Translated by George W. MacRae and William R. Murdock
NOTES follow translation 

[...] the road. And he spoke to him, saying, "By which road shall I go up to Jerusalem?" The little child replied, saying, "Say your name, so that I may show you the road". The little child knew who Paul was. He wished to make conversation with him through his words in order that he might find an excuse for speaking with him.

The little child spoke, saying, "I know who you are, Paul. You are he who was blessed from his mother`s womb. For I have come to you that you may go up to Jerusalem to your fellow apostles. And for this reason you were called. And I am the Spirit who accompanies you. Let your mind awaken, Paul, with [...]. For [...] whole which [...] among the principalities and these authorities and archangels and powers and the whole race of demons, [...] the one that reveals bodies to a soul-seed."

And after he brought that speech to an end, he spoke, saying to me, "Let your mind awaken, Paul, and see that this mountain upon which you are standing is the mountain of Jericho, so that you may know the hidden things in those that are visible. Now it is to the twelve apostles that you shall go, for they are elect spirits, and they will greet you." He raised his eyes and saw them greeting him.

Then the Holy Spirit who was speaking with him caught him up on high to the third heaven, and he passed beyond to the fourth heaven. The Holy Spirit spoke to him, saying, "Look and see your likeness upon the earth." And he looked down and saw those who were upon the earth. He stared and saw those who were upon the [...]. Then he gazed down and saw the twelve apostles at his right and at his left in the creation; and the Spirit was going before them.

But I saw in the fourth heaven according to class - I saw the angels resembling gods, the angels bringing a soul out of the land of the dead. They placed it at the gate of the fourth heaven. And the angels were whipping it. The soul spoke, saying, "What sin was it that I committed in the world?" The toll-collector who dwells in the fourth heaven replied, saying, "It was not right to commit all those lawless deeds that are in the world of the dead". The soul replied, saying, "Bring witnesses! Let them show you in what body I committed lawless deeds. Do you wish to bring a book to read from?"

And the three witnesses came. The first spoke, saying, "Was I not in the body the second hour [...]? I rose up against you until you fell into anger and rage and envy." And the second spoke, saying, "Was I not in the world? And I entered at the fifth hour, and I saw you and desired you. And behold, then, now I charge you with the murders you committed." The third spoke, saying, "Did I not come to you at the twelfth hour of the day when the sun was about to set? I gave you darkness until you should accomplish your sins." When the soul heard these things, it gazed downward in sorrow. And then it gazed upward. It was cast down. The soul that had been cast down went to a body which had been prepared for it. And behold, its witnesses were finished.

Then I gazed upward and saw the Spirit saying to me, "Paul, come! Proceed toward me!". Then as I went, the gate opened, and I went up to the fifth heaven. And I saw my fellow apostles going with me while the Spirit accompanied us. And I saw a great angel in the fifth heaven holding an iron rod in his hand. There were three other angels with him, and I stared into their faces. But they were rivalling each other, with whips in their hands, goading the souls on to the judgment. But I went with the Spirit and the gate opened for me.

Then we went up to the sixth heaven. And I saw my fellow apostles going with me, and the Holy Spirit was leading me before them. And I gazed up on high and saw a great light shining down on the sixth heaven. I spoke, saying to the toll-collector who was in the sixth heaven, "Open to me and the Holy Spirit who is before me." He opened to me.

Then we went up to the seventh heaven, and I saw an old man [...] light and whose garment was white. His throne, which is in the seventh heaven, was brighter than the sun by seven times. The old man spoke, saying to me, "Where are you going, Paul? O blessed one and the one who was set apart from his mother`s womb." But I looked at the Spirit, and he was nodding his head, saying to me, "Speak with him!". And I replied, saying to the old man, "I am going to the place from which I came." And the old man responded to me, "Where are you from?" But I replied, saying, "I am going down to the world of the dead in order to lead captive the captivity that was led captive in the captivity of Babylon." The old man replied to me saying, "How will you be able to get away from me? Look and see the principalities and authorities." The Spirit spoke, saying, "Give him the sign that you have, and he will open for you." And then I gave him the sign. He turned his face downwards to his creation and to those who are his own authorities.

And then the <seventh> heaven opened and we went up to the Ogdoad. And I saw the twelve apostles. They greeted me, and we went up to the ninth heaven. I greeted all those who were in the ninth heaven, and we went up to the tenth heaven. And I greeted my fellow spirits.

The Apocalypse of Paul

Selection made from James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library, revised edition. HarperCollins, San Francisco, 1990.

 NOTES:

Wolf-Peter Funk writes (New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, p. 697): "one of the few significant theological features of this document must be the function assigned to the figure of God the Father from Dan. 7:9f. The 'old man' enthroned in the sevent heaven evidently embodies the Creator, downgraded in gnostic eyes, who attempts to prevent any further ascent, but is powerless in the face of the gnostic's proof of identity (here 'the sign'). To see here an expression of 'anti-Jewish tendency' is probably to go too far; rather this concept seems to be based on a very simple and indeed natural gnostic interpretation of the peaceful handing-over of power from Dan. 7:13f. (understood in Christian terms)."

George W. MacRae and William R. Murdock, edited by Douglas M. Parrott, write (The Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 257):

The date and provenance of the document cannot be determined with any certainty. That it comes from gnostic circles with a typical anti-Jewish bias seems assured by the negative view of the deity in the seventh heaven. The portrayal of Paul as exalted even above the other apostles is at home in second-century Gnosticism, especially Valentinianism, and, according to Irenaeus (Haer. II.30.7), there was a gnostic tradition of interpreting Paul's experience in 2 Co 12:2-4. Nothing in Apoc. Paul demands any later date than the second century for its composition.

Wolf-Peter Funk writes (New Testament Apocrypha, vol. 2, pp. 695-696):

Original language, place and time of origin: it is generally assumed that - as with almost all other texts of the oldest Coptic tradition - the version of Apoc. Pl. extant in NHC V is a translation from the Greek; there are however no sure indications of this in the text. We can say just as little in regard to the question whether the text corresponds in extent to the presumed Greek original, or has been more heavily marked by deletions or additions within the Coptic tradition.

With regard to the time of origin, it has been suggested (Murdock/MacRae) that the text should be located in the context of the marked interest in the 2nd century, especially among the Valentinians, in the figure of the apostle Paul (and in the interpretation of 2 Cor. 12:2-4). With greater circumspection, however, we can only suggest the period from the middle of the 2nd century to the beginning of the 4th as the possible time of origin. Nothing can be said about its geographical origin.

George W. MacRae and William R. Murdock, edited by Douglas M. Parrott, write: "For purposes of analysis, the contents of Apoc. Paul may be divided into three distinct episodes: an epiphany scene, a scene of judgment and punishment, and a heavenly journey." (The Nag Hammadi Library in English, p. 256)