The Apocalypse of Paul

Translation by George W.MacRae and William R.Murdoch from Nag Hammadi Codex V

[...] the road. And he spoke to him, saying By which road shall I go to Jerusalem? The little childreplied, saying Say your name, so that I may show you the road . The little child knew who Paulwas. He wished to make conversation with him through his words in order that he might find an excuse forspeaking with him.

The little child spoke, saying I know who you are, Paul. You are he who was blessed from his mother`s womb. For I have come to you that you may go up to Jerusalem to your fellow apostles. And for this reasonyou were called. I am the Spirit who accompanies you. Let your mind awaken, Paul, with [...] .. For [...] wholewhich [...] among the principalities and these authorities and archangels and powers and the whole race of demons, [...] the one that reveals bodies to a soul-seed

And after he brought that speech to an end, he spoke, saying to me, Let your mind awaken, Paul, andsee that this mountain upon which you are standing is the mountain of Jericho, so that you may know thehidden things in those that are visible. Now it is to the twelve apostles that you shall go, for they are electspirits, and they will greet you. He raised his eyes and saw them greeting him.

Then the Holy Spirit who was speaking with him caught him up on high to the third heaven, and he passedbeyond to the fourth heaven. The Holy Spirit spoke to him, saying Look and see your likeness uponthe earth And he looked down and saw those who were upon the earth. He stared and saw those whowere upon the earth. Then he gazed down and saw the twelve apostles at his right and at his left in thecreation; and the Spirit was going before them.

But I saw in the fourth heaven according to class - I saw the angels resembling gods, the angels bringing asoul out of the land of the dead. They placed it at the gate of the fourth heaven. And the angels were whipping it.The soul spoke, saying What sin was it I committed in the world? The toll-collector who dwells in the fourth heaven replied, saying, It was not right to commit all those lawless deeds that are in the worldof the dead. The Soul replied saying, Bring witnesses! Let them show you in what body I committedlawless deeds. Do you wish to bring a book to read from?

And the three witnesses came. The first spoke, saying, Was I not in the body the second hour...[...]? Irose up against you until you fell into anger and rage and envy And the second spoke, saying Was I not in the world? And I entered at the fifth hour, and I saw you and desired you. And behold, then, nowI charge you with the murders you committed.. The Third spoke, saying, Did I not come to youat the twelfth hour of the day when the sun was about to set? I gave you darkness untill you should accomplishyour sins When the soul heard these things, it gazed downward in sorrow. And then it gazed upward.It was cast down. The soul that had been cast down went to a body which had been prepared for it.And behold, its witnesses was finished.

Then I gazed upward and saw the Spirit saying to me, Paul, come! Proceed toward me! . Then as Iwent, the gate opened and I went up to the fifth heaven. And I saw my fellow apostles going with me while theSpirit accompanied us. And I saw a great angel in the fifth heaven holding an irod rod in his hand. There werethree other angels with him, and I stared into their faces. But they were rivalling eachother, with whips in their hands, goading the soul on to the judgment. But I went with the Spirit and the gate opened for me.

Then we went up to the sixth heaven. And I saw my fellow apostles going with me, and the Holy Spirit was leading me before them. And I gazed up on high and saw a great light shining on the sixth heaven. I spoke, saying to the toll-collector who was in the sixth heaven, Open to me and the Holy Spirit who is before me. He openedto me.

Then we went up to the seventh heaven, and I saw an Old man [...] light and whose garment was white. His throne,which is in the seventh heaven, was brighter than the sun by seven times. The Old man spoke, saying, Whereare you going, Paul? O blessed one and the one who was set apart from his mother`s womb. But I looked atthe Spirit and he was nodding his head, saying to me, Speak with him!. And I replied, saying to the oldman, I am going to the place from which i came. And the old man responded to me, Where areyou from? But I replied, saying, I am going down to the world of the dead in order to lead captive thecaptivity that was led captive in captivity of Babylon. And the iold man replied to me saying, How willyou be able to get away from me? Look and see the principalities and authorities The Spirit spoke, saying, Give him the sign that you have, and he will open for you And then I gave him the sign. He turnedhis face downwards to his creation and to those who are his authorities.

And then the seventh heaven opened and we went up to the Ogdoad. And I saw the twelve apostles. They greetedme , and we went up to the ninth heaven. I greeted all those who were in the ninth heaven, and we went up to thetenth heaven. And I greeted my fellow spirits. 

* Apocrypha - (from the Greek word απόκρυφα meaning "those having been hidden away") are texts of uncertain authenticity or writings where the authorship is questioned. These texts may have been used in some churches by were never considered as part of the Bible

** Pseudepigrapha = (from Greek pseudes = "false", "epigraphe" = "inscription") are texts falsely attributed to biblical characters or times. These books were never part of the Bible & were never considered as scripture by the church at any time despite being published under such titles of "The Lost Books of the Bible" or "The Hidden Gospels". The church has always known about them & they were never "Hidden" & could be read at any University or college. There is no deep dark secret here, just publishers trying to make a buck with interesting book titles.

*** Noncanonical Literature =  Never part of the Canon or Bible.