The Teachings of Silvanus

NHC VII, 4

The following translation has been committed to the public domain and may be freely copied and used, changed or unchanged, for any purpose. It is based on the Coptic text of Nag Hammadi Codex VII, 4. The Nag Hammadi texts were written in the fourth century, subsequently buried, and then rediscovered in 1945. This Egyptian monastic text is attributed to Silvanus, one of Paul’s companions.

This translation from the Coptic is by Samuel Zinner and was edited by Mark M. Mattison with the generous support of Other Gospels.

Symbols

[  ] Gap in the text (known as a “lacuna”)
(  ) Editorial insertion to clarify the text
<  > Editorial correction of a scribal error
[84] Page number of the Coptic codex (hyperlinked)

[84] The Teachings of Silvanus

Introduction

Stop every type of immature behavior. Obtain for yourself strength of mind and life, and fortify your exertion against every type of irrationality comprising the erotic passions, sordid evil, love of acclaim, affection for dissension, wearisome envy, fury, anger, and covetous craving. Watch over your camp with arms and spears. Arm yourself with every combatant, that is, with speeches; with the leaders, that is, with counsels; and with your [85] mind as ruler.

My son, banish all thieves from your gates. Watch over all your gates with firebrands, that is, with speeches, and with these methods you will obtain a peaceful life.

Unwholesome Thoughts are Dangerous Beasts

He, however, who will not watch over these matters will become as a conquered city, deserted and stomped on by wild animals, because unwholesome thoughts are dangerous beasts. Your city will become full of thieves, and instead of attaining peace there will be only every type of ferocious beast. The evil one, being a dictator, is master over them. As he guides this, he lurks under the deep mud. The entire city, being your soul, will undergo annihilation. Distance yourself from all of these matters, O miserable soul. Welcome in your leader and your instructor, the mind being the leader, and reason the instructor. They will extricate you from the threats of annihilation.

Listen, my son, to my counsel. Do not expose your back [to] your enemies, nor run off. Rather, pursue them like [someone strong]. [86] Do not be an animal hunted by men. Rather, be a man hunting the dangerous beasts, because if you are not, they will find a way to conquer you and stomp on you like a corpse, and you will perish by their evil. O you unfortunate man, what will you do should you come under their power? Guard yourself against being delivered over to your enemies.

Reason and Mind

Give yourself over to this pair of friends, reason and mind, and no one will conquer you. May God abide inside your camp, may his Spirit defend your gates, and may the mind of God defend the walls. Let sacred reason be a firebrand inside your mind, which incinerates the wood, being every transgression.

If you observe these matters, O my son, you will conquer all your foes, and they will be unable to conduct warfare against you. They will not be able to entrench themselves, and they will be unable to obstruct you, because if you meet with these, you will loathe them like puny gnats. They will speak to you using [persuasion] and pleas, not out of [fear] [87] of you, but out of fear of those who live among you, namely, the protectors of the divine and of instruction.

My son, accept learning and instruction. Do not run away from learning and instruction, but whenever you are instructed, accept it with gladness, and when you are taught in any area, practice what is good. You will weave a garland of learning by means of your ruler. Don the sacred doctrine as a robe. Render yourself noble with your good behavior. Obtain for yourself the rigor of good regulation. Judge yourself as a shrewd judge. Do not depart from my instruction, which would result in ignorance, or you will mislead your people. Do not run away from what is divine and from the instruction inside you, because your instructor deeply cherishes you, and will bequeath you a praiseworthy rigor.

Banish the animal nature inside you, and allow not entry to bad thought, because it is appropriate that you gain maturity by knowledge of the way (concerning which) I teach. If it be a good thing to reign over what you consider to be a [few], [how] much of a better thing it is that you [88] reign over everyone, given that you are superior to every assembly and every nation, and are leading in every way with divine reason. You are master over every power that kills life.[1]

My son, is there anyone who desires to be a slave? Then why do you wrongly distress yourself? My son, fear no one but God alone, the lofty one. Throw away from yourself the trickery of the devil. Receive light for your eyes, and throw away the darkness from you. Live in Christ, and you will attain treasure in heaven. Be not a skin (packed full) with numerous unusable items, and be not a guide for blind ignorance.

My son, heed my good and helpful instruction, and end the sleep that is like a heavy load on you. Depart from the oblivion filling you with darkness, because if you were utterly incapable of any action, I would not have spoken to you as I have. Christ, however, came to bestow this gift on you. Why do you chase after the darkness when the light is ready to assist you? Why do you drink salty water when sweet water is accessible to you?

Wisdom and Folly

Wisdom calls to [you], [89] but you wish for Folly. You do not act these ways by your own desire; rather, it is the animal nature inside you that commits them. Wisdom calls to you out of her goodness, saying: “Come to me, all of you fools, so that you can obtain good and excellent understanding as a gift. I bestow on you a high-priestly garment woven from every variety of wisdom.”

What is dark evil if not acquaintance with oblivion? Throw your anxiety on God alone. Be not one who loves valueless gold and silver, but don wisdom as a robe, putting on knowledge as a crown, and sitting on a throne of insight. Given that these belong to you, and you will obtain them on high once more, at another time, because a fool dons folly as a robe, and as a garment of sorrow he dons humiliation, crowning himself with ignorance, and sitting on a throne of [unawareness]. Given that he is [unreasoning], [90] he misleads but himself, owing to his being led by ignorance, going the passionate ways of every desire. He swims in the desires of life, and has (indeed) sunk, believing he obtains value in performing worthless actions.

The miserable wretch experiencing all of these things will die because he possesses no mind to steer the ship, being instead like a ship thrown back and forth by the wind, and like an escaped horse without a rider, because this one had need of a rider, namely, reason. The miserable wretch got lost by refusing counsel. He was thrown back and forth by three calamities: He obtained death as a father for himself, ignorance as a mother, and he obtained bad counsels as friends and brothers. O fool, you should weep for yourself.

Come Back to Your Divine Nature

So then, beginning now, my son, come back to your divine nature. Throw away from [yourself] these bad, lying friends. [Receive to] yourself Christ, the real friend, [91] as an effective instructor. Throw your father Death away from you, because in the beginning death did not exist, and it will not exist when the end comes. However, given that you throw God away from yourself, even the holy Father, being the true life, the well of life, as a result you have inherited death for your father, and you have obtained ignorance for your mother. They have stolen true knowledge from you.

My son, come back to your original father, to God, and to your mother Wisdom, from whom you came to exist since the beginning. Come back, so that you can combat every one of your foes, the powers of the enemy.

My son, heed my counsel. Be not proud, contradicting every good judgment, but receive the Logos as your <instructor> in divinity. Perform the sacred mandates of Jesus Christ, and you will rule over every earthly (dwelling-)place, and be esteemed by angels as well as archangels. You will then have them as friends and co-servants, and you will obtain for yourself (dwelling-)places [above] in [heaven].

[92] Do not grieve or distress the divine [that dwells] inside you, but when you nurture it, entreat it that you would maintain purity, even controlling your soul and body. You will then become a throne of wisdom as well as a member of God’s household. By means of this he will grant you great light.

Know Yourself

However, before all else, know yourself, specifically, (know) from what substance you derive, that is, from which race, or from which species. Understand that you have come to exist out of three races: out of the earth, out of what is formed, and out of what is created. The body came to exist out of the earth with an earthly substance, but on account of the soul, what is formed came to exist out of the divine thought. What is created, however, is the mind that came to exist according to the image of God. The divine mind derives its substance from what is divine, but the soul is what he formed inside of them, because I believe it exists as a wife in relation to what came to exist according to the image. However, regarding the body that came to exist out of the earth, its substance is matter. [If] you mix yourself together, you will obtain for [yourself] the [93] three parts as you plummet from virtue into baseness.

Live in harmony with the mind. Think not on fleshly matters. Obtain self-strength, owing to the mind being strong. If you plummet from (virtue), you will have become a female male, and if you eject from yourself mental substance, being thought, you will have severed the male part, even turning yourself exclusively toward the female part. You have become one ruled by soulish (concerns), given that you will have acquired the substance of what is formed. When you eject this latter part, which prevents you from obtaining a human part — in this way you assume for yourself the thinking and appearance of an animal — you will have become fleshly as the result of assuming an animal nature.

If it is difficult to find a man dominated by soulish (concerns), then how much more difficult it is to find the Lord, but I state that God is one dominated by spiritual (concerns). Man has assumed shape from the substance of God, the divine soul participating partially in him. Furthermore, the soul participates partially in the flesh. The lower soul is inclined to turn alternately from side to side.

How would this appear from (the perspective of) truth? [It is good] for you, O man, [94] to turn yourself toward the human nature instead of toward the animal nature. I refer to the fleshly nature. You will assume the likeness of whatever part toward which you turn yourself.

I will inform you of another matter. To repeat, from what will you derive pleasure? Did you desire to be animal when you entered this category of nature? Would you not instead participate in a true living nature? Being like an animal will lead you into the earthly race, but the reasoning nature will lead you to the ways of reasoning. Turn yourself toward the reasoning nature, and throw away from yourself the earth-born nature.

O stubborn soul, become sober and throw off your inebriation, that is, the activity of ignorance. If you are stubborn and live with the body, you abide in a crude state. When you passed into physical birth, you were born (in that state).

<When you were born again,> you came to dwell inside the bridal chamber, and you were enlightened in mind.

The Plots of the Enemy

My son, do not swim indiscriminately in any condition of water, and do not let yourself be polluted by alien types of knowledge. Are you not aware that [95] the plots of the enemy are not few in number, and that he possesses multiple deceptions? In particular, they have cheated the <fool> out of the cleverness of the snake, because it is right that you to be in harmony with these two, namely, with the cleverness of the snake and the innocence of the dove. If not, he will approach you with the appearance of a fawner and a real friend, saying: “I counsel favorable matters for you,” but if you took him in as a real friend, you would not have noticed the trickery of this one, because he throws into our heart evil thoughts masquerading as good thoughts, duplicity as firm perception, greed as moderate thriftiness, love of grandeur as what is beautiful, bragging and arrogance as abundance of restraint, and godlessness as [abundance of] godliness, [96] because one who says, “I have many gods,” is (actually) godless, and he throws counterfeit knowledge into your mind masquerading as secretive maxims.

Who will be able to grasp his thoughts and variety of designs, given that he is a great mind to those who desire to receive him as king? My son, how will you be able to grasp the plots or soul-murdering advice of this one, given that his designs and his evil plots are numerous? Further, how will you be able to recognize the ways of his entrance, namely, how he will enter into your soul, and how will you be able to recognize which garment he will wear when he enters into you?

Receive Christ, who is able to liberate you, who has taken on the designs of that one, in order that by means of these he could annihilate him with trickery, given that this is the king you possess, who is always unconquerable. No one will be able to battle with him, nor say anything against him. This is your king as well as your Father, none being like him. The divine instructor abides with [you al]ways [97] as a helper, but he meets with you on account of the good you possess inside you.

Trust No One to Be Your Friend

Do not judge maliciously, because every malicious man harms his (own) mind, given that only a fool heads to his own ruin, while a wise man knows his way. A fool refrains not from disclosing a secret. A wise man does not let every word slip out, but he examines those who will hear. Speak not every word in front of those you know not.

 Have a large number of friends, but not of advisors. First scrutinize your advisor, because you should not honor anyone who cajoles. Their speech is surely sweet like honey, but their hearts are full of poison hellebore, because whenever <you> come to believe they are a trustworthy friend, they will then cunningly betray you, and shove you down into the mire.

Trust no one to be your friend, because the entire world has grown dishonest, and every [man] becomes distressed [over nothing]. Everything [in] [98] the world is emptiness, occurring for nothing. No true <friend> exists, not even one’s brother, given that everyone is looking out for his own interest.

My son, have no one as a friend. If you do get one, do not trust him with yourself.

Trust only God with yourself, like a father as well as like a friend, because everyone is walking around in deception. The entire earth is full of misery and pain, which are worthless things. If you desire to live your life in peace, keep company with no one. Even should you keep company with some, act like you do not. Make yourself pleasing to God, and you will be in need of no one.

Live Together with Christ

Live together with Christ, and he will save you, because he is the true light and the sun of life, because even as the visible sun produces light for fleshly eyes, so Christ enlightens every mind as well as the heart, given that if a wicked man in bodily life will have a calamitous death, how much more will one who possesses a blind mind. This is because even as every blind man [is unable] to see it, [so is it] [99] with one lacking a sound mind. They have no pleasure in obtaining the light of Christ, which is the Logos, because everything seen is a copy of the unseen, given that just like a fire is not enclosed in the place where it burns, even so all the beams of the sun in the sky similarly reach to earthly places. Similarly, Christ possesses a single being, and he bestows light on every place.

This is also how he speaks concerning our mind, like a burning lamp that even illuminates the place. <Subsisting> in but part of the soul, it supplies light to every bodily part.

Moreover, I will state a loftier matter. With respect to the being of the mind, it dwells in a place, that is, it dwells inside the body. However, with respect to thought, the mind does not dwell in a place, because how could it dwell in a place when it contemplates all places?

We can, however, state an even loftier matter than this, because you should not think in yourself that God dwells [in a] place. If you spatialize the [Lord of] all [100] in a place, then you would be able to conclude that the place is superior to the one who dwells inside of it, because what encompasses is superior to what is encompassed, given that no place exists that can be labeled incorporeal, because it is inappropriate that we claim God is corporeal. This would result not only in our ascribing to the body both (its own) <increase> and decrease, but also one who is dependent on these will not continue without decaying.

Recognize God and Christ

Now, it is not difficult to recognize the creator of all created entities, but one cannot grasp his likeness, because it is difficult not just for humans to grasp God, but it is difficult also for all divine beings, angels as well as archangels, given that God must be recognized as he is. It is impossible for you to recognize God in any way except by means of Christ, who possesses the image of the Father, because it is his image that reveals the real likeness of God in a mode that can be seen. In general, a king cannot be recognized apart from (his) image.

Concerning God, think on these points: He is inside all places. On the other hand, he is not inside [any] place. [With respect to power], [101] he is inside all places, but with respect to divinity, he is not inside any place. Consequently, then, one can recognize God to a small degree. With respect to his power, he fills all places, but in his lofty divinity there is nothing that encompasses him. Everything is inside God, but God is inside nothing. How does one recognize God?

God, however, is everything that subsists in the truth, yet it is not possible to see Christ like one sees the sun. God sees everyone. No one sees him. Christ, however, obtains and bestows without stint, being the light of the Father. In this way, he illuminates all places. However, Christ, who is all, has inherited all things from the One Who Is, because Christ is the all, without (this compromising) his indestructibility, given that if you reflect on sin, (you will understand that) it has no real existence, because Christ is the idea of indestructibility, and he is the pure light that shines, because the sun shines everywhere, even in impure places, without becoming impure.

This is the way it is with Christ. Although he dwells in the deficiency, he is not therefore deficient. Although [he was begotten], [102] he nevertheless remains unbegotten. This is the way it is with Christ. On the one hand, he is graspable. On the other hand, he cannot be grasped with respect to his being. Christ is all. Whoever does not have everything will not be able to recognize Christ.

Examine Yourself

My son, do not utter a word in boldness concerning this One, and do not limit the God of all to images of the mind, because (God) who judges will not be judged by any judge. It is certainly a good thing to inquire and to recognize who God is. Logos, even Nous,[2] is a masculine name. Certainly, he who desires to have knowledge concerning this One should inquire humbly and respectfully, because the peril is not small when speaking concerning these matters, given that you are aware you will be judged based on everything you have spoken.

 However, by means of this, understand that he who dwells in the dark will be unable to see anything without getting any light and seeing by means of it. Examine yourself, if you indeed possess the light, so that if you inquire concerning these matters, you can understand how you will be able to escape, because many search in the dark, and they grope around desiring to understand, given that they are without any light.

My [103] son, let not your mind fix its gaze below, but instead let it gaze with the light at things above, because light continually originates from above. Even though (the mind) is on earth, let it seek the pursuit of things above. Enlighten your mind with the light of heaven, so that you can turn toward the light of heaven.

Do not grow weary when knocking on the door of the Logos, and do not stop walking on the path of Christ. Walk in it so that you can obtain rest from your works. If you walk on a different path, the path you embark on will be worthless, because those who walk on the wide path will finally descend to the mire of perdition, because the netherworld is open wide to the soul, and wide is the place of perdition. Receive Christ, the narrow path, because he is burdened, even bearing sickness on account of your sin.

Christ Liberates the Children of Death

O stubborn soul! In what ignorance you dwell, because who will be your guide in the dark? How many likenesses Christ bore on your account! Even though he was divine, he [was found] [104] among human beings as a human being.

He descended into the netherworld, liberating the children of death. They were in the pangs of birth, as the Scripture of God spoke, and he sealed up the heart (of the netherworld). He broke the strong bows (of the netherworld), and when all the powers had noticed him, they ran away. This was, wretch, so that he could draw you up from the Abyss, even dying for you as a redemption because of your sin, rescuing you from the strong hand of the netherworld.

Regarding you, however, (though it be) difficult, give him a trace of your core consent, so that he will joyfully draw you up (from the netherworld). The core consent, however, is humility of heart, being the gracious gift of Christ, the acceptable sacrifice being a contrite heart. If you humble yourself, you will be highly exalted, and if you exalt yourself, you will be deeply humiliated.

My son, be on guard against evil, and do not allow the evil spirit to cast you down into the Abyss, because he is insane and bitter. He is horrifying, even casting down anyone he is able to into a miry pit.

Be Careful

A great and good thing it is not to love fornication, and not even to fantasize about the despicable matter in the least, [105] because to fantasize about it is death. It is not, however, beneficial for any person to fall into death, because a soul that is dead lacks reason. It would be preferable to cease living completely than to take on life like an animal. Be careful not to be burned by the fires of fornication, because its many slaves are plunged into the fire. Your enemies will be those you do not know, O my son

Remove the old garment of fornication, and don the clean and bright garment, in which you are beautiful. When you possess this garment, safeguard it carefully. Liberate yourself from all fetters, so that you can obtain freedom for yourself. If you throw away from yourself lust, which has numerous designs, and liberate yourself from lustful sins, <…>.

Hear my counsel, O soul. Become not a nest of foxes or snakes, nor a hole for lizards and asps, nor a lair for lions, nor a refuge for serpents. If these things transpire in your case, O soul, what are you going to do, given that these are the powers [106] of the enemy, through which all dead things will win access to you, because all things dead and polluted is their food? If these get inside you, how will that which is alive enter into you? The angels of life will loathe you, who used to be a temple, and yet you transformed yourself into a tomb. Put a stop to being a tomb, and transform yourself (back) into a temple, so that what is upright and divine can continue in you. Ignite the light on the inside of you, and quench it not, because no one lights a lamp for wild beasts or their young.

Christ is Wisdom

Lift up your dead who died, because they had been alive, and they died for you. Vivify them, and they will live once more, because Christ is the tree of life.

He is Wisdom on account of being Wisdom, and the Logos as well.
He is the life, the power, and the door.
He is the light, the messenger, and the good shepherd.

Trust yourself to this one who became everything on your account. Knock on yourself as on a door, and be as a straight road on which you walk, because should you walk on the road, you will be unable to get lost, [107] and should you knock on this one, you will knock on hidden treasures, because given that he is Wisdom, he can turn a fool into a sage. (Wisdom), she is a holy kingdom and a bright robe, because with her abundant gold, she bestows much esteem.

O fool, for you the Wisdom of God became a type of Folly, so that she could lift you up and make you wise, and when he was without power, life died for you, so that by means of his death he could grant life to you who were dead formerly.

Trust yourself to the Logos, and distance yourself from existing like an animal, given that it is evident that an animal lacks reason, because many believe they possess reason, but if you examine them, their speech is that of an animal.

The Soul That is Pure

Produce for yourself gladness by (drinking) the true vine of Christ. Satiate yourself with the true wine without inebriation nor dregs, because the true wine involves the goal of drinking, given that it is able to bestow gladness to the soul as well as mind by means of the Spirit of God. [108] However, before you start drinking it, cultivate your reasoning faculties.

Pierce not yourself with the sword of transgression. Burn not yourself, O wretch, with the fire of lust. Surrender not yourself to barbarians as a prisoner, nor to savage beasts desiring to stomp on you, because they resemble loudly roaring lions. Let them not stomp on you, or you will be dead. Be a man! You can defeat them by means of reason.

However, the man who does not act is not worthy of (being called) rational. The rational man fears God, but he who fears God never acts impertinently, given that he who prevents himself from ever acting impertinently preserves his guide. Although living on earth as a man, this one renders himself like God, but he who renders himself like God will not do anything <un>worthy of God, in agreement with the utterance of Paul, who became like Christ.

Who is able to respect God and not desire to act in ways pleasing to God, given that piety originates [109] from the heart, and piety from the heart marks every soul near to God? The soul that is preserved pure, however, is a member of the household of God, given that the soul that is pure has donned Christ, and it cannot transgress, but where Christ dwells, transgression is inactive.

The Temple Inside You

Let Christ be the only one who enters into your world, and let him nullify every power that has overtaken you. Let him enter into the temple inside you, so that he can eject every merchant. Let him live in the temple inside you, and be a priest for him and a Levite entering in purity.

Blessed are you, O soul, if you find this one inside your temple. Even more blessed

are you if you fulfill his service, but whoever pollutes the temple of God, God will destroy, because what you are has been exposed, O man, if you eject this one from your temple, given that whenever the enemies see that Christ is not inside you, then they will enter into you with weapons to smash you.

O my son, I have repeatedly delivered orders to you regarding these matters, [110] so that you can constantly watch over your soul. You are not the one who will eject him, but he will eject you, because if you run away from him, you will plummet into grave sin. To repeat, if you run away from him, your enemies will end up consuming you. Everyone is base who runs away from their master, but the one base with respect to virtue and wisdom runs away from Christ, because everyone who becomes separated will fall into the claws of wild beasts.

Christ is the True Friend

Recognize who Christ is, and gain him as a friend, because he is the true friend, being also God as well as instructor.

Being God, for your sake this one became human,
he being the one who smashed the iron bars and bronze bolts of the netherworld.
He is the one who assaulted and overthrew every proud despot,
the one who loosed the fetters <that> held <him>,
and lifted up the poor out of the Abyss,
and those who weep from out of the netherworld;
the one who humiliated the proud powers,
the one who used humility to humiliate pride,
the one who used weakness to overthrow the strong and the bragger,
the one who used his shame to deride what [111] is considered honorable,
so that humility for the sake of God could be made supremely lofty;
the one who donned humanity and who is God, the divine Logos,
the one who continually remains patient with humans,
and who desired to implant humility in the exalted one.

The one who lifted up humanity became like <humanity>. This was not so that he could bring God down to humanity, but so that humanity could become like God.

O this tremendous goodness of God!
O Christ, king, who have revealed to humans the mighty divinity,
king of all virtues, and king of life,
king of the ages, and the Great One of the heavens,
listen to my words and forgive me!

Moreover, he displayed a deep zeal for divinity. Where is the wise man or one powerful in understanding, or a man of many designs owing to his wisdom? Let him talk wisdom. Let him express much bragging, because everyone has turned into a fool, speaking on the basis of his (own) knowledge, given that he confused the plans of deceitful people, even catching the wise ones in their own understanding. Who can ever find out the plan of the Almighty, or explain the Divinity, or articulate it correctly?

[112] If we have been incapable of understanding the plans of our acquaintances, who will be capable of grasping the Divinity or the divinities of heaven? If we hardly find out matters on earth, who will be able to search out things of heaven?

A great power and a great glory has explained the world, and the life of heaven desires to render all things new, so that he can banish weakness and every sullied garment, and so that all will glow with a strong radiance in garments of heaven, to reveal the decree of the Father, and so that he can crown those who desire to compete ably, Christ being the judge of the contest, as well as the one who doles out the crown to each one. He instructs all how to

compete, he being the first to compete, winning as such the crown, gaining the victory, even appearing, bestowing light on all. All things have been rendered new by means of the holy Spirit and the (holy) Mind.

A Hymn of Praise

O Lord, Almighty, how much praise should I offer you?
No one has been capable of sufficiently glorifying God.
You have bestowed glory on your Logos so as to save everyone, O merciful God!

He originated from your mouth,
the Firstborn Wisdom,
the Prototype of the Primal Light,
because he is light originating from [113] the power of God,
and he is a <pure> emanation from the glory of the Almighty.

He is the spotless mirror of the working of God,
and he is the image of his goodness,
because he is also the light of eternal light.

He is the eye that gazes on the unseen Father.
He continually serves and creates through the desire of the Father,
he who was the only one begotten by the good pleasure of the Father,
because he is a Logos that cannot be grasped,
and he is Wisdom as well as life.

He makes alive and nurtures every living entity and every power,
just like the soul vivifies all the bodily parts.
He reigns powerfully over everything, even vivifying them,
because he is the beginning and the end of all.

He guards everyone, even surrounding them,
but he exercises care for all,
and he rejoices as well as weeps.

He grieves for those who have inherited the place of punishment.
On the other hand, he exercises care for all whom he has labored to introduce to instruction,
and he is glad for all who live in purity.

Fight the Great Fight

Be careful, therefore, that you do not end up in the hands of thieves. Let not your eyes sleep nor your eyelids slumber, so that you can be rescued, like a gazelle from snares or like a [114] bird from a trap.

Fight the great fight for as long as the contest endures, while every power intently watches you, not just the ones who are holy, but every power of the enemy as well. Woe to you should you be beaten in in front of everyone who watches you! If you fight the fight and win the victory over the powers that battle against you, you will cause much joy to all those who are holy, and you will cause much sadness to your foes. The judge over your contest will aid you thoroughly, given that he desires that you win.

Pay heed, my son, and do not be slow to pay heed. Fly high like an eagle when you have abandoned your worn-out self. Fear God in every one of your deeds, and glorify him by means of beneficent activity. You are aware that everyone who pleases not God is the Son of Perdition, and they will descend to the Abyss of the netherworld.

O this patience of God, which remains patient with all, desiring that all be saved who have been dominated by sin! Nevertheless, no one stops him from fulfilling his desire, because who is stronger than he is, so that he could stop him? He is surely the one who touches the earth, making it shake, and causing the mountains to smoke. He gathered the waters of a large sea like this one, [115] as in a leather wineskin, and weighed all of the water in the palm of his hand. The hand of the Lord alone has created all of these things, because Christ is the hand of the Father, and it makes everything, everything coming to exist by means of it, given that it became the mother of all, because he and only he is it, ever subsisting as Son of the Father. 

God is Manifest, Yet Hidden

Think about these points concerning God: The ever-existent Almighty did not ever rule as king without also being in need of the divine Son, because everything abides in God, (namely,) those things that came to exist by means of the Logos, who is the Son because he is the image of the Father, because God is near, at hand, and not far away.

Divine limits pertain to the household administration of God. Consequently, if the divine in any respect is partially in harmony with you, know that the divine in its entirety is in harmony with you. However, this divine is pleased with all things evil, because this is what teaches everyone concerning the good, which God has bestowed on the human race, so that on this account every human would be preferred over the angels as well as the archangels.

God has no need to try anyone. [116] He knows everything before it even transpires, and he knows the hidden matters of the mind. They are all exposed and judged lacking in front of him. No one should ever accuse God of ignorance, because it is unjust to ascribe ignorance to the creator of all creatures, because the things dwelling in darkness are as light in front of him.

Consequently, the only thing hidden is God, yet he is manifest to everyone, although deeply hidden. He reveals because God knows all things, and should they not want to say so, their own minds will correct them, but he is hidden, given that no one understands the matters of God, because he is inconceivable and inscrutable with respect to knowing the plan of God.

Moreover, it is difficult to grasp him, even to find Christ, because he occupies all places, yet in no place, given that no one who so desires is able to know God as he is, not Christ, nor the Spirit, nor the angelic chorus, nor the archangels, [117] including the thrones of the spirits, and lofty lordships, and the Great Mind. If you know not [yourself], you will be unable to know any of these.

Conclusion

Open the door to yourself, so that you can know the One Who Is. Knock on yourself, so that the Logos may open for you, because he is the door of faith and the sharp sword. He became all for all, given that he desires to grant mercy to all.

My son, make yourself ready to flee from the rulers of the world of darkness and of the kind of air full of powers. If you possess Christ, you will conquer this entire world. Whatever you open, you will open for yourself. 

Whatever you knock on for yourself, you will knock on it to your own benefit. Assist yourself, my son, by not continuing with worthless matters.

My son, make yourself pure for the exterior life first, so that you can be able to make yourself pure for the inward (life).

Do not make the word of God a piece of merchandise. Test every saying before you repeat anything. Do not desire insecure honors nor [118] the bragging that brings you to destruction. Receive for yourself the wisdom of the patient and gentle Christ, and guard this, O my son, recognizing that the ways of God are always beneficial.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.
Inexpressible Miracle!

Notes

[1] “Life,” or “soul.”

[2] “Nous,” “mind.” The singular verb “is” indicates the text considers Logos and Nous two names for a single entity.