROMAN, GREEK, CHRISTIAN
608
609If you say, “I am a Jew,” no one will be moved.
610
611If you say, “I am a Roman,” no one will be upset.
612
613If you say, “I am Greek, a barbarian, a slave, a freeman,”
614no one will be troubled.
615
616But if you say, “I am a Christian,” they will tremble.
617
618I wish I had that title. The world
619will not endure it when hearing the name.
620
621
622GOD IS A MAN-EATER
623
624God is a man-eater. So people are sacrificed to him.
625
626Before humans were sacrificed, it was animals,
627because those they were eaten by were not gods.
628
629
630GLASS AND EARTH
631
632Glass decanters and earthenware jugs are both made with fire.
633
634When a glass decanter breaks, it is redone,
635since it was made through a breath.
636
637When earthenware jugs break, they are destroyed,
638since they were born without a breath.
639
640
641DONKEY AND MILLSTONE
642
643A donkey turning a millstone walked a hundred miles.
644
645When it was set loose, it found itself in the same place.
646
647Some people travel long but go nowhere.
648
649At twilight they have seen no cities or villages,
650no human constructions or phenomena of nature,
651no powers or angels.
652
653These miserable ones have labored in vain.
654
655
656THE EUCHARIST IS JESUS
657
658The eucharist is Jesus. In Syriac it is called pharisatha,
659which is “one who is spread out,”
660since Jesus came to crucify the world.
661
662
663THE LORD IN THE DYE WORKS OF LEVI
664
665The lord went into the dye works of Levi
666and took seventy-two different colors and threw them
667into a vat. He drew them out perfectly white.
668
669He said, “In this way the earthly son has come as a dyer.”
670
671
672WISDOM, MOTHER OF THE ANGELS
673
674Wisdom, who is called “barren,” is mother of the angels.
675
676The companion is Mary of Magdala. Jesus loved her
677more than his students. He kissed her often
678on her face, more than all his students,
679and they said, “Why do you love her more than us?” 
680The savior answered, saying to them,
681“Why do I not love you like her? If a blind man
682and one who sees are together in darkness,
683they are the same.
684
685When light comes, the one who sees will see light.
686
687The blind man stays in darkness.”
688
689
690BEING
691
692The lord said, “Blessings on you
693who were before you came into being.
694
695Whoever is, was, and will be.”
696
697
698HUMANS AND ANIMALS
699
700The superiority of humans is not obvious to the eye
701but lies in what is hidden.
702
703Consequently they have mastery over animals
704who are stronger and larger in ways apparent
705and hidden. So the animals survive.
706
707When humans withdraw, the animals slay and devour
708each other, because they do not find food.
709
710Now they have food because humans plow the soil.
711
712
713WATER AND MYSTERY
714
715If you go down into the water and come up,
716receiving nothing, and say, “I am a Christian,”
717you have borrowed the name at interest.
718
719But if you receive the holy spirit,
720you have the name as a gift. And a gift
721you do not pay back.
722
723But if you have borrowed at interest,
724you must pay. So it works
725when you have passed through mystery.
726
727
728MARRIAGE
729
730Great is the mystery of marriage! Without it,
731the world would not be.
732
733The existence of the world depends
734on marriage.
735
736Think of sex. It possesses deep powers,
737though its image is filthy.
738
739
740BRIDAL CHAMBER AND ANDROGYNY
741
742Among the forms of unclean spirits are male
743and female ones. Males have sex with souls
744who inhabit a female shape,
745and females mingle promiscuously with souls
746in a male form. No one escapes those spirits:
747they seize you, unless you take on the power
748of male or female, of groom and bride.
749
750This power resides in the mirrored bridal chamber.
751
752When wanton women see a man sitting alone,
753the man is overcome. They fondle him
754and pollute him. When wanton men see
755a beautiful woman sitting alone, they overcome her,
756and she is violated and polluted.
757
758But when spirits see a man and his wife sitting together,
759the female spirits cannot enter the male, nor the male
760the woman. When the image and angel are joined,
761none can force themselves on the man and woman.
762
763
764LEAVING THE WORLD
765
766When you leave the world, nothing can stop you
767because you were in the world. You are above desire
768and fear. You are master of envy. If someone does not
769leave the world, the forces grab and choke him.
770
771How can one escape those great grasping rulers?
772How can one hide from them? Some say,
773“We were faithful,” to escape the filthy spirits and demons.
774
775But if they had the holy spirit, nothing filthy
776would cleave to them. Have no fear of the flesh.
777
778Don’t love it. If you are fearful, it will gain mastery
779over you. If you love the flesh,
780it will swallow and paralyze you.
781
782
783IN THIS WORLD OR THE RESURRECTION
784
785Either someone will be in this world
786or in the resurrection or in the middle place.
787
788God forbid that I be found in the middle!
789In this world there is good and evil.
790
791Its good is not good, and evil not evil.
792
793But there is evil after this world
794that is truly evil—which is called the middle.
795
796The middle is death.
797
798While we are in this world it is best to acquire resurrection
799for ourselves 
800so when we strip off the flesh we may rest
801and not walk in the middle.
802
803Many go astray on the way.
804
805
806WILL AND SIN
807
808It is good to leave the world before one has sinned.
809
810Some have neither the will nor the ability to act.
811
812Others, even if they have the will, are better off
813if they do not act, for the act of the will makes them sinners.
814
815But even if they have no will to act,
816justice may be concealed from them,
817whether they have the will or not.
818
819Will, not action, is always primary.
820
821
822HELL
823
824A messenger in a vision saw people
825locked up in a house of fire and bound with fiery chains,
826lying in a flaming ointment.
827
828He asked them, “Why can’t they be saved?”
829“We did not desire it,” they told the messenger,
830“but we got this place of punishment.
831
832It is the outer darkness, and we are in it.”
833
834
835KINDS OF FIRE
836
837Soul and spirit came into being from water and fire.
838
839From water and fire and light came the attendant
840in the bridal chamber.
841
842Fire is chrism. Light is fire. I am not referring to flame,
843which has no form, but to another kind of fire,
844whose appearance is white,
845which is luminous and beautiful
846and gives beauty.
847
848
849TRUTH AND NAKEDNESS
850
851Truth didn’t come into the world naked
852but in types and images. Truth is received only
853that way. There is rebirth and its image.
854
855They must be reborn through image.
856
857What is the resurrection?
858Image must rise again through image.
859
860The bridegroom and image enter through image
861into truth, which is restoration. It is right
862that those who don’t have it take on the name
863of the father and son and the holy spirit.
864
865But they have not done so on their own.
866
867If you do not take on the names for yourself,
868the name “Christian” will be taken from you.
869
870You receive them in the oil of the chrism,
871the aromatic unction of the power of the cross.
872
873The messengers called this power “the right and left.”
874You are no longer a Christian but Christ.
875
876
877FIVE SACRAMENTS
878
879The lord did everything through mystery:
880baptism and a chrism and a eucharist
881and a redemption and a bridal chamber.
882
883
884THINGS BELOW LIKE THINGS ABOVE
885
886The lord said, “I came to make things below
887like things above, and the outside like the inside.
888
889I came to join them in one place.” 
890He revealed who he is through types and images.
891
892Those who say, “There is a heavenly person
893and one even higher,” are wrong.
894
895Who is seen in heaven is the heavenly person,
896who is called “the one below,”
897and the one to whom the hidden belongs
898is called “higher.”
899It is best to say “inner” and “outer” and “what is beyond the outer.”
900So the lord called destruction “the outer darkness.” 
901There is nothing beyond.
902
903He said, “My father who is in secret.”
904He said, “Go into the chamber and shut the door behind you,
905and pray to your father who is in secret,” 
906the one who is innermost.
907
908But what is within them all is the fullness.
909
910Beyond it there is nothing inside.
911
912This is the place they call “the uppermost.”
913
914
915PLACES OF THE SPIRIT
916
917Before Christ, some came from a realm
918they could not reenter,
919and they went where they could not come out.
920
921Then Christ came.
922
923Those who went in he took out.
924
925Those who went out he took in.
926
927
928EVE IN ADAM
929
930When Eve was in Adam there was no death.
931
932When she was cut from him,
933death came into being.
934
935If he enters what he was and takes her in him fully,
936death will disappear.
937
938
939CRUCIFIXION
940
941“My god, my god, O lord, why have you abandoned me?” 
942He said these words on the cross.
943
944But not from that place. He was already gone. . . .
945
946
947RISING FROM THE DEAD
948
949The lord rose from the dead.
950
951He became as he was,
952but now his body was perfect.
953
954He possessed flesh,
955but this was true flesh.
956
957Our flesh isn’t true.
958
959Ours is only an image of the true.
960
961
962BEDROOM
963
964Animals don’t have a bridal bedroom,
965nor do slaves or dirtied women.
966
967Bedrooms are for free men and virgins.
968
969
970BORN AGAIN
971
972Through the holy spirit we are again engendered, 
973but conceived through Christ.
974
975We are anointed in the spirit.
976
977When we were conceived we were united.
978
979No one will be able to look at oneself
980either in water or in a mirror without light,
981nor see in light without water or mirror.
982
983So it is fitting to baptize in light and water.
984
985Now the light is the chrism.
986
987
988THREE BUILDINGS IN JERUSALEM
989
990There were three buildings in Jerusalem, 
991one facing west called “the holy,”
992another facing south called “the holy of the holy.”
993The third facing east was called “the holy of the holies,”
994where only the high priest enters.
995
996Baptism is the holy building.
997
998Redemption is the holy of the holy.
999
1000The holy of the holies is the bridal chamber.
1001
1002Baptism includes resurrection and redemption.
1003
1004Redemption happens in the bridal chamber,
1005but the bridal chamber is part of something
1006superior to it and the others
1007because you will find nothing like it.
1008
1009Those familiar with it are those who pray
1010in spirit and in truth 
1011for they do not pray in Jerusalem.
1012
1013There are some who pray in Jerusalem,
1014awaiting the kingdom of heaven,
1015called the holy of the holies.
1016
1017Before the veil was rent we had no bridal chamber
1018but the image of the bridal chamber above.
1019
1020So its veil was torn from top to bottom.
1021
1022It was right for some below to ascend.
1023
1024
1025GARMENT OF LIGHT
1026
1027The rulers do not see you
1028who wear the perfect light,
1029and they cannot seize you.
1030
1031You put on the light
1032in the mystery of union.
1033
1034
1035REUNION IN THE BEDROOM
1036
1037If the woman and man had not come apart,
1038they would not know death.
1039
1040Christ came to repair the split, there from the beginning,
1041and join the two and give them life
1042who had died because of separation.
1043
1044Now the woman and man are one in the chamber
1045with the bed, and those so joined will not come apart again.
1046
1047Eve and Adam separated because when they joined
1048it was not in the chamber with the bed.
1049
1050
1051ADAM’S SOUL
1052
1053The soul of Adam came into being through
1054a breath blowing into him.  Breath is spirit.
1055
1056The element given him is his mother.
1057
1058Soul became spirit. When he was joined to spirit,
1059he spoke words incomprehensible to the powers.
1060
1061They envied him, excluded from the union of the spirit.
1062
1063Their exclusion spurred them into fashioning the bridal chamber
1064where lovers would come and be defiled.
1065
1066
1067JESUS AT THE JORDAN
1068
1069Jesus appeared at the Jordan River with the fullness of the kingdom of heaven.
1070
1071He was born before there was birth.
1072
1073He was anointed once and was anointed anew.
1074
1075He who was redeemed redeemed the world.
1076
1077
1078MYSTERY
1079
1080It is good to speak of mystery,
1081especially because the father of all
1082joined with the virgin who came down,
1083and on that day a fire shone over him.
1084
1085He came to the bridal chamber.
1086
1087So on that very day his body came into being.
1088
1089And on that day he left the chamber with the splendor
1090of what passed between the bride and bridegroom.
1091
1092Through this force Jesus did everything.
1093
1094It is good for each of his students
1095to go into the chamber and rest.
1096
1097
1098VIRGIN BIRTHS
1099
1100Adam came into being from two virgins:
1101from the spirit and from the virgin earth,
1102and Christ was born of a virgin to heal the initial fall.
1103
1104
1105TWO TREES OF PARADISE
1106
1107Two trees are growing in paradise.
1108
1109One bears animals, the other bears people.
1110
1111Adam ate from the tree that bore animals
1112and became an animal and brought forth animals,
1113and so Adam’s children worship animals.
1114
1115The tree whose fruit Adam ate is the tree of knowledge.
1116
1117So his sins increased. If he had eaten fruit
1118from the tree of life, the one bearing people,
1119the gods would worship man and woman,
1120for in the beginning god created man and woman.
1121
1122Now they create god. In the world
1123humans make gods and worship their creation.
1124
1125It would be better if the gods worshiped them!
1126
1127
1128A MAN AND HIS CHILDREN
1129
1130A man does what he has the skills to do.
1131
1132He has the ability to make children.
1133
1134He does it easily in a few seconds.
1135
1136His accomplishment shows in his children.
1137
1138They are the image.
1139
1140He was also made after the image,
1141doing things with his physical strength
1142and producing his children with ease.
1143
1144
1145SLAVES AND THE FREE
1146
1147In this world the slaves serve the free.
1148
1149In the kingdom of heaven the free will serve the slaves,
1150and the attendants of the bridal chamber
1151will minister to the wedding guests.
1152
1153The attendants of the bridal chamber have one name, rest,
1154and need take no other form because they meditate
1155and comprehend by insight.
1156
1157They are many, since they do not store their treasures
1158in things below, despicable things, but in unknown glory.
1159
1160
1161INTO THE WATER
1162
1163It was necessary for Jesus to descend into the water
1164so that he could perfect and consecrate it.
1165
1166So also they who have received baptism in his name may be perfect.
1167
1168He said, “It is right in this way to perfect all that is just.”
1169
1170
1171BAPTISM
1172
1173When you say you will die first and then rise,
1174you are wrong. If you are not resurrected in life,
1175you will receive nothing when you are dead.
1176
1177Great is baptism. Enter the water and live.
1178
1179
1180JOSEPH AND THE WOODEN CROSS
1181
1182Philip the messenger  said,
1183“Joseph the carpenter planted a garden of paradise
1184because he needed wood for his trade.
1185
1186He made the cross from the trees he planted,
1187and his seed hung from what he planted.
1188
1189His seed was Jesus, and the plant was the cross.”
1190The tree of life in the middle of that garden
1191of paradise is an olive tree, and from the olive tree
1192comes chrism, and from that oil
1193comes the resurrection.
1194
1195
1196THE WORLD EATS BODIES
1197
1198The world eats bodies,
1199and everything eaten in the world dies.
1200
1201Truth eats life,
1202but no one fed on truth will find death.
1203
1204Jesus came and he carried food,
1205giving life to whoever wanted it
1206so they might not die.
1207
1208
1209ADAM IN PARADISE
1210
1211God planted a garden, and humans were placed
1212in the garden. They lived among many trees
1213with the blessing and in the image of god.
1214
1215The things in it I will eat as I wish.
1216
1217Here in this garden they will tell me,
1218“Eat this or do not eat that, just as you wish.”
1219Here I will eat all things,
1220where the tree of knowledge is.
1221
1222That tree killed Adam,
1223but here the tree of knowledge made us alive.
1224
1225The law was the tree.
1226
1227It has the power to give knowledge of good and evil.
1228
1229It did not remove me from evil
1230or set me among the good.
1231
1232It created death for those who ate it. When they said,
1233“Eat this or do not eat that,” death began.
1234
1235
1236SUPERIORITY OF CHRISM TO BAPTISM
1237
1238The chrism is superior to baptism.
1239
1240From the word chrism we have been called Christians,
1241and surely not from the word baptism.
1242
1243And because of the chrism Christ has his name.
1244
1245The father anointed the son,
1246and the son anointed the messengers,
1247and the messengers anointed us.
1248
1249Who has been anointed possesses everything:
1250resurrection, light, cross, holy spirit.
1251
1252The father gave him this in the bridal chamber.
1253
1254He merely accepted the gift.
1255
1256The father was in the son and the son in the father.
1257
1258This is the kingdom of heaven.
1259
1260
1261LAUGHING CHRIST
1262
1263The lord said it perfectly:
1264“Some have entered the kingdom of heaven laughing,
1265and they have come out laughing.”
1266They do not remain there:
1267one because he is not a Christian,
1268another because he laments his later acts.
1269
1270As soon as Christ went down into the water
1271he came out laughing at everything in this world,
1272not because he thought it a trifle, but out of contempt.
1273
1274Whoever wants to enter the kingdom of heaven will do so.
1275
1276Whoever despises everything of this world, scorns it as a trifle,
1277will emerge laughing.
1278
1279So with the bread and the cup and the oil,
1280for above is one superior to all these.
1281
1282
1283CREATION
1284
1285The world came into being through error.
1286
1287The agent who made it 
1288wanted it to be imperishable and immortal.
1289
1290He failed. He came up with less than his desire.
1291
1292The world was never incorruptible,
1293nor was its maker. Things are not imperishable,
1294but children are. Nothing can endure
1295that is not first a child. Whoever cannot receive
1296surely will be unable to give.
1297
1298
1299CUP OF PRAYER
1300
1301The cup of prayer holds wine and water.
1302
1303It is appointed for the blood for which thanks is given.
1304
1305It is filled with holy spirit
1306and is of the perfect human.
1307
1308When we drink, we drink the perfect human.
1309
1310
1311LIVING WATER
1312
1313The living water is a body.
1314
1315We must put on the living human.
1316
1317When you go into the water, you strip naked
1318and put on the living human.
1319
1320
1321A HORSE SIRES A HORSE
1322
1323A horse sires a horse, a human gives birth to a human,
1324a god engenders a god.
1325
1326Compare the bridegroom and the bride.
1327
1328Their children were born in the chamber.
1329
1330No Jew was ever born to Greek parents
1331as long as the world has existed.
1332
1333And as Christians, we do not descend from the Jews.
1334
1335There was another people.
1336
1337These blessed ones were the chosen ones,
1338the chosen people of the living god;
1339and then the true man, the earthly son,
1340and the seed of the earthly son.
1341
1342In the world these are the true people.
1343
1344They are the attendants of the bridal chamber.
1345
1346
1347POWER AND WEAKNESS
1348
1349In this world, power and weakness mingle
1350when man and woman have sex.
1351
1352Joining is different in the eternal realm,
1353though we use the same names to speak of it.
1354
1355There are names beyond the ordinary ones
1356and stronger than showy brute strength.
1357
1358Yet all is the same, and this is incomprehensible
1359to hearts of flesh.
1360
1361
1362KNOWLEDGE OF SELF
1363
1364Should you who possess everything not know yourself? 
1365If you do not know yourself,
1366you will not enjoy what you own.
1367
1368But know yourself
1369and what you have enjoy.
1370
1371
1372GARMENT OF LIGHT
1373
1374The perfect human can neither be restrained nor seen.
1375
1376If they see him, they can stop him,
1377so there is no way to grace but to put on
1378the perfect light and become perfect.
1379
1380All who put on that garment will enter the kingdom.
1381
1382This is the perfect light.
1383
1384We must become perfect before leaving this world.
1385
1386Who is rich and has not thrown it off
1387will not share in the kingdom
1388but will go as imperfect into the middle.
1389
1390Only Jesus knows where that will end.
1391
1392
1393THE HOLY PERSON
1394
1395The priest is fully holy, including his body.
1396
1397Does one take bread and make it holy?
1398Or the cup or anything drunk?
1399Are they sanctified? 
1400If so, why not the body too?
1401
1402
1403BAPTISM AND DEATH
1404
1405By perfecting the water of baptism,
1406Jesus emptied it of death.
1407
1408We go into the water but not into death,
1409so we are not poured out into the wind of the world.
1410
1411Whenever that wind blows, winter comes.
1412
1413When the holy spirit breathes, summer blows in.
1414
1415
1416KNOWLEDGE AND LOVE
1417
1418Whoever has knowledge of the truth is a free being,
1419but the free human doesn’t sin.
1420
1421“Whoever sins is the slave of sin.” 
1422Truth is the mother, knowledge the father.
1423
1424Those who think that sinning does not apply to them
1425are called free by the world.
1426
1427Knowledge of the truth can make one arrogant,
1428giving meaning to the words “being free.”
1429It makes them feel superior to the world.
1430
1431But love builds up.
1432
1433Who is really free through knowledge
1434is a slave because of love for those
1435who have not yet attained the freedom of knowledge.
1436
1437Knowledge makes them capable of freedom.
1438
1439Love never calls something its own,
1440yet it too may possess the same thing.
1441
1442Love never says, “This is mine,” or “That is mine,”
1443but “All these are yours.”
1444
1445
1446SPIRITUAL FRAGRANCE
1447
1448Spiritual love is wine and fragrance.
1449
1450Those nearby also enjoy it
1451from those who are anointed.
1452
1453But if the anointed withdraw and leave,
1454then those unanointed, who are hanging around,
1455remain in their bad odor.
1456
1457The Samaritan gave nothing but wine and oil to the wounded.
1458
1459Only the ointment. It healed the wounds,
1460for “love covers a multitude of sins.”
1461
1462
1463CHILDREN AND ADULTERY
1464
1465The children a woman gives birth to
1466resemble the man who loves her.
1467
1468If her husband loves her,
1469then they are like her husband.
1470
1471If affections comes from an adulterer,
1472then the children are like him.
1473
1474Often, if a woman sleeps with her husband
1475out of need, while her heart is with the adulterer
1476with whom she also has sex,
1477her child will look like the adulterer.
1478
1479You who live together with the son of god,
1480love not the world but the lord,
1481so your children will look not like the world
1482but like the lord.
1483
1484
1485SEX AND SPIRIT
1486
1487Humans have sex with humans, horses with horses,
1488donkeys with donkeys.
1489
1490Those of one sort usually linger with those like them.
1491
1492So spirit mingles with spirit
1493and thought consorts with thought
1494and light shares light.
1495
1496If you are born a person, a person will love you.
1497
1498If you become a spirit, a spirit will join with you.
1499
1500If you become thought, thought will mingle with you.
1501
1502If you become light, light will share you.
1503
1504If you are of those from above,
1505one of those from above will rest in you.
1506
1507If you become a horse or a donkey or bull or dog or sheep
1508or another animal that is wild or tame,
1509then neither a person nor spirit nor thought nor light
1510can love you.
1511
1512None of those from above or within can rest in you,
1513and you have no part in them.
1514
1515
1516SLAVES AND FREEDOM
1517
1518Those who are enslaved against their will
1519can be free.
1520
1521Those who are freed by favor of a master
1522but have sold themselves into slavery
1523can no longer be free.
1524
1525
1526FARMING
1527
1528Farming in this world demands four elements.
1529
1530A harvest is collected and taken into the barn
1531as a result of water, earth, wind, and light.
1532
1533God’s farming also has four elements:
1534faith, hope, love, and knowledge.
1535
1536Faith is our earth in which we take root.
1537
1538Hope is the water through which we are nourished.
1539
1540Love is the wind through which we grow.
1541
1542Knowledge is the light through which we ripen.
1543
1544Grace exists in four ways:
1545earthborn, heavenly, from highest heaven,
1546and living in truth.
1547
1548
1549BLESSINGS ON ONE WHO NEVER HARMS A SOUL
1550
1551Blessings on one who never harms a soul.
1552
1553That person is Jesus Christ.
1554
1555He came to the whole earth and distressed no one.
1556
1557Blessings on one like him, the perfect person.
1558
1559This is the word.
1560
1561Tell us about the word, since it is hard to define.
1562
1563How shall we be able to accomplish such a feat?
1564How will he comfort everyone?
1565Especially, it is improper to cause anyone distress,
1566whether that person be great or small,
1567infidel or believer.
1568
1569It is improper to comfort only those who enjoy good deeds.
1570
1571 
1572Some find it useful to comfort one who is lucky.
1573
1574You who do good deeds cannot comfort them,
1575for it goes against your will.
1576
1577You cannot cause them distress, since you are not afflicting them.
1578
1579Yet you who are lucky in life sometimes cause distress
1580unintentionally.
1581
1582but the source is not you but the other person’s wickedness.
1583
1584Whoever has the qualities of the perfect human
1585is happy in the good.
1586
1587Yet some are enormously put out by these distinctions.
1588
1589
1590A HOUSEHOLDER WITH EVERYTHING
1591
1592There was a householder who had every possible thing, 
1593be it son or slave or cattle or dog or pig or wheat
1594or barley or chaff or grass or castor oil or meat or acorn.
1595
1596He was sensible and knew what each one’s food was.
1597
1598He served children bread and meat.
1599
1600He served slaves castor oil and meal.
1601
1602He threw barley and chaff and grass to the cattle.
1603
1604He threw bones to the dogs,
1605and to pigs he threw acorns and scraps of bread.
1606
1607 
1608Compare the student of god.
1609
1610If you are sensible, you understand the nature of learning.
1611
1612Bodily forms will not deceive you,
1613since you will look at the condition of each person’s soul
1614and speak with that form.
1615
1616There are many animals on earth in human form.
1617
1618When you identify them,
1619then you throw acorns to swine,
1620barley and chaff and grass to cattle,
1621and bones to the dogs.
1622
1623To slaves you will give only what is preliminary,
1624but to children you give what is complete.
1625
1626
1627THE EARTHLY SON AND HIS SON
1628
1629There is the earthly son, and there is the son
1630of the earthly son.
1631
1632The lord is the earthly son, 
1633and the son of the earthly son is he who is created
1634through the earthly son.
1635
1636The earthly son received the capacity to create from god.
1637
1638He also had the ability to engender.
1639
1640He who has the ability to create is a creature.
1641
1642He who has the ability to engender is an offspring.
1643
1644But he who creates cannot engender.
1645
1646He who engenders also has the power to create.
1647
1648Now they say, “He who creates engenders,”
1649but his so-called offspring is merely a creature;
1650therefore his children are not offspring but creatures.
1651
1652He who creates works openly and is visible.
1653
1654He who engenders does so in private. . . .
1655
1656
1657MYSTERY OF UNDEFILED MARRIAGE
1658
1659No one can know when the husband and wife have sex
1660except those two.
1661
1662Marriage in the world is a mystery for those who are married.
1663
1664If there is a hidden defilement in the marriage,
1665how much greater is the true mystery of the undefiled marriage!
1666It is not fleshly but pure.
1667
1668It belongs not to desire but to the will.
1669
1670It belongs not to the darkness of the night
1671but to the day and the light.
1672
1673If a marriage is open to the public,
1674it has become prostitution,
1675and the bride plays the harlot
1676not only when impregnated by another man
1677but even if she slips out of her bedroom and is seen.
1678
1679Let her show herself only to her father and her mother
1680and to the friend and attendants of the bridegroom.
1681
1682They are permitted to enter every day into the bridal chamber.
1683
1684But let the others yearn just to listen to her voice
1685and to enjoy her fragrant ointments,
1686and let them feed on the crumbs falling from the table,
1687like dogs.
1688
1689Bridegrooms and brides belong to the bridal chamber.
1690
1691No one shall be able to see the bridegroom or bride
1692unless one becomes a bridegroom or bride.
1693
1694
1695ABRAHAM’S CIRCUMCISION
1696
1697When Abraham rejoiced in seeing what he was to see,
1698he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin,
1699teaching us that it is proper to destroy the flesh.
1700
1701
1702HIDDEN PARTS ARE UPRIGHT
1703
1704As long as they are hidden, most things in the world
1705are upright and live.
1706
1707If they are revealed they die,
1708as is clear by the example of the visible person:
1709as long as the intestines are hidden, a person is alive.
1710
1711When the intestines are exposed and come out,
1712the person will die.
1713
1714So also with a tree.
1715
1716While its root is hidden, it sprouts and grows.
1717
1718If its root is exposed, the tree dries up.
1719
1720So it is with every birth that is in the world,
1721not only with the revealed but also the hidden.
1722
1723As long as the root of wickedness is hidden, it is powerful.
1724
1725But when it is recognized, it is dissolved.
1726
1727When it is revealed, it perishes.
1728
1729That is why the word says,
1730“Even now the ax lies set against the root of the trees.” 
1731It will not merely cut—what is cut sprouts again—
1732but the ax penetrates deeply until it brings up the root.
1733
1734
1735ROOT OF EVIL
1736
1737Jesus pulled out the root of the whole place
1738while others did it only partially.
1739
1740As for us, let each one dig down after the root of evil
1741that is within us
1742and pluck it out of our heart from the root.
1743
1744It will be uprooted if we recognize it.
1745
1746But if we are ignorant of it, it takes root in us
1747and produces fruit in our heart. It masters us.
1748
1749We are its slaves. It takes us captive
1750to make us do what we do not want;
1751and what we do want we do not do.
1752
1753It is powerful because we have not recognized it.
1754
1755While it exists it is active.
1756
1757
1758IGNORANCE
1759
1760Ignorance is the mother of all evil.
1761
1762Ignorance will eventuate in death,
1763because those who come from ignorance
1764neither were nor are nor will be.
1765
1766But those who are in the truth will be perfect
1767when all the truth is revealed.
1768
1769For truth is like ignorance: while hidden it rests in itself,
1770but when revealed and recognized,
1771it is praised in that it is stronger than ignorance and error.
1772
1773It gives freedom. The word said,
1774“If you know the truth, the truth will make you free.” 
1775Ignorance is a slave,
1776knowledge is freedom.
1777
1778If we know the truth, we shall find the fruits of the truth
1779within us.
1780
1781If we join it, it will fulfill us.
1782
1783
1784THE STRONG AND WEAK, THE MANIFEST AND HIDDEN
1785
1786Now we have the manifest things of creation.
1787
1788We say, “The strong are they who are held in high regard,
1789and the obscure are the weak who are despised.”
1790Contrast the manifest things of truth:
1791they are weak and despised, whereas the hidden things are strong
1792and held in high regard.
1793
1794The mysteries of truth are revealed,
1795though, in type and image.
1796
1797The bridal chamber remains hidden.
1798
1799It is the holy in the holy.
1800
1801The veil at first concealed how god controls creation,
1802but when the veil is torn and things inside are revealed,
1803this house will be left desolate,
1804or rather it will be destroyed.
1805
1806But the whole inferior godhead will not flee from these places
1807into the holies of the holies,
1808for it cannot mix with the pure light and the perfect fullness.
1809
1810Rather, it will be under the wings of the cross and under its arms.
1811
1812This ark will be the salvation of people
1813when the floodwater surges over them. 
1814
1815
1816SECRET OF THE TRUTH
1817
1818If some belong to the order of the priesthood,
1819they will be able to go within the veil with the high priest.
1820
1821So the veil was not torn at the top,
1822since it would have been open only to those above.
1823
1824Nor was it torn at the bottom,
1825since it would have been revealed only to those below.
1826
1827But it was rent from top to bottom.
1828
1829Those above opened to us who are below,
1830that we may go in to the secret of the truth.
1831
1832The truth is what is held in high regard, since it is strong.
1833
1834But we shall go in there by means of lowly types
1835and forms of weakness.
1836
1837They are lowly when compared with the perfect glory.
1838
1839There is glory that surpasses glory.
1840
1841There is power that surpasses power.
1842
1843Therefore, the perfect things have opened to us
1844together with the hidden things of truth.
1845
1846The holies of the holies has been revealed,
1847and the bridal chamber has invited us in.
1848
1849
1850THE PERFECT LIGHT
1851
1852As long as the seed is hidden, wickedness is ineffectual,
1853but it has not yet been removed from the midst of the seed
1854of the holy spirit.
1855
1856Everyone is a slave of evil.
1857
1858But when the seed is revealed, the perfect light will flow out on everyone.
1859
1860And all those who are in the light will receive the chrism.
1861
1862Then the slaves will be free and the captives ransomed.
1863
1864“Every plant that my heavenly father has not planted will be uprooted.” 
1865Those who are separated will be joined and filled.
1866
1867Everyone who enters the bridal chamber will kindle the light,
1868for it burns just as in marriages performed,
1869though they happen at night.
1870
1871That fire burns only at night and is put out.
1872
1873Yet the mysteries of this marriage are perfected
1874rather in the day and the light.
1875
1876Neither that day nor its light ever sets.
1877
1878If you become an attendant of the bridal chamber,
1879you will receive the light.
1880
1881If you do not receive it while in those places,
1882you cannot receive it in the other place.
1883
1884You who receive the light will not be seen nor detained.
1885
1886And no one will be able to torment you
1887even while you live in the world.
1888
1889And when you leave the world
1890you have already received the truth in the images.
1891
1892The world has become the eternal realm, 
1893because the eternal realm is fullness for you.
1894
1895This is the way it is. It is revealed to you alone,
1896not hidden in the darkness and the night
1897but in a perfect day and a holy light.
1898
1899
1900The Gospel According to Philip