(1) And Mary drew nigh unto him, fell down, adored his feet and kissed his hands and said: "Yea, my Lord, reveal unto us: What is the use of the ways of the midst? For we have heard from thee that they are set over great chastisements. How then, my Lord, will we remove or escape from them? Or in what way do they seize the souls? Or how long a time do they spend in their chastisements? Have mercy upon us, our Lord, our Saviour, in order that the receivers of the judgments of the ways of the midst may not carry off our souls and judge us in their evil judgments, so that we ourselves may inherit the Light of thy father and not be wretched and destitute of thee."

(1) It came to pass then, when Jesus had spoken these words unto his disciples, that he said unto them: "This is the song of praise which Pistis Sophia uttered in her first repentance, repenting of her sin, and reciting all which had befallen her. Now, therefore: 'Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.'" Mary again came forward and said: "My Lord, my indweller of light hath ears, and I hear with my light-power, and thy spirit which is with me, hath sobered me. Hearken then that I may speak concerning the repentance which Pistis Sophia hath uttered, speaking of her sin and all that befell her. Thy light-power hath prophesied thereof aforetime through the prophet David in the sixty-eighth Psalm: "'1. Save me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto my soul. "'2. I sank, or am submerged, in the slime of the abyss, and power was not. I have gone-down into the depths of the sea; a tempest hath submerged me. "'3. I have kept on crying; my throat is gone, my eyes faded, waiting patiently for God. "'4. They who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; mighty are my foes, who violently pursued me. They required of me that which I took not from them. "'5. God, thou hast known my foolishness, and my faults are not hid from thee. "'6. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord, Lord of powers, be ashamed for my sake; let not those who seek thee be ashamed for my sake, O Lord, God of Israel, God of powers. "'7. For thy sake have I endured shame; shame hath covered my face. "'8. I am become a stranger to my brethren, a stranger unto the sons of my mother. "'9. For the zeal of thy house hath consumed me; the revilings of them that revile thee have fallen upon me. "'10. I bowed my soul with fasting, and it was turned to my reproach. "'11. I put on sackcloth; I became unto them a bye-word. "'12. They who sit at the gates, chattered at me; and they who drink wine, harped about me. "'13. But I prayed with my soul unto thee, O Lord; the time of thy well-liking is [now], O God. In the fulness of thy grace give ear unto my salvation in truth. "'14. Save me out of this slime, that I sink not therein; let me be saved from them that hate me, and from the deep of waters. "'15. Let not a water-flood submerge me, let not the deep swallow me, let not a well close its mouth above me. "'16. Hear me, O Lord, for thy grace is good; according to the fulness of thy compassion look down upon me. "'17. Turn not thy face away from thy servant, for I am oppressed. "'18. Hear me quickly, give heed to my soul and deliver it. "'19. Save me because of my foes, for thou knowest my disgrace, my shame and my dishonour; all my oppressors are before thee. "'20. My heart awaiteth disgrace and misery; I waited for him who should sorrow with me, but I could not come at him, and for him who should comfort me, and I found him not. "'21. They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. "'22. Let their table be unto them for a trap and for a snare and for a retribution and for a stumbling-block. "'23. Mayest thou bend their backs at all time. "'24. Pour out thy anger upon them, and let the wrath of thy anger lay hold upon them. "'25. Let their encampment be desolate, let there be no dweller in their habitations. "'26. For they persecuted him whom thou hast smitten, and added to the smart of their woundings. "'27. They added iniquity to their iniquities; let them not come into thy righteousness. "'28. Let them be wiped out of the book of the living, and let them not be written in among the righteous. "'29. I am a poor wretch who is heart-broken too; it is the salvation of thy face which hath taken me unto itself. "'30. I will praise the name of God in the ode, and exalt it in the song of thanksgiving. "'31. This shall please God better than a young bull which putteth forth horns and hoofs. "'32. May the wretched see and make merry; seek ye God, that your souls may live. "'33. For God hath heard the wretched and despiseth not the prisoners. "'34. Let heaven and earth praise the Lord, the sea and all that is therein. "'35. For God will save Zion, and the cities of Judæa will be built up, and they will dwell there and inherit it. "'36. The seed of his servants shall possess it, and they who love his name shall dwell therein.'"

(4) Mary said: "A man who hath committed all sins and all iniquities and hath not found the mysteries of the Light, will he receive the chastisements for them all at once?" When then Jesus said this unto his disciples in the midst of the Amente, the disciples cried and wept, [saying]: "Woe, woe unto sinners, on whom the negligence and the forgetfulness of the rulers lie until they come out of the body and are led to these chastisements! Have mercy upon us, have mercy upon us, son of the Holy [paragraph continues] [One], and have compassion with us, that we may be saved from these chastisements and these judgments which are prepared for the sinners; for we also have sinned, our Lord and our Light."

(2) When then the Saviour had said this, he said unto his disciples: "Understand ye in what manner I speak with you?" And Mary answered again and said: "Yea, my Lord, already have I seized on all the words if he again turneth and transgresseth twelve times and again twelve times repenteth, praying in the mystery of the First Mystery, it will be forgiven. "But if after the twelve times he again transgresseth and turneth and transgresseth, it will not be forgiven him for ever, so that he should turn himself to any [mystery] of his mystery; and this [man] hath not repentance unless he receiveth the mysteries of the Ineffable, which have compassion at every time and forgive at every time."

(14) Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loveth much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

(3) From out that slope, there where it breaketh most Its steepness, rose upon the world a sun As this one does sometimes from out the Ganges; Therefore let him who speaketh of that place, Say not Ascesi, for he would say little, But Orient, if he properly would speak. He was not yet far distant from his rising Before he had begun to make the earth Some comfort from his mighty virtue feel. For he in youth his father's wrath incurred For certain Dame, to whom, as unto death, The gate of pleasure no one doth unlock; And was before his spiritual court 'Et coram patre' unto her united; Then day by day more fervently he loved her. She, reft of her first husband, scorned, obscure, One thousand and one hundred years and more, Waited without a suitor till he came. Naught it availed to hear, that with Amyclas Found her unmoved at sounding of his voice He who struck terror into all the world; Naught it availed being constant and undaunted, So that, when Mary still remained below, She mounted up with Christ upon the cross.

(2) And the Saviour answered and said unto Mary in the midst of his disciples: "Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: All men who shall receive the mysteries of the Ineffable and moreover the mysteries of the First Mystery, sin every time through the compulsion of the Fate, and if they, when they are still in life, turn and repent and abide in any of their mysteries, it will be forgiven them at every time, because those mysteries are compassionate and forgiving for all time. For this cause then have I said unto you before: Those mysteries will not only forgive them their sins which they have committed from the beginning onwards, but they do not impute them to them from this hour onwards,--of which I have said unto you that they receive repentance at any time, and that they also will forgive the sins which they commit anew.

(2) Mary continued again and said: "My Lord, a man who hath known the godhead and hath received of the mysteries of the Light, and hath turned and transgressed and done lawlessly and hath not turned to repent, and a man on the other hand who hath not found the godhead nor known it, and that man is a sinner and moreover impious, and they both have come out of the body,--which of them will get more suffering in the judgments?" When then the Saviour had said this, Mary started forward and said: "My Lord, my light-man hath ears, and I have understood the whole word which thou hast spoken. Concerning this word then thou hast spoken unto us in a similitude: [paragraph continues] 'The slave who knew the will of his lord and made not ready nor did the will of his lord, will receive great blows; but he who knew not and did not, will be deserving of less. For from every one to whom more is entrusted, of him will more be demanded, and to whom much is handed over, of him much is required,'--that is, my Lord: He who knew the godhead and hath found the mysteries of the Light and hath transgressed, will be chastized in a far greater chastisement than he who hath not known the godhead. This, my Lord, is the solution of the word."

(1) Mary answered and said: "Yea, my Lord, with precision have I precisely followed all the words which thou hast said. Concerning this word then thou hast spoken unto us aforetime: 'If the house-holder knew at what hour in the night the thief cometh to break into the house, he would keep awake and not suffer the man to break into his house.'" When then Mary had said this, the Saviour said: "Well said, thou spiritual Mary. This is the word." The Saviour continued again and said unto his disciples: "Now, therefore, herald ye unto all men who shall receive mysteries in the Light, and speak unto them, saying: Keep watch over yourselves and sin not, lest ye heap evil on evil and go out of the body without having repented and become strangers to the Light-kingdom for ever." When the Saviour had said this, Mary answered and said: "My Lord, great is the compassion of those mysteries which forgive sins at every time."

(2) When then the Saviour had said this unto his disciples, he said unto them: "Understand ye in what manner I speak with you?" The Saviour answered and said unto Mary in the midst of the disciples: "If to-day a king who is a man of the world, giveth a gift to men of his like, and also forgiveth murderers and those who have intercourse with males, and the rest of the very grievous sins which are deserving of death,--if it becometh him who is a man of the world, to have done this, much more then have the Ineffable and the First Mystery, who are the lords of the universe, the authority to act in all things as it pleaseth them, that they forgive every one who shall receive mysteries. "Or if on the other hand a king to-day investeth a soldier with a royal vesture and sendeth him into foreign regions, and he committeth murders and other grievous sins which are deserving of death, then they will not impute them to him, and are not able to do him any evil because he is invested with the royal vesture,--how much more then those who wear the mysteries of the vestures of the Ineffable and those of the First Mystery, who are lords over all those of the height and all those of the depth!"

(1) The Saviour answered again and said unto Mary: "Amēn, amēn, I say unto thee: The man who hath known the godhead and hath received the mysteries of the Light, and sinned and hath not turned to repent, he will get suffering in the chastisements of the judgments in great sufferings and judgments exceedingly far more in comparison with the impious and law-breaking man who hath not known the godhead. Now, therefore, who hath ears to hear, let him hear."

(1) And Mary again started forward and said: "Yea, my Lord, I understand in what manner thou dost discourse with me, and I will comprehend them all [ sc. thy words]. Now, therefore, concerning these words which thou sayest, my mind hath brought forward four thoughts in me and my light-man hath led me and exulted and seethed, desiring to come forth out of me and enter into thee. Now, therefore, my Lord, hearken that I may tell thee the four thoughts which have arisen in me.

(2) And the Saviour answered and said unto Mary: "A righteous man who is perfected in all righteousness and who hath never committed any sin of any kind, and such an one who never hath received mysteries of the Light, if the time is at hand when he goeth forth out of the body, then straightway come the receivers of one of the great triple-powers,--those among whom there is a great [one],--snatch away the soul of that man from the hands of the retributive receivers and spend three days circling with it in all the creatures of the world. After three days they lead it down into the chaos, so as to lead it into all the chastisements of the judgments and to dispatch it to all the judgments. The fires of the chaos do not trouble it greatly; but they will trouble it partly for a short time. "And with haste they take pity on it quickly, to lead it up out of the chaos and lead it on the way of the midst through all the rulers. And they [ sc. the rulers] do not chastize it in their harsh judgments, but the fire of their regions troubleth it partly. And if it shall be brought into the region of Yachthanabas, the pitiless, then will he indeed not be able to chastize it in his evil judgments, but he holdeth it fast a short time, while the fire of his chastisements troubleth it partly. And again they take pity on it quickly, and lead it up out of those regions of theirs and they do not bring it into the æons, so that the rulers of the æons do not carry it away ravishingly; they bring it on the way of the sun and bring it before the Virgin of Light. She proveth it and findeth that it is pure of sins, but letteth them not bring it to the Light, because the sign of the kingdom of the mystery is not with it. But she sealeth it with a higher seal and letteth it be cast down into the body into the æons of righteousness,--that body which will be good to find the signs of the mysteries of the Light and inherit the Light-kingdom for ever. "If on the contrary he hath sinned once or twice or thrice, then will he be cast back into the world again according to the type of the sins which he hath committed, the type of which I will tell you when I shall have told you the expansion of the universe. "But amēn, amēn, I say unto you: Even if a righteous man hath committed no sins at all, he cannot possibly be brought into the Light-kingdom, because the sign of the kingdom of the mysteries is not with him. In a word, it is impossible to bring souls into the Light without the mysteries of the Light-kingdom."

(2) Then Mary stood up, greeted them all, and said to her brethren, Do not weep and do not grieve nor be irresolute, for His grace will be entirely with you and will protect you.

(3) And Mary answered and said: "My Lord, in what type then do the baptisms forgive sins? I heard thee say: 'The retributive servitors follow the soul, being witnesses to it for all the sins which it committeth, that they may convict it in the judgments.' Now, therefore, my Lord, do the mysteries of the baptisms wipe out the sins which are in the hands of the retributive servitors, so that they forget them? Now, therefore, my Lord, tell unto us the type, how they forgive sins; nay, we desire to know it with sureness." mysteries of the baptisms, then the mystery of them becometh a great, exceedingly violent, wise fire and it burneth up the sins and entereth into the soul secretly and consumeth all the sins which the counterfeiting spirit hath made fast on to it. And when it hath finished purifying all the sins The separation of the portions by the mystery of baptism. which the counterfeiting spirit hath made fast on to the soul, it entereth into the body secretly and pursueth all the pursuers secretly and separateth them off on the side of the portion of the body. For it pursueth the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny and separateth them off from the power and from the soul and putteth them on the side of the body, so that it separateth off the counterfeiting spirit and the destiny and the body into one portion; the soul and power on the other hand it separateth into another. The mystery of baptism on the contrary remaineth in the midst of the two, continually separating them from one another, so that it maketh them clean and purifieth them, in order that they may not be stained by matter. "Now, therefore, Mary, this is the way in which the mysteries of the baptisms forgive sins and all iniquities."

(1) It came to pass then, when Jesus had finished saying these words unto his disciples, that Mary came forward and said to the Saviour: "My Lord, will then a righteous man who is perfected in all righteousness, and that man who hath no sin at all, will such an one be tormented in the chastisements and judgments or not? Or will rather that man be brought into the kingdom of heaven or not?"

(1) The Saviour answered and said unto Mary: "Amēn, amēn, I say unto you: Every man who hath received mysteries in the First Mystery, having transgressed for the first and the second and the third time, and if he cometh out of the body before he hath repented, his judgment is far sorer than all the judgments; for his dwelling is in the midst of the jaws of the dragon of the outer darkness, and at the end of all this he will be frozen up [?] in the chastisements and perish for ever, because he hath received the gift of the First Mystery and hath not abided in it [ sc. the gift].

(1) And Mary continued and said unto the Saviour: "My Lord, if a man hath received the mysteries of the Light which [are] in the first space from without, and when the time of the mysteries up to which they reach, is completed, and if that man continueth anew to receive mysteries of the mysteries which [are] within the mysteries which he hath already received, and moreover that man hath become negligent, not having prayed in the prayer which taketh away the evil of the victuals which he eateth and drinketh, and through the evil of the victuals he is bound to the axle of the Fate of the rulers and through the necessity of the elements he hath sinned anew after the completion of the time up to which the mystery reacheth,--because he hath become negligent and hath not prayed in the prayer which taketh away the evil of the souls and purifieth them,--and that man is come out of the body before he hath repented anew and anew received the mysteries of the mysteries which [are] within the mysteries which he hath already received,--those which accept repentance from him and forgive his sins,--and when he I came forth out of the body and we knew with certainty that they have carried him into the midst of the dragon of the outer darkness because of the sins which he committed, and that that man hath no helper in the world nor any one compassionate, that he should perform the mystery of the Ineffable until he should be removed out of the midst of the dragon of the outer darkness and led into the Light-kingdom,--now, therefore, my Lord, what will befall him until he save himself from the chastisements of the dragon of the outer darkness? By no means, O Lord, abandon him, because he hath endured sufferings in the persecutions and in the whole godhood in which he is. "Now, therefore, O Saviour, have mercy with me, lest one of our kinsmen should be in such a type, and have mercy with all the souls which shall be in this type; for thou art the key which openeth the door of the universe and shutteth the door of the universe, and thy mystery comprehendeth them all. Have then mercy, O Lord, with such souls. For they have called on the name of thy mysteries, [were it but] for one single day, and have truly had faith in them and were not in play-acting. Give them then, O Lord, a gift in thy goodness and give them rest in thy mercy." When then Mary had said this, the Saviour called her most exceedingly blessed because of the words which she had spoken. And the Saviour was in great compassion and said unto Mary: "Unto all men who shall be in this type of which thou hast spoken, unto them while they [are] still in life, give ye the mystery of one of the twelve names of the dungeons of the dragon of the outer darkness,--those which I will give you when I have ended explaining unto you the universe from within without and from without within.

(1) It came to pass then, when Mary had finished saying these words, that he said: "Well said, Mary, for thou art blessed before all women on the earth, because thou shalt be the fulness of all fulnesses and the perfection of all perfections." Now when Mary had heard the Saviour speak these words, she exulted greatly, and she came before Jesus, fell down before him, adored his feet and said unto him: "My Lord, hearken unto me, that I may question thee on this word, before that thou discoursest with us about the regions whither thou didst go." Jesus answered and said unto Mary: "Discourse in openness and fear not; all things on which thou questionest, I will reveal unto thee."

(5) "And after this the counterfeiting spirit contriveth and senseth all sins and the evil which the rulers of the great Fate have commanded for the soul, and it maketh them for the soul. "And the inner power stirreth the soul to seek after the region of the Light and the whole god-head; and the counterfeiting spirit leadeth away the soul and compelleth it continually to do all its lawless deeds, all its mischiefs and all its sin, and is persistently allotted to the soul and is hostile to it, and making it do all this evil and all these sins. "And it goadeth on the retributive servitors, so that they are witnesses in all the sins which it will make it do. Moreover also if it will rest in the night [or] by day, it stirreth it in dreams or in lusts of the world, and maketh it to lust after all the things of the world. In a word, it driveth [?] it into all the things which the rulers have commanded for it and it is hostile to the soul, making it do what pleaseth it not. "Now, therefore, Mary, this is in fact the foe of the soul, and this compelleth it until it doeth all sins.