The Book of John — Chapter 1 — The opening chapter of the Mandaean Book of John — Truth's cosmological catechism at the gate of the worlds, and Ptahil's answers about the structure of creation. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 2 — The second chapter of the Mandaean Book of John — Truth's questions about the cosmic conflicts, Yukashar's answers, and Abathur's lament. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 3 — Chapter 3 of the Mandaean Book of John — the rebellion of Yushamin's twenty-one sons, the celestial war, Gubran on the scorpion Parahiel, and the binding of the rebel. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 4 — Chapter 4 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's first-person confession of rebellion, the Radiant Transplant's rebuke, and Yushamin's acceptance. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 5 — Chapter 5 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's continued defiance in the shackles, the Great Life's dispatch of Manda d'Heyyi, and the confrontation that ends in Yushamin's submission. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 6 — Chapter 6 of the Mandaean Book of John — the turning point of the Yushamin cycle. After five chapters of defiance, rebellion, and submission, Yushamin rises from his throne and addresses Manda d'Heyyi with praise. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 7 — Chapter 7 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's retrospective confession. He narrates his own rebellion in first person, then the text shifts to the punishment scene: the messenger, the letter, the shackles, and a devastating prophecy of ruin. The longest chapter in the Yushamin cycle. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 8 — Chapter 8 of the Mandaean Book of John — the intercession of Nasb Ziwa (Splendid Plant), Yushamin's son, who goes to the court of the Light King to plead for his punished father. The petition scene, Manda d'Heyyi's objection, and the King's revelation. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 9 — Chapter 9 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's lament at the Nether Gate. A fallen divine being calls out from his chains, mourns his abandoned house, and receives the consolation of the Great Life through its messenger Splendid Plant. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 10 — Chapter 10 of the Mandaean Book of John — Yushamin's bewildered self-lament, the final chapter of the Yushamin cycle. A fallen god lists the contradictions of his punishment, deflects blame, then discovers his own complicity. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 11 — Chapter 11 of the Mandaean Book of John — the Good Shepherd. A divine shepherd tends his flock with his own hands, then a cosmic flood shatters the fold. He calls from the bow of his ship. Some hear. Most are lost. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 12 — Chapter 12 of the Mandaean Book of John — An Excellency Calls from Beyond. A divine voice offers splendid sandals to walk through a world of thorns. The helper objects: what of the lion, the wolf, the thief, the fire, the flood? Each loss is a worship. A thousand balance out of a myriad. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 13 — Chapter 13 of the Mandaean Book of John — 'To You I Am Speaking and Teaching.' The Creation narrative: an ethical address to the faithful, the cosmology of the Two Kings, the soul before creation, the cosmic mixing, the formation of Adam, and the messenger's call to awaken.
The Book of John — Chapter 14 — Chapter 14 of the Mandaean Book of John — 'Truth's Shem Begins Teaching.' A meditation on aging, death, and the unknown road. Truth's Shem laments his failing body, asks what supplies he may carry to the afterlife, and a messenger defends the value of marriage, family, and earthly life.
The Book of John — Chapter 16 — Truth's Shem refuses the Seven: a litany of eleven refusals, three questions, and the body as darkness.
The Book of John — Chapter 17 — The Strange Man: the Seven challenge Shem, he weeps in despair, and the messenger rescues him from the fortress of the wicked.
The Book of John — Chapter 18 — The Nativity of Johannes: the priests dream of a star over Enishbai, Lilioch reads the Book of Dreams, Zechariah rages and denies, and the child is transplanted from the heights.
The Book of John — Chapter 19 — Johannes speaks in his own voice for the first time: a litany of renunciation, the challenge of the Seven, and the garment of the First Life passed from Adam through Shem to the Baptist.
The Book of John — Chapter 20 — The cosmos falls silent as the sun and moon withdraw. The sun addresses Johannes, listing his three halos and the perfect ship in the Jordan. Johannes responds with a devastating assessment: the ship is the pride of glory, but she went to the dunghill, fought with her own husband, and was not worthy of Life's house.
The Book of John — Chapter 21 — Johannes claims unique prophethood and declares the cosmic effects of his teaching. Meryey and Enishbai weep. The Torah falls void in Jerusalem. Merchants stop trading, fishermen stop fishing, brides weep in their veils, the child in the womb hears his voice and weeps. Water stands in a pillar. Fish offer greetings. Winged birds prostrate and declare his throne set in the house of Life.
The Book of John — Chapter 22 — Johannes calls out a proclamation to the world: buy a path before you. Jacob, Benjamin, and Meryey question him under oath. He prophesies: once the priests are slaughtered, Muhammad the Arab will be born. Tents will be removed, mosques will multiply. Stability and peace will vanish. Those who come after will shave their heads, henna their beards, pervert their scales, and demand of the Mandaeans: who is your prophet, which is your book. The Mandaean confession closes the chapter: our Lord is the king of light.
The Book of John — Chapter 23 — Yahya warns his brothers and friends of the pits that women dig. She who is polluted but not made right faces the dark mountain, empty skirts, dead sons, and the curse of the sun and moon. The chapter ends with instruction on ritual washing.
The Book of John — Chapter 24 — Yahya testifies to his integrity from the house of his seclusion, then instructs his chosen: withdraw from the mortal abode, choose a wife wisely, beware the polluted woman, purify yourselves in water, and save yourselves from the pits that women dig. Twenty-one verses.
The Book of John — Chapter 25 — Yahya preaches at night, calling the sleeping nobles to account: what will you do on the day of judgment, when the soul strips off the body? Where are Adam, Eve, Shitil, Ram and Rud, Shurbai and Sharhabeil, Shem? All departed, none returned. The planets are fattened oxen for slaughter, the earthlings fattened rams for sale. Fifteen verses.
The Book of John — Chapter 26 — A true letter arrives but finds no welcome among the ages. Placed in the hands of the Jews, who reject it; placed in the hand of Yuhana, who reads sublime writing within and says 'this is what I wished for.' Yuhana comes forth from his body. His brothers teach on Mount Carmel. Then Manda d'Heyyi descends through cosmic garments — the garment of Life, the garment of the Seven, the Eight — seizes the planetary powers and will not release them. The demons shall become virtuous. Why do you weep, O ages? Thirty verses.
The Book of John — Chapter 27 — Yahya boasts of his deeds, the priests of Urashlam demand he leave, and he dares them to bring fire and sword — but fire will not burn him, for the name of Life is spoken over him, and a sword will not cut him, for the Son of Life is loosed upon him. Fourteen verses.
The Book of John — Chapter 28 — The great casuistic chapter of the Mandaean Book of John. The Jews gather before Yahya, swear by the light king and by Sunday and the Daybreak, and ask him to judge every category of sin: adultery, theft, sleeping with a friend's wife, fortune-telling, wine-drinking, songstresses and illegitimate children, ritual impurity, usury. Yahya answers with fire, the dark mountain, twin wheels, fire-pots, vessels of ice, asphalt rakes, the bowels of Leviathan, enraged dogs, deaf and mute interrogators. Ninety verses of Mandaean jurisprudence.
The Book of John — Chapter 29 — Yahya declares his light and instructs his disciples. A hymn of self-declaration gives way to exhortation: take heed from hateful deeds, love Sunday, honor the Daybreak, give rewards more precious than wife and children. Then the teaching on the cosmic crossing: wages and rewards build the bridge across the sea, and out of a thousand souls, only one is carried across.
The Book of John — Chapter 30 — The great confrontation between Yahya and Jesus at the Jordan. Jesus asks for baptism; Yahya accuses him of five corruptions. Jesus swears innocence through self-imprecation, then answers Yahya's six impossibilities with six parables of transformation. A divine letter from Abatur's house commands the baptism. Ruha descends as a dove and corrupts the Mandaean rites into Christian sacraments. The chapter closes with a warning against the Romans and the devastating syllogism: if a carpenter framed a god, then who framed the carpenter?
The Book of John — Chapter 31 — Chapter thirty-one of the Mandaean Book of John — Yahya is mocked for his celibacy, commanded by Abatur to marry, tests his wife Anhar with three farewell vows, and teaches that death admits no return
The Book of John — Chapter 32 — Chapter thirty-two of the Mandaean Book of John — Yahya narrates his own birth: placed in Elizabeth's womb from the Jordan, born amid earthquakes in Jerusalem, named by Life against the will of the Jews, raised on Mount Parwan for twenty-two years, and returned to the city in a cloud of splendor
The Book of John — Chapter 33 — Chapter thirty-three of the Mandaean Book of John — Christ questions Yahya about the nature of the soul and the form of Sowriel's knife, and Yahya weeps and answers: the soul is not like blood, not like wind, not like dew. Then Sowriel comes for a reluctant soul who bargains for two more days and is denied
The Book of John — Chapter 34 — Chapter thirty-four of the Mandaean Book of John — Meryey, daughter of Babylon's kings, tells her own story: raised in the Temple, forbidden to go out, she disobeys, finds the Mandaean community, sleeps among them, is discovered by her father, endures his insults, and declares her love for Manda d'Heyyi
The Book of John — Chapter 35 — Chapter thirty-five of the Mandaean Book of John — Meryey becomes myth. She is a vine at the mouth of the Euphrates, birds nest in her branches, winds tear them away. A white eagle comes as Life's emissary. The Jews pursue her but find her enthroned, a scroll in her lap, fish and birds assembling at her voice. Her mother pleads for her return to the Temple. Meryey laughs and refuses. A pure eagle destroys the Temple and sets fire to Jerusalem. Meryey and the eagle rise together to light's place.
The Book of John — Chapter 36 — Chapter thirty-six of the Mandaean Book of John — the Celestial Fisher. A divine fisher declares himself: chosen among fishers, head of all trappers, he ranges the marshes in darkness, his vessel making no sound. Hibel, Shitel, and Ennosh stand around him. He hears the clamour of worldly fishers — rotten merchandise, broken scales, crooked dealings. He takes up a lyre and routs them: their legs turn to water, he overwhelms them in their hides, binds them, burns their dragnets, traps them in marshes of deceit. They beg to serve him. He refuses: I am a fisher of souls. He calls the poor, clothes them in splendid garments, crowns them with air, and rises with his disciples to light's place.
The Book of John — Chapter 37 — Chapter thirty-seven of the Mandaean Book of John — the Fisher of Life. A second fisher speaks: sent by the Great Life itself, commanded to catch fish that do not eat filth. Life builds him an indestructible vessel — a seed coursing through the heart of the heavens. Sunday takes the punt pole. Life's Son takes the tiller. Lanterns on the prow that no wind can extinguish. The fisher stands teaching lessons of the heights, clothed in garments of white, and warns the fish: be watchful for the birds of prey among you.
The Book of John — Chapter 38 — Chapter thirty-eight of the Mandaean Book of John — the Armed Fisher. A third celestial fisher appears, clad in garments of brightness and bearing an axe for wolves and the magian of iniquity. Worldly fishers try to recruit him with market-shares and joint ventures, dragnets and weirs. He strikes their boats, routs them upon the marshes, and curses the predatory birds. He banishes the Seven, splits their mother's head with a staff of living water, and leads his friends to the settlement of Life.
The Book of John — Chapter 39 — Chapter 39 of the Mandaean Book of John — the pure fisher, whose vessel shines like the sun in the night, silences the worldly fishers and commands them to flee to the ruin of Jerusalem. First independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 40 — Chapter 40 of the Mandaean Book of John — Hibil Ziwa confronts Ruha at the gates of darkness with a fivefold litany of self-declaration. The first chapter of the Spirit Confrontation cycle. First independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 41 — Chapter 41 of the Mandaean Book of John — Ruha adorns herself with pearls and gold to tempt a celestial stranger, who declares himself no minstrel but a man from another world whose words are clubs against the Evil Spirit. First independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 42 — Chapter 42 of the Mandaean Book of John — Manda d'Heyyi teaches the righteous elect the secrets of the world through a gnomic catalogue of riddles. Each secret is a kenning: death's secret is sleep, the world's secret is Adam, the elect's secret is the myrtle. First independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 43 — Chapter 43 of the Mandaean Book of John — Manda d'Heyyi comes as judge to the world. He indicts the treasurers who hoarded the wages and alms he gave them, warns his friends of the death the chiefs of the tent shall die, and judges all relationships — father and son, master and student, mother and daughter, servant and lord — save for the case of the man and his wife, which only the Great can judge. First independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 44 — Chapter 44 of the Mandaean Book of John — Life's herald calls forth with blessings and woes: blessed is the man who rouses his soul, woe to the wicked heart within which evil reigns, the right hand and left hand teaching, and the wise man whose wisdom profited him nothing. First independent English translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 45 — Chapter forty-five of the Mandaean Book of John — the Herald's Blessings and Woes. Life's herald calls forth all who ready themselves, then delivers a devastating catalogue of woes: the counselor who gives himself no counsel, the pathmaker who treads no path, the builder who builds no building, the wise man whose wisdom profits him nothing, the rulers who rule over the forsaken. Between the woes, two blessings: for whoever knows himself, and for whoever has had good and done good with it. The chapter closes with a direct imperative: your hands perform the truth — rise up and see light's place.
The Book of John — Chapter 46 — Chapter forty-six of the Mandaean Book of John — the Three Requests. A soul departs from light's place and is met by an excellency from Life bearing a staff of living water. The staff's foliage is threefold medicine: it heals the ailing heart, fills the scrolls, and restores sight. With sight restored, the soul recognizes its father and makes three requests — a great heart, stillness without rebellion, and a level path to ascend in peace to light's place.
The Book of John — Chapter 47 — Chapter forty-seven of the Mandaean Book of John — the Commandments. A divine being descends from light's place, clothed in robes of splendor and crowned with a wreath of triumphs, arrives among the Nazoreans at the banks of the Jordan, and delivers ten moral commandments as a father to his sons. The chapter culminates in a Mandaean Golden Rule and eschatological warnings of judgment, the tollhouse, and the fire that consumes those who would not see or hear.
The Book of John — Chapter 48 — Chapter forty-eight of the Mandaean Book of John — the Passing World. A seeker testifies to truth, then appeals to watchers and craftsmen: build in haste, for this world shall come to nothing. Gold will be lost, silver sought but not found, the king will abandon his crown. The perfect shall ascend to light; the wicked shall be held fast in darkness. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 49 — Chapter forty-nine of the Mandaean Book of John — Truth's Plow. Beyond Truth's boundary stands a plow that sows wages and rewards; Sunday holds the handle and the Son of Life holds the seed. The excellent sow gems and pearls, the good sow blessings. Watchers are set over them: guard your gates and paths, that you may pass through in peace. Truth comes like a winnowing-fan of living water. The worthy are cleansed; the unworthy fall. The perfect — men and women both — are saved from the stud whose name is Ur, Lord of Darkness. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 50 — Chapter fifty of the Mandaean Book of John — The Chosen Ones. A summative instruction addressed to the chosen and the perfect. Twelve woes upon the rulers, the foolish, the forked tongue, the evil heart, the wrathful, the builder who built nothing for himself, the pathmaker who blazed no path, the counselor who counseled not himself. Then the Vanitas returns: precious gold lost, silver sought but not found, the vine uprooted, the king abandoning his crown. The world shall end as though it never was. Beatitudes for the hearer who believed and the one who knows himself. Then the soul's journey: each league a guardhouse, wardens and toll-collectors at every station, weapons forged, cauldrons seething, scales set. Out of a thousand he chooses one. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 51 — Chapter fifty-one of the Mandaean Book of John — The Unfathomable River. A voice cries out from the banks of a river whose waters are dragons and whose waves are scorpions, at whose mouth a vessel is set for the molts. Five categories of sinners — philanderers and thieves, sorcerers and sorceresses, informers and signalers, boundary-shifters, and boundary-stone movers — will not cross. But the speaker, armed because he is a son of Life, plunges deep and passes through unharmed: the dragons do not strike, the scorpions do not sting, fire does not consume, worms do not destroy. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 52 — Chapter fifty-two of the Mandaean Book of John — The Trial of Yurba. A cosmic drama in eighty-five verses: the sun-figure Yurba is commissioned to ride his chariot through the world as judge, corrupted by Venus the Lying Spirit, punished by Splendid Hibel who strips his glory, restored after seven oaths, warned by a voice from the hidden with seven 'Did you not know?' refrains, and ultimately corrupted again until the final day when all demons fall into darkness and die a second death. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 53 — Chapter fifty-three of the Mandaean Book of John — The Moon's Commission. After the Sun's condemnation in Chapter 52, the Great Life transfers the garment of shining to the Moon and charges him with illuminating the fallen house, witnessing conception, and protecting the pure race. The Moon warns that one day per month he disappears — children conceived in his absence will be deformed. Monthly he is stripped of colour in Abator's guardhouses, then restored. Until the seventh day he speaks with the voice of Life; past the seventh he forgets and casts evil into the world. An eschatological coda: the planets fail, all sink to Sheol, but the faithful are saved. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 54 — Chapter fifty-four of the Mandaean Book of John — The Stranger in Jerusalem. Manda d'Heyyi refuses to enter Jerusalem, calling it a city of sinners built by Adunay and filled by the Lie. Adunay confronts him from the firmament; the speaker reveals his disciples Jacob, Benjamin, and Meryey. Alarmed, Adunay and Spirit commission the Seven planets to write the Torah — a false and lawless book — and deliver it through Moses at Sinai. The speaker critiques both Jewish and Arab scriptures: neither came from the light, and Spirit has sowed discord among them. Since the demon Bezbat came, the speaker cannot dwell in the world in the flesh; he laments that Spirit unleashes defilement, adultery, and harlotry upon his disciples. Yet the faithful who maintain the turban, the white banner, and baptism in the white Jordan will be saved. The Four Ages: three belonged to the community, but the Fourth is entirely evil. This is the secret teaching of Splendid Hibel. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 55 — Chapter fifty-five of the Mandaean Book of John — The Creator's Lament. Splendid Hibel speaks in anguish, listing every cosmic labour he has performed: enlightening the excellencies, subduing demons, ploughing and sowing, beating the sun, freeing the righteous, establishing the afterlife's infrastructure. After thirty-four verses of 'How long must I,' Manda d'Heyyi challenges him — and Hibel springs from his throne to give his full accounting. He called into being Adam and Eve, the houses of detention, the road from darkness to the enduring dwelling, Abator as judge with his scales and witnesses, the unfathomable river, the Jordan for baptism, the vessel that ferries souls, the customs houses with their letters of passage. He established life and death, set a boundary for the Nazoreans, and warned: whoever turns from both marker and boundary shall fall into the dark mountain and seek a second death. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 56 — Chapter fifty-six of the Mandaean Book of John — The Perfected One. A chapter of two fates in twenty-seven verses: whoever is perfected within the faith shall dwell at the head of the worlds of light, crowned by the excellencies, called illuminator of settlements. His mind is enlightened and his heart awakened; he shines greater than the sun and the moon. Disciples gather to him, take his sign, rise through his power, for the power of his ancestors is safeguarded in him. When he rises to the guardhouse, the Seven shall not judge him; he shall pass on the path of the righteous elect and rise through secret words and mysteries. But the one whose heart is unawakened shall fall to dark cauldrons. The one who grew weary and slept shall be settled in the belly of Leviathan. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 57 — Chapter fifty-seven of the Mandaean Book of John — Life's Treasure. A first-person divine refrain poem: simat hiia, Life's treasure, declares herself crown, garment, radiance, and illuminator. She shines upon the Jordan, clothes the Splendid Plant, instructs the Nazoreans, and sets a road to the house of the Mighty One. The wicked sink in the great Ocean; the righteous elect who don her are filled with light. The vine that bears fruit shall rise. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 58 — Chapter fifty-eight of the Mandaean Book of John — The Treasure Enthroned. A companion refrain poem to Chapter 57: simat hiia speaks again, now enthroned by the Jordan. She declares herself mighty garment and king's garment — whoever dons her grows greater than the world. The king shines from head to toe. Great Plant receives a covenant and is dressed in the treasure. Life's Sam dispatches her to the adamantine worlds in ships of radiance. The excellencies greet her: Blessed is your coming. Her secret name is kept for Yukabar. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 59 — Chapter fifty-nine of the Mandaean Book of John — The Treasure's Journey. The longest chapter in the Treasure speech sequence (Chapters 57–59). Life's Sam gifts the treasure seven endowments: garment, girdle, crown, fragrance, power, helpers, and victory. She transplants Great Plant, founds settlements, and rides forth through the cosmos — visiting Big Sam, Splendid Yawar, Yushamen's house, Abator's house, and Excellent Ptahil. At each station she gives radiance and confirmation. At Abator she appoints the cosmic judge, then confronts him with three woes. At Ptahil she hears the demiurge's plea and Manda d'Heyyi's judgment: the planets arose from your wrath, and if the disciples sin, it is through your foolishness. The doxology closes: And Life triumphs. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 60 — Chapter sixty of the Mandaean Book of John — The Two Kings. A parable of two kingdoms: the king of this world takes a sword in his right hand and slaughters his sons; the king of the worlds beyond takes truth in his right hand and instructs them. Between the parable, a cosmological hymn recalls the soul's paradise before creation — no hunger, no thirst, locks plaited with wreaths of air, eyes of light — and the five cosmic inversions that placed living elements into dead vessels. Adam the sleeper awakens to the messenger's voice. Three beatitudes close the chapter: blessed is the one who heeds, who embraces truth, who ascends. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 61 — Chapter sixty-one of the Mandaean Book of John — The Builders of the World. A cosmological catechism in call-and-response: twelve questions name the acts of creation — who opened the Euphrates, who formed the earth, who stretched the firmament, who sowed the seed, who set Aquarius? The answer comes as a single breath: Life will surely know. Then each act is assigned to its agent — Yawar, Ptahil, Behram, Shelmey, Nedbey, Adam, Shitel, Ennosh, Hibel, Yukashar, Heyya-Shom, and Life’s Son — creating a complete roster of the Light-beings and their cosmic tasks. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 62 — Chapter sixty-two of the Mandaean Book of John — Before Earth Existed. A creation narrative: before solid ground, before dry land, Splendid Hibel, Shitel, Shehlon, and Ayar stand upon the black waters. Shehlon challenges the builders with a long catechism of impossibility — How will Adam have Eve? How will the earth be plowed? How will fragrant herbs rise from black water? Ptahil answers: I will form that which is solid. Shehlon curses him, but Ptahil plunges into the deep. The builders pound columns, stretch firmament, frame a ship. Living water mixes with still water, darkness with light. Yushamen's children orbit the earth. Sun, moon, and planets are set in order. Eve receives her share. And Life is praised. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 63 — Chapter sixty-three of the Mandaean Book of John — The Coming of Mind. A divine voice from on high chooses Mind and sends him from the everlasting abode. Mind descends to those who know and believe. The faithful shake off white garments, adjust splendid wreaths, and kneel before him. They ask three questions — whence your date palm, your roots, the one who planted you? Mind replies: my roots are from Life. He declares the blessing and curse — those who heed Manda d'Heyyi will behold the Great Life; those who refuse will fall into blazing fire. The chapter closes with Mind as a herald who called to ears that would not hear and showed to eyes that would not look. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 64 — Chapter sixty-four of the Mandaean Book of John — The Creation of Life. The divine emissary comes to this world to make a creation of Life, draw the Jordan from the heights to the depths, plant thriving shoots, and teach praise. The mighty ones and beings of this world come forth against him to seize snare upon snare, counsel among themselves, and interrogate him about his splendor — who clothed you in it? So sublime is your likeness, and your radiance brightens this world. The speaker declares himself to the Seven children of the mortal abode: a great one am I, a son of the Great. He came to cry Life's call, rouse Life's tribe, and plant the chosen. Praise is given to Splendid Yukabar — the helper who bridges the place of darkness to the place of light. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 65 — Chapter sixty-five of the Mandaean Book of John — The Bright Cloud. The speaker descends from Life's house in a bright cloud and finds the Seven sitting in mourning, casting ashes upon Spirit's head, delighting in unworthy deeds. The Seven conspire in lustful words: let us put on a false guise, appoint a head, give out fruits, issue an empty summons like the man who went here, fill them with perversity and ask why they have forsaken our words. The speaker sees them, mocks them, and shines in abounding splendor. The nations grow fearful, the godhead of the house trembles, Spirit falls from her throne. The Seven trample their robes and fall upon their faces: O Master, truly we have sinned! The speaker declares his mission: I came to do good, to explain your wicked counsel, lest they hear your talk. The chosen hear him and raise their faces to light's place. Independent Good Works Translation from Classical Mandaic.
The Book of John — Chapter 66 — The great first one sends his son into the realm of darkness as a messenger. The son protests: if I go down, who will bring me up? The father mirrors each fear with a promise: I will catch you, I will build firm ground, I will be your redeemer. Rise in the name of Life, don the helmet of the worlds. The son descends among lions, dragons, liliths, and devouring pitch. Sprout sends a staff. The son slays every terror, crushes darkness, establishes light from end to end. Fifty-eight verses.
The Book of John — Chapter 67 — An excellency from beyond instructs Adam — do not sleep, do not forget your lord. Then the Mandaean penal code: adultery, theft, deception, infanticide, usury, vanity — each sin met with fire, the dark mountain, or the detention houses. Seventy verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 68 — Manda d’Heyyi descends to the realm of demons. They weep like lambs when they see his splendor. Gap challenges: who are you? Then the liberation of Droplet Steady from the inner shell — sixty-two years at the outer wall, a messenger summons her by six names, and she kneels before Life. Twenty-seven verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 69 — Manda d'Heyyi tours the lightworld. Six encounters with cosmic figures — Excellent Shunglan, Splendid Plant, Splendid Transplant, Splendid Frolic, the Droplet, and Droplet Pearl — each following the same pattern: arrival, recognition, praise exchange. Every being he visits springs from their throne and is revealed by the encounter. Sixty-five verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 70 — The scales refuse their cosmic duty. They are an excellency, a king's son — they will not stand in the waters and let polluted souls pass. A guide man comes flying with reassurance: living waters from the Great Life's Howraran, from the reservoir's bank and the Jordan's channel, from beneath the vine Yusmir, from the settlement of Great Yushamen. Excellencies, Jordans, fruits, vines, trees — they are all your company. The souls shall come and surround you. They are the three hundred and sixty-six. Eighteen verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 71 — Abator hides within his shell and refuses the scales. Out of all the excellencies, why have you made me the owner? Splendid Hibel reports the defiance to the ancestors. The king rages — twice he cries out, and the settlements fall silent until the third time. Little Sam volunteers and is rejected as a fool. Summon Abator, for he alone is gentle. Twenty-two verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 72 — Abator arises from his throne when the king summons him. Intellect praises him as gentle and capable, and commissions him as judge of the souls. Abator bargains — tell Hibel to be the judge, and I shall take the scales. Hibel counters: who will be king? Abator overreaches: I shall be king. Hibel clenches his fists and takes the scales for fifty-five years. The Great Life rages and casts Abator down to the Nether Gate. Thirty verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 73 — Splendid Hibel speaks from within the darkness as a white eagle whose ancestors have forgotten him. He sits by the sides of the walls and raises his sublime voice in five declarations — I said I would be great, I said I would be gentle, I said I would be meek, I said I would be king — each met with its reversal. The cruelest judgment: to the excellency called gentle, they shall give neither wife nor shell. Approximately thirty verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 74 — Excellent Ennosh pleads with Life for his disciples who were cast into darkness. Three rounds of grieving, three times calmed. Life promises redemption: when Earth perishes, Hibel shall twist back Ur's mouth, seize the souls, baptize them in the great Ocean, and throne them in the perfect house. The longest chapter in the Book of John pipeline. Approximately eighty verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 75 — The Peacock laments his exile to the cosmic enclosure. Set at the boundary of Earth as its guardian, he moves through five stages of grief: challenge, doubt, accusation, self-knowledge, and reconciliation. His ancestors write him a true letter, and his heart settles. Approximately fifty verse positions.
The Book of John — Chapter 76 — A divine messenger enters Jerusalem with power, opens its gates, heals the sick, and confronts Christ. Three times Christ sees him dimly and questions him. The messenger recites a true letter — the genealogical chain from Adam to Noah — and delivers the verdict: whoever heeded, a place at light's abode; whoever did not, their name erased from the scroll. The Mandaean polemic against Christianity at its most direct. The final chapter of the Book of John. Approximately fifty-one verse positions.