has he, Infinite, Invisible, and
Ineffable faces. The Second Father has Uncontainable, Unshakable, and
Incorruptible faces. The Third Father has faces Beyond Knowledge,
Imperishable, and Aphredonian. The Fourth Father has a countenance of
Silence, a face of Founts, and a visage Impalpable. The Fifth Father
has Solitary, Omnipotent, and Ingenerable faces. The Sixth Father has
the face of an All-Father, the face of a Self-Father, and the face of a
Forefather. The Seventh Father has countenances of Universal Mystery,
of Universal Wisdom and Universal Origin. Visages has the Eighth
Father of Light, Repose, and Resurrection. The Ninth Father has faces
Knowable, First Visible, and... The Tenth Father has Triple-fleshed,
Adamic, and Pure faces. The Eleventh Father has faces Triple-powered,
Perfect, and Sparkling. The Twelfth Father has a face of Truth, a face
of Fore-thought, and a face of After-thought. These are the twelve
Paternities which encircle Setheus. [Their faces] make in all a
[mystic] number thirty-six. These are they from whom those of the
exterior have received a seal-mark, that is why they glorify them for
evermore (11).

In that Space there are yet twelve other paternities who encircle the
head [of Setheus] and support a crown there. They dart out rays upon
the surrounding worlds by the Grace of the Alone-begotten Word,
concealed in him, He that is sought for.

[_The passage enclosed within brackets has been so mutilated by the
Coptic scribe that what follows is of the nature of a paraphrase rather
than of a translation_:--(As to the mysteries of the Word that are so
much beyond us, it is not possible to describe them otherwise than as
follows. Not possible for us, that is. It is impossible to describe
Him as He really is with a tongue of flesh. There are glories too
exalted for descriptions moved by thought and for intuition that comes
through symbols, except one finds a master who is a kinsman of the
deathless race yonder. From such an one can be learned something of
the Spaces from whence he came; for he finds the root of all things.
The mighty powers of the great aeons of the Power that was in Marsanes
have said in adoration, "Who is he who hath seen aught in the presence
of His Face?" That is because thus does He manifest Himself [? the
Alone to the Alone], Nicotheos has spoken of Him [the Alone-begotten]
and seen Him, for he is one of these. He [Nicotheos] said, "The Father
exists