The gospel of truth is joy to those who have receivedfrom the Father of truth the gift of knowing him by the power of the Logos, who has come from the Pleroma and who isin the thought and in the mind of the Father; he it is who iscalled Saviour since that is the name of the workwhich he must do for the redemption of those who have not knownthe Father. For the name of the gospel is the manifestation ofhope, since that is the discovery of those who seek him,because the All sought him from whom it had come forth.You see, the All had been inside of him, that illimitable,inconceiveable one, who is better than every thought.

This ignorance of the Father brought about terror and fear.And terror became dense like a fog, that no one was able tosee. Because of this, error became strong. But it worked on it`s hylic substance vainly, because it did not know the truth.It was in a fashioned form while it was prepairing, in powerand in beauty, the equivalent of truth. This then, was nota humiliation for him, that illimitable, inconceivable one.For they were as nothing, this terror and this forgetfulnessand this figure of falsehood, whereas this established truthis unchanging, unperturbed and completely beautyful.For this reason, do not take error too seriously. Thus, sinceit had no root, it was in a fog as regards the Father, engagedin prepairing works and forgetfulnesses and fears in order,by these means, to beguile those of the middle and make themcaptive. The forgetfulness of error was not revealed.It did not become light beside the Father. Forgetfulnessdid not exist with the Father, although it existed becauseof him. What exists in him is knowledge, which was revealedso that forgetfulness might be destroyed and that they mightknow the Father, if they then came to know the Father, fromthat moment on forgetfulness will cease to exist.

That is the gospel of him whom they seek , which he hasrevealed to the perfect through the mercies of the Fatheras the hidden mystery, Jesus the Christ. Through him heenlightened those who where in the darkness because of forgetfulness. He enlightened them and gave them a path.And that path is the truth which he thaught them. For this reason error was angry with him, so it persecuted him.It was distressed by him, so it made him powerless.He was nailed to a cross. He became a fruit of the knowledgeof the Father. He did not, however, destroy them because theyate of it. He rather caused those who ate of it to be joyfulbecause of this discovery. And as for him, them he found in himself, and him they foundin themselves, that illimitable, inconceiveable one, that perfect Father who made tthe all, in whom the All is, andwhom the All lacks, since he retained in himself their perfection, which he had not given to the all.The Father was not jealous. What jealousy, indeed, is therebetween him and his members? For, even if the Aeon hadreceived their perfection in himself, giving it to themas a way to return to him and as a knowledge unique inperfection. He is the one who set the all in order and inwhom the all existed and whom the all lacked. As one of whom some have no knowledge, he desires that they know himand that they love him. For what is it that the All lacked,if not the knowledge of the Father?

He became a guide, quiet and in leisure.In the middle of a school he came and spoke the Word, as teacher.Those who were wise in their own estimation came to put him tothe test. But he discredited them as empty-headed people.They hated him because they really were not wise men.After all these came also the little children, those who possessthe knowledge of the Father. When they became strong they thaughtthe aspects of the Father`s face. They came to know and they were known. They were glorified and they gave glory. In theirheart, the living book of the Living was manifest, the book whichwas written in the thought and in the mind of the Father and,from before the foundation of the All, is in that incomprehensiblepart of him.

This is the book which no one found possible to take,since it was reserved for him who will take it and be slain.No one was able to be manifest from those who believed in salvation as long as that book had not appeared. For this reason,the compassionate, faithful Jesus was patient in his sufferingsuntil he took that book, since he knew that his death meantlife for the many. Just as in the case of a will which hasnot yet been opened, for the fortune of the deceased masterof the house is hidden, so also in the case of the All whichhas been hidden as long as the Father of the All was invisibleand unique in himself, in whom every space has its source.For this reason Jesus appeared.He took that book as his own. He was nailed to a cross.He affixed the edict of the Father to the cross.Oh, such great teaching! He abeses himself even unto death,though he is clothed in eternal life. Having divested himself in these perishable rags, he clothed himself inincorruptibility, which no one could possibly take from him.Having entered into the empty territory of fears,he passed before those who were stripped by forgetfulness,being both knowledge and perfection, proclamining thingsthat are in the heart of the Father, so that he became thewisdom of those who have received instruction.But those who are to be taught , the living who are inscribedin the book of the living, learn for themselves, receivinginstructions from the Father, turning to him again.

Since the perfection of the All is in the Father, it is necessaryfor the All to ascend to him. Therefore, if one has knowledge,he gets what belongs to him and draws it to himself.For he who is ignorant, is deficient, and it is a great deficiency, since he lacks that which will make him perfect.Since the perfection of the All is in the Father, it is necessaryfor the All to ascend to him and for each one to get the thingswhich are his. He registered them first, having prepared themto be given to those who came from him.These whose name he knew first were called last, so that the onewho has knowledge is he whose name the Father has pronounced.For he whose name has bot been spoken is ignorant. Indeed, howshall one hear if his name has not been uttered. For he whoremains ignorant until the end is a creature of forgetfulnessand will perish with it. If this is not so, why have thesewretches no name, why do they have no sound?Hence, if one has knowledge, he is from above. If he is called,he hears, he replies, and he turns toward him who called himand he ascends to him and he knows to what he is called.Since he has knowledge, he does the will of him who called him.He desires to please him and he receives rest.He receives a certain name. He who thus is going to have knowledgeknows whence he came and whither he is going. He knows it as aperson who, having become intoxicated, has turned from his drunkeness and having come to himself, has restored what is his own.

He have turned many from error. He went before them to theirown places, from which they departed when they erred becauseof the depth of him who surrounds every place, whereas thereis nothing which surrounds him. It was a great wonder that theywere in the Father without knowing him and that they wereable to leave on their own, since they were not able to containhim and know him whom they were, for indeed his will had notcome forth from him. For he revealed it as a knowledge withwhich all its emanations agree, namely, the knowledge of theliving book which he revealed to the Aeons at last as his letters,displaying them that these are not merely vowels nor consonants,so that one may read them and think something void of meaning;they are letters which convey the truth. They are pronounced onlywhen they are known. Each letter is a perfect truth like a perfectbook, for they are letters written by the hand of the unity,since the Father wrote them for the Aeons, so that they by meansof his letters might come to know the Father.

While his wisdom mediates on the logos, and since his teachingexpresses it, his knowledge has been revealed. His honor isa crown upon it. Since his joy agrees with it, his glory exaltedut. It has revealed his image. It has obtained his rest. His lovetook bodily form around it. His trust embraced it. Thus the logosof the Father goes forth into the All, being the fruit of his heart and expression of his will. It supports the All. It choosesand also takes form of the All, purifying it, and causing itto return to the Father and the Mother, Jesus of the utmost sweetness. The Father opens his bosom, but his bosom is the HolySpirit. He reveals his hidden self which is his son, so that through the compassion of the Father the Aeons may come to knowhim, end their wearying search for the Father and rest themselvesin him, knowing that this is rest. After he had filled what wasincomplete, he did away with form. The form of it is the world,that which it served. For where there is envy and strife,there is incompleteness; but where there is unity, there is completeness. Since this incompleteness came about because they did not know the Father, so when they know the Father,incompleteness, from that moment on, will cease to be.As one`s ignorance disappears when he gains knowledge, and asdarkness disappeats when light appears, so also incompletenessis eliminated by completeness. Certainly, from that moment on,form is no longer manifest, but will be dissolved in fusionwith unity for their works lie scattered. In time unity willmake the spaces complete. By means of unity each and one willunderstand itself. By means of knowledge it will purify itselfof diversity with a view towards unity, devouring matter within itself like fire and darkness by light, death by life.

Certainly, if these things have happened to each one of us,it is fitting for us, suerly, to think about the All so that the house may be holy and silent for unity. Like peoplewho have moved from a neighborhood, if they have some dishesaround which are not good, they usually break them.Nevertheless the householder does not suffer a loss, butrejoices, for in the place of these defective dishes there are those which are completely perfect.For this is the judgement which has come from above and whichhas judged every person, a drawn two-edged sword cuttingon this side and that. When it appeared,I mean, the Logos,who is in the heart of those who pronounce it - it was notmerely a sound but it has become a body - a great disturbanceoccured among the dishes, for some where emptied, other filled:other were provided for, others were removed; some were purified,still others were broken. All the spaces were shaken anddisturbed for they had no composure nor stability.Error was disturbed not knowing what it should do. It was troubled; it lamented, it was beside itself because it did not knowanything. When knowledge, which is its abolishment, approachedit with all its emanations, error is empty, since there isnothing in it. Truth appeared; all its emanations recognized it.They actually greeted the Father with a power which is completeand which joins them with the Father. For each one loves truthbecause truth is the mouth of the Father. His tongue is the Holy Spirit, who joins him to truth attaching him to the mouth of the Father by his tongue at the time he shall receive the Holy Spirit.

This is the manifestation of the Father and his revelation tohis Aeons. He revealed his hidden self and explained it.For who is it who exists if not it is the Father himself.All the spaces are his emanations. They knew that they stem from him as children from a perfect man. They knew that they had notyet received form nor had they yet received a name, every oneof which the Father produces. If they at that time receive formof his knowledge, though they are truly in him, they do not knowhim. But the Father is perfect. He knows every space which is within him. If he pleases, he reveals anyone whom he desires bygiving him a form and by giving him a name; and he does give hima name and cause him to come into being. Those who are not yetexist are nothing. But they are in him who will desire that theyexist when he pleases, like the event which is going to happen.On the one hand, he knows, before anything is revealed, what hewill produce. On the other hand, the fruit which has not yetbeen revealed does not know anything, nor is it anything either.Thus each space which, on its part, is in the Father comes fromthe existant one, who, on his part, has established it from thenonexistant..... he who does not exist at all, will never exist.

What, then , is that which he wants him to think? I am like the shaddows and phantoms of the night.When morning comes, this one knows that the fear which hehad experienced was nothing. Thus thet were ignorant of the Father;he is the one whom they did not see. Since there had been fearand confusion and a lack of confidence and doublemindness and division, there were many illusions which were conceived byhim, the foregoing, as well as empty ignorance - as if theywere fast asleep and found themselves prey to troubled dreams.Either there is a place to which they flee, or they lack strenghtas they come, having pursued unspecified things.Either they are involved in inflicting blows, or they themselvesreceive bruises. Either they are falling from high places, or theyfly through the air, though they have no wings at all.Other times, it is as if certain people were trying to kill them,even though there is no one pursuing them; or , they themselvesare killing those beside them, for they are stained by their blood.Unitl the moment when they who are passing through all these things- I mean they who have experienced all these confusions -awake, they see nothing because the dreams were nothing.It is thus that they who cast ignorance from them as sheep do notconsider it to be anything, nor regard its properties to be something real, but they renounce tham like a dream in the nightand they consider the knowledge of the Father to be the dawn.It is thus that each one has acted, as if he were asleep, duringthe time when he was ignorant and thus he come to understand,as if he were awakening. And happy is the man who comes to himselfand awakens. Indeed, blessed is he who has opened the eyes of the blind.And the Spirit came to him in haste when it raised him. Havinggiven its hand to the one lying prone on the ground,it placed him firmly on his feet, for he had not yet stood up.He gave them the means of knowing the knowledge of the Fatherand the revelation of his son. For when they saw it and listenedto it, he permitted them to take a taste of it and to smell and tograsp the beloved son.

He appeared, informing them of the Father, the illimitable one.He inspired them with that which is in the mind, while doing hiswill. Many received the light and turned towards him. But materialmen were alien to him and did not discern his appearance norrecognize him. Gpr je came in the likeness of flesh and nothingblocked his way because it was incorruptible and unrestrainable.Moreover, while saying new things, speaking about what is in theheart of the Father, he proclaimed the faultless word.Light spoke through his mouth, and his voice brought forth life.He gave them thought and understanding and mercy and salvationand the Spirit of strenght derived from the limitlessness of theFather and sweetness. He caused punishments and scourings to cease,for it was they which caused many in need of mercy to astrayfrom him in error and in chains - and he mightily destroyed themand derided them with knowledge. He became a path for those whowent astray and knowledge to those who were ignorant, a discoveryfor those who sought, and a support for those who tremble, a purity for those who were defiled.He is the sheperd who left behind the ninety-nine sheep which hadnot strayed and went in search of that one which was lost.He rejoiced when he had found it. For ninety-nine is a number onthe left hand, which holds it. The moment he finds the one,however, the whole number is transferred to the right hand.Thus it is with himm who lacks the one, that is, the entire righthand which attracts that in which it is deficient, seizes it from the left side and transfers it to the right. In this way,then, the number becomes one hundred. This number signifies theFather.

He labored even at the Sabbath for the sheep which he found falleninto the pit. He saved the life of that sheep, bringing it upfrom the pit in order that you may understand fully what theSabbath is, you who possess full understanding.It is a day in which it is not fitting for salvation be idle,so that you may speak of the heavenly day which has no nightand of the sun which does not set because it is perfect.Say then in your hearts that you are this perfect day and that in you the light which does not fail dwells.Speak concerning the truth to those who seek it and of knowledgeto those who, in their error, have committed sin.Make sure-footed those who stumble and stretch forth thy handto the sick. Nourish the hungry and set at ease those who aretroubled. Foster men who love. Raise up and awaken those who sleep. For you are this understanding which encourages.If the strong follow this course, they are even stronger.Turn your attention to yourselves. Do not be concerned withother things, namely , that which you have cast forth fromyourselves, that which you have dismissed. Do not return to themto eat them. Do not be moth-eaten. Do not be worm-eaten, for youhave already shaken it off. Do not be a place of the devil, foryou have already destroyed him. Do not strenghetn your lastobstacles, because that is reprehensible. For the lawless one isnothing. He harms himself more than the law. For that one doeshis works because he is a lawless person. But this one, becausehe is a righteous person, does his works amongs others.Do the will of the Father, then, for you are from him.

For the Father is sweet and his will is good. He knows the thingsthat are yours, so that you may rest yourselves in them.For by the fruits one knows the things that are yours, that theyare the children of the Father, and one knows his aroma, that you originate from the grace of his countenance.For this reason, the Father loved his aroma; and it manifestsitself in every place; and when it is mixed with matter, he giveshis aroma to the light; and into his rest he causes it to ascendin every form and in every sound. For there are no nostrils whichsmells the aroma, but it is the Spirit which possesses the senseof smell and it draws it for itself to itself and sinks intothe aroma of the Father. He is, indeed, the place for it, and hetakes it to the place from which it has come, in the first aromawhich is cold. It is something in a psychic form, resembling coldwater which is...[damaged] since it is in soil which is not hard,of which those who see it, think it is earth Afterwards, it becomes soft again. If a breath is taken, it isusually hot. The cold aromas, then, are from the division.For this reason, God came and destroyed the division and he broughtthe hot Pleroma of love, so that the cold may not return, but theunity of the Perfect Thought prevail.

This is the word of the Gospel of the finding of the Pleroma forthose who wait for the salvation which comes from above.When their hope,for which they are awaiting, is waiting -they whose likeness is the light in which there is no shaddow,then at that time the Pleroma is about to come. The deficiency ofmatter, however, is not because of the limitlessness of the Fatherwho comes at the time of the deficiency. And yet no one is ableto say that the incorruptible One will come in this manner.But the depth of the Father is increasing, and the thought oferror is not with him. It is a matter of falling down and a matter of being readily set upright at the finding of that onewho has come to him who will turn back.For this turning back is called Repentance. For thisreason, incorruption has breathed. It followed him who has sinnedin order that he may find rest. For forgiveness is that which remains for the light in the deficiency, the word of the pleroma.For the physician hurries to the place in which there is sickness,because that is the desire which he has. The sick man is in a deficient condition, but he does not hide himself because thephycisian possesses that which he lacks. In this manner the deficiency is filled by the Pleroma, which has no deficiency,which has given itself out in order to fill the one who isdeficient , so that grace may take him, then , from the areawhich is deficient and has no grace. Because of this a diminishingoccured in the place which there is no grace, the area where theone who is small, who is deficient, is taken hold of.

He revealed himself as a Pleroma, in effect, the finding of thelight of truth which has shined towards him, because he is unchangeable. For this reason, they who have been troubled speak about Christ in their midst so that they may receive a returnand he may anoint them with the ointment. The ointment is the pityof the Father, who will have mercy on them.But those whom he has anointed are those who are perfect.For the filled vessels is usually empty, and the cause of itsdeficiency is the consumption of the ointment. For then a breathis drawn only through the power which he has. But the one who iswithout deficiency - one does not trust anyone beside him nordoes one pour anything out. But that which is the deficient isfilled again by the perfect Father. He is good. He knows his plantings because he is the one who has planted them in hisParadise. And his Paradise is his place of rest.

This is the perfection in the thought of the Father and theseare the words of his reflection. Each one of his words is theworks of his will alone, in the revelation of his Logos.Since they were in the depth of his mind, the Logos, who was thefirst to come forth, caused them to appear, along with an intellectwhich speaks the unique woerd by means of a silent grace.It was called Though since they were in it beforebecoming manifest.It happened, then, that it was the first to come forth - at themoment pleasing to the will of him who desired it; and it is inthe will of that the Father is in rest and with which he is pleased.Nothing happens without him, nor does anything occur without thewill of the Father. But his will is incomprehensible.His will is his mark, but no one can know it, nor is it possible for them to concentrate on it in order to possess it.But that whiich he wishes takes place at the moment he wishes it- even if the view does not please anyone: it is God`s will.For the Father knows the beginning of them all as well as their end.For when their end arrives, he will question them to their faces.The end, you see, is the recognition of him whom the beginning cameforth and to whom will return all who have come from him.For they were made manifest for the glory and the joy of his name.

And the name of the Father is the Son.It is he who, in the beginning, gave a name to him who came forthfrom him - he is the same one - and he begat him for a son.He gave him his name which belonged to him - he, the Father,who possesses everything which exists around him.He possess the name; he has the son. It is possible for them tosee him. The name, however, is invisible, for it alone is themystery of the invisible about to come to ears completely filledwith it through the Father`s agency.Moreover, as for the Father, his name is not pronounced, butit is revealed through a son. Thus, then, the name is great.Who, then, has been able to pronounce a name for him, this greatname, except him alone to whom the name belongs and the sons of thename in whom the name of the Father is at rest, and who themselvesin turn are at rest in his name, since the Father has no beginning?It is he alone who engendered for himself a name in the beginningbefore he had created the Aeons, that the name of the Father shouldbe over their heads as a lord - that is, the real name, which is secure by his authority and by his perfect power.For the name is not drawn from lexicons nor is his name derivedfrom common name-giving, But it is invisible. He gave a name tohimself alone, because he saw it and because he alone was capableof giving himself a name. For he who does not exist has no name.For what name would one give him who did not exist? Nevertheless,he who exists also with his name and he alone knows it, and to himalone the Father gave a name. The Son is his name. He did not,therefore, keep it secretly hidden, but the son came into existence.He gave himself a name to him. The name , then , is that of the Father, just as the name of the Father is the Son.For otherwise, where would compassion find a name - outside of theFather? But someone will probably say to his companion, Who would give a name to someone who existed before himself,as if, indeed, children did not receive their name from one ofthose who gave them birth?Above all, then, it is fitting for us to think this point over:What is the name? It is the real name. It is, indeed, the namewhich came from the Father, for it is he who owns the name. He didnot, you see, get the name on loan, as in the case of other becauseof the form in which each one of them is going to be created.This,then, is the authorative name. There is no one else to whomhe have given it. But it remained unnamed, unuttered, `till themoment when he, who is perfect, pronounced it himself ; and itwas he alone who was able to pronounce his name and to see it.When it pleased him, then, that his son should be his pronouncedname and when he gave this name to him, he who has come from thedepth spoke of his secrets, because he knew that the Father wasabsolute goodness. For this reason, indeed, he sent this particularone in order that he might speak concerning the place and his placeof rest from which he had come forth, and that he might glorifythe Pleroma, the greatness of his name and the sweetness of hisFather.

Each one will speak concerning the place from which he has comeforth, and to the region from which he received his essential being,he will hasten to return once again. And he want from that place- the place where he was - because he tasted of that place, ashe was nourished and grew. And his own place of rest is hisPleroma. All the emanations from the Father, therefore, are Pleromas,and all his emanations have their roots in the one who caused themall to grow from himself. He appointed a limit. They, then, becamemanifest individually in order that they might be in their own thought, for that place to which they extend their thoughts istheir root, which lifts them upward through all heights to theFather. They reach his head, which is rest for them, and they remainthere near to it so that they say they have participated in hisface by means of embraces. But these of this kind were not manifest,because they have not risen above themselves. Neither have theybeen deprived of the glory of the Father nor have they thought ofhim as small, nor angry, nor bitter, but absolutely good, unperturbed,sweet, knowing all the spaces before they came into their existanceand having no need of instruction. Such are they who possess fromabove something of this immeasureable greatness, as they straintowards that unique and perfect one who exists there for them.And they do not go down to Hades. They have neither envy nor moaning, nor is death in them.But they rest in him who rests, withoutwearying themselves or becoming involved in the search for truth.But, they, indeed, are the truth, and the Father is in them, andthey are in the Father, since they are perfect, inseparable from himwho is truly good. They lack nothing in any way, but they are givenrest and are refreshed by the Spirit. And they listen to their root;they have leisure for themselves, they in whom he will find his root, and he will suffer no loss to his soul.

Such is the place of the blessed; this is their place.As for the rest, then, may they know, in their place, that it doesnot suit me, after having been in the place of rest to say anythingmore. But he is the one in whom I shall be in order to devotemyself, at all times, to the Father of the All and the true brothers, those upon whom the love of the Father is lavished, and in whosemidst nothing in him is lacking. It is they who manifest themselvestruly since they are in that true and eternal life and speakof the perfect light filled with the seed of the Father,and which is in his heart and in the Pleroma, while his Spiritrejoices in and glorifies in him whom it was, because the Fatheris good. And his children are perfect and worthy of his name,because he is the Father. Children lf this kind are those whomhe loves.

selection made from James M.Robinson(ed): The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition.
HarperCollins, San Fransisco 1990.ISBN 0-06066935-7.