The Apocalypse of Paul
translation by George W.MacRae and William
R.Murdoch from Nag Hammadi Codex V
[...] the road. And he spoke to him, saying By which road
shall I go to Jerusalem? The little childreplied, saying
Say your name, so that I may show you the road . The
little child knew who Paulwas. He wished to make conversation
with him through his words in order that he might find an excuse
forspeaking with him.
The little child spoke, saying I know who you are, Paul.
You are he who was blessed from his mother`s womb. For I have
come to you that you may go up to Jerusalem to your fellow apostles.
And for this reasonyou were called. I am the Spirit who accompanies
you. Let your mind awaken, Paul, with [...] .. For [...] wholewhich
[...] among the principalities and these authorities and archangels
and powers and the whole race of demons, [...] the one that reveals
bodies to a soul-seed
And after he brought that speech to an end, he spoke, saying
to me, Let your mind awaken, Paul, andsee that this mountain
upon which you are standing is the mountain of Jericho, so that
you may know thehidden things in those that are visible. Now
it is to the twelve apostles that you shall go, for they are
electspirits, and they will greet you. He raised his eyes
and saw them greeting him.
Then the Holy Spirit who was speaking with him caught him up
on high to the third heaven, and he passedbeyond to the fourth
heaven. The Holy Spirit spoke to him, saying Look and see
your likeness uponthe earth And he looked down and saw those
who were upon the earth. He stared and saw those whowere upon
the earth. Then he gazed down and saw the twelve apostles at
his right and at his left in thecreation; and the Spirit was
going before them.
But I saw in the fourth heaven according to class - I saw the
angels resembling gods, the angels bringing asoul out of the
land of the dead. They placed it at the gate of the fourth heaven.
And the angels were whipping it.The soul spoke, saying What
sin was it I committed in the world? The toll-collector
who dwells in the fourth heaven replied, saying, It was not
right to commit all those lawless deeds that are in the worldof
the dead. The Soul replied saying, Bring witnesses!
Let them show you in what body I committedlawless deeds. Do you
wish to bring a book to read from?
And the three witnesses came. The first spoke, saying, Was
I not in the body the second hour...[...]? Irose up against you
until you fell into anger and rage and envy And the second
spoke, saying Was I not in the world? And I entered at the
fifth hour, and I saw you and desired you. And behold, then,
nowI charge you with the murders you committed.. The Third
spoke, saying, Did I not come to youat the twelfth hour of
the day when the sun was about to set? I gave you darkness untill
you should accomplishyour sins When the soul heard these
things, it gazed downward in sorrow. And then it gazed upward.It
was cast down. The soul that had been cast down went to a body
which had been prepared for it.And behold, its witnesses was
finished.
Then I gazed upward and saw the Spirit saying to me, Paul,
come! Proceed toward me! . Then as Iwent, the gate opened
and I went up to the fifth heaven. And I saw my fellow apostles
going with me while theSpirit accompanied us. And I saw a great
angel in the fifth heaven holding an irod rod in his hand. There
werethree other angels with him, and I stared into their faces.
But they were rivalling eachother, with whips in their hands,
goading the soul on to the judgment. But I went with the Spirit
and the gate opened for me.
Then we went up to the sixth heaven. And I saw my fellow apostles
going with me, and the Holy Spirit was leading me before them.
And I gazed up on high and saw a great light shining on the sixth
heaven. I spoke, saying to the toll-collector who was in the
sixth heaven, Open to me and the Holy Spirit who is before
me. He openedto me.
Then we went up to the seventh heaven, and I saw an Old man [...]
light and whose garment was white. His throne,which is in the
seventh heaven, was brighter than the sun by seven times. The
Old man spoke, saying, Whereare you going, Paul? O blessed
one and the one who was set apart from his mother`s womb.
But I looked atthe Spirit and he was nodding his head, saying
to me, Speak with him!. And I replied, saying to the
oldman, I am going to the place from which i came. And
the old man responded to me, Where areyou from? But
I replied, saying, I am going down to the world of the dead
in order to lead captive thecaptivity that was led captive in
captivity of Babylon. And the iold man replied to me saying,
How willyou be able to get away from me? Look and see the
principalities and authorities The Spirit spoke, saying,
Give him the sign that you have, and he will open for you
And then I gave him the sign. He turnedhis face downwards to
his creation and to those who are his authorities.
And then the seventh heaven opened and we went up to the Ogdoad.
And I saw the twelve apostles. They greetedme , and we went up
to the ninth heaven. I greeted all those who were in the ninth
heaven, and we went up to thetenth heaven. And I greeted my fellow
spirits. |