The Pistis Sophia translation
All 148 chapters, modernized for a modern reader — archaic pronouns and verb endings updated, sentence structure lightly smoothed, nothing silently rewritten.
The library, and exactly what costs money.
Two bodies of text live here. The Pistis Sophia translation and its plain-English rendering are public-domain source text — free forever, ungated, no signup. The verse-by-verse studies are our own writing, and that is the paid product. The Old Testament is now complete at 39 books, 929 study chapters: 197 chapters are free in full — the first five of every book, plus one keystone chapter each — and the remaining 732 sit behind the Library tier. Whole chapters either way, never a paragraph cut off mid-sentence.
148chapters of Pistis Sophia — free forever
929study chapters across 39 books
197study chapters free, in full
10books free from front to back
732study chapters in the paid tier
Chapter counts come from the study files and from the approved corpus policy in docs/divine_data/PRICING.md §2.1.1. The free/paid split is stated below for every one of the 39 books, so you can see which specific chapters are open before you decide anything. Search and citation lookup are free across the whole corpus, gated chapters included — see the closing note.
Free forever · public domain
Pistis Sophia — the translation and the plain-English rendering
The full 148-chapter Pistis Sophia, modernized from the public-domain Mead translation, and a plain-English rendering alongside it. This is not our material to sell. It is never placed behind a paywall, a signup wall, or a metered limit — that is a standing policy, not a launch promotion. A finished, produced ebook edition is also available as a real purchase in the Shop.
Plain-English rendering
The same text rendered plainly, paragraph by paragraph, for readers coming to it cold. Published with the translation, under the same policy.
There is no hosted reader page for these yet, so both links point at the chapter files in the repository as they stand today. When the reader ships, these links move to it — the policy does not change.
Free in full · ten complete books
Ten of the 39 books are free from the first verse to the last
The rule is that the first five chapters of every book are free. Any book of five chapters or fewer is therefore covered end to end — commentary and all. That is ten complete books of original study, not ten samplers, and we would rather say so plainly than let you discover it.
- Ruth
- Lamentations
- Joel
- Obadiah
- Jonah
- Nahum
- Habakkuk
- Zephaniah
- Haggai
- Malachi
Several more are nearly free: Micah is 6 of its 7 chapters, Song of Solomon 6 of 8, Daniel 6 of 12. This is a consequence of the policy, not a leak in it — we have not narrowed the rule to claw those chapters back.
The 39 studies
Verse-by-verse, book by book — with the free chapters named
Every book of the Protestant Old Testament, grouped as the canon groups them, with its real chapter count and precisely which chapters are open to read free. The keystone chapter is the one that carries the book's central argument, so a free reader sees the work at its strongest rather than only at its opening. Where a keystone already falls inside the first five chapters, it adds nothing and the book shows five free rather than six.
Key: free marks the chapters you can read without paying; paid · Library tier marks the rest. The words say it either way — the colour and the lock marker are additions, not the message. Each of the five tables below can be read on its own, and each ends with its own subtotal.
The Law (Torah) · 5 books · 187 chapters
The five books of the Torah, read straight through in order — the cosmos model of Genesis 1 carried forward verse by verse to the plains of Moab.
29 chapters free 158 chapters · Library tier
| Book | Free chapters | Free | Library tier | Total | Keystone chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genesis | 1–5 | 5 | 45 | 50 | Chapter 1 — the cosmos model |
| Exodus | 1–5, 20 | 6 | 34 | 40 | Chapter 20 — the ten words |
| Leviticus | 1–5, 16 | 6 | 21 | 27 | Chapter 16 — the Day of Atonement |
| Numbers | 1–5, 21 | 6 | 30 | 36 | Chapter 21 — the bronze serpent |
| Deuteronomy | 1–6 | 6 | 28 | 34 | Chapter 6 — the Shema |
| The Law (Torah) — subtotal | — | 29 | 158 | 187 | — |
History · 12 books · 249 chapters
From the Jordan crossing to the second temple. Twelve books, and the first of the fully free ones: Ruth is four chapters, so all four are free.
66 chapters free 183 chapters · Library tier
| Book | Free chapters | Free | Library tier | Total | Keystone chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joshua | 1–5 | 5 | 19 | 24 | Chapter 5 — the captain of the LORD's host |
| Judges | 1–5, 7 | 6 | 15 | 21 | Chapter 7 — Gideon's 300 — the remnant reduced |
| Ruth | all 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| 1 Samuel | 1–5, 16 | 6 | 25 | 31 | Chapter 16 — the anointing of David — inward sight vs. outward |
| 2 Samuel | 1–5, 7 | 6 | 18 | 24 | Chapter 7 — the Davidic covenant |
| 1 Kings | 1–5, 19 | 6 | 16 | 22 | Chapter 19 — Elijah at Horeb — the still small voice |
| 2 Kings | 1–5 | 5 | 20 | 25 | Chapter 2 — Elijah's ascent and the double portion |
| 1 Chronicles | 1–5, 17 | 6 | 23 | 29 | Chapter 17 — the covenant restated to David |
| 2 Chronicles | 1–5, 7 | 6 | 30 | 36 | Chapter 7 — the temple filled with glory |
| Ezra | 1–5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | Chapter 3 — the second temple's foundation |
| Nehemiah | 1–5, 9 | 6 | 7 | 13 | Chapter 9 — the great confession — the whole story retold |
| Esther | 1–5 | 5 | 5 | 10 | Chapter 4 — 'for such a time as this' — the hidden hand |
| History — subtotal | — | 66 | 183 | 249 | — |
Free in full in this section: Ruth.
Wisdom and poetry · 5 books · 243 chapters
The poetry and wisdom books. Psalms is the largest single book in the corpus at 150 chapters; Song of Solomon is 6 of its 8 chapters free, because its keystone sits at the end.
29 chapters free 214 chapters · Library tier
| Book | Free chapters | Free | Library tier | Total | Keystone chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Job | 1–5, 38 | 6 | 36 | 42 | Chapter 38 — the voice from the whirlwind |
| Psalms | 1–5, 23 | 6 | 144 | 150 | Chapter 23 — the shepherd psalm |
| Proverbs | 1–5, 8 | 6 | 25 | 31 | Chapter 8 — Wisdom as first of the works, present at creation |
| Ecclesiastes | 1–5 | 5 | 7 | 12 | Chapter 3 — a season for every purpose — time and the eternal |
| Song of Solomon | 1–5, 8 | 6 | 2 | 8 | Chapter 8 — 'love is strong as death' — the sealed heart |
| Wisdom and poetry — subtotal | — | 29 | 214 | 243 | — |
The major prophets · 5 books · 183 chapters
The prophetic summit and the apocalyptic anchor. Lamentations is five chapters, so it is free end to end; Daniel is half free.
28 chapters free 155 chapters · Library tier
| Book | Free chapters | Free | Library tier | Total | Keystone chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Isaiah | 1–6 | 6 | 60 | 66 | Chapter 6 — the throne-vision |
| Jeremiah | 1–5, 31 | 6 | 46 | 52 | Chapter 31 — the new covenant written inward |
| Lamentations | all 5 | 5 | 0 | 5 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Ezekiel | 1–5 | 5 | 43 | 48 | Chapter 1 — the merkabah |
| Daniel | 1–5, 7 | 6 | 6 | 12 | Chapter 7 — the Ancient of Days and the son of man |
| The major prophets — subtotal | — | 28 | 155 | 183 | — |
Free in full in this section: Lamentations.
The minor prophets · 12 books · 67 chapters
The Book of the Twelve — and where the free path is widest. Eight of these twelve books are free in full, and Micah is 6 of its 7 chapters free.
45 chapters free 22 chapters · Library tier
| Book | Free chapters | Free | Library tier | Total | Keystone chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hosea | 1–5, 11 | 6 | 8 | 14 | Chapter 11 — 'out of Egypt I called my son' — the love that will not let go |
| Joel | all 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Amos | 1–5 | 5 | 4 | 9 | Chapter 5 — 'let judgment run down as waters' |
| Obadiah | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Jonah | all 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Micah | 1–6 | 6 | 1 | 7 | Chapter 6 — 'what doth the LORD require of thee' |
| Nahum | all 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Habakkuk | all 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Zephaniah | all 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Haggai | all 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| Zechariah | 1–5 | 5 | 9 | 14 | Chapter 3 — Joshua the high priest and the accuser |
| Malachi | all 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | entire book free five chapters or fewer |
| The minor prophets — subtotal | — | 45 | 22 | 67 | — |
Free in full in this section: Joel, Obadiah, Jonah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Malachi.
Every book's README and introduction is free in full, on top of the chapter counts above, as is the Genesis cosmos model document. A free chapter is the whole chapter — there is no "continue reading" cutoff, no blurred tail, no teaser fragment. The five subtotals add to 197 free + 732 Library tier = 929 chapters across all 39 books.
Also free, not gated
Essays and primer
The Tower Cycle, the supporting essays and analysis, and the project primer are outreach rather than the paid product. They are not part of the Library tier and are not metered.
- The Tower Cycle — ten companion essays following the project's throughline. Free
- Supporting essays and analysis — the standalone pieces the studies lean on. Free
- Project primer — the short introduction to the lens and the method. Free
- Book READMEs and introductions — all 39, in full. Free
The Archon Signature, the standalone nonfiction book, is drafted complete and not yet published — so it is not listed above as something you can read today.
Coming next
Phase B — the wider shelf, not yet in this Library
Beyond the 39, the project has opened a second, clearly labeled shelf: fourteen books outside the Protestant Old Testament — 1 Enoch, Jubilees, Wisdom of Solomon, Tobit, and ten more — chosen for the architecture, angelology, and symbolism they carry. 1 Enoch is fully drafted — 108 chapters, 1,062 verses — but none of Phase B is loaded into this Library or the query engine yet. When it is, this page updates with the real chapter counts, the same way it does for every other book.
One thing we never gate
Search and citation lookup stay free across the whole corpus
Including the 732 chapters in the Library tier. A free reader can always find a passage and cite where it is — book, chapter, verse, document path — even when that chapter's full commentary is paid. Only full-text reading of a gated chapter requires the tier. We never hide the map.
The free preview described on this page is policy, not a promotion: it is not time-limited, and it does not shrink after signup. It did not shrink when the corpus grew from nine books to 39 either — the same rule was applied to every new book, which is why ten of them are free in full.