§1aΠοῖ φέρεσθε, ὦ ἄνθρωποι, μεθύοντες, τὸν τῆς ἀγνωσίας
ἄκρατον [λόγον] ἐκπιόντες; ὃν οὐδὲ φέρειν δύνασθε, ἀλλ᾽ ἤδη αὐτὸν καὶ ἐμεῖτε.
Where are you drifting, oh men, in your drunkenness, having drunk to the dregs the unmixed [discourse] of ignorance? which you cannot even bear, but are already even vomiting it up.
στῆτε νήψαντες, ἀναβλέψαντες τοῖς τῆς καρδίας ὀφθαλμοῖς, καὶ εἰ μὴ πάντες δύνασθε, οἵ γε καὶ δυνάμενοι.
Stand still, having become sober, looking upward with the eyes of your heart; and if not all of you can do so, at least you who are able.
§1bἡ γὰρ τῆς ἀγνωσίας κακία ἐπικλύζει πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν,
καὶ συϲϲΎρει τὴν ἐν τῷ σώματι κατακεκλεισμένην ψυχήν, μὴ ἐῶσα ἐνορμίϲασθαι τοῖς τῆς σωτηρίας λιμέσι.
For the evil of ignorance floods all the earth and drags down the soul shut up within the body, not allowing it to anchor in the harbors of salvation.
μὴ συγκατενεχθῆτε τοιγαροῦν τῷ πολλῷ ῥεύματι· §2aἀναρροίᾳ δὲ χρησάμενοι, οἱ δυνάμενοι λαβέσθαι τοῦ [τῆς σωτηρίας] λιμένος, ἐνορμισάμενοι τούτῳ, ζητήσατε χειραγωγόν, τὸν ὁδηγήσοντα ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰς τῆς γνώσεως θύρας, ὅπου ἐστὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν φῶς, τὸ καθαρὸν σκότους· ὅπου οὐδὲ εἷς μεθύει,
ἀλλὰ πάντες νήφουσιν, ἀφορῶντες τῇ καρδίᾳ εἰς τὸν ⟨οὕτως⟩ ὁραθῆναι θέλοντα·
Do not, therefore, be carried away together with the great current; but making use of the back-current, you who are able to reach the harbor [of salvation], having anchored in it, seek a guide, the one who will lead you to the doors of knowledge, where is the bright light, pure from darkness; where not even one is drunk, but all are sober, looking with the heart towards Him who wishes to be seen ⟨in this way⟩.
οὐ γάρ ἐστιν ἀκουστός, οὐδὲ λεκτός, οὐδὲ ὁρατὸς ὀφθαλμοῖς, ἀλλὰ νῷ καὶ καρδίᾳ.
For He is not audible, nor speakable, nor visible to the eyes, but to mind and heart.
§2bπρῶτον δὲ δεῖ σε περιρρήξασθαι ὃν φορεῖς χιτῶνα, ⟨⟨τὸν σκοτεινὸν περίβολον,⟩⟩ τὸ τῆς ἀγνωσίας ὕφασμα, τὸ τῆς
κακίας ⎡στήριγμα⎤, τὸν τῆς φθορᾶς δεσμόν, [[τὸν σκοτεινὸν περίβολον,]] τὸν ζῶντα θάνατον, τὸν αἰσθητ⟨ικ⟩ὸν νεκρόν, τὸν περιφόρητον τάφον, τὸν ἔνοικον λῃστήν, ⟨⟨⟨τὸν⟩ ἐχθρὸν⟩⟩ τὸν [δι᾽] ὧν ⟨ἐ⟩φίεϲαι μισοῦντα καὶ [δι᾽] ὧν ⟨ἐπιθυ⟩μ⟨ε⟩ῖς ⟨σ⟩οι φθονοῦντα.
But first you must tear off the garment which you wear: ⟨⟨the dark enclosure,⟩⟩ the weaving of ignorance, the support of evil, the bond of corruption, [[the dark enclosure,]] the living death, the sensible corpse, the portable tomb, the resident robber, ⟨⟨the enemy⟩⟩ who hates you through the things you desire, and envies you through the things you lust after.
§3τοιοῦτός ἐστιν ὃν ἐνεδύσω [[ἐχθρὸν]] χιτών[α],
ἄγχων σε κάτω πρὸς αὑτόν, ἵνα μὴ ἀναβλέψας καὶ θεασάμενος τὸ κάλλος τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ τὸ ἐ[γ]κεῖ μένον ἀγαθόν, μισήσῃς τὴν τούτου κακίαν, νοήσας αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν ἣν ἐπεβούλευσέ σοι, τὰ [δοκοῦντα καὶ μὴ] νομιζόμενα αἰσθητήρια ἀναίσθητα ποιῶν, τῇ πολλῇ ὕλῃ αὐτὰ ἀποφράξας, καὶ
μυσαρᾶς ἡδονῆς ἐμπλήσας, ἵνα μήτε ἀκούῃς περὶ ὧν ἀκούειν σε δεῖ, μήτε βλέπῃς [περὶ ὧν] ⟨ἃ⟩ βλέπειν σε δεῖ.
Such is the garment which you have put on [[as an enemy]], choking you down towards itself, so that you may not look up and behold the beauty of truth, and the good abiding therein, and hate its evil, having perceived its plot which it plotted against you; making unfeeling the organs of sense which are [thought to be and not] believed to be [senses], blocking them up with much matter and filling them with loathsome pleasure, so that you may neither hear of the things you ought to hear, nor see the things you ought to see.