The first repentance begins
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ⲁⲥⲱϣ ⲉⲃⲟⲗ ⲉⲙⲁϣⲟ ⲉⲙⲁϣⲟ ⲛ̅ϭⲓⲧⲡⲓⲥⲧⲓⲥ ⲥⲟⲫⲓⲁ· ⲁⲥⲱϣ ⲉϩⲣⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲡⲟⲩⲟⲓ̈ⲛ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲛⲓⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ· ⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲥⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ϫⲓⲛⲛ̅ϣⲟⲣⲡ̅ ⲉⲁⲥⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ. ⲁⲩⲱ ⲁⲥϫⲱ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲓ̈ⲙⲉⲧⲁⲛⲟⲓⲁ ⲉⲥϫⲱ ⲙ̅ⲙⲟⲥ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲓ̈ϩⲉ. ϫⲉⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲛ̅ⲧⲉⲛⲓⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ̅ ⲡⲁⲓ̈ ⲉⲛⲧⲁⲓ̈ⲡⲓⲥⲧⲉⲩⲉ ⲉⲣⲟϥ ϫⲓⲛⲛ̅ϣⲟⲣⲡ̅· ⲥⲱⲧⲙ̅ ϭⲉ ⲧⲉⲛⲟⲩ ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲉⲧⲁⲙⲉⲧⲁⲛⲟⲓⲁ· ⲛⲁϩⲙⲉⲧ ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ϫⲉⲁϩⲉⲛⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ ⲉⲩϩⲟⲟⲩ ⲉⲓ̅ ⲉϩⲟⲩⲛ ⲉⲣⲟⲓ̈. ⲁⲓ̈ϭⲱϣⲧ̅ ⲱ̅ ⲡⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲉⲛⲙⲉⲣⲟⲥ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲡⲉⲥⲏⲧ. ⲁⲓ̈ⲛⲁⲩ ⲉⲩⲟⲩⲟⲉⲓⲛ ⲙ̅ⲡⲙⲁ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲩ ⲉⲓ̈ⲙⲉⲉⲩⲉ ϫⲉⲉⲓ̈ⲛⲁⲃⲱⲕ ⲉⲡⲧⲟⲡⲟⲥ ⲉⲧⲙ̅ⲙⲁⲩ
And Pistis Sophia cried out exceedingly, exceedingly; she cried up to the Light of lights which she had seen from the beginning, in which she had believed, and she spoke this repentance, saying thus: O Light of lights, in whom I have believed from the beginning — hear now, then, O Light, my repentance. Save me, O Light, for evil thoughts have entered into me. I gazed, O Light, into the parts below and saw a light in that place, thinking: I will go to that region.
Besieged in the chaos, her light being stripped from her, Sophia does the one thing left to her: she cries upward. What follows is the FIRST of the thirteen repentances — the psalm-like prayers that form the skeleton of the whole book. She addresses the Light of lights she believed in from the beginning, confesses how she came down, and asks to be saved. The shape of her prayer reworks a psalm of David — "Save me, for the waters have come in" — but the words are her own; the frame will name the psalm later.
Here the book arrives at its own skeleton. Sophia, besieged and stripped, stops running and starts praying, and the prayer she utters is the first of THIRTEEN repentances — the sequence on which the whole first half of Pistis Sophia is built. This is the template: a psalm-shaped confession addressed to the Light, followed (in the chapters that frame it) by a disciple who stands up and matches it to a psalm of David. The word to hold is <em>metanoia</em> — not remorse as a feeling but, literally in the Greek, a change of <em>nous</em>, a turning of the mind. Since her fall was a mental act ("she thought it was the true light"), the repair must be mental too: thirteen turnings, one for each step of the descent.
The prayer itself is built like Psalm 69 — "Save me, O God" — but listen to what she has done to it. Where David says <em>God</em>, she says <em>Light</em>, five times in these opening lines, and where David pleads generally, she confesses one specific act: "I gazed into the parts below and saw a light, thinking: I will go to that region." The narrative of chapters 30–31 returns inside her own mouth, almost word for word — <em>chōsht</em>, gaze; <em>meeue</em>, think; <em>bōk</em>, go — now in the first person, as testimony. And her opening self-description is quietly devastating: "in whom I have believed from the beginning". The verb is <em>pisteue</em> — her own first name turned into a verb. She is not renouncing the faith that undid her; she is aiming it, at last, at the right light.
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