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 First Stele of Seth
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 Second Stele of Seth
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.
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