mysteries.john.01 Chapter 1

These are the mysteries of John the apostle, the holy virgin, which he learned in heaven. In the peace of God. Amen.

And it came to pass that when the Saviour had risen from the dead, He came on to the Mount of Olives, and sat down. And He made a cloud to envelop all the countries wherein were the Apostles,

and it gathered them together into the presence of the Saviour upon the Mount of Olives.

And John answered and said unto the Saviour, ' My Lord,

behold Thou didst say unto me : Thou art My beloved one, and thou hast found grace before Me.

Now therefore, my Lord, I wish Thee to take me into heaven, and shew me all (the mysteries) so that I may know them.

And the Saviour made answer

and said unto him, ' John, enquire thou of Me fully,

and I on My part will hide nothing from thee.

Rise up, and let us pray to My Father, Who is blessed, and He shall hear us.

Then the Saviour and the Apostle [John] rose up, and He prayed a long, blessed prayer.

And when He had said (literally, given) the Amen, the heavens moved away upon this side and on that,

and they opened out one beyond the other even to the seventh heaven.

And behold, a great Cherubim came out from heaven, and the whole place shone with bright light,

and the whole of his body was full of eyes, and flashes of lightning shot out from him.

Then the Apostles became like unto dead men,

and they fell down upon the earth through fear;

But the Saviour took hold of their hands, and raised them up, and removed the fear from them, and stablished their hearts for them.

And John answered (and said), 'My Lord, explain to me the order of the Cherubim, which is exceedingly terrible.'

The Saviour made answer and said unto John,

Hearken unto Me, and I will shew you everything.

Thou seest the Cherubim.

The words of the Father are hidden within him, from their beginning until their fulfilment.

Behold, I will make him to come to thee so that he may explain everything, O My beloved John.'

And the Saviour turned Himself towards the Cherubim, and He said unto him, 'I tell thee to take My beloved John into heaven.

And thou shalt explain unto him every question which he shall ask thee.'

Then straightway the Cherubim lifted up John upon his wing of light, and he bore him up unto heaven.

And when he arrived at the first gate

the gate- keepers opened the door to him with readiness and fear.

Now I, John, saw great mysteries in the First Heaven.

I saw twelve men seated upon twelve thrones, within the great gate, in great glory and dignity.

And I said unto the Cherubim, 'Master, who are these who are seated in such majestic dignity?'

The Cherubim said unto me, 'Seest thou these twelve men? These are the twelve Rulers of the worlds of light, and each one of them ruleth for one year at a time; But Michael is he who ordereth their operations, so that the earth bringeth forth its fruit all the same.'

(And I said), ' There doth come a year sometimes when there is a famine in one place or another.'

The Cherubim answered and said unto me, 'Behold, I have shewn thee that which thou didst (ask) me.'

And I answered and said unto the Cherubim ' My Lord, there cometh a year when water is scarce, and yet there is plenty,

and there cometh a year when water is exceedingly plentiful, and yet there is a famine; [how is this ?]'

[The Cherubim] answered and said unto me, ' Seest thou that the water is under the feet of the Father ?

If the Father lifteth up His feet, the water riseth upwards;

But if at the time when God is about to bring the water up, man sinneth against Him,

Now if at the time when He is about to bestow a little fullness,

and men keep guard over themselves so as not to commit sin, the Father is wont to bless the earth so that it may bring forth fruit,

and abundance cometh through the supplication of Michael.

If only men were to know of the supplications of Michael at the time when the water should come upon the earth, they would never commit sin at all.

However, Michael taketh with him twelve times ten thousand angels, and they go into the presence of the Father,

and they cast themselves down before Him,

and they do not rise up again until God sendeth the waters down upon the world.'

Then I answered and said unto the Cherubim, 'I have heard one say

that 'God created the heavens and the earth',

and again, that 'God created the waters from the beginning.'

And the Cherubim, ‘Hearken, and I will inform thee concerning everything.

Before ever God created the heavens and the earth, water was in existence, and there is no one whatsoever who knoweth anything about the creation of water except God Himself.

For this reason whosoever shall take an oath which is false, in the name of water, shall never receive forgiveness.

And whosoever shall take an oath [which is false] by the wheat-plant,

[shall also never receive forgiveness, for], the same ordinance applieth to both the water and the wheat-plant.'

And I said to the Cherubim, ' My Lord, I wish that thou wouldst inform me concerning the matter of the wheat-plant, and tell me where, in the beginning, before the earth had been cultivated,

it was found that man might live upon it.'

The Cherubim said unto me, ' Hearken, and I will inform thee concerning everything.

Now it came to pass that God having created Adam placed him in the Paradise of joy, and He gave him a command saying thus: 'Of every tree which is in Paradise thou shalt eat, with the exception of the tree of the knowledge of that which is good and of that which is evil; of that thou shalt not eat. And on the day wherein thou shalt eat thereof thou shalt certainly die.'

Now the Devil was jealous of Adam when he saw with what great glory he was surrounded.

The Sun and the Moon, the two great luminaries, used to come daily and worship Adam before they rose above the earth.

And the Devil went and led astray Adam and his wife, until at length they were cast forth out fromParadise; and they were banished to the land of Eueilat,

where Adam lived a life of care and anxiety.

Now after all these things, Adam was an hungered, and he could not find food to eat similar to that which they were wont to eat daily in Paradise.

'And he cried out to the Lord in grief and in tribulation of heart.

And the Son of graciousness (or, goodness), Who acted as sponsor for him, had compassion upon him,

and He spake unto His Good Father, the Lord of the Angels and of the Spirits, saying, 'Behold, the man whom We have created in Our image and likeness is an hungered,

and I am sorrowful on his account, O My Father. Now, if it be Thy will, do not let him die before Thy face.' And in this wise did His Father of Compassion

answer and say unto His beloved Son, ' If it be that Thou art moved with compassion for the man whom We have created, and who hath cast [My] commandment behind him,

go Thou and give him Thy flesh and let him eat thereof, for it is Thou who hast undertaken to act as his advocate.'

And the Son of Goodness made answer and said unto His Father, 'Blessed be Thy word.

That which Thou hast said I will do.'

Then the beloved Son came forth from the presence of His Good Father,

and He took a little piece of His right side, of His divine flesh,

and He rubbed it down into small pieces, and brought it to His Holy Father.

His Father said unto Him, ' What is this?' And He said 'This is My flesh, according to what Thou didst say unto Me.'

'Yea, certainly, My Son. Wait, and I will give unto Thee some of My own flesh, which is invisible.'

Then His Father took out a portion of His own body, and He made it into a grain of wheat, and He brought forth the seal of light wherewith He set a seal upon the worlds of light, and He sealed the grain of wheat in the middle thereof.

And He said unto His beloved Son, ' Take this, and give Thou it unto Michael, the Archangel, and let him give it unto Adam, and let him tell Adam that he and his sons shall live thereon.

And Michael shall teach him to sow it, and to gather it in at harvest.'

Then Jesus called Michael, and said unto him, ' Take this [grain], and give it unto Adam so that he and all his sons may live thereon.'

And Michael came to Adam, and he was on the Jordan,

and it was the eighth day

since he had eaten anything, and he was crying out to the Lord (for food).

And Michael said unto him, 'Peace be to thee!

The Lord hath heard thy prayer, and He hath sent unto thee a seed of grain.'

And when Adam heard these words from Michael, his body recovered its strength, and he came from the water, and cast himself down at the feet of Michael.

'And Michael gave unto him the grain which had been sealed with the seal of light, and he taught him how to sow it and to reap it, and he went up into heaven with [great] glory.

'Therefore the water, and the wheat-plant, and grain, and the throne of the Father stand in one category, and they are the equals of the Son of God.

Now I John saw these things, and I rejoiced when I had heard them.

And it came to pass after these things that the Cherubim raised me up upon his wing of light, and carried me into the Seventh Heaven,

and I saw mighty miracles take place therein.

I saw [there] all the ranks of the angels.

The first rank [contained] the Seraphim, who were dressed in the grain-plant, and they had golden censers in their hands, and they said, ‘Hallelujah!'

The angels in the second rank had golden phials in their hands, and they were filled with dew, and they were emptying them out on to the fields.

Now Michael was the governor who was over them, and he appointed unto each one of them his work.

And I saw another great and wonderful thing.

Whilst I John was looking at the angels as they were all divided into ranks, I found that the name of Michael was written upon all their garments, and that the angels were crying out his name always.

And I answered and said unto the Cherubim, 'How doth it come to pass that the name of Michael is written upon their garments? And wherefore do they cry it out?'

'And the Cherubim answered and said unto me, 'No angel is allowed to come upon the earth unless the name of Michael is written upon his garments, for otherwise the Devil would lead them astray.'

After this I saw a great fountain of water, whereof the waters were as white as snow, or as I might say, its waters were like unto milk, and there was an angel standing above it,

and his wings were dipped in the water.

'And the place round about the fountain was planted with trees which were laden with fruit, and the fruits thereof were of a very great many different kinds. And this fountain was like unto a sea, and every tree which grew by the side of it consisted entirely of one branch.

And I, John, saw another great and wonderful thing there.

I saw the root of a tree

which emitted water into the fountain.

And I said unto the Cherubim, 'My Lord, explain to me the matter of this fountain, the water whereof is white, and the matter of this angel, which standeth above it.'

The Cherubim said unto me, 'This is the fountain which poureth upon the earth.

I said unto him, 'How is it that this angel is standing above it, with his wings always dipped in the waters of the fountain?

The Cherubim said unto me, 'Seest thou this angel?'

His work is this. Every time the trumpet soundeth he riseth up, and he shaketh his wings which are full of dew, and he smiteth the heavens therewith,

and the heavens open, one beyond the other, so that the dew may distil through them upon the earth.

And I said unto the Cherubim, 'In what way do these Seven Heavens open, one beyond the other, so that the daylight may penetrate them and fall upon the world?'

And the Cherubim answered and said unto me, ' Hearken, and I will explain everything to you.

There are seven trumpets appointed over the dew, and all these are wont to sound before the dew cometh upon the earth.

When the first trumpet soundeth, and the second, and so on until the seventh, the dew folioweth the sound of the trumpets from one heaven to the other.

The seventh trumpet belongeth to Michael, and when Michael bloweth his trumpet, the dew runneth swiftly,

and all the governors withdraw, until it cometh upon the earth the earth in order to make all the fruits to swell (or, increase)'

Now, whilst I was marvelling (at these things), I saw another angel coming from a distance in wrath,

and he stood up by the fountain which was filled with dew;

he wept, and his eyes dropped blood into the fountain which was full of dew.

For he was filled with wrath against all mankind,

and the whole of the place trembled and shook when he stood up there.

Then the heavens opened on this side and on that and everywhere,

and I saw a great and mighty angel come forth from the heavens, and they called his name Michael,

and he was girt about the loins with a girdle of gold.

There was a sponge in his hand, wherewith he wiped away all the tears of the angel of wrath,

and he drove the Angel of Wrath afar, saying, 'Get thee gone from this fountain, thou Angel of Wrath, for thou wishest to bring a famine upon the earth.'

And I said unto the Cherubim, 'My Lord, shew me the matter of the Angel of Wrath whose eyes drop blood into the fountain'

He said unto me, 'Seest thou the Angel of Wrath? He is the Angel of Famine.

If Michael were to cease from the wiping away of his tears (of blood) which he letteth drop, and were to allow them to enter the fountain, the (water thereof) would come to an end and the dew which falleth down upon the earth, and diseases and dissensions would break out, and the land would be smitten with famine'

And moreover, he said unto me, ' There are forty legions of angels, each legion containing ten thousand angels, who sing hymns over the dew until it cometh upon the earth, without any blemish at all in it.

After these things he brought me to the Land of Edem.

He placed me upon his wing of light, and he brought me to the place where the sun riseth, by the side of the fountain which supplieth water to the four rivers, Phison, Tigris, Geon (the Nile), and the Euphrates.

I saw the paradise of joy, I which was filled with all kinds of trees which bore fruits of all kinda

And I said to the Cherubim, 'My Lord, 'I would that thou wouldst shew me the tree (of the fruit) whereof Adam ate, and became naked, and God was afterwards wroth with him.

The Cherubim answered and said unto me, 'Thou askest a question which concemeth great mysteries,

but I will hide nothing whatsoever from thee.

Now therefore, rise up, set thyself behind me, and I will explain to thee everything, and I will shew thee the tree (of the fruit) of which Adam ate.