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The Secret Book of John
Samuel Zinner, edited by Mark M. Mattison; Other Gospels · Translated text
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Chapter 1 — Codex II & IV
1. The teaching [of the] savior, and [the revelation] of the mysteries, [and the] sayings concealed in silence, [even these sayings that] he taught John, [his] disciple.
2. It, [however], came to pass [one day], when John, [the brother] of James — they being the sons of Zebedee — had gone up to the temple, that a Pharisee named Arimanios [came to] him [and] said to him: “[Where] is your teacher, [whom] you were following?”
3. And he [said] to him: “He has returned to the [place] he [came] from.”
4. The Pharisee [said to him: “With deceit this Nazarene] fooled all of you, and he filled [your ears with lies], and sealed off [your hearts, turning you] away from the traditions [of your fathers].”
5. [When] I, [John], had heard these sayings, [I turned] away from the temple [toward a desert place full of mountains], and I lamented [much in my heart, asking]:
6. “How [was] the savior [appointed], and why was he dispatched [to the world] by [his Father, and who is his] Father, who [dispatched him, and to what kind] of aeon is [it to which we will go]?
7. Because what did he [mean, saying to us]: ‘That aeon to [which you will go is the] kind that is an [indestructible] aeon’?
8. [He, however, did not] inform us about [what kind it is].”