Nisibis 69

On the melody of "The Messenger's Tidings" You are the one who formed him from the earth From the beginning with mercy, And you are the one who delivers to him Your gift with love. The Church: Praises to your Lordship. You are the good one in his creation. To Adam, when it was revealed to you That he wronged you and erred, You formed him so that you might conquer him: In the body, when he was in mourning, In the soul, when it was gloomy, That you might mingle the Church with love, And they prepared and separated in sorrow. The body was formed with wisdom, The soul was spread with goodness, Love was mixed with perfection, The serpent separated them with evil. So that the body and the soul Might know which one sinned against its companion. The folly of the interior is hers, The freedom of the interior is hers. Yours is the blessed one, That you might again err and have mercy. Your hand will form again, Your finger will paint Adam for you. For behold, my Lord, from the beginning, Your mercy does not pass away from him. You began with him in love, You completed with him in mercy. For even when there was no one To be his creator, Now that he is in his dust, In you his temple is renewed. It is fitting for the king Who sees his image that has grown old, That with choice pigments He might restore the gloomy image. It was a sight of wonder That your glorious height bowed down To the lowly dust, So that you might fashion the splendid image. This final end is better Than that which was at the beginning, For it is not the creation of his creator, But the clothing of his garment.

He knows the height of Adam. God desired that it be so: He sent his Son and clothed him, that he might give him his will. The evil one was envious when he saw how much he had overthrown Adam. More than was fitting he had ascended, so that he was ashamed when he overthrew him. The body rejoices in the soul, the soul is troubled for the body. For one another they are yoked, for they were separated, troubled, and mingled. The soul leads its senses, and it enters its house. It drinks its fill, and kindles its lamp within it. Light dwells in his eyes, sound passes through his ears. His senses were destroyed and ceased; silence and clamor were mingled. Old age, a worn-out thing, over them is not confined, nor pains and sufferings, which they sent forth and were buried in death. Death is a new cause, for it was death for the dead, by which suffering is sent forth, and by which praise is clothed. The mouth of the dead one within Eden— it is he who speaks with the soul: "From where and to where, and how have you come here?" He points to the body, the light of the image within his entrails. He sees his own form, how it is wrapped like a corpse. The light of the image is crucified; its radiance flashes upon them, for from here they were marked, its great mystery upon them. The watchers of the mountain draw near to the sign of flesh. In love they are yoked, for they labored and rested themselves. The watchers draw near to the feast, to the righteous their course. Their victories are recalled, their own are magnified for them. The beginning of praise, which ascends from their perfection, from sealed mouths, which are now bound in silence. Hear, Death, the trembling; prayer strikes his hand in fear.

He fell into the snare which the dead set for the Lord. They left his limbs bound, so that his captives might rebel against him. A bound binding, which bound him in his own binding. Confession with you. The Lord of the height is equal, or blessed pains, whose voice does not pass away. Confession to the one who rebels. He seeks with a closed mouth to give steadfast praise to the son for the father, the worshipped.