THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS

PART I.--ACTS OF PILATE

LATIN FORM.

    I AENEAS was at first a protector of the Hebrews, and follower of the
law; then the grace of the Saviour and His great gift took possession of
me. I recognised Christ Jesus in holy Scripture; I came to Him, and
embraced His faith, so that I might become worthy of His holy baptism.
First of all I searched for the memoirs written in those times about our
Lord Jesus Christ, which the Jews published in the age of Pontius Pilate,
and we found them in Hebrew writings, drawn up in the age of the Lord Jesus
Christ; and I translated them into the language of the Gentiles, in the
reign of the eminent Theodosius, who was fulfilling his seventeenth
consulship, and of Valentinian, consul for the fifth time in the ninth
indiction. Whosoever of you read this book, and transfer it to other
copies, remember me, and pray for me, AEneas, least of the servants of God,
that He be merciful to me, and pardon my sins which I have committed
against Him. Peace be to all who shall read these, and to all their house,
for ever! Amen.

    Now it came to pass, in the nineteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar, emperor of the Romans, and of Herod, son of Herod king of Galilee,
in the nineteenth year of his rule, on the eighth day before the kalends of
April, which is the twenty-fifth day of the month of March, in the
consulship of Rufinus and Rubellio, in the fourth year of the 202d
Olympiad, under the rule of Joseph and Caiaphas, priests of the Jews: the
things done by the chief priests and the rest of the Jews, which Nicodemus
recorded after the cross and passion of the Lord, Nicodemus himself
committed to Hebrew letters.

    CHAP. I.--Annas and Caiaphas, Summas and Datam, Gamaliel, Judas, Levi,
Neptalim, Alexander and Jairus, and the rest of the Jews, came to Pilate,
accusing the Lord Jesus Christ of many things, and saying: We know him to
be the son of Joseph the carpenter, born of Mary; and he says that he is
the Son of God, and a king. Not only so, but he also breaks the Sabbath,
and wishes to do away with the law of our fathers. Pilate says: What is it
that he does, and wishes to destroy the law? The Jews say: we have a law,
not to heal any one on the Sabbath; but he, by evil arts, heals on the
Sabbath the lame and the hunchbacked, the blind, the palsied, the lepers,
and the demoniacs. Pilate says to them: By what evil arts? They say to him:
He is a sorcerer; and by Beelzebub, prince of the demons, he casts out
demons, and they are all subject to him. Pilate says to them: It is not in
an unclean spirit to cast out demons, but in the god of Scolapius.

    The Jews say: We pray thy majesty to set him before thy tribunal to be
heard. Pilate, calling the Jews to him, says to them: How can I, seeing
that I am a governor,(1) hear a king? They say to him: We do not say that
he is a king, but he himself says he is. And Pilate, calling a runner, says
to him: Let Jesus be brought in with kindness. And the runner, going out
and recognising Him, adored Him, and spread on the ground the cloak which
he carried in his hand, saying: My lord, walk upon this, and come in,
because the governor calls thee. But the Jews, seeing what the runner did,
cried out against Pilate, saying: Why didst not thou make him come in by
the voice of a crier, but by a runner? for the runner, too, seeing him, has
adored him, and has spread out before him on the ground the cloak which he
held in his hand, and has said to him: My lord, the governor calls thee.

    And Pilate, calling the runner, says to him: Wherefore hast thou done
this, and honoured Jesus, who is called Christ? The runner says to him:
When thou didst send me into Jerusalem to Alexander, I saw him sitting upon
an ass, and the children of the Hebrews breaking branches from the trees,
strewing them in the way; and others held branches in their hands; and
others spread their garments in the way, shouting and saying, Save,
therefore, Thou who art in the highest; blessed is He that cometh in the
name of the Lord!

    The Jews cried out, saying against the runner: The children of the
Hebrews indeed cried out in Hebrew. How canst thou, a Gentile, know this?
The runner says to them: I asked one of the Jews, and said, What is it that
they cry out in Hebrew? and he explained to me. Pilate says to them: And
how did they cry out in Hebrew? The Jews said: Osanna in the highest!
Pilate says to them: What is the meaning of Osanna in the highest? They say
to him: Save  us, Thou who art in the highest. Pilate says to them: If you
yourselves bear witness to the terms and words in which the children cried
out, in what has the runner sinned? And they were silent. The governor says
to the runner: Go out, and lead him in, in whatever way thou wilt. And the
runner, going forth, did after the same form as before, and says to Jesus:
My lord, go in, because the governor calls thee.

    As Jesus, then, was going in, and the standard-bearers bearing the
standards, the heads of the standards were bowed of themselves, and adored
Jesus. And the Jews, seeing the standards, how they bowed themselves and
adored Jesus, cried out the more against the standard-bearers. And Pilate
says to the Jews: Do you not wonder at the way in which the standards have
bowed themselves and adored Jesus? The Jews say to Pilate: we saw bow the
men carrying the standards bowed themselves and adored Jesus. And the
governor, calling the standard-bearers, says to them:  Why have you so
done? They say to Pilate: We are Gentile men, and slaves of the temples:
how had we(1) to adore him? for when we were holding the figures,(2) they
themselves bowed and adored him.

    Pilate says to the chiefs of the synagogue and the elders of the
people: Choose ye men powerful and strong, and let them hold the standards,
and let us see whether they will bow of themselves. And the elders of the
Jews, taking twelve men very strong and powerful, made them hold the
standards, six and six; and they stood before the governor's tribunal.
Pilate says to the runner: Take out Jesus outside of the praetorium, and
bring him in again, In whatever way thou wilt. And Jesus and the runner
went outside of the praetorium. And Pilate, calling those who had formerly
held the standards, said to them: By the health of Caesar, if the standards
do not bow themselves when Jesus comes in, I will cut off your heads. And
the governor ordered Jesus to come in a second time. And the runner did
after the same form as before, and besought Jesus much that He would go up
and walk upon his cloak. And He walked upon it, and went in. And as Jesus
was going in, immediately the standards bowed themselves, and adored Jesus.

    CHAP. 2.--And Pilate seeing, fear seized him, and immediately he wished
to rise from the tribunal. And while he was thinking of this, viz., to rise
and go away, his wife sent to him, saying: Have nothing to do with that
just man,(3) for I have suffered much on account of him this night. And
Pilate, calling the Jews, said to them: Ye know that my wife is a
worshipper of God, and in Judaism thinks rather with you. The Jews say to
him: So it is, and we know. Pilate says to them: Lo, my wife has sent to
me, saying: Have nothing to do with that just man,(3) for I have suffered
much on account of him this night. And the Jews answering, said to Pilate:
Did we not say to thee that he is a magician? Lo, he has sent a vision of
dreams to thy wife.

    Pilate called Jesus, and said to him: What is it that these witness
against thee, and sayest thou nothing to them? And Jesus answered: If they
had not the power, they would not speak. Every one has power over his own
mouth to say good and evil; let them see(4) to it.

    And the elders of the Jews answering, say to Jesus: What shall we see?
First, that thou wast born of fornication; second, that at thy birth in
Bethlehem there took place a massacre of infants; third, that thy father
Joseph and thy mother Mary fled into Egypt, because they had no confidence
in the people.

    Some of the bystanders, kind men of the Jews, say: We say that he was
not born of fornication; but we know that Mary, was espoused to Joseph, and
that he was not born of fornication. Pilate says to the Jews who said that
he was of fornication: This speech of yours is not true, seeing that the
betrothal took place, as these of your nation say. Annas and Caiaphas say
to Pilate: We with all the multitude say that he was born of fornication,
and that he is a magician; but these are proselytes, and his disciples. And
Pilate, calling Annas and Caiaphas, says to them: What are proselytes? They
say  to him: They have been born sons of the Gentiles, and then have become
Jews. Then answered those who testified that Jesus was not born of
fornication, Lazarus and Asterius, Antonius and James, Annes and Azaras,
Samuel and Isaac, Finees and Crispus, Agrippa and Judas: We were not born
proselytes, but are sons of the Jews, and we speak the truth; for we were
present at the betrothal of Mary.

    And Pilate, calling to him those twelve men who proved that Jesus had
not been born of fornication, said to them: I adjure you by the health of
Caesar, tell me if it be true that Jesus was not born of fornication. They
say to Pilate We have a law not to swear, because it is a sin; but let them
swear by the health of Caesar that it is not as we say, and we are worthy
of death. Then said Pilate to Annas and Caiaphas: Answer you nothing to
those things which these testify? Annas and Caiaphas say to Pilate: Those
twelve are believed that he is not born of fornication; we--all the people-
-cry out that he was born of fornication, and is a magician, and says that
he himself is the Son of God and a king, and we are not believed.

    And Pilate ordered all the multitude to go outside, except the twelve
men who said that He was not born of fornication, and ordered to separate
Jesus from them. And Pilate says to them: For what reason do the Jews wish
to put Jesus to death? And they say to him: They are angry because he heals
on the Sabbath. Pilate said: For a good work do they wish to put him to
death? They say to him: Yes, my lord.

    CHAP. 3.--Pilate, filled with fury, went forth outside of the
praetorium, and says to them: I take the sun to witness that I find in this
man not even one fault. The Jews answered and said to the governor: If he
were not an evil-doer, we should never have delivered him to thee. Pilate
says to them: Take him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews
answered: It is not permitted to us to put any one to death. Pilate says to
them: Has God said to you not to put any one to death? has He therefore
said to me that I am to kill?

    Pilate, having again gone into the praetorium, called Jesus to him
privately, and said to Him: Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered
Pilate: Speakest thou this of thyself, or have others said it to thee of
me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy nation and the chief priests have
delivered thee to me. What hast thou done? Jesus answering, said: My
kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom  were of this world, my
servants would assuredly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews;
but now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate said to Him: Art thou then a
king? Jesus said to him: Thou sayest that I am a king. For I for this was
born, and for this have I come, that I should bear witness to the truth;
and every one who is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate says to him: What
is truth? Jesus says: Truth is from heaven. Pilate says: Is not there truth
upon earth? Jesus says to Pilate: Notice now the truth-speaking are judged
by those who have power upon earth.

    CHAP. 4.--Pilate therefore, leaving Jesus within the praetorium, went
out to the Jews, and says to them: I find not even one fault in him. The
Jews say to him: He said, I can destroy that temple, and in three days
raise it again. Pilate said to them: What temple? The Jews say to him: The
temple which Solomon built in forty and six years; and he says that he can
destroy and build it in three days. Pilate says to them: I am innocent of
the blood of this man; see ye to it. The Jews say to him: His blood be upon
us, and upon our children.

    And Pilate, calling the elders and priests and Levites, says to them
privately: Do not do so; for in nothing, though you accuse him, do I find
him deserving of death, not even about the healing and the breaking of the
Sabbath. The priests and Levites and elders say: Tell us, if any one
blaspheme Caesar, is he deserving of death or not? Pilate says to them: He
deserves to die. The Jews answered him: How much more is he who has
blasphemed God deserving to die!

    And the governor ordered the Jews to go outside of the praetorium; and
calling Jesus, said to Him: What am I to do to thee? Jesus says to Pilate:
As it has been given thee. Pilate says: How has it been given? Jesus says:
Moses and the prophets made proclamation of my death and resurrection. And
the Jews, hearing this, say to Pilate: Why do you desire any more to hear
blasphemy? And Pilate said: If this speech is blasphemous, do you take him,
and lead him to your synagogue, and judge him according to your law. The
Jews say to Pilate: Our law holds, If a man have sinned against a man, he
is worthy to receive forty less one; but he who has blasphemed against God,
to be stoned.

    Pilate says to them: Then judge him according to your law. The Jews say
to Pilate: we wish that he be crucified. Pilate says to them: He does not
deserve to be crucified.

    And the governor, looking upon the people of the Jews standing round,
saw very many of the Jews weeping, and said: All the multitude does not
wish him to die. The elders say to Pilate: And for this reason have we
come--the whole multitude--that he should die. Pilate said to the Jews:
What has he done that he should die? They say: Because he said that he was
the Son of God, and a king.

    CHAP. 5.--But one Nicodemus, a Jew, stood before the governor, and
said: I entreat, mercifully allow me to say a few words. Pilate says to
him: Say on. Nicodemus says: I said to the elders and the priests and the
Levites, and to all the multitude of the Jews, in the synagogue, What have
you to do with this man? This man does many wonders and signs, which no one
of men has done or can do, Let him go, and do not devise any evil against
him: if the signs which he does are of God, they will stand; but if of men,
they will come to nothing. For Moses also, being sent by God into Egypt,
did many signs, which God told him to do before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And
the sorcerers Jamnes and Mambres were there healing, and they did, they
also, the signs which Moses did, but not all; and the Egyptians deemed them
as gods, Jamnes and Mambres. And since the signs which they did were not of
God, they perished, both they and those who believed in them. And now let
this man go, for he is not deserving of death.

    The Jews say to Nicodemus: Thou hast become his disciple, and takest
his part.(1) Nicodemus says to them: Has the governor also become his
disciple, and does he take his part? Has not Caesar set him over that
dignity? And the Jews were raging and gnashing with their teeth against
Nicodemus. Pilate says to them: Why do you gnash with your teeth against
him, when you are hearing the truth? The Jews say to Nicodemus: Mayst thou
receive his truth, and a portion with him! Nicodemus says: Amen, amen,
amen; may I receive it, as you have said!

    CHAP. 6.--And of the Jews a certain other one, starting up, asks the
governor that he might say a word. The governor says: What thou wishest to
say, say. And he said: For thirty-eight years I lay in infirmity in my bed
in very grievous pain. And at the coming of Jesus, many demoniacs, and
persons held down by divers infirmities, were healed by him. And some young
men had pity on me; and carrying me in my bed, laid me before him. And
Jesus, seeing, had pity on me, and said the word to me, Take up thy bed,
and walk. And immediately I was made whole; I took up my bed, and walked.
The Jews say to Pilate: Ask him what was the day on which he was healed. He
said: The Sabbath. The Jews say: Have we not so informed thee, that on the
Sabbath he heals, and drives out demons?

    And a certain other Jew starting up, said: I was born blind; I heard a
voice, and saw no man. And as Jesus was passing by, I cried out with a loud
voice, Have pity upon me, thou son of David. And he had pity upon me, and
laid his hands upon my eyes, and I saw immediately. And another Jew
starting up, said: I was hunchbacked, and he straightened me with a word.
And another said: I was leprous, and he healed me with a word.

    CHAP. 7.--And also a certain woman, Veronica by name, from afar off
cried out to the governor: I was flowing with blood for twelve years; and I
touched the fringe of his garment, and immediately the flowing of my blood
stopped. The Jews say: We have a law, that a woman does not come to bear
witness.

    CHAP. 8.--And certain others, a multitude of men and women, cried out,
saying: That man is a prophet, and the demons are subject to him. Pilate
says to those who said the demons are subject to him: And your masters, why
are they not subject to him? They say to Pilate: We do not know. And others
said to Pilate: He raised up dead Lazarus from the tomb after four days.
The governor, hearing this, said trembling to all the multitude of the
Jews: Why do you wish to shed innocent blood?

    CHAP. 9.--And Pilate, calling Nicodemus and the twelve men who said
that He was not born of  fornication, says to them: What am I to do, seeing
that there is a sedition among the people? They say to him: We do not know;
let them see to it. Again Pilate, calling all the multitude of the Jews,
said: You know that you have a custom during the day of unleavened bread,
that I should release to you one that is bound. I have a notable one bound
in the prison, a murderer who is called Barabbas, and Jesus who is called
Christ, in whom I find no cause of death. Whom do you wish that I should
release unto you? And they all cried out, saying: Release unto us Barabbas.
Pilate says to them: What, then, am I to do with Jesus who is called
Christ? They all say: Let him be crucified. Again the  Jews said: Thou art
no friend of Caesar's if thou release; this man, for he called himself the
Son of God, and a king; unless, perhaps, thou wishest  this man to be king,
and not Caesar.

    Then, filled with fury, Pilate said to them: Always has your nation
been seditious, and always have you been opposed to those who were for you.
The Jews answered: Who are for us? Pilate says to them: Your God,--who
rescued you from the hard slavery of the Egyptians, and led you forth out
of Egypt through the sea as if through dry land, and fed you in the desert
with manna and quail, and brought water to you out of the rock, and gave
you to drink, and gave you a law; and in all these things you provoked your
God, and sought for yourselves a god, a molten calf. And you exasperated
your God, and He wished to slay you; and Moses made supplication for you,
that ye should not die. And now you say that I hate the king.

    And rising up from the tribunal, he wished to go outside. And the Jews
cried out, and said to him: We know that Caesar is king, and not Jesus. For
the Magi also presented gifts to him as to a king; and Herod, hearing from
the Magi that a king was born, wished to slay him. But when this was known,
his father Joseph took him and his mother, and fled into Egypt; and Herod
hearing, destroyed the infants of the Jews which were born in Bethlehem.

    Pilate, hearing those words, was afraid. And silence being made among
the people, who were crying out, Pilate said: This, then, is he whom Herod
sought? They say to him: It is he. And taking water, Pilate washed his
hands in presence of the people, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this
just man; see ye to it. Again the Jews cried out, saying: His blood be upon
us, and upon our children.

    Then Pilate ordered the veil to be loosened,(1) and said to Jesus:
Thine own nation have brought charges against thee as a king; and therefore
I have sentenced thee first to be scourged on account of the statutes of
the emperors, and then to be crucified on a cross.

    CHAP. 10.--And when Jesus was scourged, he delivered Him to the Jews to
be crucified, and two robbers with Him; one by name Dismas, and the other
by name Gestas. And when they came to the place, they stripped Him of His
garments, and girt Him about with a linen cloth, and put a crown of thorns
upon His head. Likewise also they hanged the two robbers with Him, Dismas
on the right and Gestas on the left. And Jesus said: Father, forgive them,
for they know not what they do. And the soldiers parted His garments among
them. And the people stood waiting; and their chief priests and judges
mocked Him, saying among themselves: He saved others, now let him save
himself; if he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross. And the
soldiers mocked Him, falling prostrate(2) before Him, and offering vinegar
with gall, and saying: If thou art the King of the Jews, set thyself free.

    And Pilate, after sentence, ordered a title to be written in Hebrew.
Greek, and Latin letters, according to what the Jews said: This is the King
of the Jews.

    And one of the robbers who were hanged, by name Gestas, said to Him: If
thou art the Christ, free thyself and us. And Dismas answering, rebuked
him, saying: Dost not even thou fear God, who art in this condemnation? for
we justly and deservedly have received those things which we endure; but He
has done no evil. And he kept saying to Jesus: Remember me, Lord, in Thy
kingdom. And Jesus said to him: Verily I say unto thee, that to-day shalt
thou be with me in paradise.

    CHAP. 11.--And it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over
the whole earth; and the sun was obscured, and the veil of the temple was
rent in the midst. And crying out with a loud voice, He said: Father, into
Thy hands I commend my spirit. And thus saying, He gave up the ghost. And
the centurion, seeing what was done, glorified God, saying: This was a just
man. And all the people who were present at that spectacle, seeing what was
done, beating their breasts, returned.

    And the centurion reported to the governor what was done. And the
governor and his wife hearing, were very sorrowful, and neither ate nor
drank that day. And Pilate, calling together the Jews, said to them: Have
you seen what has been done? And they said to the governor: There has been
an eclipse of the sun, as is usual.

    And his acquaintances also stood afar off, and the women who had
followed Him from Galilee, seeing these things. And lo, a certain man, by
name Joseph, holding office, a man good and just, who did not consent to
their counsels nor their deeds, from Arimathaea,(3) a city of the Jews,
waiting, he also, for the kingdom of God, went to Pilate and begged the
body of Jesus. And taking Him down from the cross, he wrapped Him in clean
linen, and laid Him in his own new tomb, in which no one had been laid.

    CHAP. 12.--And the Jews, hearing that Joseph had begged the body of
Jesus, sought for him; and those twelve men who had said that He was not
born of fornication, and Nicodemus, and many others, who had stood before
Pilate and declared His good works. And all of them being hid, Nicodemus
alone appeared to them, because he was a chief man of the Jews; and he says
to them: How have ye come into the synagogue? The Jews say to him: And
thou, how hast thou come into the synagogue, seeing that thou consentest
with him? May his portion be with thee in the world to come! Nicodemus
said: Amen, amen, amen. Likewise also Joseph, coming forth, said to them:
Why are you enraged against me because I begged the body of Jesus? Lo, I
have laid him in my own new tomb, wrapping him in clean linen; and I have
rolled a stone to the door of the cave. And ye have not acted well against
a just man, since you have not borne in mind how you crucified him, and
pierced him with a lance. The Jews therefore, laying hold of Joseph,
ordered him to be imprisoned because of the Sabbath-day; and they say to
him: Know that the hour compels us not to do anything against thee, because
the Sabbath is dawning. But understand that thou art worthy not even of
burial, but we will give thy, flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts
of the  earth. Joseph says to them: That is the speech of proud Goliath,
who reviled the living God against holy David. And God hath said, Vengeance
is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. And Pilate, intercepted(1) in his
heart, took water, and washed his hands before the sun, saying, I am
innocent of the blood of this just man; see ye to it. And you answered and
said to Pilate, His blood be upon us, and upon our children. And now I fear
that some time or other the wrath of God will come upon you and your
children, as you have said. And the Jews, hearing this, were embittered in
heart; and taking Joseph, shut him up in a house where there was no window,
and set guards at the gates, and sealed the gate where Joseph had been shut
up.

    And on the Sabbath morning they took counsel with the priests and the
Levites, that they should all be assembled after the Sabbath-day. And
awaking at dawn, all the multitude in the synagogue took counsel by what
death they should slay him. And when the assembly was sitting, they ordered
him to be brought with much indignity; and opening the gate, they found him
not. All the people therefore were in terror, and wondered with exceeding
astonishment, because they found the seals sealed, and because Caiaphas had
the keys. And no longer did they dare to lay hand upon those who spoke
before Pilate in Jesus' defence.

    CHAP. 13.--And while they were sitting in the synagogue, and
recriminating about Joseph, there came certain of the guards whom they had
asked from Pilate to guard the sepulchre of Jesus, lest His disciples
coming should steal Him.  And they reported, saying to the rulers of the
synagogue, and the priests and the Levites, what  had happened: how there
had happened a great  earthquake, and we saw how an angel of the  Lord came
down from heaven, and rolled away  the stone from the door of the tomb, and
sat  upon it; and his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment like
snow. And for fear. we became as dead. And we heard the voice of the angel
speaking to the women who had come to the sepulchre, and saying, Be not ye
afraid; for I know that ye seek Jesus who was crucified: He is not here; He
has risen, as He said: come and see the place where the Lord was laid. And
go immediately and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead, and
will go before you into Galilee, as He said to you.

    The Jews say: To what women was he speaking? The soldiers say: We do
not know who the women were. The Jews say: At what hour was it? The guards
say: At midnight. The Jews say: And why did you not detain them? The guards
say: We became as dead from fear of the angel, not hoping now to see the
light of day; and how could we detain them? The Jews says: As the Lord God
liveth, we do not believe you. And the guards said to the Jews: You have
seen so great signs in that man, and have not believed; and how can you
believe us, that the Lord lives? For well have ye sworn that the Lord Jesus
Christ lives. Again the guards say to the Jews: we have heard that you have
shut up Joseph, who begged the body of Jesus, in the prison, and have
sealed it with your rings; and on opening, that you have not found him.
Give us Joseph, then, and we shall give you Jesus Christ. The Jews said:
Joseph has gone to Arimathea, his own city. The guards say to the Jews: And
Jesus, as we have heard from the angel, is in Galilee.

    And the Jews, hearing these sayings, feared exceedingly, saying: Lest
at some time or other this saying be heard, and all believe in Jesus. And
the Jews, taking counsel among themselves, brought forth a sufficient
number of silver pieces, and gave to the soldiers, saying: Say that, while
we slept, his disciples came and stole him. And if this be heard by the
governor, we shall persuade(2) him, and make you secure. And the soldiers,
taking the money, said as they were advised by the Jews; and their saying
was spread abroad among all.

    CHAP. 14.--And Finees a certain priest, and Addas a teacher, and Egias
a Levite, coming down from Galilee to Jerusalem, reported to the rulers of
the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites, how they had seen Jesus
sitting, and his disciples with him, on tile Mount of Olivet, which is
called Mambre or Malech. And he said to his disciples: Go into all the
world, and declare to every creature the Gospel of the kingdom of God. He
who believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he who believeth not
shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them who believe: In my
name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak in new tongues; they
shall take up serpents; and if they have drunk any deadly thing, it shall
not hurt them; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall be well.
And as Jesus was thus speaking to his disciples, we saw him taken up into
heaven.(1)

    The priests and the Levites and the elders say to them: Give glory to
the God of Israel, and give confession to Him, whether you have both heard
and seen those things which you have related. Those who had made the report
say: As the Lord God of our fathers liveth, the God of Abraham, and the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, we have heard and seen. The Jews say to
them: Have you come for this--to tell us? or have you come to give prayer
to God? They said: We have come to give prayer to God. The elders and chief
priests and Levites say to them: And if you have come to give prayer to
God, why have you murmured before all the people about that foolish tale?
Finees the priest, and Addas the teacher, and Egias the Levite, say to the
rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the Levites: If those words
which we have spoken, which we have seen and heard, be sin, behold, we are
in your presence; do unto us according to that which is good in your eyes.
And they, taking the law, adjured them to report the words to no one
thereafter. And they gave them to eat and drink, and put them outside of
the city, giving them silver and pieces, and three men with them, who
should conduct them as far as Galilee.

    Then the Jews took counsel among themselves when those men had gone up
into Galilee; and the rulers of the synagogue shut themselves in, and were
cut up(2) with great fury, saying: What sign is this which hath come to
pass in Israel? And Annas and Caiaphas say: Why are your souls sorrowful?
Are we to believe the soldiers, that an angel of the Lord came down from
heaven, and rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb? No; but that
his disciples have given much gold to those who were guarding the
sepulchre, and have taken Jesus away, and have taught them thus to say: Say
ye that an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and rolled away the
stone from the door of the tomb. Do you not know that it is unlawful for
Jews to believe foreigners in a single word, knowing that these same who
received sufficient gold from us have said as we taught them?

    Chap. 15.--And Nicodemus rising up, stood in the midst of the counsel,
and said: You have said rightly. And are not the men who have come down
from Galilee God-fearing, men of peace, hating a lie? And they recounted
with an oath, how "we saw Jesus sitting on Mount Mambre with his disciples,
and he taught them in our hearing," and that they saw him taken up into
heaven. And no one asked them this: How he was taken up into heaven. And,
as the writing of the holy book teaches us, holy Elias too was taken up
into heaven, and Elisaeus cried out with a loud voice, and Elias threw his
sheepskin over Elisaeus; and again Elisaeus threw that sheepskin over the
Jordan, and went over and came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets met
him, and said to Elisaeus, Where is thy master Elias? And he said, He has
been taken up into heaven. And they said to Elisaeus, Has a spirit snatched
him away, and thrown him upon one of the mountains? But rather let us take
our boys(3) with us and seek him. And they persuaded Elisaeus, and he went
with them. And they sought him for three days and three nights, and found
him not, because he was taken up. And now, men, hear me, and let us send
into all Israel, and see lest Jesus can have been taken up somewhere or
other, and thrown upon one of the mountains. And that saying pleased all.
And they sent to all the mountains of Israel to seek Jesus, and they found
Him not; but they found Joseph of Arimathaea, and no one dared to lay hold
of him.

    And they reported to the elders and priests and Levites: We have gone
round all the mountains of Israel, and not found Jesus; but we have found
Joseph in Arimathaea. And hearing of Joseph, they rejoiced, and gave glory
to the God of Israel. And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and
the Levites, taking counsel in what manner they should send to Joseph, took
paper, and wrote to Joseph:--

    Peace to thee and all that is thine! We know that we have sinned
against God, and against thee; and thou hast prayed to the God of Israel,
and He has delivered thee out of our hands. And now deign to come to thy
fathers and thy children, because we have been vehemently grieved. We have
all sought for thee--we who opened the door, and found thee not. We know
that we counselled evil counsel against thee; but the Lord hath supplanted
our counsel against thee. Thou art worthy to be honoured, father Joseph, by
all the people.

    And they chose out of all Israel seven men friendly to Joseph, whom
also Joseph knew to be friendly; and the rulers of the synagogue and the
priests and the Levites say to them: See, if he take the letter and read
it, for certain he will come with you to us; but if he do not read it, you
may know that he is ill-disposed toward us, and, saluting him in peace,
return to us. And blessing them, they sent them away. And they came to
Arimathaea to Joseph, and adored him on their face upon the ground, and
said: Peace to thee and all thine! And Joseph said: Peace to you, and to
all the people of Israel! And they gave him the roll of the letter. And
Joseph took and read it, and rolled up the letter, and blessed God, and
said: Blessed be the Lord God, who hath delivered Israel from shedding
innocent blood; and blessed be God, who sent His angel, and covered me
under his wings. And he kissed them, and set a table for them; and they ate
and drank, and slept there.

    And they rose in the morning; and Joseph saddled his ass, and travelled
with them, and they came into the holy city Jerusalem. And there met them
all the people, crying out, and saying: Peace be in thy coming in, father
Joseph! To whom he answered and said: The peace of the Lord be upon all the
people! And they all kissed him. And they prayed with Joseph, and were
terrified at the sight of him. And Nicodemus took him into his house, and
made a great feast, and called Annas and Caiaphas, and the elders and chief
priests and Levites, to his house. And making merry, and eating and
drinking with Joseph, they blessed God, and went every one to his own
house. And Joseph remained in the house of Nicodemus.

    And on the next day, which is the preparation, the priests and the
rulers of the synagogue and the Levites rose early, and came to the house
of Nicodemus. And Nicodemus met them, and said to them: Peace to you! And
they said to him: Peace to thee and Joseph, and to thy house and Joseph's
house! And Nicodemus brought them into his house. And the council sat; and
Joseph sat between Annas and Caiaphas, and no one dared to say a word. And
Joseph said to them: Why have you called me? And they made signs with their
eyes to Nicodemus, that he should speak with Joseph. And Nicodemus, opening
his mouth, said: Father Joseph, thou knowest that the reverend teachers,
priests, and Levites seek to hear a word from thee. And Joseph said: Ask.
And Annas and Caiaphas, taking up the law, adjured Joseph, saying: Give
glory to the God of Israel, and give confession to Him, that thou wilt not
hide any word(1) from us. And they said to him: With grief were we grieved
that thou didst beg the body of Jesus, and wrap it in clean linen, and lay
it in a tomb. Therefore we shut thee up in a house where there was no
window, and put a lock and a seal on the gate; and on the first day of the
week we opened the gates, and found thee not. We were therefore exceedingly
grieved, and astonishment came over all the people of God. And therefore
hast thou been sent for; and now tell us what has happened.

    Then said Joseph: On the day of the Preparation, about the tenth hour,
you shut me in, and I remained there the whole Sabbath in full. And when
midnight came, as I was standing and praying, the house where you shut me
in was hung up by the four corners, and there was a flashing of light in
mine eyes. And I fell to the ground trembling. Then some one lifted me up
from the place where I had fallen, and poured over me an abundance of water
from the head even to the feet, and put round my nostrils the odour of a
wonderful ointment, and rubbed my face with the water itself, as if washing
me, and kissed me, and said to me, Joseph, fear not; but open thine eyes,
and see who it is that speaks to thee. And looking, I saw Jesus; and being
terrified, I thought it was a phantom. And with prayer and the commandments
I spoke to him, and he spoke with me. And I said to him: Art thou Rabbi
Elias? And he said to me: I am not Elias. And I said: Who art thou, my
lord? And he said to me: I am Jesus, whose body thou didst beg from Pilate,
and wrap in clean linen; and thou didst lay a napkin on my face, and didst
lay me in thy new tomb, and roll a stone to the door of the tomb. Then I
said to him that was speaking to me: Show me, Lord, where I laid thee. And
he led me, and showed me the place where I laid him, and the linen which I
had put on him, and the napkin which I had wrapped upon his face; and I
knew that it was Jesus. And he took hold of me with his hand, and put me in
the midst of my house though the gates were shut, and put me in my bed, and
said to me: Peace to thee! And he kissed me, and said to me: For forty days
go not out of thy house; for, lo, I go to my brethren into Galilee.

    Chap. 16.--And the rulers of the synagogue, and the priests and the
Levites, hearing these words from Joseph, became as it were dead, and fell
to the ground, and fasted until the ninth hour. And Joseph and Nicodemus
entreated them, saying: Arise and stand upon your feet, and taste bread,
and comfort your souls, seeing that to-morrow is the Sabbath of the Lord.
And they arose, and entreated the Lord, and ate and drank, and went every
man to his own house.

    And on the Sabbath the teachers and doctors sat questioning each other,
and saying: What is this wrath that has come upon us? because we know his
father and mother. Levi the teacher said: I know that his parents fear God,
and never depart from prayer, and give tithes thrice a-year. And when Jesus
was born, his parents brought him up to this place, and gave to God
sacrifices and burnt-offerings. And assuredly the great teacher Simeon took
him into his arms, saying: Now Thou sendest away Thy servant, O Lord,
according to Thy word, in peace; for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for the
revealing of the nations, and the glory of Thy people Israel. And he
blessed Mary his mother, and said, I make an announcement to thee
concerning this child. And Mary said, Well, my lord.(1) And Simeon said,
Well. And he said again, Lo, he has been set for the fall and rising again
of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against; and a
sword shall pierce thine own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be
revealed.

    And the Jews said to Levi: And how knowest thou these things? Levi
says: Do you note know that from him I learned the law? They of the council
say: We wish to see thy father. And they searched out his father, and got
information; for he said: Why did you not believe my son? The blessed and
just Simeon taught him the law. The council says to Rabbi Levi: The saying
which thou hast spoken is true. The chief priests and rulers of the
synagogue, and Levites, said to each other: Come, let us send into Galilee
to the three men who came hither and gave an account of his teaching and
his being taken up, and let them tell us how they saw him taken up into
heaven. And that saying pleased all. Then they sent three men into Galilee;
and Go, said they, say to Rabbi Addas and Rabbi Finees and Rabbi Egias,
Peace to you and yours! Many investigations have been made in the council
concerning Jesus; therefore have we been instructed to call you to the holy
place, to Jerusalem.

    The men went to Galilee, and found them sitting, and meditating on the
law. And they saluted them in peace. And they said: Why have you come? The
messengers said: The council summon you to the holy city Jerusalem. And the
men, hearing that they were sought for by the council, prayed to God, and
reclined with the men, and ate and drank with them. And rising in the
morning, they went to Jerusalem in peace.

    And on the morrow the council sat; and they questioned them, saying:
Did you plainly see Jesus sitting on Mount Mambre teaching his disciples,
and taken up into heaven?

    First Addas the teacher says: I really saw him sitting on Mount Mambre
teaching his disciples; and a shining cloud overshadowed him and his
disciples, and he went up into heaven; and his disciples prayed upon their
faces on the ground. And calling Finees the priest, they questioned him
also, saying: How didst thou see Jesus taken up? And he said the same as
the other. And again they called the third, Rabbi Egias, and questioned
him, and he said the same as the first and second. And those who were in
the council said: The law of Moses holds that by the mouth of two or three
every word should stand. Abudem, a teacher, one of the doctors, says: It is
written in the law, Enoch walked with God, and was translated; for God took
him. Jairus, a teacher, said: And we have heard of the death of holy Moses,
and have not seen it; for it is written in the law of the Lord, And Moses
died according to the word(2) of the Lord, and no man knoweth of his
burying even to the present day. Rabbi Levi said: What is it that Rabbi
Simeon said: Lo, he lies for the fall and rising again of many in Israel,
and for a sign which shall be spoken against? Rabbi Isaac said: It is
written in the law, Lo, I send mine angel, who shall go before thy face to
keep thee in every good way, because I have brought his(3) new name.

    Then Annas and Caiaphas said: Rightly have ye said that these things
are written in the law of Moses, that no one saw the death of Enoch, and no
one has named the burying of holy Moses. And Jesus gave account to(4)
Pilate, and we saw him scourged, and receiving spitting on his face; and
the soldiers put a crown of thorns on him, and he received sentence from
Pilate; and then he was crucified, and they gave him gall and vinegar to
drink, and two robbers were crucified with him, and the soldier Longinus
pierced his side with a lance; and our honourable father Joseph begged his
body, and he has risen again, and, as they say, the three teachers have
seen him taken up into heaven. And Rabbi Levi has borne witness to what was
said by Simeon the elder--that he has been set for the fall and rising
again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against.

    Then Didas, a teacher, said to all the assembly: If all the things
which these have borne witness to have come to pass in Jesus, they are from
God, and let it not be wonderful in our eyes.(5) The chiefs of the
synagogue, and the priests and the Levites, said to each other how our law
holds, saying: His name shall be blessed for ever: His place endureth
before the sun, and His seat before the moon: and all the tribes of earth
shall be blessed in Him, and all nations shall serve Him; and kings shall
come from far, adoring and magnifying Him.(6)

THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS

Part II.--Christ's Descent into Hell

LATIN. FIRST VERSION

    Chap. 1 (17).--And Joseph rose up and said to Annas and Caiaphas: Truly
and well do you wonder, since you have heard that Jesus has been seen alive
from the dead, ascending up into heaven. But it is more to be wondered at
that he is not the only one who has risen from the dead: but he has raised
up alive out of their tombs many others of the dead, and they have been
seen by many in Jerusalem. And hear me now, that we all know the blessed
Simeon, the great priest, who took up with his hands Jesus, when an infant,
in the temple. And Simeon himself had two sons, full brothers; and we all
were at their filling asleep, and at their burial. Go, therefore, and see
their tombs: for they are open, because they have risen; and, behold, they
are in the city of Arimathaea, living together in prayers. And, indeed,
they are heard crying out, but speaking with nobody, and they are silent as
the dead. But come, let us go to them; let us conduct them to us with all
honour and respect. And if we adjure them, perhaps they will speak to us of
the mystery of their resurrection.

    At hearing this they all rejoiced. And Annas and Caiaphas, Nicodemus,
and Joseph, and Gamaliel, went, and did not find them in their sepulchres;
but, walking into the city of Arimathea, they found them there, on their
bended knees, and spending their time in prayer. And kissing them, they
conducted them to Jerusalem, into the synagogue, with all veneration and
fear of God. And shutting the doors, and lifting up the law of the Lord,
they put it in their hands, adjuring them by the God Adonai, and the God of
Israel, who by the law and the prophets spoke to our fathers, saying: Do
you believe that it was Jesus who raised you from the dead? Tell us how you
have risen from the dead.

    Karinus and Leucius, hearing this adjuration, trembled in their body,
and groaned, being disturbed in heart. And together they looked towards
heaven, and with their fingers made the sign of the cross on their tongues,
and immediately they spoke together, saying: Give each of us sheets of
paper, and let us write what we have seen and heard. And they gave it to
them. And they sat down, and each of them wrote, saying:--

    Chap. 2 (18).--O Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life of
the dead, permit us to speak mysteries through the death of Thy cross,
because we have been adjured by Thee. For Thou didst order Thy servants to
relate to no one the secrets of Thy divine majesty which Thou didst in
Hades. And when we were, along with all our fathers, lying in the deep, in
the blackness of darkness, suddenly there appeared a golden heat(1) of the
sun, and a purple royal light shining upon us. And immediately the father
of all the human race, with all the patriarchs and prophets, exulted,
saying: That light is the source of eternal light, which hath promised to
transmit to us co-eternal light. And Esaias cried out, and said: This is
the light of the Father, the Son of God, as I predicted when I was alive
upon earth: The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim across Jordan,
Galilee of the nations, the people who sat in darkness, have seen a great
light; and light was shining among those who are in the region of the
shadow of death. And now it has come and shone upon us sitting in death.

    And when we were all exulting in the light which shone over us, there
came up to us our father Simeon; and he said, exulting: Glorify the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of God; because I took Him up when born, an infant,
in my hands in the temple; and instigated by the Holy Spirit, I said to
Him, confessing: Now mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast
prepared in the sight of all peoples, a light for the revealing of the
nations, and the glory of Thy people Israel. When they beard this, all the
multitude of the saints exulted more.

    And after this there comes up, as it were, a dweller m the desert; and
he is asked by all: Who art thou? To whom he says in answer: I am John, the
voice and prophet of the Most High, going before the face of His coming to
prepare His ways, to give the knowledge of salvation to His people for the
remission of their sins. And seeing Him coming to me, instigated by the
Holy Spirit, I said: Behold the Lamb of God! behold Him who taketh away the
sins of the world! And I baptized Him in the river of Jordan, and I saw the
Holy Spirit descending upon Him in the form of a dove; and I heard a voice
from the heavens saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
And now I have gone before His face, and have descended to announce to you
that the rising Son of God is close at hand to visit us, coming from on
high to us sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.

    Chap. 3 (19).--And when the first created, father Adam, had heard this,
that Jesus was baptized in Jordan, he cried out to his son Seth: Tell thy
sons, the patriarchs and the prophets, all that thou heardest from Michael
the archangel when I sent thee to the gates of paradise to implore God that
he might send thee His angel to give thee oil from the tree of mercy, with
which to anoint my body when I was sick. Then Seth, coming near to the holy
patriarchs and prophets, said: When I, Seth, was praying to the Lord at the
gates of paradise, behold Michael, the angel of the Lord, appeared to me,
saying, I have been sent to thee by the Lord. I am set over the human
race.(1) And to thee, Seth, I say, do not labour with tears in prayers and
supplications on account of the oil of the tree of mercy to anoint thy
father Adam for the pain of his body, because in no wise shalt thou receive
of it, except in the last days and times, except when five thousand and
five hundred years have been fulfilled: then will come upon the earth the
most beloved Son of God, to raise up again the body of Adam, and the bodies
of the dead; and He, when He comes, will be baptized in Jordan. And when he
shall have come out of the water of Jordan, then with the oil of His mercy
shall He anoint all that believe on Him; and that oil of mercy shall be for
the generation of those who shall be born out of water and the Holy Spirit
into life eternal. Then, descending upon earth, Christ Jesus, the most
beloved Son of God, will lead our father Adam into paradise to the tree of
mercy.

    And when they heard all these things from Seth, all the patriarchs and
prophets exulted with great exultation.

    Chap. 4 (20).--And when all the saints were exulting, lo, Satan, the
prince and leader of death, said to Hades: Make thyself ready to receive
Jesus, who boasts himself to be the Son of God, and is a man fearing death,
and saying, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death. And he has withstood me
much, doing me evil; and many whom I made blind, lame, deaf, leprous, and
demoniac, he has healed with a word; and those whom I have brought to thee
dead, he has dragged away from thee.

    Hades, answering, said to Prince Satan: Who is he that is so powerful,
when he is a man in fear of death? For all the powerful of the earth are
kept in subjection by my power, whom thou hast brought into subjection by
thy power. If then, thou art powerful, what is that man Jesus like, who,
though fearing death, withstands thy power? If he is so powerful in
humanity, verily I say unto thee, he is all-powerful in divinity, and his
power can no one resist. And when he says that he fears death, he wishes to
lay hold on thee, and woe will be to thee to the ages of eternity. And
Satan, prince of Tartarus, answered and said: Why hast thou doubted, and
feared to receive this Jesus, thy adversary and mine? For I have tempted
him, and I have roused up my ancient people the Jews with hatred and anger
against him; I have sharpened a lance to strike him; I have mixed gall and
vinegar to give him to drink; and I have prepared wood to crucify him, and
nails to pierce him, and his death is near at hand, that I may bring him to
thee, subject to thee and me.

    Tartarus answered and said: Thou hast told me that it is he himself who
has dragged away the dead from me. Now there are many who are here kept by
me, who, while they lived on earth, took the dead from me, not by their own
powers, but by godly prayers, and their almighty God dragged them away from
me. Who is that Jesus, who by his word has withdrawn the dead from me
without prayers? Perhaps he is the same who, by, the word of his command,
brought alive Lazarus, after he had been four days in stench and
corruption, whom I kept dead. Satan prince of death answered and said: That
Jesus is the same. And when Hades heard this he said to him: I adjure thee
by thy powers and mine, do not bring him to me. For I at that time, when I
heard the command of his word, trembled with terror and dismay, and all my
officers at the same time were confounded along with me. Nor could we keep
that Lazarus; but, shaking himself like an eagle, he sprang out, and went
forth from us with all activity and speed, and the same ground which held
the dead body of Lazarus immediately gave him forth alive. So now, I know
that that man who could do these things is God, strong in authority,
powerful in humanity, and He is the Saviour of the human race. But if thou
bring Him to me, all who are here shut up in the cruelty of the prison, and
bound by their sins in chains that cannot be loosened, He will let loose,
and will bring to the life of His divinity for ever.

    Chap. 5 (21).--And as Prince Satan and Hades were thus speaking to each
other in turn, suddenly there was a voice as of thunders, and a shouting of
spirits: Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye
everlasting gates; and the King of glory shall come in.(1) Hades hearing
this, said to Prince Satan: Retire from me, and go outside of my realms: if
thou art a powerful warrior, fight against the King of glory. But what hast
thou to do with Him? And Hades thrust Satan outside of his realms. And
Hades said to his impious officers: Shut the cruel gates of brass, and put
up the bars of iron, and resist bravely, that we, holding captivity, may
not take Him captive.(2)

    And all the multitude of the saints, hearing this, said to Hades, with
the voice of reproach: Open thy gates, that the King of glory may come in.
And David cried out, saying: Did I not, when I was alive upon earth,
prophesy to you: Let them confess to the Lord His tender mercies and His
wonderful works to the children of men: for He has shattered the brazen
gates, and burst the iron bars; He has taken them up out of the way of
their iniquity?(3) And after this, in like manner, Esaias said: Did not I,
when I was alive upon earth, prophesy to you: The dead shall rise up, and
those who are in their tombs shall rise again, and those who are upon earth
shall exult; because the dew, which is from the Lord, is their health?(4)
And again I said, Where, O Death, is thy sting? where, O Hades, is thy
victory?(5)

    And when all the saints heard this from Esaias, they said to Hades:
Open thy gates. Since thou art now conquered, thou wilt be weak and
powerless. And there was a great voice, as of thunders, saying: Lift up
your gates, ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye infernal gates; and the
King of glory shall come in. Hades, seeing that they had twice shouted out
this, says, as if not knowing: Who is the king of glory? David says, in
answer to Hades: I recognise those words of the shout, since I prophesied
the same by His Spirit. And now, what I have said above I say to thee, The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle; He is the King of
glory.(6) And the Lord Himself hath looked down from heaven upon earth, to
hear the groans of the prisoners, and to release the sons of the slain.(7)
And now, most filthy and most foul Hades, open thy gates, that the King of
glory may come in. While David was thus speaking, there came to Hades, in
the form of a man, the Lord of majesty, and lighted up the eternal
darkness, and burst asunder the indissoluble chains; and the aid of
unconquered power visited us, sitting in the profound darkness of
transgressions, and in the shadow of death of sins.(8)

    Chap. 6 (22).--When this was seen by Hades and Death, and their impious
officers, along with their cruel servants, they trembled at perceiving in
their own dominions the clearness of so great a light, when they saw Christ
suddenly in their abodes; and they cried out, saying: We have been overcome
by thee. Who art thou, that to the Lord directest our confusion?(9) Who art
thou, that, undestroyed by corruption, the uncorrupted proof of thy
majesty, with fury condemnest our power? Who art thou, so great and little,
lowly and exalted, soldier and commander, wonderful warrior in the form of
a slave, and the king of glory dead and alive, whom slain the cross has
carried? Thou, who didst lie dead in the sepulchre, hast come down to us
alive; and in thy death every creature trembled, and the stars in a body
were moved; and now thou hast been made free among the dead, and disturbest
our legions. Who art thou, that settest free those who art held captive,
bound by original sin, and recallest them to their former liberty? Who art
thou, who sheddest a divine, and splendid, and illuminating light upon
those who have been blinded by the darkness of their sins?

    In like manner, also, all the legions of the demons, terror-stricken
with like fear from their fearful overthrow, cried out, saying: Whence art
thou, O Jesus, a man so powerful and splendid in majesty, so excellent,
without spot, and free from guilt? For that world of earth which has been
subject to us always until now, which used to pay tribute for our uses, has
never sent us such a dead man, has never destined such gifts for the powers
below. Who therefore art thou, that hast so intrepidly entered our bounds,
and who hast not only no fear of our punishments, but, moreover, attemptest
to take all away from our chains? Perhaps thou art that Jesus of whom our
prince Satan said, that by thy death of the cross thou wast destined to
receive the dominion of the whole world.

    Then the King of glory, trampling on death by His majesty, and seizing
Prince Satan, delivered him to the power of Hades, and drew Adam to His
brightness.

    CHAP. 7 (23).--Then Hades, receiving Prince Satan, said to him, with
vehement revilings: O prince of perdition, and leader of extermination,
Beelzebub, derision of angels, to be spit upon by the just, why didst thou
wish to do this? Didst thou wish to crucify the King of glory, in whose
death thou didst promise us so great spoils? Like a fool, thou didst not
know what thou wast doing. For, behold, that Jesus by the splendour of His
divinity is putting to flight all the darkness of death, and He has broken
into the strong lowest depths of our dungeons, and has brought out the
captives, and released those who were bound. And all who used to groan
under our torments insult us, and by their prayers our dominions are taken
by stem, and our realms conquered, and no race of men has now any respect
for us. Moreover, also, we are grievously threatened by the dead, who have
never been haughty to us, and who have not at any time been joyful as
captives. O Prince Satan, father of all impious wretches and renegades, why
didst thou wish to do this? Of those who from the beginning, even until
now, have despaired of salvation and life, no bellowing after the usual
fashion is now heard here; and no groaning of theirs resounds, nor in any
of their faces is a trace of tears found. O Prince Satan, possessor of the
keys of the lower regions, all thy riches which thou hadst acquired by the
tree of transgression and the loss of paradise, thou hast now lost by the
tree of the cross, and all thy joy has perished. When thou didst hang up
that Christ Jesus the King of glory, thou wast acting against thyself and
against me. Henceforth thou shall know what eternal torments and infinite
punishments thou art to endure in my everlasting keeping. O Prince Satan,
author of death, and source of all pride, thou oughtest first to have
inquired into the bad cause of that Jesus. Him in whom thou perceivedst no
fault, why, without reason, didst thou dare unjustly to crucify? and why
hast thou brought to our regions one innocent and just, and lost the
guilty, the impious, and the unjust of the whole world?

    And when Hades had thus spoken to Prince Satan, then the King of glory
said to Hades: Satan the prince will be in thy power for ever, in place of
Adam and his sons, my just ones.

    CHAP. 8 (24).--And the Lord stretched out His hand, and said: Come to
me, all my saints, who have my image and likeness. Do you, who have been
condemned through the tree and the devil and death, now see the devil and
death condemned through the tree. Immediately all the saints were brought
together under the hand of the Lord. And the Lord, holding Adam by the
right hand, said to him: Peace be to thee, with all thy children, my
righteous ones! And Adam fell down at the knees of the Lord, and with
tearful entreaty praying, said with a loud voice: I will extol Thee, O
Lord; for Thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over
me. O Lord God, I cried unto Thee, and Thou hast healed me. O Lord, Thou
hast brought out my soul from the powers below; Thou hast saved me from
them that go down into the pit. Sing praises to the Lord, all His saints,
and confess to the memory of His holiness; since there is anger in His
indignation, and life in His goodwill.[1] In like manner also all the
saints of God, falling on their knees at the feet of the Lord, said with
one voice: Thou hast come, O Redeemer of the world: as Thou hast foretold
by the law and Thy prophets, so hast Thou fulfilled by Thy deeds. Thou hast
redeemed the living by Thy cross; and by the death of the cross Thou hast
come down to us, to rescue us from the powers below, and from death, by Thy
majesty. O Lord, as Thou hast set the title of Thy glory in heaven, and
hast erected as the title of redemption Thy cross upon earth, so, O Lord,
set in Hades the sign of the victory of Thy cross, that death may no more
have dominion.

    And the Lord, stretching forth His hand, made the sign of the cross
upon Adam and upon all His saints; and holding Adam by the right hand, went
up from the powers below: and all the saints followed Him. Then holy David
cried out aloud, saying: Sing unto the Lord a new song, for He hath done
wonderful things; His right hand and His holy arm have brought salvation to
Himself. The Lord hath made known His salvation; His righteousness hath He
revealed in the sight of the heathen.[2] And all the multitude of the
saints answered, saying: This is glory to all His saints. Amen, alleluia.

    And after this the prophet Habacuc cried out, saying: Thou wentest
forth for the salvation of Thy people, to deliver Thine elect.[3] And all
the saints answered, saying: Blessed is He who cometh in the name of the
Lord; God is the Lord, and He hath shone upon us.[1] Amen, alleluia. In
like manner after this the prophet Michaeas also cried out, saying: Who is
a God like unto thee, O Lord, taking away iniquities and passing by sins?
And now Thou dost withhold Thine anger for a testimony against us, because
Thou delightest in mercy. And Thou turnest again, and hast compassion upon
us, and pardonest all our iniquities; and all our sins hast Thou sunk in
the multitude of death,[2] as Thou hast sworn unto our fathers in the days
of old.[3] And all the saints answered, saying: This is our God to
eternity, and for ever and ever; and He will direct us for evermore.[4]
Amen, alleluia. So also all the prophets, quoting the sacred writings
concerning His praises,[5] and all the saints crying, Amen, alleluia,
followed the Lord.

    CHAP. 9 (25).--And the Lord, holding the hand of Adam, delivered him to
Michael the archangel: and all the saints followed Michael the archangel,
and he led them all into the glorious grace of paradise. And there met them
two men, ancient of days. The saints asked them: Who are you, that have not
yet been dead, along with us in the regions below, and have been placed in
paradise in the body? One of them answered, and said: I am Enoch, who by
the word of the Lord have been translated hither; and he who is with me is
Elias the Thesbite, who was taken up by a fiery chariot. Here also even
until now we have not tasted death, but have been reserved to the coming of
Antichrist, by divine signs and wonders to do battle with him, and, being
killed by him in Jerusalem, after three days and half a day to be taken up
alive again in the clouds.[6]

    CHAP. 10 (26).--And while the saints Enoch and Elias were thus
speaking, behold, there came up another man, most wretched, carrying on his
shoulders the sign of the cross. And seeing him, all the saints said to
him: Who art thou? because thy appearance is that of a robber. Anti what is
the sign which thou carriest on thy shoulders? In answer to them, he said:
Truly have you said that I was a robber, doing all sorts of evil upon the
earth. And the Jews crucified me along with Jesus; and I saw the miracles
in created things which were done through the cross of Jesus crucified, and
I believed Him to be the Creator of all created things, and the King
omnipotent; and I entreated Him, saying, Be mindful of me, Lord, when Thou
shall have come into Thy kingdom. Immediately He accepted my entreaty, and
said to me, Amen; I say to thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in
paradise.[7] And He gave me this sign of the cross, saying, Walk into
paradise carrying this; and if the guardian angel of paradise will not let
thee go in, show him the sign of the cross, and thou shall say to him,
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has now been crucified, has sent me.
Having done so, I said all this to the guardian angel of paradise. And when
he heard this, he immediately opened, and led me in, and placed me at the
right of paradise, saying, Lo, hold a little, and there will come in the
father of the whole human race, Adam, with all his children, holy and just,
after the triumph and glory of the ascension of Christ the crucified Lord.
Hearing all these words of the robber, all the holy patriarchs and prophets
with one voice said: Blessed art Thou, O Lord Almighty, Father of
everlasting benefits, and Father of mercies, who hast given such grace to
Thy sinners, and hast brought them back into the grace of paradise, and
into Thy rich pastures; for this is spiritual life most sure. Amen, amen.

    CHAP. 11 (27).--These are the divine and sacred mysteries which we saw
and heard, I Karinus, and Leucius. More we are not allowed to tell of the
other mysteries of God, as Michael the archangel adjured us, and said: You
shall go into Jerusalem with your brethren, and continue in prayers, and
you shall cry out, and glorify the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who has raised you up again from the dead with Himself. And with none of
men shall you speak; and you shall sit as if dumb, until the hour shall
come when the Lord Himself shall permit you to relate the mysteries of His
divinity. And Michael the archangel ordered us to walk across Jordan into a
place rich and fertile, where there are many who rose again along with us
for an evidence of the resurrection of Christ the Lord; because only three
days were allowed to us who have risen from the dead to celebrate in
Jerusalem the passover of the Lord, with our living relations, for an
evidence of the resurrection of Christ the Lord: and we have been baptized
in the holy river of Jordan, receiving each of us white robes. And after
three days, when we had celebrated the passover of the Lord, all who rose
again along with us were snatched up into the clouds. and taken across the
Jordan, and were no longer seen by any one. But we were told to remain in
the city of Arimathaea in prayers.

    These are the things which the Lord commanded us to relate to you. Give
Him praise and confession, and be penitent, that He may have mercy upon
you. Peace be to you from the same Lord Jesus Christ, and the Saviour of
all of us! Amen.

    And after they had finished all, writing on separate sheets of paper,
they arose. And Karinus gave what he wrote into the hands of Annas and
Caiaphas and Gamaliel; in like manner also Leucius gave what he wrote into
the hands of Nicodemus and Joseph. And being suddenly transfigured, they
became exceedingly white, and were seen no more. And their writings were
found exactly the same, not one letter more or less.

    All the synagogue of the Jews, hearing all these wonderful sayings of
Karinus and Leucius, said to each other: Truly all these things have been
done by the Lord, and blessed be the Lord for ever and ever. Amen. And they
all went out with great anxiety, beating their breasts with fear and
trembling; and they went away, each to his own house.

    All these things which were said by the Jews in their synagogue Joseph
and Nicodemus immediately reported to the proconsul. And Pilate himself
wrote all which had been done and said concerning Jesus by the Jews, and he
placed all the words in the public records of his praetorium.

    CHAP. 12 (28).--After this, Pilate going into the temple of the Jews,
assembled all the chief priests, and learned men, and scribes, and teachers
of the law, and went in with them into the sanctuary of the temple, and
ordered that all the gates should be shut, and said to them: We have heard
that you have a certain great collection of books in this temple: therefore
I ask you that it be presented before us. And when four officers brought in
that collection of books, adorned with gold and precious gems, Pilate said
to all: I adjure you by the God of your fathers, who ordered you to build
this temple in the place of his sanctuary, not to conceal the truth from
me. You all know what is written in that collection of books; but now say
whether you have found in the writings that Jesus, whom you have crucified,
to be the Son of God that was to come for the salvation of the human race,
and in how many revolutions of the seasons he ought to come. Declare to me
whether you crucified him in ignorance of this, or knowing it.

    Being thus adjured, Annas and Caiaphas ordered all the others who were
with them to go out of the sanctuary; and themselves shut all the gates of
the temple and the sanctuary, and said to Pilate: We have been adjured by
thee, O good judge, by the building of this temple, to give thee the truth,
and a clear account of this matter. After we had crucified Jesus, not
knowing Him to be the Son of God, thinking that He did miracles by means of
some charm, we made a great synagogue in this temple. And conferring with
each other of the signs of the miracles which Jesus had done, we found many
witnesses of our nation who said that they had seen Jesus alive after
suffering death, and that He had penetrated into the height of heaven. And
we have seen two witnesses, whom Jesus raised up again from the dead, who
told us many wonderful things that Jesus did among the dead, which we have
in our hands, written out. And our custom is, every year before our
synagogue, to open that holy collection of books, and seek out the
testimony of God. And we have found in the first book of the LXX., where
the archangel Michael spoke to the third son of Adam, the first man, of
five thousand and five hundred years, in which the Christ, the most beloved
Son of God, was to come from the heavens; and upon this we have considered
that perhaps He was the God of Israel who said to Moses,[1] Make to thee
the ark of the covenant, two cubits and a half in length, one cubit and a
half in breadth, one cubit and a half in height. In these five and a half
cubits we have understood and recognised, from the structure of the ark of
the old covenant, that in five and a half thousands of years, Jesus Christ
was to come in the ark of the body; and we have found Him to be the God of
Israel, the Son of God. Because after His passion, we, the chief priests,
wondering at the signs which happened on account of Him, opened this
collection of books, searching out all the generations, even to the
generation of Joseph, and reckoning that Mary the mother of Christ was of
the seed of David; and we have found that from the time that God made the
heaven and the earth and the first man, to the deluge, are two thousand two
hundred and twelve[2] years; and from the deluge to the building of the
tower, five hundred and thirty-one[3] years; and from the building of the
tower to Abraham, six hundred and six[4] years; and from Abraham to the
arrival of the children of Israel from Egypt, four hundred and seventy
years; from the coming of the children of Israel out of Egypt to the
building of the temple, five hundred and eleven years; and from the
building of the temple to the destruction of the same temple, four hundred
and sixty-four years. Thus far have we found in the book of Esdras. After
searching, we find that from the burning of the temple to the advent of
Christ, and His birth, there are six hundred and thirty-six[5] years, which
together were five thousand five hundred years, as we have found written in
the book that Michael the archangel foretold to Seth the third son of Adam,
that in five and a half thousands of years Christ the Son of God would
come. Even until now we have told no one, that there might be no dissension
in our synagogues. And now thou hast adjured us, O good judge, by this holy
book of the testimonies of God, and we make it manifest to thee. And now we
adjure thee, by thy life and safety, to make manifest these words to no one
in Jerusalem.

    CHAP. 13 (29).--Pilate, hearing these words of Annas and Caiaphas, laid
them all up in the acts of our Lord and Saviour, in the public records of
his praetorium, and wrote a letter to Claudius, king of the city of
Rome,[2] saying:--

    Pontius Pilate to Claudius his king, greeting. It has lately happened,
as I myself have also proved, that the Jews, through envy, have punished
themselves and their posterity by a cruel condemnation. In short, when
their fathers had a promise that their God would send them from heaven his
holy one, who should deservedly be called their king, and promised that he
would send him by a virgin upon the earth: when, therefore, while I was
procurator, he had come into Judaea, and when they saw him enlightening the
blind, cleansing the lepers, curing the paralytics, making demons flee from
men, even raising the dead, commanding the winds, walking dryshod upon the
waves of the sea, and doing many other signs of miracles; and when all the
people of the Jews said that he was the Son of God, the chief priests felt
envy against him, and seized him, and delivered him to me; and, telling me
one lie after another, they said that he was a sorcerer, and was acting
contrary to their law.

    And I believed that it was so, and delivered him to be scourged,
according to their will. And they crucified him, and set guards over him
when buried. And he rose again on the third day, while my soldiers were
keeping guard. But so flagrant was the iniquity of the Jews, that they gave
money to my soldiers, saying, Say that his disciples have stolen his body.
But after receiving the money they could not keep secret what had been
done; for they bore witness both that he had risen again, that they had
seen him,[3] and that they had received money from the Jews.

    This accordingly I have done, test any one should give a different and
a false account of it, and lost thou shouldst think that the lies of the
Jews are to be believed.

LATIN. SECOND VERSION.

    CHAP. 1 (17).--Then Rabbi Addas, and Rabbi Finees, and Rabbi Egias, the
three men who had come from Galilee, testifying that they had seen Jesus
taken up into heaven, rose up in the midst of the multitude of the chiefs
of the Jews, and said before the priests and the Levites, who had been
called together to the council of the Lord: When we were coming from
Galilee, we met at the Jordan a very great multitude of men, fathers[1] who
had been some time dead. And present among them we saw Karinus and Leucius.
And they came up to us, and we kissed each other, because they were dear
friends of ours; and we asked them, Tell us, friends and brothers, what is
this breath of life and flesh? and who are those with whom you are going?
and how do you, who have been some time dead, remain in the body?

    And they said in answer: We have risen again along with Christ from the
lower world, and He has raised us up again from the dead. And from this you
may know that the gates of death and darkness have been destroyed, and the
souls of the saints have been brought out thence, and have ascended into
heaven along with Christ the Lord. And indeed to us it has been commanded
by the Lord Himself, that for an appointed time we should walk over the
banks of Jordan and the mountains; not, however, appearing to every one,
nor speaking to every one, except to those to whom He has permitted us. And
just now we could neither have spoken nor appeared to you, unless it had
been allowed to us by the Holy Spirit.

    And when they heard this, all the multitude who were present in the
council were struck with fear and trembling, and wondered whether these
things had really happened which these Galilaeans testified. Then Caiaphas
and Annas said to the council: What these have testified, first and last,
must shortly be altogether made clear: If it shall be found to be true that
Karinus and Leucius remain alive in the body, and if we shall be able to
behold them with our own eyes, then what they testify is altogether true;
and if we find them, they will inform us of everything; but if not, you may
know that it is all lies.

    Then the council having suddenly risen, it pleased them to choose men
fit for the duty, fearing God, and who knew when they died, and where they
were buried, to inquire diligently, and to see whether it was as they had
heard. The men therefore proceeded to the same place, fifteen in number,
who through all were present at their falling asleep, and had stood at
their feet when they were buried, and had beheld their tombs. And they came
and found their tombs open, and very many others besides, and found a sign
neither of their bones nor of their dust. And they returned in all haste,
and reported what they had seen.

    Then all their synagogue was in great grief and perplexity, and they
said to each other: What shall we do? Annas and Caiaphas said: Let us turn
to where we have heard that they are, and let us send to them men of rank,
asking and entreating them: perhaps they will deign to come to us. Then
they sent to them Nicodemus and Joseph, and the three men, the Galilaean
rabbis who had seen them, asking that they should deign to come to them.
And they went, and walked round all the region of Jordan and of the
mountains, and they were coming back without finding them.

    And, behold, suddenly there appeared coming down from Mount Amalech a
very great number, as it were, twelve thousand men, who had risen with the
Lord. And though they recognised very many there, they were not able to say
anything to them for fear and the angelic vision; and they stood at a
distance gazing and hearing them, how they walked along singing praises,
and saying: The Lord has risen again from the dead, as He had said; let us
all exult and be glad, since He reigns for ever. Then those who had been
sent were astonished, and fell to the ground for fear, and received the
answer from them, that they should see Karinus and Leucius in their own
houses.

    And they rose up and went to their houses, and found them spending
their time in prayer. And going in to them, they fell on their faces to the
ground, saluting them; and being raised up, they said: O friends of God,
all the multitude of the Jews have directed us to you, hearing that you
have risen from the dead, asking and beseeching you to come to them, that
we all may know the great things of God which have happened around us in
our times. And they immediately, at a sign from God, rose up, and came with
them, and entered their synagogue. Then the multitude of the Jews, with the
priests, put the books of the law in their hands, and adjured them by the
God Heloi, and the God Adonai, and by the law and the prophets, saying:
Tell us how you have risen from the dead, and what are those wonderful
things which have happened in our times, such as we have never heard to
have happened at any other time; because already for fear all our bones
have been benumbed, and have dried up, and the earth moves itself under our
feet: for we have joined all our hearts to shed righteous and holy blood.

    Then Karinus and Leucius signed to them with their hands to give them a
sheet of paper and ink. And this they did, because the Holy Spirit did not
allow them to speak to them. And they gave each of them paper, and put them
apart, the one from the other in separate cells. And they, making with
their fingers the sign of the cross of Christ, began to write on the
separate sheets; and after they had finished, as if out of one mouth from
the separate cells, they cried out, Amen. And rising up, Karinus gave his
paper to Annas, and Leucius to Caiaphas; and saluting each other, they went
out, and returned to their sepulchres.

    Then Annas and Caiaphas, opening the sheet of paper, began each to read
it in secret. But all the people took it ill, and so all cried out: Read
these writings to us openly; and after they have been read through we shall
keep them, lest perchance this truth of God be turned through wilful
blindness, by unclean and deceitful men, into falsehood. At this Annas and
Caiaphas fell a-trembling, and delivered the sheet of paper to Rabbi Addas,
and Rabbi Finees, and Rabbi Egias, who had come from Galilee, and announced
that Jesus had been taken up into heaven. All the multitude of the Jews
trusted to them to read this writing. And they read the paper containing
these words:--

    CHAP. 2 (18).--I Karinus. 0 Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God,
permit me to speak of Thy wonders which Thou hast done in the lower world.
When, therefore, we were kept in darkness and the shadow of death in the
lower world, suddenly there shone upon us a great light, and Hades and the
gates of death trembled. And then was heard the voice of the Son of the
Father most high, as if the voice of a great thunder; and loudly
proclaiming, He thus charged them: Lift up your gates, ye princes; lift up
the everlasting gates; the King of glory, Christ the Lord, will come up to
enter in.

    Then Satan, the leader of death, came up, fleeing in terror, saying to
his officers and the powers below: My officers, and all the powers below,
run together, shut your gates, put up the iron bars, and fight bravely, and
resist, lest they lay hold of us, and keep us captive in chains. Then all
his impious officers were perplexed, and began to shut the gates of death
with all diligence, and by little and little to fasten the locks and the
iron bars, and to hold all their weapons[1] grasped in their hands, and to
utter howlings in a direful and most hideous voice.

    CHAP. 3 (19).--Then Satan said to Hades: Make thyself ready to receive
him whom I shall bring down to thee. Thereupon Hades thus replied to Satan:
That voice was from nothing else than the cry of the Son of the Father most
high, because the earth and all the places of the world below so trembled
trader it: wherefore I think that myself and all my dungeons are now lying
open. But I adjure thee, Satan, head of all evils, [2] by thy power and my
own, bring him not to me, lest, while we wish to take him, we be taken
captive by him. For if, at his voice only, all my power has been thus
destroyed, what do you think he will do when he shall come in person?

    To him Satan, the leader of death, thus replied: What art thou crying
out about? Do not be afraid, my old most wicked friend, because I have
stirred up the people of the Jews against him; I have told them to strike
him with blows on the face, and I have brought upon him betrayal by one of
his disciples; and he is a man in great fear of death, because from fear he
said, My soul is sorrowful, even unto death; and I have brought him to
this, that he has just been lifted up and hanged on the cross. Then Hades
said to him: If he be the same who, by the mere word of his command, made
Lazarus fly away like an eagle from my bosom, when he had already been dead
four days, he is not a man in humanity, but God in majesty. I entreat thee
not to bring him to me. And Satan says to him: Make thyself ready
nevertheless; be not afraid; because he is already hanging on the cross, I
can do nothing else. Then Hades thus replied to Satan: If, then, thou canst
do nothing else, behold, thy destruction is at hand. I, in short, shall
remain cast down and dishonoured; thou, however, wilt be tortured under my
power.

    CHAP. 4 (20).--And the saints of God heard the wrangling of Satan and
Hades. They, however, though as yet not at all recognising each other,
were, notwithstanding, in the possession of their faculties. But our holy
father Adam thus replied to Satan at once: O captain of death, why dost
thou fear and tremble? Behold, the Lord is coming, who will now destroy all
thy, inventions; and thou shalt be taken by Him, and bound throughout
eternity.

    Then all the saints, hearing the voice of our father Adam, how boldly
he replied to Satan in all points, were strengthened in joy; and all
running together to father Adam, were crowded in one place. Then our father
Adam, gazing on all that multitude, wondered greatly whether all of them
had been begotten from him into the world. And embracing those who were
standing everywhere around him, and shedding most bitter tears, he
addressed his son Seth, saying: Relate, my son Seth, to the holy patriarchs
and prophets what the guardian of paradise said to thee, when I sent thee
to bring to me of that oil of compassion, in order to anoint my body when I
was ill.

    Then he answered: I, when thou sentest me before the gates of paradise,
prayed and en-treated the Lord with tears, and called upon the guardian of
paradise to give me of it therefrom. Then Michael the archangel came out,
and said to me, Seth, why then dost thou weep? Know, being informed
beforehand, that thy father Adam will not receive of this oil of compassion
now, but after many generations of time. For the most beloved Son of God
will come down from heaven into the world, and will be baptized by John in
the river Jordan; and then shall thy father Adam receive of this oil[3] of
compassion, and all that believe in him. And of those who have believed in
him, their kingdom will endure for ever.

    CHAP. 5 (21).--Then all the saints, hearing this again, exulted in joy.
And one of those standing round, Isaias by name, cried out aloud, and
thundered: Father Adam, and all standing round, hear my declaration. When I
was on earth, and by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, in prophecy I sang of
this light: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light; to them
dwelling in the region of the shadow of death light has arisen. At these
words father Adam, and all of them, turned and asked him: Who art thou?
because what thou sayest is true. And he subjoined, and said: My name is
Isaias.

    Then appeared. another near him, as if a hermit. And they asked him,
saying: Who art thou, who bearest such an appearance in thy body?[4] And he
firmly answered: I am John the Baptist, voice and prophet of the Most High.
i went before the face of the same Lord, that I might make the waste and
rough places into plain ways. I with my finger pointed out and made
manifest the Lamb of the Lord, and Son of God, to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. I baptized Him in the river Jordan. I heard the voice of the
Father from heaven thundering over Him, and proclaiming, This is my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased. I received from Him the answer that He
would descend to the lower world.

    Then father Adam, hearing this, cried with a loud voice, exclaiming:
Alleluia! which is, interpreted, The Lord is certainly coming.

    Chap. 6 (22).--After that, another standing there, pre-eminent as it
were, with a certain mark of an emperor, David by name, thus cried out, and
said: When I was upon earth, I made revelations to the people of the mercy
of God and His visitation, prophesying future joys, saying through all
ages, Let them make confession to the Lord of His tender mercy and His
wonderful works to the sons of men, because He has shattered the gates of
brass, and broken the bars of iron. Then the holy patriarchs and prophets
began mutually to recognise each other, and each to quote his prophecies.

    Then holy Jeremias, examining his prophecies, said to the patriarchs
and prophets: When was upon earth, I prophesied of the Son of God, that He
was seen upon earth, and dwelt with men.

    Then all the saints, exulting in the light of the Lord, and in the
sight of father Adam, and in the answering of all the patriarchs and
prophets, cried out, saying: Alleluia! blessed is He who cometh in the name
of the Lord; so that at their crying out Satan trembled, and sought a way
of escape. And he could not, because Hades and his satellites kept him
bound in the lower regions, and guarded at all points. And they said to
him: Why dost thou tremble? We by no means allow thee to go forth hence.
But receive this, as thou art worthy, from Him whom thou didst daily
assail; but if not, know that thou, bound by Him, shall be in my keeping.

    Chap. 7 (23).--And again there came the voice of the Son of the Father
most high, as it were the voice of a great thunder, saying: Lift up your
gates, ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting gates, and the King
of glory will come in. Then Satan and Hades cried out, saying: Who is the
king of glory? And it was answered to them in the voice of the Lord: The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

    After this voice there came a man, whose appearance was that of a
robber, carrying a cross on his shoulder, crying from the outside of the
door, and saying: Open to me, that I may come in. And Satan, opening to him
a little, brought him inside into his dwelling,(1) and again shut the door
after him. And all the saints saw him most clearly, and said to him
forthwith: Thy appearance is that of a robber. Tell us what it is that thou
carriest on thy back. And he answered, and said with humility: Truly I was
a robber altogether; and the Jews hung me up on a cross, along with my Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father most high. I, in fine, have come
heralding(2) Him; He indeed is coming immediately behind me.

    Then holy David, inflamed with anger against Satan, cried out aloud:
Open thy gates, most vile wretch, that the King of glory may come in. In
like manner also all the saints of God rose up against Satan, and would
have seized him, and divided him among them. And again a cry was heard
within: Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
gates; and the King of glory shall come in. Hades and Satan, at that clear
voice, again asked, saying: Who is this king of glory? And it was said to
them by that wonderful voice: The Lord of powers, He is the King of glory.

    Chap. 8 (24).--And, behold, suddenly Hades trembled, and the gates of
death and the bolts were shattered, and the iron bars were broken and fell
to the ground, and everything was laid open. And Satan remained in the
midst, and stood confounded and downcast, bound with fetters on his feet.
And, behold, the Lord Jesus Christ, coming in the brightness of light from
on high, compassionate, great, and lowly, carrying a chain in His hand,
bound Satan by the neck; and again tying his hands behind him, dashed him
on his back into Tartarus, and placed His holy foot on his throat, saying:
Through all ages thou hast done many evils; thou hast not in any wise
rested. To-day I deliver thee to everlasting fire. And Hades being suddenly
summoned, He commanded him, and said: Take this most wicked and impious
one, and have him in thy keeping even to that day in which I shall command
thee. And he, as soon as he received him, was plunged under the feet of the
Lord along with him into the depth of the abyss.

    Chap. 9 (25).--Then the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of all, affectionate
and most mild, saluting Adam kindly, said to him: Peace be to thee, Adam,
with thy children, through immeasurable ages of ages! Amen. Then father
Adam, falling forward at the feet of the Lord, and being raised erect,
kissed His hands, and shed many tears, saying, testifying to all: Behold.
the hands which fashioned me! And he said to the Lord: Thou hast come, O
King of glory, delivering men, and bringing them into Thy everlasting
kingdom. Then also our mother Eve in like manner fell forward at the feet
of our Lord, and was raised erect, and kissed His hands, and poured forth
tears in abundance, and said, testifying to all: Behold the hands which
made me!

    Then all the saints, adoring Him, cried out, saying: Blessed is He who
cometh in the name of the Lord! The Lord God hath shone upon us--amen--
through all ages. Alleluia for ever and ever! Praise, honour, power, glory!
because Thou hast come from on high to visit us. Singing Alleluia
continually, and rejoicing together concerning His glory, they ran together
under the hands of the Lord. Then the Saviour, inquiring thoroughly about
all, seized Hades,(1) immediately threw some down into Tartarus, and led
some with Him to the upper world.

    Chap. 10 (26).--Then all the saints of God asked the Lord to leave as a
sign of victory the sign of His holy cross in the lower world, that its
most impious officers might not retain as an offender any one whom the Lord
had absolved. And so it was done. And the Lord set His cross in the midst
of Hades, which is the sign of victory, and which will remain even to
eternity.

    Then we all went forth thence along with the Lord, leaving Satan and
Hades in Tartarus. And to us and many others it was commanded that we
should rise in the body, giving in the world a testimony of the
resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of those things which had been
done in the lower world.

    These are the things, dearest brethren, which we have seen, and which,
adjured by you, we testify, He bearing witness who died for us, and rose
again; because, as it was written, so has it been done in all points.

    Chap. 11 (27).--And when the paper was finished and read through, all
that heard it fell on their faces, weeping bitterly, and cruelly beating
their breasts, crying out, and saying through all: Woe to us! Why has this
happened to us wretched? Pilate flees; Annas and Caiaphas flee; the priests
and Levites flee; moreover also the people of the Jews, weeping and saying,
Woe to us wretched! we have shed sacred blood upon the earth.

    For three days, therefore, and three nights, they did not taste bread
and water at all; nor did any of them return to the synagogue. But on the
third day again the council was assembled, and the other paper of Leucius
was read through; and it was found neither more nor less, to a single
letter, than that which the writing of Karinus contained. Then the
synagogue was perplexed; and they all lamented forty days and forty nights,
looking for destruction from God, and the vengeance of God. But He, pitier
affectionate and most high, did not immediately destroy them, bountifully
giving them a place of repentance. But they were not found worthy to be
turned to the Lord.

    These are the testimonies of Karinus and Leucius, dearest brethren,
concerning Christ the Son of God, and His holy deeds in the lower world; to
whom let us all give praise and glory through immeasurable age of ages.
Amen.
 

THE LETTER OF PONTIUS PILATE WHICH HE WROTE
                                    TO THE ROMAN EMPEROR,
                       CONCERNING OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.

    Pontius Pilate to Tiberius Caesar the emperor, greeting.(1)

    Upon Jesus Christ, whose case I had dearly set forth to thee in my
last, at length by the will of the people a bitter punishment has been
inflicted, myself being in a sort unwilling and rather afraid. A man, by
Hercules, so pious and strict, no age has ever had nor will have. But
wonderful were the efforts of the people themselves, and the unanimity of
all the scribes and chief men and elders, to crucify this ambassador of
truth, notwithstanding that their own prophets, and after our manner the
sibyls, warned them against it: and supernatural signs appeared while he
was hanging, and, in the opinion of philosophers, threatened destruction to
the whole world. His disciples are flourishing, in their work and the
regulation of their lives not belying their master; yea, in his name most
beneficent. Had I not been afraid of the rising of a sedition among the
people, who were just on the point of breaking out, perhaps this man would
still have been alive to us; although, urged more by fidelity to thy
dignity than induced by my own wishes, I did not according to my strength
resist that innocent blood free from the whole charge brought against it,
but unjustly, through the malignity of men, should be sold and suffer, yet,
as the Scriptures signify, to their own destruction. Farewell, 28th March.
 

THE REPORT OF PILATE THE PROCURATOR
CONCERNING OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST SENT
        TO THE AUGUST(1) CAESAR IN ROME

FIRST GREEK FORM

    In those days, our Lord Jesus Christ having been crucified under
Pontius Pilate, procurator of Palestine and Phoenicia, these records were
made in Jerusalem as to what was done by the Jews against the Lord. Pilate
therefore, along with his private report, sent them to the Caesar in Rome,
writing thus:--

    To the most mighty, venerable, most divine, and most terrible, the
august(1) Caesar, Pilate the governor of the East sends greeting. I have, O
most mighty, a narrative to give thee, on account of which I am seized with
fear and trembling. For in this government of mine, of which one of the
cities is called Jerusalem, all the people of the Jews have delivered to me
a man named Jesus, bringing many charges against him, which they were not
able to convict him of by the consistency of their evidence. And one of the
heresies they had against him was, that Jesus said that their Sabbath
should not be a day of leisure, and should not be observed. For he
performed many cures on that day: he made the blind receive their sight,
the lame walk; he raised up the dead, he cleansed the lepers; he healed
paralytics that were not at all able to make any movement of their body, or
to keep their nerves steady, but who had only speech and the modulation of
their voice, and he gave them the power of walking and running, removing
their illness by a single word. Another thing again, more powerful still,
which is strange even with our gods: he raised up one that had been dead
four days, summoning him by a single word, when the dead man had his blood
corrupted, and when his body was destroyed by the worms produced in it, and
when it had the stink of a dog And seeing him lying in the tomb, he ordered
him to run. Nor had he anything of a dead body about him at all; but as a
bridegroom from the bridal chamber, so he came forth from the tomb filled
with very great fragrance. And strangers that were manifestly demoniac, and
that had their dwelling in deserts, and ate their own flesh, living like
beasts and creeping things, even these he made to be dwellers in cities,
and by his word restored them to soundness of mind, and rendered them wise
and able and reputable, eating with all the enemies of the unclean spirits
that dwelt in them for their destruction, which he cast down into the
depths of the sea. And again there was another having a withered hand; and
not the hand only, but rather the half of the body of the man, was
petrified, so that he had not the form of a than, or the power of moving
his body. And him by a word he healed, and made sound. And a woman that had
an issue of blood for many years, and whose joints(2) and veins were
drained by the flowing of the blood, so that she did not present the
appearance of a human being, but was like a corpse, and was speechless
every day, so that all the physicians of the district could not cure her.
For there was not any hope of life left to her. And when Jesus passed by,
she mysteriously received strength through his overshadowing her; and she
took hold of his fringe behind, and immediately in the same hour power
filled up what in her was empty, so that, no longer suffering any pain, she
began to run swiftly to her own city Kepharnaum, so as to accomplish the
journey in six days.

    And these are the things which I lately had in my mind to report, which
Jesus accomplished on the Sabbath. And other signs greater than these he
did, so that I have perceived that the wonderful works done by him are
greater than can be done by the gods whom we worship.

    And him Herod and Archelaus and Philip, Annas and Caiaphas, with all
the people, delivered to me, making a great uproar against me that I should
try him. I therefore ordered him to be crucified, having first scourged
him, and having found against him no cause of evil accusations or deeds.

    And at the time he was crucified there was darkness over all the world,
the sun being darkened at mid-day, and the stars appearing, but in them
there appeared no lustre; and the moon, as if turned into blood, failed in
her light. And the world was swallowed up by the lower regions, so that the
very sanctuary of the temple, as they call it, could not be seen by the
Jews in their fall; and they saw below them a chasm of the earth, with the
roar of the thunders that fell upon it.(1) And in that terror dead men were
seen that had risen, as the Jews themselves testified; and they said that
it was Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, and Moses
and Job, that had died, as they say, three thousand five hundred years
before. And there were very many whom I also saw appearing in the body; and
they were making a lamentation about the Jews, on account of the wickedness
that bad come to pass through them, and the destruction of the Jews and of
their law.

    And the fear of the earthquake remained from the sixth hour of the
preparation until the ninth hour. And on the evening of the first day of
the week there was a sound out of the heaven, so that the heaven became
enlightened sevenfold more than all the days. And at the third hour of the
night also the sun was seen brighter than it had ever shone before,
lighting up all the heaven. And as lightnings come suddenly in winter, so
majestic men appeared(2) in glorious robes, an innumerable multitude, whose
voice was heard as that of a very great thunder, crying out: Jesus that was
crucified is risen: come up out of Hades, ye that have been enslaved in the
underground regions of Hades. And the chasm of the earth was as if it had
no bottom; but it was as if the very foundations of the earth appeared
along with those that cried out in the heavens, and walked about in the
body in the midst of the dead that had risen. And he that raised up all the
dead, and bound Hades, said: Say to my disciples, He goes before you into
Galilee; there shall you see him.

    And all that night the light did not cease shining. And many of the
Jews died, swallowed up in the chasm of the earth, so that on the following
day most of those who had been against Jesus could not be found. Others saw
the appearing of those that had risen, whom no one of us had ever seen.(3)
And only one(4) synagogue of the Jews was left in this Jerusalem, since all
disappeared in that fall.

    With that terror, being in perplexity, and seized with a most frightful
trembling, I have written what I saw at that time, and have reported to thy
majesty. Having set in order also what was done by the Jews against Jesus,
I have sent it, my lord, to thy divinity.

THE REPORT OF PONTIUS PILATE, PROCURATOR OF JUDAEA
                        SENT TO ROME TO TIBERIUS CAESAR.

SECOND GREEK FORM.

    To the most mighty, venerable, awful, most divine, the august,--Pilatus
Pontius, the governor of the East: I have to report to thy reverence,
through this writing of mine, being seized with great trembling and fear, O
most mighty emperor, the conjuncture of the present times, as the end of
these things has shown. For while I, my lord, according to the commandment
of thy clemency, was discharging the duties of my government, which is one
of the cities of the East, Jerusalem by name, in which is built the temple
of the Jewish nation, all the multitude of the Jews came together, and
delivered to me a certain man named Jesus, bringing against him many and
groundless charges; and they were not able to convict him in anything. And
one heresy of theirs against him was, that he said that the Sabbath was not
their right rest. And that man wrought many cures, in addition to good
works. He made the blind see; he cleansed lepers; he raised the dead; he
healed paralytics who could not move at all, except that they only had
their voice, and the joining of their bones; and he gave them the power of
walking about and running, commanding them by a single word. And another
mightier work he did, which was strange even with our gods: he raised up a
dead man, Lazarus, who had been dead four days, by a single word ordering
the dead man to be raised, although his body was already corrupted by the
worms that grow in wounds; and that ill-smelling body lying in the tomb he
ordered to run; and as a bridegroom from the bridal chamber, so he came
forth out of the tomb, filled with exceeding fragrance. And some that were
cruelly vexed by demons, and had their dwellings in deserts, and ate the
flesh of their own limbs, and lived along with reptiles and wild beasts, he
made to be dwellers in cities in their own houses, and by a word he
rendered them sound-minded; and he made those that were troubled by unclean
spirits to be intelligent and reputable; and sending away the demons in
them into a herd of swine, he suffocated them in the sea. Another man,
again, who had a withered hand, and lived in sorrow, and had not even the
half of his body sound, he rendered sound by a single word. And a woman
that had a flow of blood for many years, so that, in consequence of the
flowing of her blood, all the joinings of her bones appeared, and were
transparent like glass; and assuredly all the physicians had left her
without hope, and had not cleansed her, for there was not in her a single
hope of health: once, then, as Jesus was passing by, she took hold of the
fringe of his clothes behind, and that same hour the power of her body was
completely restored, and she became whole, as if nothing were the matter
with her, and she began to run swiftly to her own city Paneas.(1)

    And these things indeed were so. And the Jews gave information that
Jesus did these things on the Sabbath. And I also ascertained that the
miracles done by him were greater than any which the gods whom we worship
could do.

    Him then Herod and Archelaus and Philip, and Annas and Caiaphas, with
all the people, delivered to me to try him. And as many were exciting an
insurrection against me, I ordered him to be crucified.

    And when he had been crucified, there was darkness over the whole
earth, the sun having been completely hidden, and the heaven appearing dark
though it was day, so that the stars appeared, but had at the same time
their brightness darkened, as I suppose your reverence is not ignorant of,
because in all the world they lighted lamps from the sixth hour until
evening. And the moon, being like blood, did not shine the whole night, and
yet she happened to be at the full. And the stars also, and Orion, made a
lament about the Jews, on account of the wickedness that had been done by
them.(1)

    And on the first of the week, about the third hour of the night, the
sun was seen such as it had never at any time shone, and all the heaven was
lighted up. And as lightnings come on in winter, so majestic men of
indescribable splendour of dress and of glory appeared in the air, and an
innumerable multitude of angels crying out, and saying: Glory in the
highest to God, and on earth peace, among men goodwill: come up out of
Hades, ye who have been kept in slavery in the underground regions of
Hades. And at their voice all the mountains and hills were shaken, and the
rocks were burst asunder; and great chasms were made in the earth, so that
also what was in the abyss appeared. And there were seen in that terror
dead men raised up,(2) as the Jews that saw them said: We have seen
Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and the twelve patriarchs, that died two
thousand five hundred years ago; and we have seen Noah manifestly in the
body. And all the multitude walked about, and sang praises to God with a
loud voice, saying: The Lord our God that has risen from the dead has
brought to life all the dead, and has plundered Hades, and put him to
death.

    All that night therefore, my lord, O king, the light ceased not. And
many of the Jews died, and were engulphed and swallowed up in the chasms in
that night, so that not even their bodies appeared. Those, I say, of the
Jews suffered that had spoken against Jesus. And one synagogue was left in
Jerusalem, since all those synagogues that had been against Jesus were
engulphed.

    From that fear, then, being in perplexity, and seized with much
trembling, at that same hour I ordered what had been done by them all to be
written; and I have reported it to thy mightiness.
 

THE GIVING UP OF PONTIUS PILATE

    AND the writings having come to the city of the Romans, and having been
read to the Caesar, with not a few standing by, all were astounded, because
through the wickedness of Pilate the darkness and the earthquake had come
over the whole world. And the Caesar, filled with rage, sent soldiers, and
ordered them to bring Pilate a prisoner.

    And when he was brought to the city of the Romans, the Caesar, hearing
that Pilate had arrived, sat in the temple of the gods, in the presence of
all the senate, and with all the army, and all the multitude of his power;
and he ordered Pilate to stand forward.(1) And the Caesar says to him: Why
hast thou, O most impious, dared to do such things, having seen so great
miracles in that man? By daring to do an evil deed, thou hast destroyed the
whole world.

    And Pilate said: O almighty(2) king, I am innocent of these things; but
the multitude of the Jews are violent and guilty. And the Caesar said: And
who are they? Pilate says: Herod, Archelaus, Philip, Annas and Caiaphas,
and all the multitude of the Jews. The Caesar says: For what reason didst
thou follow out their counsel? And Pilate says: Their nation is rebellious
and insubmissive, not submitting themselves to thy power. And the Caesar
said: When they delivered him to thee, thou oughtest to have made him
secure, and to have sent him to me, and not to have obeyed them in
crucifying such a man, righteous as he was, and one that did such good
miracles, as thou hast said in thy report. For from such miracles Jesus was
manifestly the Christ, the King of the Jews.

    And as the Caesar was thus speaking, when he named the name of Christ,
all the multitude of the gods fell down in a body, and became as dust,
where the Caesar was sitting with the senate. And the people standing
beside the Caesar all began to tremble, on account of the speaking of the
word, and the fall of their gods; and being seized with terror, they all
went away, each to his own house, wondering at what had happened. And the
Caesar ordered Pilate to be kept in security, in order that he might know
the truth about Jesus.

    And on the following day, the Caesar, sitting in the Capitol with all
the senate, tried again to question Pilate. And the Caesar says: Tell the
truth, O most impious, because through thy impious action which thou hast
perpetrated against Jesus, even here the doing of thy wicked deeds has been
shown by the gods having been cast down. Say, then, who is he that has been
crucified; because even his name has destroyed all the gods? Pilate said:
And indeed the records of him are true; for assuredly I myself was
persuaded from his works that he was greater than all the gods whom we
worship. And the Caesar said: For what reason, then, didst thou bring
against him such audacity and such doings, if thou wert not ignorant of
him, and altogether devising mischief against my kingdom? Pilate said: On
account of the wickedness and rebellion of the lawless and ungodly Jews, I
did this.

    And the Caesar, being filled with rage, held a council with all his
senate and his power, and ordered a decree to be written against the Jews
as follows:--To Licianus, the governor of the chief places of the East,
greeting. The reckless deed which has been done at the present time by the
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the cities of the Jews round about, and their
wicked action, has come to my knowledge, that they have forced Pilate to
crucify a certain god named Jesus, and on account of this great fault of
theirs the world has been darkened and dragged to destruction. Do thou then
speedily, with a multitude of soldiers, go to them there, and make them
prisoners, in accordance with this decree. Be obedient, and take action
against them, and scatter them, and make them slaves among all the nations;
and having driven them out of the whole of Judaea, make them the smallest
of nations, so that it may not any longer be seen at all, because they are
full of wickedness.(3)

    And this decree having come into the region of the East, Licianus,
obeying from fear of the decree, seized all the nation of the Jews; and
those that were left in Judaea he scattered among the nations, and sold for
slaves:(4) so that it was known to the Caesar that these things had been
done by Licianus against the Jews in the region of the East; and it pleased
him.

And again the Caesar set himself to question Pilate; and he orders a
captain named Albius to cut off Pilate's head, saying: Just as he laid
hands upon the just man named Christ, in like manner also shall he fall,
and not find safety.

And Pilate, going away to the place, prayed. in silence, saying: Lord, do
not destroy me along with the wicked Hebrews, because I would not have laid
hands upon Thee, except for the nation of the lawless Jews, because they
were exciting rebellion against me. But Thou knowest that I did it in
ignorance. Do not then destroy me for this my sin; but remember not evil
against me, O Lord, and against Thy servant Procla, who is standing with me <