Nag Hammadi Library — Codex I, Text 1

The Prayer of the Apostle Paul is a brief Valentinian prayer found at the front flyleaf of Codex I of the Nag Hammadi Library. It invokes Christ as Redeemer and Psychagogue (guide of souls), seeking spiritual gifts of gnosis. It is the first text encountered in the Nag Hammadi collection.

This edition reproduces the translation from the Encyclopaedia of the Encyclopaedia Encyclopædia available through the Encyclopaedia Gnostic Society Library (gnosis.org), based on the standard critical editions of the Nag Hammadi texts.

Grant me your mercy, O my Redeemer, redeem me, for I belong to you alone, I have come forth from your very being. You are my Mind—bring me forth into clarity. You are my Treasure House—open wide your doors for me. You are my Fullness—draw me into yourself. You are my Rest—grant me perfect peace.

I humbly approach you, O you who exist and have existed before time, calling upon the name exalted above all others, through Jesus, the Anointed One, Lord of Lords and King over eternal realms. Bestow your gracious gifts upon me freely and without regret, through the human Child, the Holy Spirit, the Advocate of Truth.

I ask you, grant me authority, and in my asking, heal my body, through the Messenger of Good News. Redeem my soul, illuminated by eternal light, and my spirit, that they may know everlasting peace. Reveal clearly to my mind the Firstborn, the Fullness of your grace.

Give me, I pray, that which angelic hearts have not glimpsed, nor human hearts conceived— those hearts now made angelic, after the image of the Living God, as formed at the beginning. With faith, I hold to hope.

Place upon me your beloved, your chosen, your blessed majesty; you who are the Firstborn, the First-conceived, the wondrous mystery of your dwelling place. For yours alone is the power, glory, praise, and greatness, forever and ever.

Amen.

Prayer of Paul, the Apostle. In Peace. Christ is holy.

Colophon

This text is reproduced from translations made available through the Gnostic Society Library (gnosis.org), based on the critical editions of the Coptic Gnostic Library published by E. J. Brill (Leiden). The Nag Hammadi codices were discovered in Upper Egypt in 1945.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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