enter into the kingdom of God."() The second movement, a recitative, reflects upon birth in the Spirit as baptism through God's grace: "" (In the bath of spirit and water he becomes a child of blessedness and grace). Movement 3, an aria for alto, considers that the bond has to be renewed throughout life, because it will be broken by man, reflected in movement 4. The last aria is a prayer for the insight that the death of Jesus brought salvation, termed "" (death's death). The cantata concludes with the fifth stanza of Ludwig Helmbold's hymn of 1575, "", mentioning scripture, baptism and the Eucharist. Bach used the eighth and final stanza, "Erhalt uns in der Wahrheit" (Keep us in the truth), to conclude his cantata Gott der Herr ist Sonn und Schild, BWV 79. Salomon expresses his thought in Baroque style rich in imagery. The image of the serpent is used in several meanings: as the serpent which seduced Adam and Eve to sin in paradise, as the symbol which Moses erected in the desert, and related to the gospel's verse 14: "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up". Performance and publication Bach led the first performance of the cantata on 16 June 1715. The performance material for Weimar is lost. Bach performed the work again as Thomaskantor in Leipzig. Extant performance material was prepared by his assistant Johann Christian Köpping. The first possible revival is the Trinity Sunday of Bach's first year in office, 4 June 1724, also the conclusion of his first year and first Leipzig cantata cycle, because he had assumed the office on the first Sunday after Trinity the year before. Bach made presumably minor changes. The cantata was published in the , the first edition of Bach's complete works by the , in 1887 in volume 33, edited by Franz Wüllner. In the second edition of the complete works, the , it appeared in 1967, edited by Dürr, with a (Critical report) following in 1968. Music Scoring and structure The title on the copy by Johann Christian Köpping is: "Concerto a 2 Violi:1 Viola. Fagotto Violoncello S.A.T.e Basso e Continuo / di Joh:Seb:Bach" (Concerto for 2 violins, 1 viola. Bassoon Cello S.A.T and Bass and Continuo / by Joh:Seb:Bach). The cantata in six movements is scored like chamber music for four