Apocryphon of John 19

11. I asked, however, “Lord, where did the vile spirit come from?”

22. He said to me, “The Mother-Father, who abounds in mercy, the holy Spirit in every form, the one who is merciful and «28» who shows compassion for all of you—that is, the Reflection of Radiant Providence—raised up the seed of the perfect race, its intellect, and the eternal light of the Man.

33. When the chief archon realized that they were higher than he was in the height and surpassed him in intellect, he wanted to grasp their objective. He did not know that they surpassed him in intellect and that he would be unable to grasp them.

44. He devised a plot with his authorities, who are his powers, and together they committed adultery with Sophia. Bitter Destiny was begotten by them, the final, unstable fetter. It is of a wavering kind, yet it is more durable and stronger than she with whom the gods joined in adultery, and the angels, and the demons, and all the generations down to the present day. For from that Destiny came all transgression, injustice, blasphemy, the fetter of oblivion and ignorance, every harsh command with grievous transgressions, and overwhelming fears.

55. In this way all creation was also blinded so that they would not know the God who is over them all. Because of the fetter of oblivion, their sins were hidden, for they are bound by measurements, times, and moments, since it is the universal overlord.

66. Then he regretted everything that had happened because of him.

77. This time he conspired to bring a flood «29» upon the products of humanity, but the greatness of radiant Providence informed Noah. Noah preached to all the seed of the children of humanity, but those who were strangers to him did not listen to him.

88. It was not as Moses said, ‘They hid themselves in an ark.’ Instead, they hid themselves in a place—not only Noah, but also many other people from the unmoving race.

99. They entered a place and hid themselves within a radiant cloud. He was aware of his authority, and she who belongs to the light accompanied him.

1010. She had shone upon them because he had caused darkness to cover the whole earth, and he devised a plot together with his powers.

1111. He sent his angels to the daughters of men to take some for themselves and to raise up offspring for their pleasure, but at first they were unsuccessful.

1212. When they did not succeed, they gathered again and devised a plot together.

1313. They created a vile spirit resembling the Spirit who had descended, so that through it they might defile souls. The angels transformed their appearance into the appearance of their mates, making them full of the spirit of darkness, which they had mixed together with evil for them.

1414. They presented gold and silver, and gifts of copper and iron, and objects made from every kind of metal. By leading the people who followed them «30» astray with a multitude of tricks, they brought them into great troubles.

1515. They grew old without enjoying any pleasures.

1616. Without discovering the truth and without knowledge of the true God, they died. In this way all creation fell into age-long slavery, lasting from the foundation of the world until now.

1717. They also selected women and fathered children from the darkness according to the likeness of their own spirit. They closed up their hearts and hardened themselves by means of the hardness of the vile spirit, even until now.”