On Epiphany

On Epiphany Memra: 5. Of Epiphany. His own, when his own of the hidden Epiphany, blessed fountain, which flowed upon the Jordan, and Adam drank and his thirst was quenched. A speaking image, the Creator willed to fashion Adam, and purified the spirit with the remedies of his scattered mind. He mounted first the century of clay from the living one, and anointed him with spirit, and the whole became a living image. He formed members with the beauty of a visible image, and joined the invisible spirit to the visible. O Painter, who concealed the power of his artistry, and placed the beauty of the comeliness of his image within, from the side. With the artistry of mortality, external comeliness, and to the senses he showed the beauty of their forms. With the artistry of divinity, internal comeliness, and to creatures, as a decoration for the internal. A compacted hundred, he made a creation, he willed to set up all, a visible body and a hidden soul, one human. The Creator made from the living one a scattered thing in visible things, and set within from the concealment of the greatness of his power. He placed a heavy one, full of life, in a mortal element, that he might give life through mortality by the power of his life. The inner one sang, stood in a clamor with the limbs of the body, and the image was beautified with the voice of the tones of the living spirit. Life praised in the temple of his image the sound of praise, and the speaking ones and the deaf were silent before the sound of his tones. The mortal stood in the form of an image within the clay, and at his forms the spiritual and corporeal ones were amazed.

In the fullness of the hidden one, the beauty of the image of the hidden one endured. And iniquity ascended in the form of a serpent upon his forms. In the poisons of the serpent, the beauty of his image was marred by the fruits of the tree. And the cry of mortality stood in the voice of his mouth. To his sinful side, the name of life of the image was given for the sake of the king. And she inscribed with her name, Abel and death upon his members. He poured out and consumed the hidden one's treasure of the hidden one in mortality. And death trampled and destroyed the beauty of his eloquence. He shone and laughed, even his scorn upon his shame. And he cut off the hope that cannot be renewed from his destruction. When he saw that the evil ones had shone, they fashioned the image. Spare his image, which cannot be carved from the winds. The image arranges the authority of the king through his revelation. And through his forms, he shows the beauty of the one who begot him. In the image of Adam, the authority of his Lord was revealed. And through his forms, the power of his hiddenness was examined. And Adam fell, and death destroyed his forms. The king sent a decree and mercies that established him. Two messengers of the destroyer he sent for the honor of his image. And they proclaimed in the land the voice of renewal for mortality. Through his sign, he revealed to the servants the power of his hiddenness. And through his renewals, he showed the way to the wealth of his love. He exalted greatly the name of his renewal from his sign. That he might purify the way for the pure heavens, his beloved. Through his sign, they were bound from the beginning.

And in his oneness, the beauty of the image of the hidden one shone forth. He descended, his will toward his nature, with love of the mouth. And he drew upon the leaf of his body, Adam of the two, in the order of Adam, he formed Adam with the poison of a sign. And he renewed Adam and his offspring through the son of Adam, who came forth from the womb of Adam of the two, as from the earth. And he was wholly like that first one whom the earth bore, in body and soul, equal with Adam of the two. And in authority, he was lord of Adam and his offspring, equal in nature and greater in form than all that were. And the watcher testified, who supposed in his plan and called him lord, in many things greater than Adam of the two. And he is not changed with the creatures of the rank that reached them, above his plan, which was not mingled with the seed of man. And the sons of the heavens praised, they were his heralds; he alone received and inherited the name of lordship. The heavenly and the earthly, let them hear his nature, which testifies that he is earthly from the earth. And the name of his authority cries out and proclaims that he is divine. He is earthly because of the body and soul of man. And he is heavenly, who became a dwelling for God the All. The earthly ones marveled and were astonished at the greatness of the rank. And the Father and the Spirit sealed the voices and showed that he is the son, chosen messengers from spirits and from bodies. That the heavens and the earth might be mouths concerning his coming, honor also to the messengers of his proclamation.

And he exalted the voice of the herald to the house of visions. He chose John from among the earthly ones, the voice that is written. And he sent the watcher and the elder in his hiddenness without meaning. That messenger who proclaimed in the hiddenness in the days of Mary. He also knocked at Zacharias concerning John. One spirit brought the gospel of the servant and the lord. And he proclaimed in the hiddenness to the barren one and to the sterile one. The sterile elder, when his time came, he entered into the holy of holies. And he completed his order and heard a voice, the voice of the watcher proclaiming. In great glory, his spiritual self was revealed. And the sterile elder trembled and was disturbed by his beautiful radiance. The watcher spoke gently to the earthly one with a gentle voice: "Do not fear, for the cause of your salvation is my coming. Receive the mystery of the sacrifice of your hands and your arms. And stretch out toward you, that I may give you the reward of your labors. Receive the fruits in exchange for your offerings and your prayers." From Elizabeth, the sterile elder woman whose limbs had died, the sterile elder heard the voice of the hiddenness that is not customary. And he greatly doubted within his thought, wondering where it might be. The spirit saw the bodily one who was amazed at his vision. And he silenced him with silence, that he might not be divided over what he heard. The watcher bound his two senses with word and hearing, that his silence might be also the seal of his witnesses. It was not in anger over the division of all who speak. For the cause bound him, that what is revealed might be believed by everyone. It was not fitting that he who saw the vision should be silent.

Without meaning, he was not like a herald of his praises. Silence taught the eyes of his people a hidden vision. And he established a sign of no division of what is interpreted. Nine months the watcher bound him in the garment of silence. Until he completed the course, the root as his promise. He completed in the servant the words that he heard from the Spirit. And he received the fruit and spoke and heard and rendered praise. He was hidden in the name as he learned from the revelation. The sin of proclaiming the mercies of the sinner to the eyes of the people. John went forth in the message that precedes the king. And his messenger announced the sign to the spiritual assemblies. Thirty years in the desert that is outside the inhabited world. While he was meditating on the mysteries of the proclamation. In this, his messenger announced the sign from within the silence. That by divine dispensation he lived his life. Outside of men he was raised in the power of wisdom. Until the spirit of revelation called him to the proclamation. That he came forth from silence when the sun set from the sphere. And his messenger announced to the world after the light of his proclamation. In the river Jordan he opened the treasure of his sender. While he was crying out that sinners should come to receive forgiveness. By forgiveness of iniquity he awakened the sign to the sleepers of iniquity. And the good natures responded to the voice of forgiveness that is without labor. His voice became like a trumpet in the ears of the people. And he established the sign to the heart of the promise of forgiveness of iniquity.

In the womb of waters he was confessing that he would give birth to a son. And like a firstborn, he renewed a son in his dwelling. He cast a net without a word over all the captives. And he bound a son within the hearing of the herald of his writing. By means of a sign he dragged a son like a chief lector. And he made the blood of water the cause of the confession of his words. [...] from silence and changed his voice in the ears of the people. That a servant exists and a minister of the sign of the mystery. A messenger of the king who writes that he comes. And he sent that he might proclaim that it has arrived according to the meaning. In water alone he commanded that he give remission of sin until he comes and gives spirit with remission. By water and spirit he destroys the offspring of mortality and causes to sprout the spiritual seed of life for the dead. In the womb of spirit he conceals the image of the healer of sin and makes to shine the beauty of the heavens for the earthly. In the womb of waters he gives birth to a man spiritually, while being baptized in a new name, the firstborn of spirit. He strips the body from the servitude of mortality and frees the soul from the bonds of the stages. He leaves sin and gives spirit like a raven that does not divide over his heirs. He stands before your house, knocks and hides from your eyes. Neither does he know the man who proclaims him, nor does the man know him. A sign revealed to me that he proclaims his fear in the house of darkness, that by means of words they might see the light of righteousness.

He brought a lamp, the measure of the greatness of the sun, and the radiance of the sun is not comparable with his greatness. A small portion from him, without measure and without limit, and not equal to a particle of the dust that settled on the soles of his feet. From the gift of the greatness of his wealth, he gave me a little, and my senses were enriched from the hidden treasures of his love. The small portion of the spirit from him equaled my thoughts, and I cried out power to the proclamation of his mysteries. Beyond the order of proclamation, revelation was difficult, and from within the womb I feared to go out and gather his limbs. And when the discernment of the proclamation of his herald was good, I did not wish to show the splendor of his face except in mystery. Not by the sight of the external senses does a person know him; in spirit he gave me a clear sign of the alphabet of baptism. That which he said to me: "Proclaim the birth of the teaching," the pattern of the dove showed me in a revelation of spirit. This he revealed to me mysteriously, as a householder: that I saw where the Lord was taking. Also the reason why he proclaimed and confirmed is this: that the way of the feet of men might be directed toward his revelation. Behold, he has arrived and drawn near, the measure of the light of his splendor; let every man go out to meet him, his self without hesitation. The sword of the spirit is held in his hand to burn men, and where it strikes, the fruits of glory are cut off by it.

His word is life, and sharper than a sword. And it enters not through the ears, from the senses of the soul. He is Lord over all, and judge of the living and the dead, and at his judgment he is ready to separate the good and the evil. Under the authority of his dominion is placed all authority, and his command rules over spirits and bodies. He writes the soul and the body on the head's coin, and offers the purity of the soul in place of the offering. He was a herald who made hearts tremble and caused fear, and love and zeal filled the voices of his proclamation. He sows seeds in his name, and his voice in the ears of all people, and casts commands of judgment into the mouth of the sick. He is stretched like a rod against the iniquity that confronts him, and proclaims hope to the poor who hope through his staff. His name is spread as a covering for the one who sins among mortal men, and he brandishes the sword of the word of his mouth like a torrent. He covers with his name the debt of humanity, the sin of the guilty, and writes men who are servants to his messenger. His words fall like rain upon the earth of men, and they become wet with the word of his mouth to bear fruit. He cried out from silence with a spirit of revelation that spoke with him: "Behold, the lamb purifies blemishes and forgives sins." This is what I said after the beginning, and he is the same from before, and it is not known how he begot the elder and the young.

He is young from the milk of [...] his birth in the union of the flesh, and he is old from the future things of the mysteries of his secrets. He is young from John the circumciser of hearts, and like an old man he comes to the end, revealing and resembling me. To the young man, the hero who comes after him, and to the old man, the living lamb who takes away iniquity. The unique one descended and became incarnate and became flesh. What is the necessity that compelled the flesh [...] to cleanse iniquity? Why does he not take away the iniquity of the people by his divinity, until he places his great glory beside madness? And the power that is greater than his own stood in the flesh. And because of this, he changes the sign of the victor by madness. Beware lest this be said, an answer [...] that the power of his essence is superior to the power of mad flesh. It is the flesh that grew and stood, power through the essence. It is not the essence that stood, receiving help from the mortal. To the corporeal, he puts on a divine will, and he conquers and triumphs over his adversaries by the power of his thought. To him, the old man, the pure lamb, the son of Zechariah, who by his sacrifice cleanses the stains of the sons of his people. No longer does he name and call the man who comes at the end, who at the conclusion of the sacrifices judges and frees all. His reasons become a crown for the spirit of revelation, by which the hidden voices of prophecy are sealed. The spirit revealed to him and saw him coming, and prepared his way, and rejoiced when he saw the hope of his great ones and kings.

He sees that like a youth he comes toward him to baptize him, and he begins to be distressed that it is he who baptizes and not he who is from him. But the old man says: From you I shall be baptized like a deficient one, not that you should come to the poor one from his height. You are the spring, you who give life to the dead; how does the old man say that you should be filled from the dead? You are holy, you, and by you the stains of the soul are cleansed; and as you wish, the purification of the soul cleanses the blemishes. Yours is the treasure of all wisdoms and mysteries; how does the great one learn from his disciple, the swift one? You are the one who illuminates all with the light of his face; why do you need, for the sake of a little one, the lamp of the word? Yours is the vast sea of mercies that drowns iniquity; how does the greatness of your glory thirst for stale waters? Leave now, O king, go to the herald; thus it is fitting that righteousness be fulfilled through me. Leave, do not reveal my greatness and my honor to the eyes of the beholders, until I accomplish and fulfill all that is written. Leave, let me be baptized like a deficient old man upon the mercies, that I may complete in my person the deficiency of the nature of the heads. From the race that sinned against sins, I am the father; leave, let me pay the note that Adam wrote in the past. From the debt of the sweat of his limbs, pains are his riders; leave, let me shake off the slackness of his flight with fire and spirit.

From the nature that swallowed death and stood over his life. Let him descend, I say, in the mystery to the waters and bring up, I say, him. The son of the race, I say, who repays the evil one by his freedom. Let him put forth the likeness of the captive who is with him from the rebel. The writ of death our fathers wrote and gave to the sinner, and I placed the condition that he would repay him in the mystery at the beginning. The beautiful image of the spirit that clothed the body they cast down to me. Let the ear of iniquity be removed from his forms. With the pitcher of waters he draws, I say, him to the image of his likeness, and instead of the fire he blows, I say, the spirit of life. If he does not wash his ear in my standing, it is not purified, and if he does not descend with me to the dwelling, it is not hidden. As the beginning, the creator chose me from the dying, and set me that I might be like a ransom in place of their lives. In me, as a sacrifice, he desired to offer his sign to his servants, and he accepts my offering and cuts off the hands of the destroyer from all. And because he desired and separated me from every matter of afflictions, it is fitting that I repay the debt in place of every labor of all. By the child of the two, he judges, I say, the way of the destroyer, and I, I say, tread in the blood of all who come in the mystery of solitude. Because of my coming, I choose the command and call the voice, that he call the affliction to the birth that will be in my hands. Let him pass, I say, in the waters by your hands as in a tomb, and I bring down with me to death and bring up her.

Let him now be baptized as he ascended to purity, and after the offering let him show, I say, my power in my purity of the defiled. The preacher finished sending his spirit. In those who heard and received the priest who placed his hand upon the chief of priests. Or John who ministered in holiness to the son of the worthy one who entered the holy of holies without permission. Or the son of the race who, lacking and ascending over forgiveness, opened the door of the one who was hiding from the generations. It was not for the holiness of the chief priests that John came to that heavenly one who began his entry mysteriously. He completed the rite that was ministering lawfully and began to minister mysteriously on the higher step. He left the ministry of baptisms among the Jews and began to drive within the vessel of mercy of the peoples. He approached the baptism of the great sea, mixed with sinners, and opened the door that was closed in the face of man. The chief of priests descended to the waters and baptized and sanctified John, and John imparted the power of the spirit to give life. The holy one approached the weak and fragile element and made it a womb to give birth to man spiritually. He descended and was immersed in the depth of the waters like a pearl, and rose and was warmed and warmed Adam mysteriously. He ascended from the womb of a new mother not by custom, and the spirit descended and anointed him with divine power. With the spirit he anointed him, not with lawful oil, but with the chosen oil that was better than his companions.

In the type of the dove, the Spirit descended and stood before him, and in a clear revelation he showed his hiddenness. In the day he showed all the wealth of the Spirit he received, and in it he stands without change in the order of his mystery. He formed a revelation by means of the wings of the mystery of the dove, in which the mystery of the whole stands without disturbance. By the sign of the dove he descended and stood, the power of hiddenness, and the father sealed by the daughter of the voice of this beloved one. With the Spirit he anointed like an athlete to take the contest, and he made his voice heard to the spectators of the athletic contest. Only the voice did the spectators hear that the father proclaimed, and by the anointing in the likeness of the day they were not revealed. In secret he anointed the eye of the one alone who was serving. For thus the great order of anointing commands. Only to the priests does he give oil for consecration. When he was revealed like a bridegroom in the greatness of his rank, also John, like a deacon and friend of the bridegroom, by a clear revelation of the descent of the Spirit stood in the Spirit. He alone saw the gift in the likeness of the day, and he testified and said that the vision is true and the mystery great. I saw the Spirit, a hidden nature, in the mystery of the dove, which descended and stood hidden in the revealed in perfect love. The middle one who was serving testified to the descent of the Spirit, and the father placed his hand on the voice in the mystery of renewal. Now that the order of the water is complete and the father has sealed, he seeks to make known that the Spirit and the name of the son are received.

He descended in the dove, the Spirit, and dwelt in the mystery of the wing, and he completed the desire in him and fulfilled his love. He descended to the depth of the waters like a debtor, and the Spirit anointed him with love and established the power. If the Word himself is mounted upon him and became flesh, why does he not anoint his flesh in his own person? Why did he not give power to the chariot of his body, that the Spirit might descend and strengthen his body with anointing? If he is equal with his begetter in love and power, why does he add to him the name of anointed one like a debtor? If he is spiritual and a son of the essence of the Father and the Spirit, why did he descend and delay, and bear witness and receive increase? How did he descend, one side to his fellow, without a limit being set? And how does anointing join essence to essence without a debtor? The cause of the greatness of the degree of glory is that which, when it is fitting in the cause of anointing, receives a degree. And if the Holy Spirit anoints the only one and fills the Spirit, then he receives anew the degree of the greatness of glory. And if he receives greatness in baptism through anointing and voice, where is he equal with his begetter and the Spirit from him? And if these things that I have said are not fitting, then it is not fitting that he should seek to descend and receive increase in the cause of anointing. For it is not fitting that he should be blessed from that which is less, and that which is old from that which is fitting for him and worthy of anointing.

He does not take the depth of the waters, nor does he hold the bosom of the waters. And from all, he does not diminish the greatness of the mystery. For he is, and he is, and in his being he abides forever, and the nature of his being is not changed from what he is. Everything that is perfect in the name of being does not change, and if it changes in name, it is a question that cuts off being. Everything that is made is subject to the power of the maker, and it does not endure without the sign of the one who established it. Whatever grows by means of measures diminishes from something else, and if it were to increase, it would not increase from what it is. There is no nature that loses its own in something else of its own, and how can it change its own into something else and diminish all? Hush, do not say or think like the foolish, that the Word of the Father or something of his own in our own is taken. It is taken that it grows by means of measures, not that it takes. It is a flood that cuts off the high name by the power of its taking. The image that he cast in the likeness of the iniquity of the fruit of the tree, it is that which the Spirit took in the vessel of baptism. The flood of the flood that was cast, the potter took the clay, and he turned his servant into water that was suitable for praises. To the nature of the clay of Adam, the creator took, and he formed it in the waters and sent it with the Spirit and cut off beauty. Our nature was guilty, and it was also drawn to death and evil, and in our nature the creator paid the debts of the race.

The fullness of his form, the beautiful image, was corrupted, and he turned into a disease through spiritual poisons. An evil harm befell the forms of creation, and he changed and marked his time within the page. He cast his body like a leprous one to the outside, and when his sin was humbled in the mercies of the one who loosed him, he was held in Sheol, and the bonds of death were cast upon him. And the mercies of his Creator were withheld from his lowliness, and his deliverers descended. He was entirely loosed and was dissolving in the stains of iniquity, and his sin afflicted him and drained from him the rottenness of his iniquity. One member was chosen from the whole body of humanity, and he taught him through the spirit that heals the pains of the sons of his body. And one human being created one marvel outside the order, and the skill of his hand renewed the garment that wears out in mortality, until the disease from the poisons that humanity sowed was healed. With the medicine of the spirit, he heals his disease in body and soul; in body and soul, he mounts his work in the likeness of Adam. So that in him body and soul of his pure ones are renewed, a pure dwelling he mounts his work for the desire of his love. That through his mounting, all is bound in his love; in the temple of his body, he desires to receive the secret of humanity. And in revelation, he shows to all the power of his concealment. Thirty years he grew in body and entered into humanity. When he increased to the age of thirty, before his face, after a time, the growth of the body was completed.

He desired to examine the renewal that is fulfilled in him. He chose from his body a herald and sent him before him. He went out and proclaimed the voice that is written in the epiphany. He gathered and brought the sons of Jacob who were scattered. And he made heard the sign of the king whom they had rejected, and he added the sign of the spiritual king to the feast. And in the midst of the feet, the king received, though he did not desire, his crown in the lamb and his son, the sacrifice that covers all. And in his baptism became death and life and the renewal of all. He placed it in the sinner because of his love for humanity. And the bride called the sons of his body who had turned to her. Sin was completed by the hand of the confession of faith. And the church surrounded his sides, the peoples, the betrothed of the holy one, instead of the curtains, covering her in the house of baptism. And he placed for her a crown, all of it great in the signs of the spirit, so that the spirit might show her glory to the eye of the beholders. For when he was earthly, he gave him the crown of the kingdom of height, in him the good father, more than all, was causing him to grow. By the testimony of that beloved one, and he completes my desire: the father calls and the son baptizes and the spirit descends. Three witnesses who placed a hand on the authority of the king. In his person is he who baptized and cut off the name of sonship. And to him came the end of wickedness and the crown of height, which the spirit anoints with power and endures before him.

And the father testified with a voice of true love, that he might be worthy and become a dwelling for the word of the father. And he was examined in the name of the essence that is above all. He also testified concerning the deeds that were done before him. For the heads of those who resemble man were quickly accomplished. The baptism of man is the body that was baptized with bodies. And he prepared a way for the sons of his kind to the perfection of the mystery and the name that calls out from the dead that he was. He was a good heir and lord of height and depth. The spirit that received in the sign of the dove revealed and examined that from his kind, which is lacking and limited, he also is. Like a gift, he completed his deficiency and made whole his lack, and made the sons of his kind partners in the wealth of the spirit. He was baptized like every bodily man in thick waters, and he begat the womb of baptism spiritually. In the name of the essence, three names were baptized and sanctified: the father in the voice, and the son in love, and the spirit in the oil. With three names, his completion was before the name that receives, and he increased in name and deed and reigned over all. In the thought of his will, he acknowledged the name of sonship. [...] In the mystery by the spiritual birth. The son of the Most High was called the watchman of the future from him. [...] That he was a man who would receive the spirit in the form of the dove. He was a man who would anoint the spirit with a strong power, that by the power of the spirit he might pursue the demons and heal the pains.

He was a son of man in the body, and a soul separate from iniquity. He glorified him in the spirit, and he was a body of God and of a son of man. In the name of the Son he called him "father," because of his body, and the name of God he gave him because of his rank. One in [...] he called the body [...] the son of God, one in the essence that is not divided by divisions. Natures are distinguished in the name of the two, not in the one. One [...] the son of the essence and the body of the same. He called him "Christ" and "Son" because of the two, that he might glorify him in the spirit, and he might be in love a son with the Word. The Word and the body, when he says "two" in the one, in the death of the body and the soul within him, one son of man. The soul in the body and the body in the soul are distinguished and equal, and each witnesses that the two are and one is composed. The Word in the body in the type of the Word of the Word that is within the soul, which is in the soul and outside it without division. In this type is placed the inquiry of the confession of my word, as it joins two that are separated into one completion. And if the heretics slander me with their evil tongue, show them from where he was baptized and glorified the spirit. He says to you, "To the judge who hears well, and bring witnesses from the house of archives of my words of the spirit. Stand, judges, one against the other as is fitting, and let there be a scholastic sign that hears the two.

In the judgment, he shows that the words I spoke are not false. And if they are justified, behold, the revelation of the beautiful image is manifest. Without hesitation, he reveals the power that is hidden in words. And he who sins against the evil one is truly manifest. Before the judgment, he stands with me, and no one can alter the order of the king who casts branches into the mouth of confusion. He who flees from the law, his knot is revealed. And before the judgment, he condemns himself by the wood of his own planting. No one departs from the divine laws, and no one changes the door of lordship for another judgment. Behold, I stand before the judgment that sees the hidden one. All who accuse, he reveals openly through deeds. Why is the covering of falsehood hidden under the appearance of truth? And why does he lead astray like the seekers of truth? How many are the audacious [in the multitude of the power of the chosen one] who are adorned, so that the power of simplicity is diminished before the curses? Even if he conquers in confusion, it is not victory, but a bond of audacity that conquers in [ ... ]. [ ... ] in the rashness against truth, and he lowers truth by the tongue of sacrifice before [ ... ]. The boastful do not attain purity for the name of the church, and the church does not receive from [ever, as when] [they proclaimed] they led astray by their words in the short term, and they proclaimed that instead of truth there would be seekers.

Deceitfully they put on the skins of lambs [...] and of fathers, they act with their sorceries against the truth. They set forth [...] the image of their falsehood was spread. And they show that the victor in the contest is not by power but by arrogance. Behold, the teachers of the disciples became and were spread, and their expulsion from the pure Church outside its gates. Paulicians and Eutychians were uprooted and cast out. The house of Arius and his associates were accursed. And also the teachers of falsehood, their mouths full, how were their disciples considered rabid dogs? From Eutyches he does not fear, for he is one who sins against the truth. And from the Egyptian he does not yield, for he is one who conquers in the contest. And he does not tear himself away from the heirs of their courses, for they are like wild beasts and rabid ones toward teaching. He is one who cries out, crying out what is confused in the likeness of a wolf, and he silences the voice of Jesus as if to a wolf. To all their commands without order, their thoughts are disturbed, and their mouth is much outside the path they were treading. On the path of the king, the vision of the king went forth, and the voice of the armies that fear the truth ceased from my contest. It was not by the edge of their words that I turned from my word; upon them I cast a net without their knowledge for my contest with the truth. Because I was astonished before the contest of their thoughts, while simple ones snatch the rank of teacher.

To the simplicity of heart you sought to make wise through these that you erred, that you not be led astray after the confused sounds of voices. The image of the king they fashioned in the thoughts of their minds on the tablet of words, and in the openings of their mouths you sought to show him to the spectators. It was possible for me to draw the image of the confession of his fullness, who gave remission in the nature of his name to the seekers of his house. The body was dissolved and the soul was redeemed, he reigned and confessed, and he wrote a sign on both tablets of water and spirit. The sign of life he fixed in baptism for the powers that would live towards the seal of the kingdom of heaven. In water he fixed the new sign of the child of spirit, which all who resemble receive through the choice of pure intentions. Behold, the seal of the kingdom of heaven, which is not false, the likeness hastened to take the revelation of the wealth of spirit. Behold, the sign is fixed before the disciples who are likened to him, and the heart believes, the mouth confesses, and the limbs tremble. Behold, the king has pointed out a new way in his person; come, enter upon it towards the end while there is opportunity. Behold, the bosom of the mother of the man is opened spiritually; bury [and] in baptism mortality and stand up life. Let every man hear this daughter of the voice that calls to her beloved, and cry out love towards the one who revived the man with love. With John cry out in one voice a confession, that one, the word of God, all pure from blemishes.