Odes of Solomon/Ode 23

And Who Would Hear It

¹ Joy belongs to the holy ones,

and who will put her on but they alone?

² Steadfast love belongs to the chosen ones,

and who will receive her

but those who have trusted in her from in the beginning?

³ Love belongs to the chosen ones,

and who will put him on

but those who have had him from in the beginning?

⁴ Walk in the knowledge of the Lord whose generosity is without envy,

and you will know the steadfast love of the Lord,

exultation in him, and the perfection of his knowledge.

⁵ And his thought became a Decree,

and his Will descended from on high.

⁶ And it was sent like an arrow

that is shot from the bow with force.

⁷ And many hands rushed at the Decree,

to steal it and to take it and to read it aloud,

⁸ and it evaded their fingers.

And they became afraid of it and of the seal upon it

⁹ because they were not permitted to break its seal,

for the seal’s authority was greater than that of their own.

¹⁰ Then those who saw the Decree followed it

that they might learn where it would settle,

and who would read it aloud,

and who would hear it.

¹¹ But an (angelic) Wheel received the Decree,

and the letter of decree settled upon the Wheel.

¹² And there was with the Wheel

a sign of the kingdom and of the government.

¹³ And everything that tried to disturb the Wheel,

it mowed down and cut up in pieces.

¹⁴ And the Wheel made a heap of a crowd standing in the way,

and the wheel filled in rivers,

¹⁵ and it ploughed through and uprooted many forests

and made a wide path.

¹⁶ Heads fell to the ground,

because the Wheel and the Decree that had come upon the Wheel

had rolled as far as to their feet.

¹⁷ The Decree contained commandments.

And because all places were gathered together (by the Decree),

¹⁸ at the Decree’s head there appeared the head that revealed itself,

even the son of the truth that is from the Father, the Most High.

¹⁹ And he received and inherited everything.

And the scheming of many was extinguished.

²⁰ And all those who had led astray hardened themselves in their obstinacy and fled,

and all the persecutors were erased and blotted out.

²¹ And the Decree became a large tablet,

wholly written by the finger of God.

²² And (the tablet) was backed up with the authority of the Father,

and of the son and of the spirit of holiness,

for them to rule (as king) forever and ever.

Hallelujah!