(3) They were forever in thought, for the Father was like a thought and a place for them. When their generations had been established, the one who is completely in control wished to lay hold of and to bring forth that which was deficient in the [...] and he brought forth those [...] him. But since he is as he is, he is a spring, which is not diminished by the water which abundantly flows from it. While they were in the Father's thought, that is, in the hidden depth, the depth knew them, but they were unable to know the depth in which they were; nor was it possible for them to know themselves, nor for them to know anything else. That is, they were with the Father; they did not exist for themselves. Rather, they only had existence in the manner of a seed, so that it has been discovered that they existed like a fetus. Like the word he begot them, subsisting spermatically, and the ones whom he was to beget had not yet come into being from him. The one who first thought of them, the Father, - not only so that they might exist for him, but also that they might exist for themselves as well, that they might then exist in his thought as mental substance and that they might exist for themselves too, - sowed a thought like a spermatic seed. Now, in order that they might know what exists for them, he graciously granted the initial form, while in order that they might recognize who is the Father who exists for them, he gave them the name "Father" by means of a voice proclaiming to them that what exists, exists through that name, which they have by virtue of the fact that they came into being, because the exaltation, which has escaped their notice, is in the name.

(13) This [Image] is not the Heart of God, but it reaches into the Heart of God, and it receives Virtue, Light and Joy from the Heart and Light of God. For it is in the eternal Will of the Father, out of which he [the Father] continually generates his Heart and Word from Eternity; and ehis Essences, which, in the Element of his Body, viz. [in the Element] of Ignorance in the eternal Wonders of God now breathed into him, they (in respect of the high triumphing Light, out of the Heart and Light of God) were Paradise; his Meat and Drink was Paradise, out of the Element, in his Will; whereby then he drew the Virtue of the eternal Wonders of God into him, and generated the Noise [Voice] Sound, or the eternal Hymn of the eternal Wonders of God, out of himself before the Will; and all this stood before the chaste, high, noble, and blessed Virgin, the divine Wisdom, in a pleasant Sport, and was the right Paradise.

(18) Paradise consists in the Power [and Virtue] of God: It is not corporeal, nor comprehensible; but its Corporeity or Comprehensibility is like the Angels, which yet is a bright, clear, visible Substance, as if it were material; but it is figured merely from the Virtue [or Power] where all is transparent and shining, where also the Center of the Birth is in all Things, and therefore the Birth is without Measure or End. 19.1 give you a Similitude in the Mind of Man, from which the Thoughts are generated, which have neither Number nor End, (for every Thought has a Center to generate.again other Thoughts,) and thus is the Paradise from Eternity to Eternity. But seeing the Light of God is eternal, and shines without Wavering or Hinderance, therefore also in the Birth there is an unchangeable Substance, wherein all Things spring up in mere Perfection, in great Love.

(9) It is by virtue of his will that the Father, the one who is exalted, is known, that is, (by virtue of) the spirit which breathes in the Totalities and it gives them an idea of seeking after the unknown one, just as one is drawn by a pleasant aroma to search for the thing from which the aroma arises, since the aroma of the Father surpasses these ordinary ones. For his sweetness leaves the aeons in ineffable pleasure and it gives them their idea of mingling with him who wants them to know him in a united way and to assist one another in the spirit which is sown within them. Though existing under a great weight, they are renewed in an inexpressible way, since it is impossible for them to be separated from that in which they are set in an uncomprehending way, because they will not speak, being silent about the Father's glory, about the one who has power to speak, and yet they will take form from him. He revealed himself, though it is impossible to speak of him. They have him, hidden in a thought, since from this one [...]. They are silent about the way the Father is in his form and his nature and his greatness, while the aeons have become worthy of knowing through his spirit that he is unnameable and incomprehensible. It is through his spirit, which is the trace of the search for him, that he provides them the ability to conceive of him and to speak about him.

(50) What is Paradise? All things that are; for all are goodly and pleasant, and therefore may fitly be called a Paradise. It is said also, that Paradise is an outer court of Heaven. Even so this world is verily an outer court of the Eternal, or of Eternity, and specially whatever in Time, or any temporal things or creatures, manifesteth or remindeth us of God or Eternity; for the creatures are a guide and a path unto God and Eternity. Thus this world is an outer court of Eternity, and therefore it may well be called a Paradise, for it is such in truth. And in this Paradise, all things are lawful, save one tree and the fruits thereof. That is to say: of all things that are, nothing is forbidden and nothing is contrary to God but one thing only: that is, Self-will, or to will otherwise than as the Eternal Will would have it. Remember this. For God saith to Adam, that is, to every man, “Whatever thou art, or doest, or leavest undone, or whatever cometh to pass, is all lawful and not forbidden if it be not done from or according to thy will, but for the sake of and according to My will. But all that is done from thine own Will is contrary to the Eternal Will.” It is not that every work which is thus wrought is in itself contrary to the Eternal Will, but in so far as it is wrought from a different will, or otherwise than from the Eternal and Divine Will.

(14) Since in his essence he is a "god" and "father" and all the rest of the honorific titles, he was thinking that they were elements of his own essence. He established a rest for those who obey him, but for those who disobey him, he also established punishments. With him, too, there is a paradise and a kingdom and everything else which exists in the aeon which exists before him. They are more valuable than the imprints, because of the thought which is connected with them, which is like a shadow and a garment, so to speak, because he does not see in what way the things which exist actually do exist.

(5) The Father brought forth everything, like a little child, like a drop from a spring, like a blossom from a vine, like a flower, like a [...], in need of gaining nourishment and growth and faultlessness. He withheld it for a time. He who had thought of it from the very beginning, possessed it from the very beginning, and saw it, but he closed it off to those who first came from him. (He did this,) not out of envy, but in order that the aeons might not receive their faultlessness from the very beginning and might not exalt themselves to the glory, to the Father, and might think that from themselves alone they have this. But just as he wished to grant that they might come into being, so too, in order that they might come into being as faultless ones, when he wished, he gave them the perfect idea of beneficence toward them.

(39) The Mind of the Father whirled forth in reechoing roar, comprehending by invincible Will Ideas omniform ; which flying forth from that one fountain issued; for from the Father alike. was the Will and the End (by which are they connected with the Father according to alternating life, through varying vehicles). But they were divided asunder, being by Intellectual Fire distributed into other Intellectuals. For the King of all previously placed before the polymorphous World a Type, intellectual, incorruptible, the imprint of whose form is sent forth through the World, by which the Universe shone forth decked with Ideas all various, of which the foundation is One, One and alone. From this the others rush forth distributed and separated through the various bodies of the Universe, and are borne in swarms through its vast abysses, ever whirling forth in illimitable radiation. They are intellectual conceptions from the Paternal Fountain partaking abundantly of the brilliance of Fire in the culmination of unresting Time. But the primary self-perfect Fountain of the Father poured forth these primogenial Ideas.

(6) The one whom he raised up as a light for those who came from himself, the one from whom they take their name, he is the Son, who is full, complete and faultless. He brought him forth mingled with what came forth from him [...] partaking of the [...] the Totality, in accordance with [...] by which each one can receive him for himself, though such was not his greatness before he was received by it. Rather, he exists by himself. As for the parts in which he exists in his own manner and form and greatness, it is possible for to see him and speak about that which they know of him, since they wear him while he wears them, because it is possible for them to comprehend him. He, however, is as he is, incomparable. In order that the Father might receive honor from each one and reveal himself, even in his ineffability, hidden, and invisible, they marvel at him mentally. Therefore, the greatness of his loftiness consists in the fact that they speak about him and see him. He becomes manifest, so that he may be hymned because of the abundance of his sweetness, with the grace of . And just as the admirations of the silences are eternal generations and they are mental offspring, so too the dispositions of the word are spiritual emanations. Both of them admirations and dispositions, since they belong to a word, are seeds and thoughts of his offspring, and roots which live forever, appearing to be offspring which have come forth from themselves, being minds and spiritual offspring to the glory of the Father.

(8) It is he, the Father, who gave root impulses to the aeons, since they are places on the path which leads toward him, as toward a school of behavior. He has extended to them faith in and prayer to him whom they do not see; and a firm hope in him of whom they do not conceive; and a fruitful love, which looks toward that which it does not see; and an acceptable understanding of the eternal mind; and a blessing, which is riches and freedom; and a wisdom of the one who desires the glory of the Father for thought.

Now, this father is the One who beholds himself in the light surrounding him, which is the spring of living water, and provides all the realms. He reflects on his image everywhere, sees it in the spring of the spirit, and becomes enamored of his luminous water, for his image is in the spring of pure luminous water surrounding him. The father’s thought became a reality, and she who appeared in the presence of the father in shining light came forth. She is the first power who preceded everything and came forth from the father’s mind as the forethought of all. Her light shines like the father’s light; she, the perfect power, is the image of the perfect and invisible virgin spirit. She, the first power, the glory of Barbelo, the perfect glory among the realms, the glory of revelation, she glorified and praised the virgin spirit, for because of the spirit she had come forth. She is the first thought, the image of the spirit. She became the universal womb, for she precedes everything, the mother-father, the first human, the holy spirit, the triple male, the triple power, the androgynous one with three names, the eternal realm among the invisible beings, the first to come forth. Barbelo asked the invisible virgin spirit to give her foreknowledge, and the spirit consented. When the spirit consented, foreknowledge appeared and stood by forethought. This is the one who came from the thought of the invisible virgin spirit. Foreknowledge glorified the spirit and the spirit’s perfect power, Barbelo, for because of her, foreknowledge had come into being. She asked again to be given incorruptibility, and the spirit consented. When the spirit consented, incorruptibility appeared and stood by thought and foreknowledge. Incorruptibility glorified the invisible one and Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being. Barbelo asked to be given life eternal, and the invisible spirit consented. When the spirit consented, life eternal appeared, and they stood together and glorified the invisible spirit and Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being. She asked again to be given truth, and the invisible spirit consented. Truth appeared, and they stood together and glorified the good invisible spirit and its Barbelo. Because of her they had come into being. This is the father’s realm of five. It is: the first human, the image of the invisible spirit, that is, forethought, which is Barbelo, and thought, along with foreknowledge, incorruptibility, life eternal, truth. This is the androgynous realm of five, which is the realm of ten, which is the father.

(21) First, he is God, and is in the Father of Eternity, generated out of the Father of Eternity from Eternity, without Beginning and End, out of the Depth of the Omnipotence, out of the broken Gates of the Sharpness [or Depths] of God in the Joy, [or Habitation,] where the Father attracts the pleasant Joy in his eternal Will, whereby the Will is impregnated, with the attracted Virtue of the Light, out of which [Impregnation] the Father conceives the other [or second] Will to generate the Virtue; and that Conception [or comprehension] is his Word, which the Father speaks (out of the Will, before the Will) out of himself; and this Speaking remains in the Mouth of the Father, as fa comprehended Word, with the second Will; and the proceeding forth out of the spoken Word (which goes forth out of the Will through the Word) is the Spirit; and that which is spoken forth % before the Will, is the eternal Wisdom of God, the Virgin of the Chastity.

(8) The Father, in accordance with his exalted position over the Totalities, being an unknown and incomprehensible one, has such greatness and magnitude, that, if he had revealed himself suddenly, quickly, to all the exalted ones among the aeons who had come forth from him, they would have perished. Therefore, he withheld his power and his inexhaustibility within that in which he is. He is ineffable and unnameable and exalted above every mind and every word. This one, however, stretched himself out and it was that which he stretched out which gave a foundation and a space and a dwelling place for the universe, a name of his being "the one through whom," since he is Father of the All, out of his laboring for those who exist, having sown into their thought that they might seek after him. The abundance of their [...] consists in the fact that they understand that he exists and in the fact that they ask what it is that was existing. This one was given to them for enjoyment and nourishment and joy and an abundance of illumination, which consists in his fellow laboring, his knowledge and his mingling with them, that is, the one who is called and is, in fact, the Son, since he is the Totalities and the one of whom they know both who he is and that it is he who clothes. This is the one who is called "Son" and the one of whom they understand that he exists and they were seeking after him. This is the one who exists as Father and (as) the one about whom they cannot speak, and the one of whom they do not conceive. This is the one who first came into being.

(6) Those of whom he first thought that they should attain knowledge and the good things which are in it, they were planning - which is the wisdom of the Father, - that they might experience the evil things and might train themselves in them, as a [...] for a time, so that they might receive the enjoyment of good things for eternity. They hold change and persistent renunciation and the cause of those who fight against them as an adornment and marvelous quality of those who are exalted, so that it is manifest that the ignorance of those who will be ignorant of the Father was something of their own. He who gave them knowledge of him was one of his powers for enabling them to grasp that knowledge in the fullest sense is called "the knowledge of all that which is thought of" and "the treasure" and "the addition for the increase of knowledge," "the revelation of those things which were known at first," and "the path toward harmony and toward the pre-existent one," which is the increase of those who have abandoned the greatness which was theirs in the organization of the will, so that the end might be like the beginning.

(6) The one in whom the Father is and the one in whom the Totalities are created before the one who lacked sight. He instructed him about those who searched for their sight, by means of the shining of that perfect light. He first perfected him in ineffable joy. He perfected him for himself as a perfect one and he also gave him what is appropriate to each individual. For this is the determination of the first joy. And sowed in him in an invisible way a word which is destined to be knowledge. And he gave him power to separate and cast out from himself those who are disobedient to him. Thus, he made himself manifest to him. But to those who came into being because of him he revealed a form surpassing them. They acted in a hostile way toward one another. Suddenly he revealed himself to them, approaching them in the form of lightning. And in putting an end to the entanglement which they have with one another he stopped it by the sudden revelation, which they were not informed about, did not expect, and did not know of. Because of this, they were afraid and fell down, since they were not able to bear the appearance of the light which struck them. The one who appeared was an assault for the two orders. Just as the beings of thought had been given the name "little one," so they have a faint notion that they have the exalted one, he exists before them, and they have sown within them an attitude of amazement at the exalted one who will become manifest. Therefore, they welcomed his revelation and they worshipped him. They became convinced witnesses to . They acknowledged the light which had come into being as one stronger than those who fought against them. The beings of the likeness, however, were exceedingly afraid, since they were not able to hear about him in the beginning, that there is a vision of this sort. Therefore they fell down to the pit of ignorance which is called "the Outer Darkness," and "Chaos" and "Hades" and "the Abyss." He set up what was beneath the order of the beings of thought, as it was stronger than they. They were worthy of ruling over the unspeakable darkness, since it is theirs and is the lot which was assigned to them. He granted them that they, too, should be of use for the organization which was to come, to which he had assigned them.

(4) The Father had foreknowledge of him, since he was in his thought before anything came into being, and since he had those to whom he has revealed him. He set the deficiency on the one who remains for certain periods and times, as a glory for his Pleroma, since the fact that he is unknown is a cause of his production from his agreement [...] of him. Just as reception of knowledge of him is a manifestation of his lack of envy and the revelation of the abundance of his sweetness, which is the second glory, so, too, he has been found to be a cause of ignorance, although he is also a begetter of knowledge.

(60) Thus now the Heaven in this Forming or Framing, and the Framing and Generating out of it in infinitum, or endlessly, is the Paradise of God, as the highly worthy Moses writes: The Spirit of God moved upon the Water, in the Framing [Forming or Fashioning] of the World. This is, and continues so in its Eternity, that the Spirit of God (in the Birth of the Son of God) moves upon the Water; for he is the Virtue, or Power, and the Out-Flowing of the Father, out of the kindled Light- Water, out of the Water and Light of God.

The father gazed into Barbelo, with the pure light surrounding the invisible spirit, and its radiance. Barbelo conceived from it, and it produced a spark of light similar to the blessed light but not as great. This was the only child of the mother-father that had come forth, its only offspring, the only child of the father, the pure light. The invisible virgin spirit rejoiced over the light that was produced, that came forth first from the first power of the spirit’s forethought, who is Barbelo. The spirit anointed it with its own goodness until it was perfect, with no lack of goodness, since it was anointed with the goodness of the invisible spirit. The child stood in the presence of the spirit as the spirit anointed the child. When the child received this from the spirit, at once it glorified the holy spirit and perfect forethought. Because of her it had come forth. The child asked to be given mind as a companion to work with, and the spirit consented. When the invisible spirit consented, mind appeared and stood by the anointed, and glorified the spirit and Barbelo. All these beings came into existence in silence. Mind wished to create something by means of the word of the invisible spirit. Its will became a reality and appeared, with mind and the light, glorifying it. Word followed will. For the anointed, the self-conceived god, created everything by the word. Life eternal, will, mind, and foreknowledge stood together and glorified the invisible spirit and Barbelo, for because of her they had come into being. The holy spirit brought the self-conceived divine child of itself and Barbelo to perfection, so that the child might stand before the great, invisible virgin spirit as the self-conceived god, the anointed, who honored the spirit with loud acclaim. The child came forth through forethought. The invisible virgin spirit set the true, self-conceived god over everything, and caused all authority and the truth within to be subject to it, so that the child might understand everything, the one called by a name greater than every name, for that name will be told to those who are worthy of it.

(29) This therefore is the only ground and meaning, that the holy Father, who is ALL, would have in these angelical gates his most joyful and most richly loving qualities, out of which is generated the most joyful and most richly loving light, word, heart, or fountain of powers; and therefore has he created his holy angels in this place for his joy, honour and glory. [30. "In the abyssal or bottomless eternity indeed, it is [the same] in one place as in another; but where there are no creatures nothing can be known, except by the spirit in its wonders."]

(66) Thus it is with those Angels that continued in the Kingdom of Heaven in the true Paradise, they stand in the first Principle in the indissoluble Band, and their Food is the divine Power, in their Imagination (or Imagining) [in their Thoughts and Mind] is the Will of the Holy Trinity in the Deity; the Confirmation [or Establishing] of their Life, Will, and Doings, is the Power of the Holy Ghost; whatsoever that does in the generating of Paradise, the Angels rejoice at, and they sing the joyful Songs of Paradise, concerning the pleasant saving Fruit, and eternal Birth. All they do is an Increasing of the heavenly Joy, and a Delight and Pleasure to the Heart of God, a holy Sport in Paradise, a [satisfying of the Desire or] Will of the eternal Father; to this End their God created them, that he might be manifested, and rejoice in his Creatures, and the Creatures in him, so that there might be an eternal Sport of Love, in the Center of the Multiplying (or eternal Nature) in the indissoluble eternal Band.