5.2

So that you may know, then, that God always loves His own creation, because it is of immortal substance and is not dissolved with bodies, He saw that the intellectual nature had gone down into the abyss, completely dead, and that the covenant had grown cold. Then God Himself, in His goodness, visited it from death, wishing through Moses to build it up and heal the great wound, desiring to restore it to its former harmony; but, though able, He withdrew from them. After this the whole choir of prophets also built upon the foundation of Moses, but neither were they able to heal the great wound of their members. Seeing that their strength had failed, once again the whole choir of saints gathered together and offered prayers before their Creator, saying, “Is there no balm in Gilead, or no physician there? Why then has the healing of the daughter of my people not come up? Lord, we have treated Babylon, but she has not been healed; now let us flee from her.”

All of them asked the goodness of the Father concerning His Only-begotten, that He Himself might heal them on earth, since no creature could heal the great wound. For this reason, in His own goodness, He spoke and said, “Son of man, I make for you vessels of captivity.” Thus it was the Father’s will not to spare the Only-begotten for the salvation of us all, but to hand Him over for our sins. Our iniquities humbled Him, but by His wound we have all been healed. He gathered us from every region, from one end of the earth to the other, raising our minds from the earth and teaching us that we are members of one another.