

The Three Steles of Seth -- The Nag Hammadi Library

    (Above image of the Gospel of Thomas courtesy of the
    Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate University)

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The Nag Hammadi Library

    The Three Steles of Seth

Translated by James R. Robinson

            The revelation of Dositheos about the three steles of Seth, the Father of the living and
            unshakable race, which he (Dositheos) saw and understood. And after he had read them, he
            remembered them. And he gave them to the elect, just as they were inscribed there. Many
            times I joined in giving glory with the powers, and I became worthy of the immeasurable
            majesties. Now they (the steles) are as follows:

The First
            Stele of Seth

I bless thee, Father Geradama(s), I, as thine (own) Son, Emmacha Seth, whom thou didst
            beget without begetting, as a blessing of our God; for I am thine (own) Son. And thou art
            my mind, O my Father. And I, I sowed and begot; but thou hast seen the majesties. Thou
            hast stood imperishable. I bless thee, Father. Bless me, Father. It is because of thee
            that I exist; it is because of God that thou dost exist. Because of thee I am with that
            very one. Thou art light, since thou beholdest light. Thou hast revealed light. Thou art
            Mirotheas; thou art my Mirotheos. I bless thee as God; I bless thy divinity. Great is the
            good Self-begotten who stood, the God who had already stood. Thou didst come in goodness;
            thou hast appeared, and thou hast revealed goodness. I shall utter thy name, for thou art
            a first name. Thou art unbegotten. Thou hast appeared in order that thou mightest reveal
            the eternal ones. Thou art he who is. Therefore thou hast revealed those who really are.
            Thou art he who is uttered by a voice, but by mind art thou glorified, thou who hast
            dominion everywhere. Therefore the perceptible world too knows thee because of thee and
            thy seed. Thou art merciful.

And thou art from another race, and its place is over another race. And now thou art
            from another race, and its place is over another race. Thou art from another race, for
            thou art not similar. And thou art merciful, for thou art eternal. And thy place is over a
            race, for thou hast caused all these to increase; and for the sake of my seed. For it is
            thou who knows it, that its place is in begetting. But they are from other races, for they
            are not similar. But their place is over other races, for their place is in life. Thou art
            Mirotheos.

I bless his power which was given to me, who caused the malenesses that really are to
            become male three times; he who was divided into the pentad, the one who was given to us
            in triple power, the one who was begotten without begetting, the one who came from that
            which is elect; because of what is humble, he went forth from the midst.

Thou art a Father through a Father, a word from a command. We bless thee, Thrice Male,
            for thou didst unite all through them all, for thou hast empowered us. Thou hast arisen
            from one; from one thou hast gone forth; thou hast come to one. Thou hast saved, thou hast
            saved, thou hast saved us, O crown-bearer, crown-giver! We bless thee eternally. We bless
            thee, once we have been saved, as the perfect individuals, perfect on account of thee,
            those who became perfect with thee who is complete, who completes, the one perfect through
            all these, who is similar everywhere.

Thrice Male, thou hast stood. Thou hast already stood. Thou wast divided everywhere.
            Thou didst continue being one. And those whom thou hast willed, thou hast saved. But thou
            dost will to be saved all who are worthy.

            Thou art Perfect! Thou art Perfect! Thou art Perfect!

The Second Stele
            of Seth

Great is the first aeon, male virginal Barbelo, the first glory of the invisible
            Father, she who is called "perfect".

Thou (fem.) hast seen first the one who truly pre-exists because he is non-being. And
            from him and through him thou hast pre-existed eternally, the non-being from one
            indivisible, triple power, thou a triple power, thou a great monad from a pure monad, thou
            an elect monad, the first shadow of the holy Father, light from light.

We bless thee, producer (fem.) of perfection, aeon-giver (fem.). Thou hast seen the
            eternal ones because they are from a shadow. And thou hast become numerable. And thou
            didst find, thou didst continue being one (fem.); yet becoming numerable in division, thou
            art three-fold. Thou art truly thrice, thou one (fem.) of the one (masc.). And thou art
            from a shadow of him, thou a Hidden One, thou a world of understanding, knowing those of
            the one, that they are from a shadow. And these are thine in the heart.

For their sake thou hast empowered the eternal ones in being; thou hast empowered
            divinity in living; thou hast empowered knowledge in goodness; in blessedness thou hast
            empowered the shadows which pour from the one. Thou hast empowered this (one) in
            knowledge; thou hast empowered another one in creation. Thou hast empowered him who is
            equal and him who is not equal, him who is similar and him who is not similar. Thou hast
            empowered in begetting, and (provided) forms in that which exists to others. [...] Thou
            hast empowered these. - He is that One Hidden in the heart. - And thou hast come forth to
            these and from these . Thou art divided among them. And thou dost become a great male
            noetic First-Appearer.

Fatherly God, divine child, begetter of multiplicity according to a division of all who
            really are, thou (masc.) hast appeared to them all in a word. And thou (masc.) dost
            possess them all without begetting and eternally indestructible on account of thee (fem.).

Salvation has come to us; from thee is salvation. Thou art wisdom, thou knowledge; thou
            art truthfulness. On account of thee is life; from thee is life. On account of thee is
            mind; from thee is mind. Thou art mind, thou a world of truthfulness, thou a triple power,
            thou threefold. Truly thou art thrice, the aeon of aeons. It is thou only who sees purely
            the first eternal ones and the unbegotten ones.

But the first divisions are as thou wast divided. Unite us as thou has been united.
            Teach us those things which thou dost see. Empower us that we may be saved to eternal
            life. For we are each a shadow of thee as thou art a shadow of that first pre-existent
            one. Hear us first. We are eternal ones. Hear us as the perfect individuals. Thou art the
            aeon of aeons, the all-perfect one who is established.

Thou hast heard! Thou hast heard!

            Thou hast saved! Thou hast saved!

            We give thanks! We bless thee always! We shall glorify thee!

The Third Stele

We rejoice! We rejoice! We rejoice!

            We have seen! We have seen! We have seen the really pre-existent one, that he really
            exists, that he is the first eternal one.

            O Unconceived, from thee are the eternal ones and the aeons, the all-perfect ones who are
            established, and the perfect individuals.

We bless thee, non-being, existence which is before existences, first being which is
            before beings, Father of divinity and life, creator of mind, giver of good, giver of
            blessedness!

We all bless thee, knower, in a glorifying blessing, (thou) because of whom [all these
            are. ... really, ...], who knows thee, through thee alone. For there is no one who is
            active before thee. Thou art an only and living spirit. And thou knowest one, for this one
            who belongs to thee is on every side. We are not able to express him. For thy light shines
            upon us.

Present a command to us to see thee, so that we may be saved. Knowledge of thee, it is
            the salvation of us all. Present a command! When thou dost command, we have been saved!
            Truly we have been saved! We have seen thee by mind! Thou art them all, for thou dost save
            them all, he who was not saved, nor was he saved through them. For thou, thou hast
            commanded us.

Thou art one. Thou art one, just as there is one (who) will say to thee: Thou art one,
            thou art a single living spirit. How shall we give thee a name? We do not have it, For
            thou art the existence of them all. Thou art the life of them all. Thou art the mind of
            them all. For thou art he in whom they all rejoice.

Thou hast commanded all these to be saved through thy word [...] glory who is before
            him, Hidden One, blessed Senaon, he who begat himself, Asineu(s), [...]ephneu(s), Optaon,
            Elemaon the great power, Emouniar, Nibareu(s), Kandephor(os), Aphredon, Deiphaneus, thou
            who art Armedon to me, power-begetter, Thalanatheu(s), Antitheus, thou who existeth within
            thyself, thou who art before thyself - and after thee no one entered into activity.

As what shall we bless thee? We are not empowered. But we give thanks, as being humble
            toward thee. For thou hast commanded us, as he who is elect, to glorify thee to the extent
            we are able. We bless thee because we were saved. Always we glorify thee. For this reason
            we shall glorify thee, that we may be saved to eternal salvation. We have blessed thee,
            for we are empowered. We have been saved, for thou hast willed always, that we all do
            this.

We all did this. [...] not through [... aeon ...], the one who was [...], we and those
            who [...]. He who will remember these and give glory always will become perfect among
            those who are perfect and impassable beyond all things. For they all bless these
            individually and together. And afterwards they shall be silent. And just as they were
            ordained, they ascend. After the silence, they descend from the third. They bless the
            second; after these the first. The way of ascent is the way of descent.

Know therefore, as those who live, that you have attained. And you taught yourselves
            the infinite things. Marvel at the truth which is within them, and (at) the revelation.

The Three Steles of Seth

This book belongs to the fatherhood.

    It is the son who wrote it.

    Bless me O Father. I bless

    you, O Father, in peace.

    Amen.

   Original translation of this text was prepared by members of the

Coptic Gnostic Library Project of the Institute for Antiquity and Christianity, Claremont Graduate School.

The Coptic Gnostic Library Project was funded by UNESCO, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and other Institutions.

 E. J. Brill has asserted copyright on texts published by the Coptic Gnostic Library Project.

The translation presented here has been edited,  modified and formatted for use in the Gnostic Society Library.

For academic citation, please refer to published editions of this text.

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