First Book of Jeu

First Book of Jeu

This is the book of the knowledge of the invisible God, through the hidden mysteries that show the way to the chosen race and lead it in refreshment to the life of the Father: in the coming of the Saviour, the deliverer of souls, who receive the word of life that is above every life; in the knowledge of the living Jesus, who came forth through the Father from the aeon of light at the completion of the fullness; in the teaching apart from which there is no other, which the living Jesus taught to his apostles, saying: This is the teaching in which the whole knowledge dwells.

The living Jesus answered and said to his disciples, Blessed is the one who has crucified the world and whom the world has not crucified.

The apostles answered with one voice and said, Lord, teach us the way to crucify the world, so that it may not crucify us and destroy us and cause us to lose our life.

The living Jesus answered, The one who has crucified it is the one who has found my word and fulfilled it according to the will of him who sent me.

The apostles answered and said, Lord, behold, we have left father and mother and brothers and sisters, and we have followed you, so that we might hear the word of life from you.

The living Jesus said, Whoever has found my word and fulfilled it has crucified the world, and the world has been crucified to him. But the one who has found my word and has not fulfilled it, the world has crucified him, and the world has become his master.

The apostles said, Lord, what is the world, that we should crucify it?

The living Jesus answered, The world is the rule of darkness and the power of ignorance. It is the flesh of ignorance that has clothed you. Therefore strip yourselves of the flesh of ignorance, and you will know my word.

The apostles said, Lord, by what means shall we strip ourselves of the flesh of ignorance?

The living Jesus answered, Hear and understand. My Father sent me into the world so that I might bring you the word that I received from him, and raise your minds from the earth to heaven, from the things that perish to the things that do not perish, from ignorance to knowledge, and from death to life.

Do not let the archon of this aeon deceive you. He binds souls through forgetfulness and causes them to love what is alien to them. But you, receive the word of my Father, fulfil it, and become free from his bonds.

[The duplicate opening witness breaks off here.]

[Text missing]

The living Jesus said to his disciples, Come, and I will show you the great treasures of the Father and the manner in which they came into being.

He invoked his Father, the Father of all fatherhood, and the Father moved Jeu, the true God. Jeu brought forth from himself a small thought, and the small thought became a place of emanation. From it came voices, names, seals, characters, watchers, ranks, veils, and the treasuries of the light.

This is the type of Jeu before the Father moved him to bring forth emanations.

[Sacred diagram preserved in the manuscript.]

This is the type of Jeu when the Father moved him and he brought forth the emanations.

[Sacred diagram preserved in the manuscript.]

Jeu gave forth the first voice, and the voice became a treasury. He set watchers at its gates and placed emanations within it. He gave to each its name, its seal, its number, its cipher, and its command.

[Sacred name and character preserved graphically in the manuscript.]

The Father moved Jeu again, and Jeu brought forth another emanation. He appointed three watchers over it and twelve emanations within it. He gave them names that no ruler beneath them can withstand.

[Sacred diagram preserved in the manuscript.]

Thus the Father moved Jeu, and Jeu brought forth the emanations one after another, each according to its order, each with its own watchers, twelve emanations, name, character, seal, and number.

[The manuscript preserves the diagrams and names of Jeu 2 through Jeu 12.]

[The diagram numbered Jeu 13 is not preserved.]

[The manuscript preserves the diagrams and names of Jeu 14 through Jeu 28. Several are damaged.]

Whenever the Father moved Jeu, the true God, he gave forth a voice from the treasury within him. The voice became a place, and the place was filled with powers. The powers praised the Father, because they had received their being through his command.

Jeu established the watchers at the gates so that none might pass without the seal, the name, and the cipher of the treasury. He set the ranks in their order and spread the veils between them.

[Text missing]

[The first four stanzas of the hymn are missing.]

You are the First Mystery, before whom all mysteries came into being. You caused Jeu to establish the twelve aeons and the twenty-four emanations, the fatherhoods, the ranks, the watchers, and the veils.

You are the hidden one whom no power can name. You are the unapproachable one whom no ruler can behold. You are the silence before every voice and the source from which every life came forth.

You caused the treasuries of the light to stand, and you gave to each its gate and its seal. You appointed the watchers and gave them the word by which they withdraw before those who belong to you.

You stretched out the light as a garment and established the fullness in peace. The aeons praise you, the emanations bless you, and the ranks give glory to your hidden name.

You gave understanding to the chosen race and showed it the path of ascent. You made known the seals, the ciphers, and the names, so that the sons of the light might pass through the treasuries without hindrance.

Glory to you, Father of every fatherhood. Glory to you, invisible God. Glory to you, unapproachable one, whose will is life and whose word is light.

[Fragment breaks here.]

[Text missing]

The living Jesus said to his disciples, When you come to the fifty-sixth treasury, give its seal and hold its cipher in your hand. Speak the name of the watcher and command him to withdraw. Then the ranks and the veils will draw back, and you will enter the treasury.

[Sacred seal and cipher preserved graphically in the manuscript.]

Do likewise at the fifty-seventh treasury. Give the seal that belongs to it, hold its cipher, and speak its hidden name. Its watchers will withdraw and its gate will open before you.

[Sacred seal and cipher preserved graphically in the manuscript.]

At the fifty-eighth treasury, do not speak before you have placed the seal upon yourself. Hold the cipher in your hand and invoke the name in truth. The watcher will know that you are of the race of the treasure and will draw back.

[Sacred seal and cipher preserved graphically in the manuscript.]

At the fifty-ninth treasury, give the defence that I have taught you. Let your heart be without doubt, for doubt belongs to the rulers. Speak the name, show the seal, and the veil will be lifted.

[Sacred seal and cipher preserved graphically in the manuscript.]

At the sixtieth treasury, give the great seal and the cipher of its rank. Speak the name that causes all its powers to withdraw. Then you will pass within and behold the place that is before the true God.

[Sacred seal and cipher preserved graphically in the manuscript.]

The disciples answered and said, Lord, why have all these places, fatherhoods, treasuries, emanations, ranks, veils, and watchers come into being? And why have we ourselves come into being?

The living Jesus answered, My Father did not withdraw the small thought that came forth from him. It remained before him, and from it I came forth as the first emanation. From it came three voices, and the three voices became all the places. From them came the twelve emanations, and from the twelve came the orders that fill the treasuries.

You also are a rank from above. You have come into the world so that you may receive my word, fulfil it, and return with me through all the places. Therefore I have called you disciples, because you will follow me in all the treasuries until you reach the place of my Father.

The disciples said, Lord, tell us the one name that is sufficient for all the places of the treasuries, so that when we speak it all the ranks, veils, and watchers may withdraw.

The living Jesus answered, I will tell it to you. But do not suppose that it is the name of my Father, for no one can speak the name of my Father. It is the name of the great power that proceeds before him. When that name is spoken with its seal and cipher, all the places draw back.

Do not speak it continually, and do not give it to those who are unworthy. Speak it only when you stand before the places that hinder you, and speak it with knowledge and truth.

[The great name, seal, and cipher are preserved in sacred characters in the manuscript.]

Then Jesus and his disciples entered inward to the seventh treasury, and Jesus praised his Father, saying:

I glorify you, my Father, because you existed before every place and every name. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because your thought became light and your will became life. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because you moved Jeu, and Jeu established the treasuries, the ranks, the watchers, and the veils. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because you gave seals to your sons and names to those who belong to the light. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because no ruler can approach your place and no power can comprehend your being. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because you have made known the path to the chosen race and have prepared refreshment for it in the treasuries of the light. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because your word has awakened those who slept and your knowledge has freed those who were bound. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

I glorify you, my Father, because from you came every fatherhood, every mystery, every life, and every incorruptible light. What now, O unapproachable God?

And the disciples answered three times, Amen, amen, amen.

[The concluding lines are damaged.]

The Book of the Great Logos Corresponding to Mysteries.