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and earth, day and night, light and fire, sun and moon, life and death. But among these he made man alone with free will, having the capacity to become righteous or unrighteous. For him he also altered the images of the pairs, setting before him small things first, and great things second, such as the world, the age; but the present world is temporary, while the one to come is eternal. First ignorance, second knowledge. Thus also he arranged the leaders of the prophecy. For since the present world is female, as a mother giving birth to the souls of children, but the age to come is male, as a father receiving his own children; for this reason the prophets in this world following ..., as being sons of the future age, having knowledge of eternal things, come upon it. And if the men of piety had understood this mystery, they would never have been led astray, but even now would have known that Simon, who now troubles everyone, is a co-worker of the weak left hand. And the principle of the prophetic rule is as follows: as in the beginning God, being one, like a right hand and a left, first made the heaven, then the earth, [and] so in succession established all the pairs; but in the case of men, no longer so, but he reverses all the pairs. For as from him the first things are better and the second things worse, among men we find the opposite, the first things worse, the second things better. For example, from Adam, who was made in the image of God, there was born first an unrighteous one, Cain, second a righteous one, Abel. And again from the one called by you Deucalion, two images of spirits were sent forth, I mean of the unclean and the clean, both the black raven and the white dove second. And from the founder of our nation, Abraham, two [first] were born, first Ishmael, then Isaac who was blessed by God. And from Isaac himself likewise again two, Esau the impious and Jacob the pious. Thus in order, first, as firstborn to the world, the high priest, then the lawgiver. Likewise—for the pair that ought to have come with Elijah was willingly left behind for another time, having decided to receive itself at another opportune moment—[therefore] also he who was “among those born of women” came first, then he who is among the sons of men came second. Following this order it was possible to understand whose Simon is, who came first to the nations before me, and whose I happen to be, who have come after him and have arrived as light to darkness, as knowledge to ignorance, as healing to sickness. Thus indeed, as the true prophet has told us, there must first come a false gospel from some deceiver and then, after the purification of the holy place, a true gospel must be sent out secretly for the correction of the heresies that will be; and after this, toward the end, again first an antichrist must come, and then our true Christ, Jesus, must appear, and after this, when eternal light has dawned, all the things of darkness will disappear. Since, therefore, as I said, some are ignorant of the rule of the pair, for this reason they do not understand who Simon is, who went before me. For if he were known, he would not be believed. But now, being unknown, he is wrongly believed, and he who does the things of those who hate has been loved, and the enemy as a friend has been re-

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καὶ γῆν, ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτα, φῶς καὶ πῦρ, ἥλιον καὶ σελήνην, ζωὴν καὶ θάνατον. μόνον δὲ ἐν τούτοις αὐτεξούσιον τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐποίησεν, ἐπιτηδειότητα ἔχοντα δίκαιον ἢ ἄδικον γενέσθαι. ᾧ καὶ τὰς τῶν συζυ- γιῶν ἐνήλλαξεν εἰκόνας, μικρὰ τὰ πρῶτα παραθέμενος αὐτῷ, μεγάλα δὲ τὰ δεύτερα, οἷον κόσμον, αἰῶνα· ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν παρὼν κόσμος πρόσκαιρος, ὁ δὲ ἐσόμενος ἀίδιος. πρώτη ἄγνοια, δευτέρα γνῶσις. οὕτως καὶ τοὺς τῆς προφητείας ἡγεμόνας διέταξεν· ἐπεὶ γὰρ ὁ παρὼν κόσμος θῆ- λύς ἐστιν, ὡς μήτηρ τέκνων τίκτων ψυχάς, ὁ <δ'> ἐσόμενος αἰὼν ἄρρην ἐστίν, ὡς πατὴρ ἀποδεχόμενος τὰ αὑτοῦ τέκνα· διὰ τοῦτο οἱ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ τούτῳ προφῆται <...> ἑπόμενοι, ὡς τοῦ μέλλοντος αἰῶνος ὄντες υἱοί, αἰω- νίων τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχοντες, ἐπέρχονται. τοῦτο δὲ τὸ μυστήριον εἰ ἠπίσταντο οἱ ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ ἄνθρωποι, οὐκ ἄν ποτε ἐπλανήθησαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ νῦν ἂν ἐγνώκεισαν ὅτι Σίμων, ὁ νῦν πάντας θορυβῶν, τῆς ἀσθενοῦς ἀριστερᾶς ἐστιν συνεργός. ὁ δὲ λόγος τοῦ προφητικοῦ κανόνος οὕτως ἔχει· ὡς ἐν ἀρχῇ ὁ θεὸς εἷς ὤν, ὥσπερ δεξιὰ καὶ ἀριστερά, πρῶτον ἐποίησεν τὸν οὐρανόν, εἶτα τὴν γῆν, [καὶ] οὕτως κατὰ τὸ ἑξῆς πάσας τὰς συζυγίας συνεστήσατο· ἐπὶ μέντοι ἀνθρώπων οὐκέτι οὕτως, ἀλλὰ πάσας ἐναλλάσσει τὰς συζυγίας. ὡς γὰρ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ τὰ πρῶτα κρείττονα, τὰ δεύτερα ἥττονα, ἐπ' ἀνθρώπων τὸ ἐναντίον εὑρίσκομεν, τὰ πρῶτα χείρονα, τὰ δεύτερα κρείττονα. αὐτίκα γοῦν ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ τοῦ κατ' εἰκόνα θεοῦ γενομένου ἐγέ- νετό τις πρῶτος ἄδικος Κάιν, δεύτερος δίκαιος Ἄβελ. πάλιν δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ καθ' ὑμᾶς λεγομένου ∆ευκαλίωνος πνευμάτων εἰκόνες δύο ἀπεστά- λησαν, ἀκαθάρτου λέγω καὶ καθαροῦ, ὅ τε κόραξ ὁ μέλας καὶ ἡ λευκὴ περιστερὰ δευτέρα. καὶ ἀπὸ μὲν τοῦ ἀρχηγέτου τοῦ ἔθνους ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμ δύο [πρῶτοι] γεγόνασιν, πρῶτος Ἰσμαήλ, εἶτα Ἰσαὰκ ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ εὐλογημένος. ἀπὸ δὲ αὐτοῦ Ἰσαὰκ ὁμοίως πάλιν δύο, Ἠσαῦ ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ Ἰακὼβ ὁ εὐσεβής. οὕτως τῇ τάξει πρῶτος, ὡς πρωτότοκος τῷ κόσμῳ, ὁ ἀρχιερεύς, εἶτα ὁ νομοθέτης. ὁμοίως-ἡ γὰρ πρὸς τὸν Ἠλίαν συζυγία ὀφείλουσα ἐλθεῖν ἑκοῦσα ἀπελείφθη εἰς ἕτερον καιρόν, ἄλλοτε εὐκαίρως αὑτὴν ἀπολαβεῖν βουλευσαμένη-[διὸ] καὶ ὁ «ἐν γεννη- τοῖς γυναικῶν» πρῶτος ἦλθεν, εἶτα ὁ ἐν υἱοῖς ἀνθρώπων δεύτερος ἐπῆλ- θεν. ταύτῃ τῇ τάξει ἀκολουθοῦντα δυνατὸν ἦν νοεῖν τίνος ἐστὶν Σίμων, ὁ πρὸ ἐμοῦ εἰς τὰ ἔθνη πρῶτος ἐλθών, καὶ τίνος ὢν τυγχάνω, ὁ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἐληλυθὼς καὶ ἐπελθὼν ὡς σκότῳ φῶς, ὡς ἀγνοίᾳ γνῶσις, ὡς νόσῳ ἴασις. οὕτως δή, ὡς ὁ ἀληθὴς ἡμῖν προφήτης εἴρηκεν, πρῶτον ψευδὲς δεῖ ἐλθεῖν εὐαγγέλιον ὑπὸ πλάνου τινὸς καὶ εἶθ' οὕτως μετὰ καθαίρεσιν τοῦ ἁγίου τόπου εὐαγγέλιον ἀληθὲς κρύφα διαπεμφθῆναι εἰς ἐπανόρθωσιν τῶν ἐσομένων αἱρέσεων· καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πρὸς τῷ τέλει πάλιν πρῶτον ἀντί- χριστον ἐλθεῖν δεῖ καὶ τότε τὸν ὄντως Χριστὸν ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν ἀναφανῆναι καὶ μετὰ τοῦτο αἰωνίου φωτὸς ἀνατείλαντος πάντα τὰ τοῦ σκότους ἀφανῆ γενέ- σθαι. ἐπεὶ οὖν, ὡς ἔφην, τὸν κανόνα τῆς συζυγίας ἀγνοοῦσί τινες, ἔνθεν οὐκ ἐπίστανται τίς τυγχάνει ὁ ἐμοῦ προοδεύσας Σίμων. εἰ γὰρ ἐγινώσκετο, οὐκ ἂν ἐπιστεύετο. νῦν δὲ ἀγνοούμενος οὐκ ὀρθῶς πεπίστευ- ται, καὶ ὁ τὰ μισούντων ποιῶν ἠγάπηται καὶ ὁ ἐχθρὸς ὡς φίλος ἀπο-