Sefer Yetzirah

§ 1 In thirty-two mysterious paths of Wisdom did Yah, the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, the Living God, King of the Universe, El Shaddai, merciful and gracious, high and exalted, dwelling in eternity, whose name is holy — he is sublime and holy — and create his world by three forms of expression: by Sefer (Numeration), by Sippur (Communication), and by Sefer (Writing).

§ 2 Ten are the numbers, as are the Sefirot, and twenty-two the letters; these are the Foundation of all things. Of these letters, three are mothers, seven are double, and twelve are simple.

§ 3 The ten numbers formed from nothing are the Decad: these are seen in the fingers of the hands, five and five, and over them is the Covenant by voice spiritual, and the rite of circumcision, corporeal, as of Abraham.

§ 4 Ten are the numbers of the Sefirot of Nothingness, ten and not nine, ten and not eleven. Understand with wisdom; be wise in understanding. Examine in them and search out from them, and make every thing clear, and place the Creator on his throne again.

§ 5 Their measure is ten, yet infinite. They are: the Beginning and the End; Good and Evil; Height and Depth; East and West; North and South. And the One only God and Faithful King reigns over them all from his holy habitation for ever and ever.

§ 6 The appearance of the ten spheres of Nothingness is as the Lightning Flash, boundless their origin and limitless their end. The Word of God is in them as they rush forth and as they return; they speak as from the whirlwind, and returning, fall prostrate in adoration before the throne.

§ 7 Their end is in their beginning and their beginning in their end, as the flame is bound to the burning coal: for the Lord is one and there is no second, and before One what canst thou count?

§ 8 Concerning the number ten of the Sefirot of Nothingness keep thy tongue from speaking, and thy mind from pondering on them; and if thy mind run away with thee, bring it back again to thy control. Even as it was said: “Running and returning, the living creatures ran and returned” (Ezekiel 1:14).

§ 9 The ten numbers without reality are: One, the Spirit of the Living God, blessed and more than blessed be the Living God of ages. The Voice, the Spirit, and the Word, these are the Holy Spirit.

§ 10 Two: from the Spirit he produced Air, and formed in it twenty-two sounds — the letters; three are mothers, seven are double, and twelve are simple; but the Spirit is first and above these.

§ 11 Three: from the Air he formed the Waters, and from the formless and void made mire and clay, and designed surfaces upon them, and hewed out recesses in them, and formed the strong material foundation.

§ 12–13 Four: from the Water he formed Fire and made for himself a Throne of Glory with Auphanim, Seraphim, Holy Living Creatures, and ministering Angels. Five: he sealed the height; he chose three letters from among the simple ones and fixed them in his great Name, YHV. With these he sealed the six dimensions.

Chapter II — The twenty-two letters

The classification of the letters into three mothers (אמ”ש), seven doubles (בג”ד כפר”ת), and twelve simples; the foundation-stones of speech and creation. Treats the gilgul (cycle) of the letters in 231 gates and the gematria-bearing nature of every utterance.

Chapter III — The three mothers (אמ”ש)

Alef, Mem, Shin as the elemental letters: Air, Water, Fire. The cosmic, temporal, and psychic correspondences (year/world/soul) of each.

Chapter IV — The seven doubles

The doubled-pronunciation letters correspond to the seven planets, seven days, seven gates of the soul (eyes, ears, nostrils, mouth), and the seven pairs of opposites (life/death, peace/evil, wisdom/folly, wealth/poverty, beauty/ugliness, fertility/desolation, dominion/servitude).

Chapter V — The twelve simples

The remaining twelve letters correspond to the twelve months, twelve constellations of the zodiac, and twelve faculties of the human body.

Chapter VI — Recapitulation and Abraham

The text closes by tying its system to the patriarch Abraham, who, the closing colophon asserts, perceived these things directly and was given the covenant in consequence.