Gnostic Hymn

A mystical hymn of the Naassene Gnostics, one of the earliest Gnostic sects (flourishing under Hadrian, c. 110–140 CE). Quoted by Hippolytus in his Refutation of All Heresies (Book V, Chapter 5), the psalm describes the plight of Sophia — the divine soul lost in the chaos of creation, worn away by death's slavery — and the descent of Jesus to rescue her, bearing seals and revealing the secrets of the holy way called Gnosis. Presented here in two translations: a modern rendering and the nineteenth-century Ante-Nicene Fathers version.

Modern Translation

The Law of Universal Genesis was the first-born Nous; the second, Chaos shed by the first-born. The third was received by the soul . . .

Clad in the shape of a hind
She is worn away with death's slavery.
Now She has mastery and glimpses light: now She is plunged in misery and weeps.

Now She is mourned, and herself rejoices. Now she weeps and is finally condemned.

Now She is condemned and finally dies.
And now She reaches the point where hemmed in by evil, She knows no way out. Misled, She has entered a labyrinth.

Then Jesus said, "Behold, Father, she wanders the earth pursued by evil. Far from thy Breath she is going astray. She is trying to flee bitter Chaos, and does not know how she is to escape. Send me forth, O Father, therefore, and I, bearing the seal shall descend and wander all Aeons through, all mysteries reveal. I shall manifest the forms of the gods and teach them the secrets of the holy way which I call Gnosis . . ."

Ante-Nicene Fathers Translation

The world's producing law was Primal Mind,
And next was First-born's outpoured Chaos;
And third, the soul received its law of toil:

Encircled, therefore, with an aqueous form,
With care o'erpowered it succumbs to death.

Now holding sway, it eyes the light,
And now it weeps on misery flung;
Now it mourns, now it thrills with joy;
Now it wails, now it hears its doom;
Now it hears its doom, now it dies,
And now it leaves us, never to return.

It, hapless straying, treads the maze of ills.

But Jesus said, Father, behold,
A strife of ills across the earth
Wanders from thy breath of wrath;
But bitter Chaos man seeks to shun,
And knows not how to pass it through.

On this account, O Father, send me;
Bearing seals, I shall descend;
Through ages whole I'll sweep,
All mysteries I'll unravel,
And forms of Gods I'll show;
And secrets of the saintly path,
Styled "Gnosis," I'll impart.

Colophon

The Naassene Psalm is preserved solely through Hippolytus's quotation in his Refutation of All Heresies (c. 222 CE). The Naassenes (from the Hebrew naḥaš, "serpent") were among the earliest Gnostic sects, venerating the serpent of Genesis as a liberator. The psalm's central drama — Sophia trapped in the labyrinth of matter, and Christ's volunteered descent to rescue her — is one of the foundational myths of the Gnostic imagination.

Digitised from the Gnostic Society Library (gnosis.org).

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

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