(.—Blessed be He that blots out in water misdeeds that are without measure!)
1. Descend my sealed brethren, put ye on our
Lord,—and be rejoined to His lineage, for He is son of a great
lineage,—as He has said in His Word.
2. From on high is His Nature, and from beneath
His Vesture.—Each that puts off his vesture, commingled is that
vesture, with His Vesture forever.
3. Ye too in the water, receive from him the
vesture,—that wastes not or is lost for it is the vesture that
vests—them that are vested in it forever.
4. But the blessed Priest, is daysman between
two:—the covenant shall be made before Him, He is daysman of his
Lord,—and surety on our part.
5. The Godhead in the water, lo! has mingled His
leaven;—for the creatures of dust, that leaven raises
up,—and the Godhead joins them.
6. For it is the leaven of the Lord, that can
glide into the bondman,—and raise him to freedom; it has joined
the bondman to the lineage,—of Him the Lord of all.
7. For the bondman who has put on Him, Who makes
all free in the waters,—though bondman he be on earth, is son of
the free on high,—for freedom he has put on.
8. The freeman who has put on, that Angel in the
waters,—is as the fellow of servants, that he may be made like to
the Lord,—Who became bondman unto bondmen.
9. He Who enriches all came down, and put on
poverty,—that He might divide to the poor, the stores that were
hidden,—out of the treasure-house of the water.
10. The lowly one again that has put on, the Giver
of all greatness, in the water,—even though he be base in the
sight of fools, yet is great in the sight of the Watchers,—for
that he is clad in greatness.
11. For like as He Who is great, Who became lowly
in His love,—by the unbelievers was persecuted, and by the
Watchers was worshipped,—was made lowly and makes the lowly
great.
12. Thus let him be lowly who is
great, that in him the lowly may be great:—Let
us be like to Him Who is
greater than all, Who became less than all:—He was made lowly, and makes all men great.
13. The meek man who has put on Him Who is
great, in the water,—though humble be his countenance, very great is his discernment,—for He Who is exalted above all dwells in him.
14. For who could be found to despise the bush of
thorn,—the despised and humble, wherein the Majesty in
fire,—made its dwelling within?
15. Who again could be found, to despise
Moses,—the meek and slow of speech,—when that excelling
glory—dwelt upon his meekness?
16. They that despised him despised his Lord; the
wicked that despised him—the earth swallowed up in anger; the
Levites who scorned Him,—the fire devoured in fury.
17. Of Him Christ commanded, “Thou shalt not
call him Raca,” who is baptized and has put Him on; for whoso
despises the despised, despises with him the Mighty.
18. In Eden and in the world, are parables of our
Lord;—and what tongue can gather, the similitudes of His
mysteries?—for He is figured all of Him in all things.
19. In the Scriptures He is written of; on Nature
He is impressed;—His crown is figured in kings, in prophets His
truth, His atonement in priests.
20. In the rod was He of Moses, and in the
hyssops of Aaron,—and in the crown of David: to the
prophets pertains His similitude, to the Apostles His
Gospel.
21. Revelations beheld Thee, proverbs looked for
Thee,—mysteries expected Thee, similitudes saluted Thee, parables
showed types of Thee.
22. The Covenant of Moses looked forward to the
Gospel:—all things of old time, flew on and alighted thereon, in
the new Covenant.
23. Lo! the prophets have poured out on Him, their glorious mysteries;—the priests and kings have poured out upon Him, their wonderful types:—they all have poured them out on all of Him.
24. Christ overcame and surpassed, by His
teachings the mysteries,—by His interpretations the parables; as
the sea into its midst—receives all streams.
25. For Christ is the sea, and He can
receive—the fountains and brooks, the rivers and streams, that
flow from the midst of the Scriptures.