(1) It came to pass, when Jesus had finished saying these words unto his disciples, that he said unto them: "Who is sober among you, let him proclaim their solution." James came forward, kissed the breast of Jesus and said: "My Lord, thy spirit hath sobered me, and I am ready to proclaim their solution. Concerning them indeed thy power hath prophesied aforetime through David in the thirty-fourth Psalm, saying thus concerning the ninth repentance of Pistis Sophia: "'1. Give sentence, O Lord, on them who do me injustice, and fight against them who fight against me. "'2. Lay hand on weapon and shield and stand up to help me. "'3. Draw forth a sword and conceal it [ sic ] from my oppressors. Say unto my soul: I am thy salvation. "'4. Let them be put to shame and abashed who strive after my soul; let them fall back and be put to shame who imagine evil against me. "'5. Let them be as chaff before the wind, and let the angel of the Lord pursue after them. "'6. Let their way be darkness and slippery, and let the angel of the Lord oppress them. "'7. For without cause have they hid a snare for me for their own spoiling, and they have mocked at my soul in vain. "'8. Let a snare come upon them which they know not, and let the net which they have hid for me, catch them, and let them fall into this snare. "'9. But my soul will exult in the Lord and rejoice in its salvation. "'10. All my bones shall say: O Lord, who can be like unto thee?--thou who settest free the wretched from the hand of him who is stronger than him; and thou savest a wretched and poor [one] from the hands of them who spoil him. "11. Unjust witnesses came forward and have asked me that which I knew not. "'12. They have requited me evil for good and childlessness for my soul. "13. But when they molested me, I clothed me in a sack and humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer will return into my breast. "'14. I was pleasing unto thee, as unto my neighbour and as unto my brother; and I humbled myself as one in mourning and as one who is sad. "'15. They have rejoiced over me, and they are put to shame. Scourges have gathered themselves together against me and I knew not; they were cut off and were troubled. "'16. They have brought me to trial and mocked me with mocking; they have ground their teeth against me. "'17. O Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? Restore again my soul from their evil works and save my only one from the hands of the lions. "'18. I will confess to thee, O Lord, in the great assembly, and I will sing praises to thee in the midst of a countless people. "'19. Let not them who unjustly treat me as a foe, rejoice over me, who hate me without a cause and wink with their eyes. "'20. For indeed they discourse with me with words of peace, though they plot wrath with craft. "'21. They opened their chops wide against me and said: Well indeed, our eyes have filled our sight with him. "'22. Thou hast seen, O Lord. Keep not silence, O Lord, withdraw not thyself from me. "'23. Arise, O Lord, and give heed to my vindication, give heed to my vengeance, my God and my Lord. "'24. Judge me, O Lord, according to thy justice; let them not rejoice over me, my God. "'25. And let them not say: Well done, our soul. Let them not say: We have consumed him. "'26. Let them be put to shame and be scorned, who rejoice at my mischance. Let them be clothed with shame and disgrace who speak boastingly against me. "'27. Let them who desire my justification, exult and rejoice and let them who desire the peace of his slave, say: May the Lord be great and arise. "'28. My tongue will exult over thy justification and over thy honour all the day long.'"

(2) When they wanted wine, his mother saith unto Jesus, They have no wine. Jesus saith,

(57) Give yourself gladness from the true vine of Christ. Satisfy yourself with the true wine, in which there is no drunkenness nor error. For it (the true wine) marks the end of drinking, since there is usually in it what gives joy to the soul and the mind, through the Spirit of God. But first, nurture your reasoning powers before you drink of it (the true wine).

(1) "So I say to you, be sober. Do not go astray. And often have I said to you all together, and also to you alone, James, be saved. I have commanded you to follow me, and I have taught you how to speak before the rulers.

(13) For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and they say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and they say, Behold a man gluttonous and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

(25) If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.

(4) Jesus drank of the water of a limpid rill whose taste was more agreeable than the dew of the rose. One of his companions filled a pitcher from this rill, and they went on their way. Jesus, being thirsty, took a sip of water from the pitcher, but the water was bitter, and he stopped in astonishment and prayed: 'O God, the water of the rill and the water in the pitcher are the same. Tell me why the one is sweeter than honey and the other so bitter?' The pitcher* then spoke, and said to Jesus: 'I am very old, and I have been fashioned over a thousand times under the firmament of the nine cupolas - sometimes as a vase, sometimes as a pitcher, sometimes as a ewer. Whatever form I took I have always had in me the bitterness of death. I am so made that the water I hold will always partake of that bitterness.'

O heedless man! Try to understand the meaning of the pitcher. Strive to discover the mystery before life is taken from you. If while living you fail to find yourself, to know yourself, how will you be able to understand the secret of your existence when you die? You participate in the life of man yet you are only a psuedo man.

(1) Whither stumble ye, sots, who have sopped up the wine of ignorance and can so far not carry it that ye already even spew it forth? Stay ye, be sober, gaze upwards with the [true] eyes of the heart! And if ye cannot all, yet ye at least who can! For that the ill of ignorance doth pour o`er all the earth and overwhelm the soul that's battened down within the body, preventing it from fetching port within Salvation's harbors.

(2) Jesus said unto him: "Well said, Andrew, blessed one. This is the solution of her repentance. Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: I will perfect you in all mysteries of the Light and all gnoses from the interiors of the interiors to the exteriors of the exteriors, from the Ineffable down to the darkness of darknesses, from the Light of lights down to the . . . . of matter, from all the gods down to the demons, from all the lords down to the decans, from all the authorities down to the servitors, from the creation of men down to [that] of the wild-beasts, of the cattle and of the reptiles, in order that ye may be called perfect, perfected in all fulness. Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: In the region where I shall be in the kingdom of my Father, ye will also be with me. And when the perfect number is completed, so that the Mixture shall be dissolved, I will give commandment that they bring all tyrant gods, who have not given up the purification of their light, and will give commandment to the wise fire, over which the perfect pass, to eat into those tyrants, until they give up the last purification of their light."

(4) A man who drank too much of that which is limpid, often came to the point when he lost both his senses and his selfrespect. Once, a friend came across him in this deplorable state, lying on the road. So he got a sack and put him in feet first and put the sack on his shoulder and set off for home. On the way, another drunk appeared, reeling along, supported by a companion. At this, the man whose head hung out of the sack, woke up, and seeing the other in this pitiable state said reprovingly: 'Ah, unhappy man, in future drink two cups of wine less, then you will be able to walk as I do now - free and alone.'

Our own state is not different. We see faults because we do not love. If we had the least understanding of real love, the faults of those near to us would appear as good qualities.

(5) According to this sacred explanation of good cheer, even Almighty God, Himself the Author of all good things, is said to be inebriated, by reason of the super-full, and beyond conception, and ineffable, immeasurableness, of the good cheer, or to speak more properly, good condition of Almighty God. For, as regards us, in the worst sense, drunkenness is both an immoderate repletion, and being out of mind and wits; so, in the best sense, respecting God, we ought not to imagine drunkenness as anything else beyond the super-full immeasurableness of all good things pre-existing in Him as Cause. But, even in respect to being out of wits, which follows upon drunkenness, we must consider the pre-eminence of Almighty God, which is above conception, in which He overtops our conception, as being above conception and above being conceived, and above being itself; and in short, Almighty God is inebriated with, and outside of, all good things whatever, as being at once a super-full hyperbole of every immeasurableness of them all; and again, as dwelling outside and beyond the whole. Starting then from these, we will take in the same fashion even the feasting of the pious, in the Kingdom of Almighty God. For He says, the King Himself will come and make them recline, and will Himself minister to them. Now these things manifest a common and concordant communion of the holy, upon the good things of God, and a church of the first born, whose names are written in heavens; and spirits of just men made perfect by all good things, and replete with all good things; and the reclining, we imagine, a cessation from their many labours, and a life without pain; and a godly citizenship in light and place of living souls, replete with every holy bliss, and an ungrudging provision of every sort of blessed goods; within which they are filled with every delight; whilst Jesus both makes them recline, and ministers to them, and furnishes this delight; and Himself bequeaths their everlasting rest; and at once distributes and pours forth the fulness of good things.

(34) Sobriety is wrong, and a straying from that other road. O thou who seekest to be contrite for the past, How wilt thou be contrite for this contrition? At one time thou adorest the music of the lute, At another embracest wailing and weeping." While the "Discerner" reflected these mysteries, Like a soul he was freed from weeping and rejoicing, His old life died, and he was regenerated. Amazement fell upon him at that moment, For he was exalted above earth and heaven,

(18) When he rose up, and was come to the disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow, and he said unto them,

(24) "Above the gods' best gift to men ranks wine, In measure drunk; but in excess the worst."

(3) As they went, they were cleansed. And one of them turned back, and fell at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks: he was a Samaritan. Jesus said,

(12) Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee a hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

(15) Take this, and divide it among yourselves: for I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

(26) For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said,

(29) Jesus again put his hands upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly. Jesus sent him away, saying,

(2) For [the Matter] was about the earthly Eating and Drinking, wherewith the paradisical Man was captivated by the Spirit of this World, which now must qualify [or mix] with all Men. This the Holy Scripture witnesses, and also Reason, that Man is not at Home, in the elementary Kingdom of this World. For Christ said; My Kingdom is not of this World: And to his Apostles he said; / have called you out from this World: Also, Flesh and Blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.