Odes of Solomon/Ode 38

These are Deceiver and Error

¹ I went up into the light of Truth as into a chariot.

And Truth led me and carried me

² and made me cross gaping chasms and valleys,

and rescued me from cliffs and waves.

³ And he became for me a haven of salvation,

and placed me on the ladder of immortal life.

⁴ And he went with me and brought me rest, and did not let me err

because he was and is Truth.

⁵ And I was in no danger,

because I walked with him.

And I did not stray at all,

because I obeyed him.

⁶ For Error fled from him

and would not meet him.

⁷ But Truth went along the level path,

and whatever I did not know, he showed me,

⁸ even all the poisons of Error,

and the scourges that people think to be Death’s sweetness.

⁹ And I saw his destroyer, who is Destruction,

I saw the bride who is destroyed while she was being adorned,

and the bridegroom who destroys and is destroyed.

¹⁰ And I asked Truth: Who are these?

And he said to me: These are Deceiver and Error,

¹¹ and they mimic the beloved and his bride,

and they lead astray and destroy the whole age.

¹² And they invite everyone to the wedding feast,

and give them to drink the wine of their intoxication.

¹³ And they make them vomit their wisdoms and thoughts,

and make them senseless.

¹⁴ And then they throw them out.

And then they go about

while insane, destroying,

while there is no mind in them;

for they do not even look for it.

¹⁵ And as for me, I was made wise so that I did not fall into the hands of the deceivers.

And I was glad because Truth had gone with me.

¹⁶ And then I was firmly established, and lived, and was redeemed,

and my foundations were laid by the hand of the Lord,

because he planted me.

¹⁷ For he set the root

and watered it, and fixed it and blessed it,

and its fruits are forever.

¹⁸ It struck deep and grew up and spread out,

and became full and large.

¹⁹ And the Lord alone was glorified

for his planting and his cultivation,

²⁰ for his care and for the blessing of his lips,

for the beautiful planting of his right hand,

²¹ and for the presence of his planting,

and for the understanding of his mind.

Hallelujah!