We have come to an end here with the thirteenth repentance translation comparison. I hope you have enjoyed reading the comparisons. The point of this exercise is to show that one needs to check out various translations, if possible, of various works to get a full understanding of what the text is trying to say.
MacDermot Translation:
1. ‘Hear me as I sing praises to thee, 0 Light of Lights. Hear me as I say the repentance of the thirteenth aeon, the place from which I came down, so that the thirteenth repentance of the thirteenth aeon be completed. These (aeons) I against which I have transgressed, from them I came down.
2. Now at this time, 0 Light of Lights, hear me as I sing praises to thee in the thirteenth aeon, my place from which I came forth.
3. Save me, 0 Light, in thy great mystery and forgive my transgression in thy forgiveness.
4. And give me the baptism and forgive my sins and purify me from my transgression.
5. And this my transgression is the lion-faced power, which was not hidden from thee at any time, for on account of it I came down.
6. And I alone among the invisible ones, in whose place I existed, transgressed, and I came down to the Chaos. I transgressed before thee so that thy ordinance should be fulfilled.’
Mead Translation:
1. Hearken unto me singing praises unto thee, O Light of lights. Hearken unto me uttering the repentance for the thirteenth æon, the region out of which I have come down, in order that the thirteenth repentance of the thirteenth æon may be accomplished,–those [æons] which I have overstepped and out of which I have come down.
2. Now, therefore, O Light of lights, hearken unto me singing praises unto thee in the thirteenth æon, my region out of which I have come down.
3. Save me, O Light, in thy great mystery and forgive my transgression in thy forgiveness.
4. And give unto me the baptism and forgive my sins and purify me from my transgression.
5. And my transgression is the lion-faced power, which will never be hidden from thee; for because of it have I gone down.
6. And I alone among the invisibles, in whose regions I was, have transgressed, and have gone down into the chaos. Moreover I have transgressed, that thy commandment may be accomplished.
Culmination of Wisdom 