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Title: Forbidden Gospels and Epistles, Volume 4, Nicodemus

Author: Archbishop Wake

Release Date: September, 2004  [EBook #6510]
[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
[This file was first posted on December 25, 2002]
[This file was last updated on January 22, 2003]

Edition: 11

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FORBIDDEN GOSPELS, BY WAKE, v4 ***



This eBook was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net>
Additional proofing was done by Curtis A. Weyant






                                  THE
                              SUPPRESSED
                          GOSPELS AND EPISTLES
                            OF THE ORIGINAL
                             NEW TESTAMENT
                                   OF
                            JESUS THE CHRIST

          AND OTHER PORTIONS OF THE ANCIENT HOLY SCRIPTURES.
                       NOW EXTANT, ATTRIBUTED TO
                  HIS APOSTLES, AND THEIR DISCIPLES,
       AND VENERATED BY THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIAN CHURCHES DURING
                       THE FIRST FOUR CENTURIES,
                 BUT SINCE, AFTER VIOLENT DISPUTATIONS
                            FORBIDDEN BY THE
                     BISHOPS OF THE NICENE COUNCIL,
                IN THE REIGN OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE
             AND OMITTED FROM THE CATHOLICS AND PROTESTANT
            EDITIONS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, BY ITS COMPILERS

         TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL TONGUES, WITH HISTORICAL
                   REFERENCES TO THEIR AUTHENTICITY,

                                  BY
                            ARCHBISHOP WAKE
                               AND OTHER
                            LEARNED DIVINES





                        THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS,
              FORMERLY CALLED THE ACTS OF PONTIUS PILATE.


The Gospel of NICODEMUS, the disciple,
concerning the Sufferings and Resurrection
of our Master and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST.


CHAPTER I.

     1 Christ accused to Pilate by the Jews
     of healing on the Sabbath.
     9 Summoned before Pilate by a messenger
     who does him honour.
     20 Worshipped by the standards bowing down to him.

ANNAS and Caiphas, and
Summas, and Datam, Gamaliel,
Judas, Levi, Nepthalim, Alexander,
Cyrus, and other Jews, went
to Pilate about Jesus, accusing
him with many bad crimes.

2  And said, We are assured that
Jesus is the son of Joseph, the
carpenter, and born of Mary, and
that he declares himself the Son of
God, and a king; and not only so,
but attempts the dissolution of the
Sabbath, and the laws of our
fathers.

3  Pilate replied, What is it
which he declares? and what is it
which he attempts dissolving?

4  The Jews told him, We have
a law which forbids doing cures
on the Sabbath day; but he cures
both the lame and the deaf, those
afflicted with the palsy, the blind,
the lepers, and demoniacs, on that
day, by wicked methods.

5  Pilate replied, How can he
do this by wicked methods? They
answered He is a conjurer, and
casts out devils by the prince of
the devils; and so all things,
become subject to him.

6  Then said Pilate, Casting out
devils seems not to be the work of
an unclean spirit, but to proceed
from the power of God.

7  The Jews replied to Pilate,
We entreat your highness to summon
him to appear before your tribunal,
and hear him yourself.

8  Then Pilate called a messenger,
and said to him, By what means
will Christ be brought hither?

9  Then went the messenger
forth, and knowing Christ,
worshipped him; and having spread
the cloak which he had in his hand
upon the ground, he said, Lord,
walk upon this, and go in, for the
governor calls thee.

10  When the Jews perceived
what the messenger had done,
they exclaimed (against him) to
Pilate, and said, Why did you not
give him his summons by a beadle,
and not by a messenger?--For the
messenger, when he saw him,
worshipped him, and spread the
cloak which he had in his hand
upon the ground before him, and
said to him, Lord, the governor
calls thee.

11  Then Pilate called the
messenger, and said, Why hast thou
done thus?

12  The messenger replied, When
thou sentest me from Jerusalem to
Alexander, I saw Jesus sitting in
a mean figure upon a she-ass, and
the children of the Hebrews cried
out, Hosannah, holding boughs of
trees in their hands.

13  Others spread their garments
in the way, and said, Save us, thou
who art in heaven; blessed is he
who cometh in the name of the
Lord.

14  Then the Jews cried out,
against the messenger, and said,
The children of the Hebrews made
their acclamations in the Hebrew
language; and how couldst thou,
who art a Greek, understand the
Hebrew?

15  The messenger answered
them and said, I asked one of the
Jews and said, What is this which
the children do cry out in the
Hebrew language?

16  And he explained it to me,
saying, they cry out, Hosannah,
which being interpreted, is, O
Lord, save me; or, O Lord, save.

17  Pilate then said to them,
Why do you yourselves testify to
the words spoken by the children,
namely, by your silence?  In what
has the messenger done amiss?
And they were silent.

18  Then the governor said unto
the messenger, Go forth and
endeavour by any means to bring
him in.

19  But the messenger went forth
and did as before; and said, Lord
come in, for the governor calleth
thee.

20  And as Jesus was going in
by the ensigns, who carried the
standards, the tops of them bowed
down and worshipped Jesus.

21  Whereupon the Jews exclaimed
more vehemently against the ensigns.

22  But Pilate said to the Jews,
I know it is not pleasing to you
that the tops of the standards did
of themselves bow and worship
Jesus; but why do ye exclaim
against the ensigns, as if they had
bowed and worshipped?

23  They replied to Pilate,
We saw the ensigns themselves
bowing and worshipping Jesus.

24  Then the governor called the
ensigns, and said unto them, Why
did you do thus?

25  The ensigns said to Pilate,
We are all Pagans and worship
the gods in temples; and how
should we think anything about
worshipping him?  We only held
the standards in our hands,
and they bowed themselves and
worshipped him.

26  Then said Pilate to the rulers
of the synagogue, Do ye yourselves
choose some strong men, and let
them hold the standards, and we
shall see whether they will then
bend of themselves.

27  So the elders of the Jews
sought out twelve of the most
strong and able old men, and made
them hold the standards, and they
stood in the presence of the governor.

28  Then Pilate said to the
messenger, Take Jesus out, and by
some means bring him in again.
And Jesus and the messenger went
out of the hall.

29  And Pilate called the ensigns
who before had borne the standards,
and swore to them, that if they
had not borne the standards in
that manner when Jesus before
entered in, he would cut off
their heads.

30  Then the governor commanded
Jesus to come in again.

31  And the messenger did as he
had done before, and very much
entreated Jesus that he would go
upon his cloak, and walk on it;
and he did walk upon it, and went
in.

32  And when Jesus went in,
the standards bowed themselves as
before, and worshipped him.



CHAPTER II.

     2 Is comppassionated by Pilate's wife,
     7 charged with being born in fornication.
     12 Testimony to the betrothing of his parents.
     15 Hatred of the Jews to him.

NOW when Pilate saw this, he
was afraid, and was about to
rise from his seat.

2  But while he thought to rise,
his own wife who stood at a
distance, sent to him, saying, Have
thou nothing to do with that just
man; for I have suffered much
concerning him in a vision this
night.

3  When the Jews heard this
they said to Pilate, Did we not say
unto thee, He is a conjuror? Behold,
he hath caused thy wife to dream.

4  Pilate then calling Jesus, said,
thou hast heard what they testify
against thee, and makest no answer?

5  Jesus replied, If they had not
a power of speaking, they could
not have spoke; but because every
one has the command of his own
tongue, to speak both good and
bad, let him look to it.

6  But the elders of the Jews
answered, and said to Jesus, What
shall we look to?

7  In the first place, we know
this concerning thee, that thou
wast born through fornication;
secondly, that upon the account of
thy birth the infants were slain in
Bethlehem; thirdly, that thy father
and mother Mary fled into Egypt,
because they could not trust their
own people.

8  Some of the Jews who stood
by spake more favourably, We
cannot say that he was born
through fornication; but we know
that his mother Mary was betrothed
to Joseph, and so he was not born
through fornication.

9  Then said Pilate to the Jews
who affirmed him to be born
through fornication, This your
account is not true, seeing there was
a betrothment, as they testify who
are of your own nation.

10  Annas and Caiphas spake to
Pilate, All this multitude of people
is to be regarded, who cry out,
that he was born through fornication,
and is a conjurer; but they who deny
him to be born through fornication,
are his proselytes and disciples.

11  Pilate answered Annas and
Caiphas, Who are the proselytes?
They answered, They are those
who are the children of Pagans,
and are not become Jews, but
followers of him.

12  Then replied Eleazer, and
Asterius, and Antonius, and James,
Caras and Samuel, Isaac and Phinees,
Crispus and Agrippa, Annas and Judas,
We are not proselytes, but children
of Jews, and speak the truth,
and were present when Mary was
betrothed.

13  Then Pilate addressing
himself to the twelve men who
spake this, said to them, I conjure
you by the life of Caesar, that ye
faithfully declare whether he was
born through fornication, and those
things be true which ye have related.

14  They answered Pilate, We
have a law whereby we are forbid
to swear, it being a sin: Let them
swear by the life of Caesar that it
is not as we have said, and we will
be contented to be put to death.

15  Then said Annas and Caiphas
to Pilate, Those twelve men will
not believe that we know him to be
basely born, and to be a conjurer,
although he pretends that he is
the Son of God, and a king: which
we are so far from believing, that
we tremble to hear.

16  Then Pilate commanded
every one to go out except the
twelve men who said he was not
born through fornication, and
Jesus to withdraw to a distance,
and said to them, Why have the Jews
a mind to kill Jesus?

17  They answered him, They
are angry because he wrought
cures on the sabbath day. Pilate
said, Will they kill him for a
good work? They say unto him,
Yes, Sir.



CHAPTER III.

1 Is exonerated by Pilate.
11 Disputes with Pilate concerning truth.

THEN Pilate, filled with anger,
went out of the hall, and said
to the Jews, I call the whole
world to witness that I find no
fault in that man.

2  The Jews replied to Pilate,
If he had not been a wicked person,
we had not brought him before thee.

3  Pilate said to them, Do ye take
him and try him by your law.

4  Then the Jews said, It is not
lawful for us to put any one to
death.

5  Pilate said to the Jews, The
command, therefore, thou shalt
not kill, belongs to you, but
not to me.

6  And he went again into the
hall, and called Jesus by himself,
and said to him, Art thou the king
of the Jews?

7  And Jesus answering, said
to Pilate, Dost thou speak this
of thyself, or did the Jews tell
it thee concerning me?

8  Pilate answering, said to
Jesus, Am I a Jew? The whole
nation and rulers of the Jews have
delivered thee up to me. What
hast thou done?

9  Jesus answering, said, My
kingdom is not of this world:
if my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight,
and I should not have been
delivered to the Jews: but now
my kingdom is not from hence.

10  Pilate said, Art thou a king
then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest
that I am a king: to this end
was I born, and for this end came
I into the world; and for this
purpose I came, that I should bear
witness to the truth; and every
one who is of the truth, heareth
my voice.

11  Pilate saith to him, What is
truth?

12  Jesus said, Truth is from
heaven.

13  Pilate said, Therefore truth
is not on earth.

14  Jesus saith to Pilate,
Believe that truth is on earth
among those, who when they have
the power of judgment, are governed
by truth, and form right judgment.



CHAPTER IV.

     1 Pilate finds no fault in Jesus.
     16 The Jews demand his crucifixion.

THEN Pilate left Jesus in the hall,
and went out to the Jews, and said,
I find not any one fault in Jesus.

2  The Jews say unto him, But
he said, I can destroy the temple
of God, and in three days build it
up again.

3  Pilate saith to them, What
sort of temple is that of which he
speaketh?

4  The Jews say unto him,
That which Solomon was forty-six
years in building, he said he
would destroy, and in three days
build up.

5  Pilate said to them again, I
am innocent from the blood of that
man! do ye look to it.

6  The Jews say to him, His
blood be upon us and our children.
Then Pilate calling together the
elders and scribes, priests and
Levites, saith to them privately,
Do not act thus; I have found
nothing in your charge (against
him) concerning his curing sick
persons, and breaking the sabbath,
worthy of death.

7  The priests and Levites replied
to Pilate, By the life of Caesar,
if any one be a blasphemer, he is
worthy of death; but this man hath
blasphemed against the Lord.

8  Then the governor again
commanded the Jews to depart out
of the hall; and calling Jesus,
said to him, What shall I do with
thee?

9  Jesus answered him, Do according
as it is written.

10  Pilate said to him, How is it
written?

11  Jesus saith to him, Moses
and the prophets have prophesied
concerning my suffering and
resurrection.

12  The Jews hearing this, were
provoked, and said to Pilate,
Why wilt thou any longer hear the
blasphemy of that man?

13  Pilate saith to them, If these
words seem to you blasphemy, do
ye take him, bring him to your
court, and try him according to
your law.

14  The Jews reply to Pilate,
Our law saith, he shall be obliged
to receive nine and thirty stripes,
but if after this manner he shall
blaspheme against the Lord, he
shall be stoned.

15  Pilate saith unto them, If
that speech of his was blasphemy,
do ye try him according to your
law.

16  The Jews say to Pilate, Our
law command us not to put any one
to death. We desire that he may be
crucified, because he deserves the
death of the cross.

17  Pilate saith to them, It is not
fit he should be crucified: let him
be only whipped and sent away.

18  But when the governor looked
upon the people that were present
and the Jews, he saw many of the
Jews in tears, and said to the
chief priests of the Jews, All
the people do not desire his death.

19  The elders of the Jews answered
to Pilate, We and all the people
came hither for this very purpose,
that he should die.

20  Pilate saith to them, Why should
he die?

21  They said to him, Because
he declares himself to be the Son
of God and a King.



CHAP. V.

     1 Nicodemus speaks in defence of Christ,
     and relates his miracles.
     12 Another Jew,
     26 with Veronica,
     34 Centurio, and others,
     testify of other miracles.

BUT Nicodemus, a certain Jew,
stood before the governor,
and said, I entreat thee,
O righteous judge, that thou
wouldst favour me with the
liberty of speaking a few words.

2  Pilate said to him, Speak on.

3  Nicodemus said, I spake to
the elders of the Jews, and the
scribes, and priests and Levites,
and all the multitude of the Jews,
in their assembly; What is it ye
would do with this man?

4  He is a man who hath wrought
many useful and glorious miracles,
such as no man on earth ever
wrought before, nor will ever
work.  Let him go, and do him
no harm; if he cometh from God,
his miracles, (his miraculous
cures) will continue; but if from
men, they will come to nought.

5  Thus Moses, when he was
sent by God into Egypt, wrought
the miracles which God commanded
him, before Pharaoh king of Egypt;
and though the magicians of that
country, Jannes and Jambres,
wrought by their magic the same
miracles which Moses did, yet they
could not work all which he did;

6  And the miracles which the
magicians wrought, were not of
God, as ye know, O Scribes and
Pharisees; but they who wrought
them perished, and all who
believed them.

7  And now let this man go;
because the very miracles for
which ye accuse him, are from
God; and he is not worthy of
death.

8  The Jews then said to Nicodemus,
Art thou become his disciple,
and making speeches in his favour?

9  Nicodemus said to them, Is
the governor become his disciple
also, and does he make speeches
for him? Did not Caesar place
him in that high post?

10  When the Jews heard this
they trembled, and gnashed their
teeth at Nicodemus, and said to
him, Mayest thou receive his
doctrine for truth, and have
thy lot with Christ!

11  Nicodemus replied, Amen;
I will receive his doctrine, and
my lot with him, as ye have said.

12  Then another certain Jew
rose up, and desired leave of the
governor to hear him a few words.

13  And the governor said,
Speak, what thou hast a mind.

14  And he said, I lay for thirty-
eight years by the sheep-pool at
Jerusalem, labouring under a great
infirmity, and waiting for a cure
which should be wrought by the
coming of an angel, who at a
certain time troubled the water: and
whosoever first after the troubling
of the water stepped in, was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had.

15  And when Jesus saw me languishing
there, he said to me, Wilt thou be
made whole? And I answered, Sir,
I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool.

16  And he said unto me, Rise,
take up thy bed and walk. And
I was immediately made whole,
and took up my bed and walked.

17  The Jews then said to Pilate,
Our Lord Governor, pray ask
him what day it was on which he
was cured of his infirmity.

18  The infirm person replied,
It was on the sabbath.

19  The Jews said to Pilate, Did
we not say that he wrought his
cures on the sabbath, and cast out
devils by the prince of devils?

20  Then another certain Jew
came forth, and said, I was blind,
could hear sounds, but could not
see any one; and as Jesus was
going along, I heard the multitude
passing by, and I asked what
was there?

21  They told me that Jesus was
passing by: then I cried out,
saying, Jesus, Son of David, have
mercy on me. And he stood still,
and commanded that I should be
brought to him, and said to me,
What wilt thou?

22  I said, Lord, that I may
receive my sight.

23  He said to me, Receive thy
sight: and presently I saw, and
followed him, rejoicing and giving
thanks,

24  Another Jew also came forth,
and said, I was a leper, and he
cured me by his word only, saying,
I will, be thou clean; and presently
I was cleansed from my leprosy.

25  And another Jew came
forth, and said I was crooked,
and he made me straight by his
word.

26  And a certain woman
named Veronica, said, I was
afflicted with an issue of blood
twelve years, and I touched the
hem of his garment, and presently
the issue of blood stopped.

27  The Jews then said, We
have a law, that a woman shall
not be allowed as an evidence.

28  And, after other things,
another Jew said, I saw Jesus
invited to a wedding with his
disciples, and there was a want
of wine in Cana of Galilee;

29  And when the wine was all
drank, he commanded the servants
that they should fill six pots which
were there with water, and they
filled them up to the brim, and he
blessed them and turned the water
into wine, and all the people drank,
being surprised at this miracle,

30 And another Jew stood forth,
and  said, I saw Jesus teaching
in the synagogue at Capernaum;
and there was in the synagogue
a certain man who had a devil;
and he cried out, saying,
let me alone; what have we to
do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth?
Art thou come to destroy us?
I know that thou art the Holy One
of God.

31 And Jesus rebuked him, saying,
Hold thy peace, unclean spirit,
and come out of the man; and
presently he came out of him, and
did not at all hurt him.

32  The following things were
also said by a Pharisee: I saw
that a great company came to
Jesus from Galilee and Judea, and
the sea-cost, and many countries
about Jordan; and many infirm
persons came to him, and he healed
them all.

33  And I heard the unclean
spirits crying out, and saying,
Thou art the Son of God. And
Jesus strictly charged them, that
they should not make him known.

34  After this another person,
whose name was Centurio, said,
I saw Jesus in Capernaum, and I
entreated him, saying, Lord, my
servant lieth at home sick of the
palsy.

35  And Jesus said to me, I
will come and cure him.

36  But I said, Lord, I am not
worthy that thou shouldst come
under my roof; but only speak
the word, and my servant shall be
healed.

37  And Jesus said unto me, Go
thy way; and as thou hast believed
so be it done unto thee. And my
servant was healed from that same
hour.

38  Then a certain nobleman
said, I had a son in Capernaum,
who lay at the point of death; and
when I heard that Jesus was come
into Galilee, I went and besought
him that he would come down to
my house, and heal my son, for he
was at the point of death.

39  He said to me, Go thy way,
thy son liveth.

40  And my son was cured from
that hour.

41  Besides these, also many
others of the Jews, both men and
Women, cried out and said, He is
truly the Son of God, who cures
all diseases only by his word, and
to whom the devils are altogether
subject.

42  Some of them farther said,
This power can proceed from none
but God.

43  Pilate said to the Jews, Why
are not the devils subject to your
doctors?

44  Some of them said, The
power of subjecting devils cannot
proceed but from God.

45  But others said to Pilate,
That he had raised Lazarus from
the dead, after he had been four
days in his grave.

46  The governor hearing this,
trembling, said to the multitude of
the Jews, What will it profit you
to shed innocent blood?



CHAPTER VI.

     1 Pilate dismayed by the turbulence of the Jews,
     5 who demand Barabbas to be released, and Christ
     to be crucified.
     9 Pilate warmly expostulates with them,
     20 washes his hands of Christ's blood,
     23 and sentences him to be whipped and crucified.

THEN Pilate having called
together Nicodemus, and the
fifteen men who said that Jesus
was not born through fornication,
said to them, What shall I do,
seeing there is like to be a tumult
among the people.

2  They say unto him, We know
not; let them look to it who raise
the tumult.

3  Pilate then called the
multitude again, and said to them,
Ye know that ye have a custom, that
I should release to you one prisoner
at the feast of the passover:

4  I have a noted prisoner, a
murderer, who is called Barabbas,
and Jesus who is called Christ, in
whom I find nothing that deserves
death; which of them, therefore,
have you a mind that I should
release to you?

5  They all cry out, and say,
Release to us Barabbas.

6  Pilate saith to them, What
then shall I do with Jesus who is
called Christ?

7  They all answer, Let him be
crucified.

8  Again they cry out and say to
Pilate, You are not the friend of
Caesar, if you release this man;
for he hath declared that he is the
Son of God, and a king.  But are
you inclined that he should be
king, and not Caesar?

9  Then Pilate filled with anger
said to them, Your nation hath
always been seditious, and you are
always against those who have
been serviceable to you.

10  The Jews replied, Who are those
who have been serviceable to us?

11  Pilate answered them, Your
God who delivered you from the
hard bondage of the Egyptians,
and brought you over the Red Sea
as though it had been dry land,
and fed you in the wilderness with
manna and the flesh of quails, and
brought water out of the rock, and
gave you a law from heaven.

12  Ye provoked him all ways,
and desired for yourselves a
molten calf, and worshipped it,
and sacrificed to it, and said,
These are thy Gods, O Israel,
which brought thee out of the
land of Egypt:

13  On account of which your
God was inclined to destroy you;
but Moses interceded for you, and
your God heard him, and forgave
your iniquity.

14  Afterwards ye were enraged
against, and would have killed
your prophets, Moses and Aaron,
when they fled to the tabernacle,
and ye were always murmuring
against God and his prophets.

15  And arising from his
judgment seat, he would have gone
out; but the Jews all cried out,
We acknowledge Caesar to be king,
and not Jesus;

16  Whereas this person, as
soon as he was born, the wise
men came and offered gifts unto
him; which when Herod heard,
he was exceedingly troubled,
and would have killed him:

17  When his father knew this,
he fled with him and his mother
Mary into Egypt. Herod, when
he heard he was born, would have
slain him; and accordingly sent
and slew all the children which
were in Bethlehem, and in all the
coasts thereof, from two years old
and under.

18  When Pilate heard this
account, he was afraid; and
commanding silence among the
people, who made a noise, he said
to Jesus, Art thou therefore a king?

19  All the Jews replied to
Pilate, he is the very person
whom Herod sought to have slain.

20  Then Pilate taking water,
washed his hands before the people
and said, I am innocent of the
blood of this just person; look ye
to it.

21  The Jews answered and said,
His blood be upon us and our
children.

22  Then Pilate commanded Jesus
to be brought before him, and
spake to him in the following
words;

23  Thy own nation hath charged
thee as making thyself a king;
wherefore I, Pilate, sentence thee
to be whipped according to the
laws of former governors; and
that thou be first bound, then
hanged upon a cross in that place
where thou art now a prisoner;
and also two criminals with thee,
whose names are Dimas and Gestas.



CHAP. VII.

     1 Manner of Christ's crucifixion
     with the two thieves.

THEN Jesus went out of the
hall, and the two thieves
with him.

2  And when they came to the
place which is called Golgotha,
they stript him of his raiment, and
girt him about with a linen cloth,
and put a crown of thorns upon his
head, and put a reed in his hand.

3  And in like manner did they
to the two thieves who were
crucified with him, Dimas on his
right hand and Gestas on his left.

4  But Jesus said, My Father,
forgive them, For they know not
what they do.

5  And they divided his garments,
and upon his vesture they cast lots.

6  The people in the mean time
stood by, and the chief priests
and elders of the Jews mocked him,
saying, He saved others, let him
now save himself if he can; if he
be the son of God, let him now
come down from the cross.

7  The soldiers also mocked him,
and taking vinegar and gall, offered
it to him to drink, and said to him,
If thou art king of the Jews,
deliver thyself.

8  Then Longinus, a certain soldier,
taking a spear,' pierced his side,
and presently there came forth blood
and water.

9  And Pilate wrote the title
upon the cross in Hebrew, Latin,
and Greek letters, viz., THIS IS
THE KING OF THE JEWS.

10  But one of the two thieves
who were crucified with Jesus,
whose name was Gestas, said to
Jesus, If thou art the Christ,
deliver thyself and us.

11 But the thief who was
crucified on his right hand,
whose name was Dimas, answering,
rebuked him, and said, Dost not
thou fear God, who art condemned
to this punishment? We indeed
receive rightly and justly the
demerit of our actions; but this
Jesus, what evil hath he done.

12  After this, groaning, he said
to Jesus, Lord, remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom.

13  Jesus answering, said to
him, Verily I say unto thee, that
this day thou shalt be with me in
Paradise.



CHAPTER VIII.

     1 Miraculous appearance at his death.
     10 The Jews say the eclipse was natural.
     12 Joseph of Arimathcea embalms Christ's
     body and buries it.

AND it was about the sixth
hour, and darkness was upon
the face of the whole earth until
the ninth hour.

2  And while the sun was eclipsed,
behold the veil of the temple was
rent from the top, to the bottom;
and the rocks also were rent, and
the graves opened, and many
bodies of saints, which slept,
arose.

3  And about the ninth hour
Jesus cried out with a loud voice,
Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani? which
being interpreted is, My God, My
God, why hast thou forsaken me?

4  And after these things, Jesus
said, Father, into thy hands I
commend my spirit; and having
said this, he gave up the ghost.

5  But when the centurion saw
that Jesus thus crying out gave up
the ghost, he glorified God, and
said, Of a truth this was a just
man.

6  And all the people who stood
by, were exceedingly troubled at
the sight; and reflecting upon
what had passed, smote upon their
breasts, and then returned to the
city of Jerusalem.

7  The centurion went to the
governor, and related to him all
that had passed:

8  And when he had heard all
these things, he was exceedingly
sorrowful;

9  And calling the Jews together,
said to them, Have ye seen the
miracle of the sun's eclipse, and
the other things which came to
pass, while Jesus was dying?

10  Which when the Jews heard,
they answered to the governor,
The eclipse of the sun happened
according to its usual custom.

11  But all those who were the
acquaintance of Christ, stood at
a distance, as did the women who
had followed Jesus from Galilee,
observing all these things.

12  And behold a certain man
of Arimathaea, named Joseph, who
was also a disciple of Jesus, but
not openly so, for fear of the Jews,
came to the governor, and entreated
the governor that he would give him
leave to take away the body of Jesus
from the cross.

13  And the governor gave him leave.

14  And Nicodemus came, bringing
with him a mixture of myrrh and
aloes about a hundred pounds
weight; and they took down Jesus
from the cross with tears, and
bound him in linen cloths with
spices, according to the custom of
burying among the Jews;

15  And placed him in a new
tomb, which Joseph had built,
and caused to be cut out of a rock,
in which never any man had been
put; and they rolled a great stone
to the door of the sepulchre.



CHAPTER IX.

     1 The Jews angry with Nicodemus:
     5 and with, Joseph of Arimathaea,
     7 whom they imprison.

WHEN the unjust Jews heard
that Joseph had begged and buried
the body of Jesus, they sought
after Nicodemus, and those fifteen
men who had testified before the
governor, that Jesus was not born
through fornication, and other
good persons who had shown any
good actions towards him.

2  But when they all concealed
themselves through fear of the
Jews, Nicodemus alone showed
himself to them, and said, How
can such persons as these enter
into the synagogue?

3  The Jews answered him, But
how durst thou enter into the
synagogue, who wast a confederate
with Christ? Let thy lot be along
with him in the other world.

4  Nicodemus answered, Amen;
so may it be, that I may have
my lot with him in his kingdom.

5  In like manner Joseph, when
he came to the Jews, said to them,
Why are ye angry with me for
desiring the body of Jesus of
Pilate? Behold, I have put him in
my tomb, and wrapped him up in
clean linen, and put a stone at the
door of the sepulchre:

6  I have acted rightly towards
him; but ye have acted unjustly
against that just person, in
crucifying him, giving him vinegar
to drink, crowning him with thorns,
tearing his body with whips, and
praying down the guilt of his blood
upon you.

7  The Jews at the hearing of
this were disquieted and troubled;
and they seized Joseph, and
commanded him to be put in custody
before the Sabbath, and kept there
till the Sabbath was over.

8  And they said to him, Make
confession; for at this time it is
not lawful to do thee any harm,
till the first day of the week come.
But we know that thou wilt not be
thought worthy of a burial; but
we will give thy flesh to the birds
of the air, and the beasts of the
earth.

9  Joseph answered, That speech
is like the speech of proud Goliath,
who reproached the living God in
speaking against David. But ye
scribes and doctors know that God
saith by the prophet, Vengeance is
mine, and I will repay to you evil
equal to that which ye have
threatened to me.

10  The God whom you have
hanged upon the cross, is able to
deliver me out of your hands. All
your wickedness will return upon
you.

11  For the governor, when he
washed his hands, said, I am clear
from the blood of this just person.
But ye answered and cried out,
His blood be upon us and our
children. According as ye have
said, may ye perish for ever.

12  The elders of the Jews hearing
these words, were exceedingly
enraged; and seizing Joseph, they
put him into a chamber where
there was no window; they fastened
the door, and put a seal upon
the lock;

13  And Annas and Caiaphas placed
a guard upon it, and took counsel
with the priests and Levites,
that they should all meet after
the Sabbath, and they contrived
to what death they should put Joseph.

14  When they had done this, the
rulers, Annas and Caiaphas,
ordered Joseph to be brought
forth.

(In this place there is a portion
of the Gospel lost or omitted.
which cannot be supplied. It
may, nevertheless, be surmised
from the occurrence related in
the next chapter, that the order
of Annas and Caiaphas were rendered
unnecessary by Joseph's miraculous
escape, and which was announced
to an assembly of people.)



CHAPTER X.

     1 Joseph's escape.
     2 The soldiers relate Christ's resurrection.
     18 Christ is seen preaching in Galilee.
     21 The Jews repent of their cruelty to him.

WHEN all the assembly heard
this (about Joseph's escape),
they admired and were astonished,
because they found the same seal
upon the lock of the chamber, and
could not find Joseph.

2 Then Annas and Caiaphas went
forth, and while they were all
admiring at Joseph's being gone,
behold one of the soldiers, who
kept the sepulchre of Jesus, spake
in the assembly,

3  That while they were guarding
the sepulchre of Jesus, there was
an earthquake; and we saw an angel
of God roll away the stone of the
sepulchre and sit upon it;

4  And his countenance was like
lightning and his garment like
snow; and we became through fear
like persons dead.

5  And we heard an angel saying
to the women at the sepulchre of
Jesus, Do not fear; I know that
you seek Jesus who was crucified;
he is risen as he foretold;

6  Come and see the place where
he was laid; and go presently, and
tell his disciples that he is risen
from the dead; and he will go before
you into Galilee; there ye shall
see him as he told you.

7  Then the Jews called together
all the soldiers who kept the sepulchre
of Jesus, and said to them, Who are
those women, to whom the angel spoke?
Why did ye not seize them.

8  The soldiers answered and said,
We know not who the women were;
besides we became as dead persons
through fear, and how could we
seize those women?

9  The Jews said to them, As the
Lord liveth, we do not believe you;

10  The soldiers answering said to
the Jews, when ye saw and heard
Jesus working so many miracles,
and did not believe him, how should
ye believe us? Ye well said,
As the Lord liveth, for the Lord
truly does live.

11  We have heard that ye shut
up Joseph, who buried the body of
Jesus, in a chamber, under a lock
which was sealed; and when ye
opened it, found him not there.

12  Do ye then produce Joseph
whom ye put under guard in the
chamber, and we will produce
Jesus whom we guarded in the
sepulchre.

13  The Jews answered and said,
We will produce Joseph, do ye
produce Jesus. But Joseph is in
his own city of Arimathaea.

14  The soldiers replied,
If Joseph be in Arimathaea,
and Jesus in Galilee, we heard
the angel inform the women.

15  The Jews hearing this, were
afraid, and said among themselves,
If by any means these things
should become public, then
everybody will believe in Jesus.

16  Then they gathered a large
sum of money, and gave it to the
soldiers, saying, Do ye tell the
people that the disciples of Jesus
came in the night when ye were
asleep, and stole away the body of
Jesus; and if Pilate the governor
should hear of this, we will satisfy
him and secure you.

17  The soldiers accordingly took
the money, and said as they were
instructed by the Jews; and their
report was spread abroad among
all the people.

18  But a certain priest Phinees,
Ada a schoolmaster, and a Levite,
named Ageus, they three came from
Galilee to Jerusalem, and told
the chief priests and all who
were in the synagogues, saying,

19  We have seen Jesus, whom
ye crucified, talking with his
eleven disciples, and sitting in the
midst of them in Mount Olivet,
and saying to them,

20  Go forth into the whole world,
preach the Gospel to all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Ghost; and whosoever shall believe
and be baptized, shall be saved.

21  And when he had said these
things to his disciples, we saw him
ascending up to heaven.

22  When the chief priests and
elders, and Levites heard these
things, they said to these three
men, Give glory to the God of
Israel, and make confession to
him, whether those things are true,
which ye say ye have seen and heard.

23  They answering said, As the
Lord of our fathers liveth, the
God of Abraham, and the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
according as we heard Jesus talking
with his disciples, and according
as we saw him ascending up to
heaven, so we have related the
truth to you.

24  And the three men farther
answered, and said, adding these
words, If we should not own the
words which we heard Jesus speak,
and that we saw him ascending
into heaven, we should be guilty
of sin.

25  Then the chief priests
immediately rose up, and holding
the book of the law in their hands,
conjured these men, saying, Ye
shall no more hereafter declare
those things which ye have spoken
concerning Jesus.

26  And they gave them a large
sum of money, and sent other
persons along with them, who
should conduct them to their own
country, that they might not by any
means make any stay at Jerusalem.

27  Then the Jews did assemble
all together, and having expressed
the most lamentable concern said,
What is this extraordinary thing
which is come to pass in Jerusalem?

28  But Annas and Caiaphas comforted
them, saying, Why should we believe
the soldiers who guarded the sepulchre
of Jesus, in telling us, that an angel
rolled away the stone from the door
of the sepulchre?

29  Perhaps his own disciples told
them this, and gave them money
that they should say so, and they
themselves took away the body of Jesus.

30  Besides, consider this, that
there is no credit to be given to
foreigners, because they also took
a large sum of us, and they have
declared to us according to the
instructions which we gave them.
They must either be faithful to us
or to the disciples of Jesus.



CHAPTER XI.

     1 Nicodemus counsels the Jews.
     6 Joseph found.
     11 Invited by the Jews to return.
     19 Relates the manner of his miraculous escape.

THEN Nicodemus arose, and
said, Ye say right, O sons of
Israel; ye have heard what those
three men have sworn by the Law
of God, who said, We have seen
Jesus speaking with his disciples
upon mount Olivet, and we saw
him ascending up to heaven.

2  And the scripture teacheth
us that the blessed prophet Elijah
was taken up to heaven, and Elisha
being asked by the sons of the
prophets, Where is our father Elijah?
He said to them, that he is taken up
to heaven.

3  And the sons of the prophets
said to him, Perhaps the spirit
hath carried him into one of the
mountains of Israel, there perhaps
we shall find him. And they besought
Elisha, and he walked about with
them three days, and they could
not find him.

4  And now hear me, O sons of
Israel, and let us send men into
the mountains of Israel, lest
perhaps the spirit hath carried
away Jesus, and there perhaps we
shall find him, and be satisfied.

5  And the counsel of Nicodemus
pleased all the people; and they
sent forth men who sought for Jesus,
but could not find him; and they
returning, said, We went all about,
but could not find Jesus, but we
have found Joseph in his city of
Arimathaea.

6  The rulers hearing this, and
all the people, were glad, and
praised the God of Israel, because
Joseph was found, whom they had
shut up in a chamber, and could
not find.

7  And when they had formed a
large assembly, the chief priests
said, By what means shall we bring
Joseph to us to speak with him?

8  And taking a piece of paper,
they wrote to him, and said, Peace
be with thee, and all thy family,
We know that we have offended
against God and thee. Be pleased
to give a visit to us, your fathers,
for we were perfectly surprised at
your escape from prison.

9  We know that it was malicious
counsel which we took against
thee, and that the Lord took care
of thee, and the Lord himself
delivered thee from our designs.
Peace be unto thee, Joseph, who
art honourable among all the
people.

10  And they chose seven of
Joseph's friends, and said to them,
When ye come to Joseph, salute
him in peace, and give him this
letter.

11  Accordingly, when the men
came to Joseph, they did salute
him in peace, and gave him the
letter.

12  And when Joseph had read it,
he said, Blessed be the Lord God,
who didst deliver me from the
Israelites, that they could not
shed my blood. Blessed be God,
who hast protected me under thy
wings.

13  And Joseph kissed them, and
took them into his house. And on
the morrow, Joseph mounted his
ass, and went along with them to
Jerusalem.

14  And when all the Jews heard
these things, they went out to
meet him, and cried out, saying,
Peace attend thy coming hither,
father Joseph.

15  To which he answered,
Prosperity from the Lord attend
all the people.

13  And they all kissed him; and
Nicodemus took him to his house,
having prepared a large
entertainment.

17  But on the morrow, being
a preparation-day, Annas, and
Caiaphas, and Nicodemus, said to
Joseph, Make confession to the
God of Israel, and answer to us
all those questions which we shall
ask thee;

18  For we have been very much
troubled, that thou didst bury the
body of Jesus; and that when we
had locked thee in a chamber, we
could not find thee; and we have
been afraid ever since, till this
time of thy appearing among us.
Tell us therefore before God, all
that came to pass.

19  Then Joseph answering,
said Ye did indeed put me under
confinement, on the day of
preparation, till the morning.

20  But while I was standing at
prayer in the middle of the night,
the house was surrounded with
four angels; and I saw Jesus as
the brightness of the sun, and fell
down upon the earth for fear.

21  But Jesus laying hold on my
hand, lifted me from the ground,
and the dew was then sprinkled
upon me; but he, wiping my face,
kissed me, and said unto me, Fear
not, Joseph; look upon me for
it is I.

22  Then I looked upon him, and
said, Rabboni Elias! He answered
me, I am not Elias, but Jesus of
Nazareth, whose body thou didst
bury.

23  I said to him, show me the
tomb in which I laid thee.

24  Then Jesus, taking me by the
hand, led me unto the place where
I laid him, and showed me the
linen clothes, and napkin which I
put round his head. Then I knew
that it was Jesus, and worshipped
him, and said; Blessed be he who
cometh in the name of the Lord.

25  Jesus again taking me by the
hand, led me to Arimathaea, to my
own house, and said to me, Peace
be to thee; but go not out of thy
house till the fortieth day; but
I must go to my disciples.



CHAPTER XII.

     1 The Jews astonished and confounded.
     16 Simeon's two sons, Charinus and Lenthius,
     rise from the dead at Christ's crucifixion.
     19 Joseph proposes to get them to relate the
     mysteries of their resurrection.
     21 They are sought and found,
     22 brought to the synagogue,
     23 privately sworn to secrecy,
     25 and undertake to write what they had seen.

WHEN the chief priests and
Levites heard all these
things, they were astonished, and
fell down with their faces on the
ground as dead men, and crying
out to one another, said, What is
this extraordinary sign which is
come to pass in Jerusalem? We
know the father and mother of
Jesus.

2  And a certain Levite said,
I know many of his relations,
religions persons, who are wont to
offer sacrifices and burnt-offerings
to the God of Israel, in the temple,
with prayers.

3  And when the high-priest
Simeon took him up in his arms,
he said to him, Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace,
according to thy word; for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation,
which then halt prepared before
the face of all people; a light to
enlighten the Gentiles, and the
glory of thy people Israel.

4  Simeon in like manner blessed
Mary the Mother of Jesus, and
said to her, I declare to thee
concerning that child; He is
appointed for the fall and rising
again of many, and for a sign
which shall be spoken against;

5  Yea, a sword shall pierce
through thine own soul also, and
the thoughts of many hearts shall
he revealed.

6  Then said all the Jews, Let
us send to those three men, who
said they saw him talking with
his disciples in mount Olivet.

7  After this, they asked them
what they had seen; who answered
with one accord, In the presence
of the God of Israel we affirm,
that we plainly saw Jesus talking
with his disciples in Mount Olivet,
and ascending up to heaven.

8  Then Annas and Caiaphas took
them into separate places, and
examined them separately; who
unanimously confessed the truth,
and said, they had seen Jesus.

9  Then Annas and Caiaphas said
"Our law saith, By the mouth of
two or three witnesses every word
shall be established."

10  But what have we said?
The blessed Enoch pleased God,
and was translated by the word of
God; and the burying-place of the
blessed Moses is known.

11  But Jesus was delivered to
Pilate, whipped, crowned with
thorns, spit upon, pierced with a
spear, crucified, died upon the
cross, and was buried, and his
body the honourable Joseph buried
in a new sepulchre, and he testifies
that he saw him alive.

12  And besides, these men have
declared, that they saw him talking
with his disciples in Mount Olivet,
and ascending up to heaven.

13  Then Joseph rising up, said
to Annas and Caiaphas, Ye may be
justly under a great surprise,
that you have been told, that
Jesus is alive, and gone up to
heaven.

14  It is indeed a thing really
surprising, that he should not
only himself arise from the dead,
but also raise others from their
graves, who have been seen by
many in Jerusalem.

15  And now hear me a little
We all knew the blessed Simeon,
the high-priest, who took Jesus
when an infant into his arms in
the temple.

16  This same Simeon had two sons
of his own, and we were all present
at their death and funeral.

17  Go therefore and see their
tombs, for these are open, and
they are risen: and behold, they
are in the city of Arimathaea,
spending their time together in
offices of devotion.

18  Some, indeed, have heard
the sound of their voices in prayer,
but they will not discourse with
anyone, but they continue as mute
as dead men.

19  But come, let us go to them,
and behave ourselves towards them
with all due respect and caution.
And if we can bring them to swear,
perhaps they will tell us some of
the mysteries of their resurrection.

20  When the Jews heard this
they were exceedingly rejoiced.

21  Then Annas and Caiaphas,
Nicodemus, Joseph, and Gamaliel,
went to Arimathaea, but did not
find them in their graves; but
walking about the city, they found
them on their bended knees at
their devotions:

22  Then saluting them with all
respect and deference to God, they
brought them to the synagogue at
Jerusalem; and having shut the
gates, they took the book of the
law of the Lord,

23  And putting it in their hands,
swore them by God Adonai, and
the God of Israel, who spake to
our fathers by the law and the
prophets, saying, If ye believe
him who raised you from the dead,
to be Jesus, tell us what ye have
seen, and how ye were raised from
the dead.

24 Charinus and Lenthius, the
two sons of Simeon, trembled
when they heard these things, and
were disturbed, and groaned; and
at the same time looking up to
heaven, they made the sign of the
cross with their fingers on their
tongues,

25  And immediately they spake,
and said, Give each of us some
paper, and we will write down for
you all those things which we have
seen. And they each sat down
and wrote, saying:--



CHAPTER XIII.

     1 The narrative of Charinus and Lenthius commences.
     3 A great light in hell.
     7 Simeon arrives, and announces the coming of Christ.

O LORD Jesus and Father, who
art God, also the resurrection
and life of the dead, give us
leave to declare thy mysteries,
which we saw after death, belonging
to thy cross; for we are sworn by
thy name.

2  For thou hast forbidden thy
servants to declare the secret
things, which were wrought by
thy divine power in hell.

3  When we were Placed with
our fathers in the dept of hell,
in the blackness of darkness,
on a sudden there appeared the
colour of the sun like gold,
and a substantial purple-coloured
light enlightening the place.

4  Presently upon this, Adam,
the father of all mankind, with
all the patriarchs and prophets,
rejoiced and said, That light is the
author of everlasting light, who
hath promised to translate us to
everlasting light.

5  Then Isaiah the prophet cried
out and said, This is the light
of the Father, and the Son of God,
according to my prophecy, when I
was alive upon earth.

6  The land of Zabulon, and the
land of Nephthalim, beyond Jordan,
a people who walked in darkness,
saw a great light; and to them
who dwelled in the region of the
shadow of death, light is arisen.
And now he is come, and hath
enlightened us who sat in death.

7  And while we were all rejoicing
in the light which shone upon us,
our father Simeon came among us,
and congratulating all the company,
said, Glorify the Lord Jesus Christ
the Son of God.

8 Whom I took up in my arms when
an infant in the temple, and
being moved by the Holy Ghost,
said to him, and acknowledged,
That now mine eyes have seen thy
salvation, which thou hast prepared
before the face of all people; a
light to enlighten the Gentiles,
and the glory of thy people Israel.

9  All the saints who were in
the depth of hell, hearing this,
rejoiced the more.

10  Afterwards there came forth
one like a little hermit, and was
asked by every one, Who art thou?

11  To which he replied, I am
the voice of one crying in the
wilderness, John the Baptist, and
the prophet of the Most High, who
went before his coming to prepare
his way, to give the knowledge of
salvation to his people for the
forgiveness of sins.

12  And I, John, when I saw
Jesus coming to me, being moved
by the Holy Ghost, I said, Behold
the Lamb of God, behold him who
takes away the sins of the world.

13  And I baptized him in the
river Jordan, and saw the Holy
Ghost descending upon him in the
form of a dove, and heard a voice
from heaven saying, This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.

14  And now while I was going
before him, I came down hither to
acquaint you, that the Son of God
will next visit us, and, as the
day-spring from on high, will come to
us, who are in darkness and the
shadow of death.



CHAPTER XIV.

     1 Adam causes Seth to relate what he heard
     from Michael the archangel, when he sent him
     to Paradise to entreat God to anoint his
     head in his sickness.

BUT when the first man our father
Adam heard these things, that
Jesus was baptized in Jordan,
he called out to his son Seth,
and said,

2  Declare to your sons, the
patriarchs and prophets, all those
things, which thou didst hear from
Michael, the archangel, when I
sent thee to the gates of Paradise,
to entreat God that he would
annoint my head when I was sick.

3  Then Seth, coming near to the
patriarchs and prophets, said, I,
Seth, when I was praying to God
at the gates of Paradise, beheld
the angel of the Lord, Michael,
appear unto me, saying, I am sent
unto thee from the Lord; I am
appointed to preside over human
bodies.

4  I tell thee, Seth, do not pray
to God in tears, and entreat him
for the oil of the tree of mercy
wherewith to anoint thy father
Adam for his head-ache;

5  Because thou canst not by any
means obtain it till the last day
and times, namely, till five thousand
and five hundred years be past.

6  Then will Christ, the most
merciful Son of God, come on
earth to raise again the human
body of Adam, and at the same
time to raise the bodies of the
dead, and when he cometh he will
be baptized in Jordan;

7  Then with the oil of his
mercyhe will anoint all those
who believe in him; and the oil
of his mercy will continue to
future generations, for those
who shall be born of the water
and the Holy Ghost unto eternal
life.

8  And when at that time the
most merciful Son of God, Christ
Jesus, shall come down on earth,
he will introduce our father Adam
into Paradise, to the tree of mercy.

9 When all the patriarchs and
prophets heard all these things
from Seth, they rejoiced more.



CHAPTER XV.

     1 Quarrel between Satan and the prince of hell,
     concerning the expected arrival of Christ in hell.

WHILE all the saints were
rejoicing, behold Satan, the
prince and captain of death, said
to the prince of hell,

2  Prepare to receive Jesus of
Nazareth himself, who boasted
that he was the Son of God, and
yet was a man afraid of death, and
said, My soul is sorrowful even to
death.

3  Besides he did many injuries
to me and to many others; for
those whom I made blind and lame
and those also whom I tormented
with several devils, he cured by
his word; yea, and those whom I
brought dead to thee, he by force
takes away from thee.

4  To this the prince of hell
replied to Satan, Who is that so
powerful prince, and yet a man who
is afraid of death?

5  For all the potentates of the
earth are subject to my power,
whom thou broughtest to subjection
by thy power.

6  But if he be so powerful in his
human nature, I affirm to thee for
truth, that he is almighty in his
divine nature, and no man can
resist his power:

7  When therefore he said he was
afraid of death, he designed to
ensnare thee, and unhappy it will be
to thee for everlasting ages,

8  Then Satan replying, said to
the prince of hell, Why didst thou
express a doubt, and wast afraid to
receive that Jesus of Nazareth,
both thy adversary and mine?

9  As for me, I tempted him and
stirred up my old people the Jews
with zeal and anger against him;

10  I sharpened the spear for his
suffering; I mixed the gall and
vinegar, and commanded that he
should drink it; I prepared the
cross to crucify him, and the nails
to pierce through his hands and
feet; and now his death is near
at hand, I will bring him hither,
subject both to thee and me.

11  Then the prince of hell
answering, said, Thou saidst to me
just now, that he took away the
dead from me by force.

12  They who have been kept here
till they should live again upon
earth, were taken away hence,
not by their own power, but by
prayers made to God, and their
almighty God took them from me.

13  Who then is that Jesus of
Nazareth that by his word hath
taken away the dead from me
without prayer to God?

14  Perhaps it is the same who
took away from me Lazarus, after
he had been four days dead, and
did both stink and was rotten, and
of whom I had possession as a dead
person, yet he brought him to life
again by his power.

15  Satan answering, replied to
the prince of hell, It is the very
same person, Jesus of Nazareth.

16  Which when the prince of hell
heard, he said to him, I adjure
thee by the powers which belong
to thee and me, that thou bring
him not to me.

17  For when I heard of the power
of his word, I trembled for fear,
and all my impious company were
at the same disturbed;

18  And we were not able to detain
Lazarus, but he gave himself a
shake, and with all the signs of
malice he immediately went away
from us; and the very earth, in
which the dead body of Lazarus
was lodged, presently turned him
out alive.

19  And I know now that he is
Almighty God who could perform
such things, who is mighty in his
dominion, and mighty in his human
nature, who is the Saviour of
mankind.

20  Bring not therefore this person
hither, for he will set at liberty
all those whom I hold in prison
under unbelief, and bound with
the fetters of their sins, and will
conduct them to everlasting life.



CHAPTER XVI.

     1 Christ's arrival at hell-gates;
     the confusion thereupon.
     19 He descends into hell.

AND while Satan and the Prince
of hell were discoursing thus
to each other, on a sudden there
was a voice as of thunder, and the
rushing of winds, saying, Lift up
your gates, O ye princes; and be
ye lift up, O everlasting gates,
and the King of Glory shall come in.

2  When the prince of hell heard
this, he said to Satan, Depart from
me, and begone out of my habitations;
if thou art a powerful warrior,
fight with the King of Glory.
But what hast thou to do with
him?

3  And he cast him forth from his
habitations.

4  And the prince said to his
impious officers, Shut the brass gates
of cruelty, and make them fast with
iron bars, and fight courageously,
lest we be taken captives.

5  But when all the company of
the saints heard this they spake
with a loud voice of anger to the
prince of hell,

6  Open thy gates, that the King
of Glory may come in.

7  And the divine prophet David
cried out, saying, Did not I, when
on earth, truly prophesy and say,
O that men would praise the Lord
for his goodness, and for his
wonderful works to the children
of men!

8  For he hath broken the gates
of brass, and cut the bars of iron
in sunder. He hath taken them
because of their iniquity, and
because of their unrighteousness
they are afflicted.

9  After this, another prophet,
namely, holy Isaiah, spake in like
manner to all the saints, Did not
I rightly prophesy to you when I
was alive on earth?

10  The dead men shall live, and
they shall rise again who are in
their graves, and they shall rejoice
who are in the earth; for the dew
which is from the Lord, shall
bring deliverance to them.

11  And I said in another place,
O grave, where is thy victory?
O death, where is thy sting?

12  When all the saints heard
these things spoken by Isaiah,
they said to the prince of hell,
Open now thy gates, and take
away thine iron bars; for thou
wilt now be bound, and have no
power.

13  Then was there a great voice,
as of the sound of thunder, saying,
Lift up your gates, O princes; and
be ye lifted up, ye gates of hell,
and the King of Glory will enter
in.

14  The prince of hell perceiving
the same voice repeated, cried out,
as though he had been ignorant,
Who is that King of Glory?

15  David replied to the prince
of hell, and said, I understand the
words of that voice, because I
spake them in his spirit. And now,
as I have before said, I say unto
thee, the Lord strong and powerful,
the Lord mighty in battle: he is
the King of Glory, and he is the
Lord in heaven and in earth.

16  He hath looked down to hear
the groans of the prisoners, and to
set loose those that are appointed
to death.

17  And now, thou filthy and
stinking prince of hell, open thy
gates, that the King of Glory may
enter in; for he is the Lord of
heaven and earth.

18  While David was saying this,
the mighty Lord appeared in the
form of a man, and enlightened
those places which had ever before
been in darkness.

19  And broke asunder the fetters
which before could not be broken;
and with his invincible power
visited those who sate in the deep
darkness by iniquity, and the shadow
of death by sin.



CHAPTER XVII.

     1 Death and the devils in great horror
     at Christ's coming.
     13 He tramples on death, seizes the prince
     of hell, and takes Adam with him to Heaven.

IMPIOUS death and her cruel
officers hearing these things,
were seized with fear in their
several kingdoms, when they saw
the clearness of the light,

2  And Christ himself on a sudden
appearing in their habitations,
they cried out therefore, and said,
We are bound by thee; thou seemest
to intend our confusion before
the Lord.

3  Who art thou, who has no signs
of corruption, but that bright
appearance which is a full proof of
thy greatness, of which yet thou
seemest to take no notice?

4  Who art thou, so powerful,
and so weak, so great and so little;
mean, and yet a soldier of the first
rank, who can command in the form
of a servant and a common soldier?

5  The king of Glory, dead and
alive, though once slain upon the
cross?

6  Who layest dead in the grave,
and art come down alive to us,
and in thy death all the creatures
trembled, and all the stars were
moved; and now hast thy liberty
among the dead, and givest
disturbance to our legions?

7  Who art thou, who dost release
the captives that were held
in chains by original sin, and
bringest them into their former
liberty?

8  Who art thou, who dost spread
so glorious and divine a light over
those who were made blind by the
darkness of sin?

9  In like manner all the legions
of devils were seized with the like
horror, and with the most submissive
fear cried out, and said,

10  Whence comes it, O thou
Jesus Christ, that thou art a man
so powerful and glorious in majesty
so bright as to have no spot, and
so pure as to have no crime? For
that lower world of earth, which
was ever till now subject to us,
and from whence we received
tribute, never sent us such a
dead man before, never sent such
presents as these to the princes of
hell.

11  Who therefore art thou, who
with such courage enterest among
our abodes, and art not only not
afraid to threaten us with the
greatest punishments, but also
endeavourest to rescue all others
from the chains in which we hold
them?

12  Perhaps thou art that Jesus,
of whom Satan just now spoke to
our prince, that by the death of
the cross thou wert about to
receive the power of death.

13  Then the King of Glory
trampling upon death, seized the
prince of hell, deprived him of all
his power, and took our earthly
father Adam with him to his glory.



CHAPTER XVIII.

     1 Beelzebub, prince of hell, vehemently upbraids Satan for
     persecuting Christ and bringing him to hell.
     14 Christ gives Beelzebub dominion over Satan forever,
     as a recompence for taking away Adam and his sons.

THEN the prince of hell took
Satan, and with great indignation
said to him, O thou prince of
destruction, author of Beelzebub's
defeat and banishment, the scorn
of God's angels and loathed by all
righteous persons! What inclined
thee to act thus?

2  Thou wouldst crucify the King
of Glory, and by his destruction,
hast made us promises of very
large advantages, but as a fool
wert ignorant of what thou wast
about.

3  For behold now that Jesus of
Nazareth, with the brightness of
his glorious divinity, puts to flight
all the horrid powers of darkness
and death;

4  He has broke down our prisons
from top to bottom, dismissed
all the captives, released all
who were bound, and all who were
wont formerly to groan under the
weight of their torments, have
now insulted us, and we are like
to be defeated by their prayers.

5  Our impious dominions are
subdued, and no part of mankind
is now left in our subjection, but
on the other hand, they all boldly
defy us;

6  Though, before, the dead never
durst behave themselves insolently
towards us, nor being prisoners,
could ever on any occasion be
merry.

7  O Satan, thou prince of all
the wicked, father of the impious
and abandoned, why wouldest thou
attempt this exploit, seeing our
prisoners were hitherto always
without the least hope of
salvation and life?

8  But now there is not one of
them does ever groan, nor is there
the least appearance of a tear in
any of their faces.

9  O prince Satan, thou great
keeper of the infernal regions,
all thy advantages which thou didst
acquire by the forbidden tree, and
the loss of Paradise, thou hast
now lost by the wood of the
cross;

10  And thy happiness all then
expired, when thou didst crucify
Jesus Christ the King of Glory.

11  Thou hast acted against thine
own interest and mine, as thou
wilt presently perceive by those
large torments and infinite
punishments which thou art
about to suffer.

12 O Satan, prince of all evil,
author of death, and source of all
pride, thou shouldest first have
inquired into the evil crimes of
Jesus of Nazareth, and then thou
wouldest have found that he was
guilty of no fault worthy of death.

13  Why didst thou venture,
without either reason or justice,
to crucify him, and hast brought
down to our regions a person
innocent and righteous, and thereby
hast lost all the sinners, impious
and unrighteous persons in the
whole world?

14  While the prince of hell was
thus speaking to Satan, the King
of Glory said to Beelzebub the
prince of hell, Satan the prince
shall he subject to thy dominions
for ever, in the room of Adam and
his righteous sons, who are mine,



CHAPTER XIX.

     1 Christ takes Adam by the hand,
     the rest of the saints join hands,
     and they all ascend with him to Paradise.

THEN Jesus stretched forth his
hand, and said, Come to me,
all ye my saints, who were created
in my image, who were condemned
by the tree of the forbidden fruit,
and by the devil and death;

2  Live now by the wood of my
cross; the devil, the prince of this
world, is overcome, and death is
conquered,

3  Then presently all the saints
were joined together under the
hand of the most high God; and
the Lord Jesus laid hold on Adam's
hand, and said to him, Peace be
to thee, and all thy righteous
posterity, which is mine.

4  Then Adam, casting himself
at the feet of Jesus, addressed
himself to him with tears, in
humble language, and a loud voice,
saying,

5  "I will extol thee, O Lord, for
thou halt lifted me up, and hast
not made my foes to rejoice over
me. O Lord my God, I cried
unto thee, and thou hast healed
me."

6  "O Lord thou hast brought up
my soul from the grave; thou
hast kept me alive, that I should
not go down to the pit."

7  "Sing unto the Lord, all ye
saints of his, and give thanks at
the remembrance of his holiness,
for his anger endureth but for a
moment; in his favour is life."

8  In like manner all the saints,
prostrate at the feet of Jesus,
said with one voice, Thou art come,
O Redeemer of the world, and hast
actually accomplished all things,
which thou didst foretell by the
law and thy holy prophets.

9  Thou hast redeemed the living
by thy cross, and art come down
to us, that by the death of the
cross thou mightest deliver us
from hell, and by thy power from
death.

10  O Lord, as thou hast put the
ensigns of thy glory in heaven,
and hast set up the sign of thy
redemption, even thy cross on earth;
so, Lord, set the sign of the victory
of thy cross in hell, that death
may have dominion no longer.

11  Then the Lord stretching
forth his hand, made the sign of
the cross upon Adam, and upon
all his saints.

12  And taking hold of Adam by
his right hand, he ascended from
hell, and all the saints of God
followed him.

13  Then the royal prophet, David,
boldly cried, and said, O sing
unto the Lord a new song, for he
hath done marvellous things; his
right hand and his holy arm have
gotten him the victory.

14  The Lord hath made known
his salvation, his righteousness
hath he openly shewn in the sight
of the heathen.

15  And the whole multitude of
saints answered, saying, This
honour have all his saints, Amen,
Praise ye the Lord.

16  Afterwards, the prophet
Habbakuk cried out, and said,
Thou wentest forth for the salvation
of thy people, even for salvation
with thine anointed.

17  And all the saints said,
Blessed is he who cometh in the
name of the Lord; for the Lord
hath enlightened us. This is our
God for ever and ever; he shall
reign over us to everlasting ages.
Amen.

18  In like manner all the prophets
spake the sacred things of his
praise, and followed the Lord.



CHAPTER XX.

     1 Christ delivers Adam to Michael the archangel.
     3 They meet Enoch and Elijah in heaven,
     5 and also the blessed thief, who relates
     how he came to Paradise.

THEN the Lord, holding Adam
by the hand, delivered him
to Michael the archangel; and he
led them into Paradise, filled with
mercy and glory;

2  And two very ancient men
met them, and were asked by the
saints, Who are ye, who have not
yet been with us in hell, and have
had your bodies placed in Paradise?

3  One of them answering, said,
I am Enoch, who was translated
by the word of God: and this man
who is with me, is Elijah the
Tishbite, who was translated in a
fiery chariot.

4  Here we have hitherto been,
and have not tasted death, but are
now about to return at the coming
of Antichrist, being armed with
divine signs and miracles, to
engage with him in battle, and to be
slain by him at Jerusalem, and to
be taken up alive again into the
clouds, after three days and a
half.

5  And while the holy Enoch
and Elias were relating this,
behold there came another man in a
miserable figure, carrying the sign
of the cross upon his shoulders.

6  And when all the saints saw
him, they said to him, Who art
thou? For thy countenance is like
a thief's; and why dost thou carry
a cross upon thy shoulders?

7  To which he answering, said,
Ye say right, for I was a thief,
who committed all sorts of wicked.
ness upon earth.

8  And the Jews crucified me
with Jesus; and I observed the
surprising things which happened
in the creation at the crucifixion
of the Lord Jesus.

9  And I believed him to be the
Creator of all things, and the
Almighty King; and I prayed to
him, saying, Lord remember me,
when thou comest into thy kingdom.

10  He presently regarded my
supplication, and said to me,
Verily I say unto thee, this day
thou shalt be with me in Paradise.

11  And he gave me this sign of
the cross, saying, Carry this, and
go to Paradise; and if the angel
who is the guard of Paradise will
not admit thee, show him the sign
of the cross, and say unto him
Jesus Christ who is now crucified,
hath sent me hither to thee.

12  When I did this and told the
angel who is the guard of Paradise
all these things, and he heard
them, he presently opened the
gates, introduced me, and placed
me on the right hand in Paradise,

13  Saying, Stay here a little
time, till Adam, the father of all
mankind, shall enter in, with all
his sons, who are the holy and
righteous servants of Jesus Christ,
who was crucified.

14  When they heard all this
account from the thief, all the
patriarchs said with one voice,
Blessed be thou, O Almighty God,
the Father of everlasting goodness,
and the Father of mercies, who hast
shown such favour to those who were
sinners against him, and hast
brought them to the mercy of
Paradise, and hast placed them
amidst thy large and spiritual
provisions, in a spiritual and
holy life.  Amen.



CHAPTER XXI.

     1 Charinus and Lenthius being only allowed
     three days to remain on earth,
     7 deliver in their narratives, which miraculously
     correspond; they vanish,
     13 and Pilate records these transactions.

THESE are the divine and
sacred mysteries which we saw
and heard. We, Charinus and
Lenthius are not allowed to declare
the other mysteries of God, as the
archangel Michael ordered us,

2  Saying, ye shall go with my
brethren to Jerusalem, and shall
continue in prayers, declaring and
glorifying the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, seeing he hath raised
you from the dead at the same
time with himself.

3  And ye shall not talk with
any man, but sit as dumb persons
till the time come when the Lord
will allow you to relate the
mysteries of his divinity.

4  The archangel Michael farther
commanded us to go beyond Jordan,
to an excellent and fat country,
where there are many who rose
from the dead along with us
for the proof of the resurrection
of Christ.

5  For we have only three days
allowed us from the dead, who
arose to celebrate the passover of
our Lord with our parents, and to
bear our testimony for Christ the
Lord, and we have been baptized
in the holy river of Jordan. And
now they are not seen by any one.

6  This is as much as God allowed
us to relate to you; give ye
therefore praise and honour to
him, and repent, and he will have
mercy upon you. Peace be to you
from the Lord God Jesus Christ,
and the Saviour of us all. Amen,
Amen, Amen.

7  And after they had made an
end of writing, and had written
on two distinct pieces of paper,
Charinus gave what he wrote into the
hands of Annas, and Caiaphas, and
Gamaliel.

8  Lenthius likewise gave what
be wrote into the hands of Nicodemus
and Joseph; and immediately they
were changed into exceeding white
forms and were seen no more.

9  But what they had written
was found perfectly to agree, the
one not containing one letter more
or less than the other.

10  When all the assembly of the
Jews heard all these surprising
relations of Charinus and Lenthius,
they said to each other, Truly all
these things were wrought by
God, and blessed be the Lord Jesus
for ever and ever, Amen.

11  And they went all out with
great concern, and fear, and
trembling, and smote upon their
breasts and went away every one
to his home.

12  But immediately all these
things which were related by the
Jews in their synagogues concerning
Jesus, were presently told by Joseph
and Nicodemus to the governor.

13  And Pilate wrote down all
these transactions, and placed all
these accounts in the public records
of his hall.



CHAPTER XXII.

     1 Pilate goes to the temple; calls together
     the rulers, and scribes, and doctors.
     2 Commands the gates to be shut;
     orders the book of the Scriptures; and
     causes the Jews to relate what they really
     knew concerning Christ.
     14 They declare that they crucified Christ
     in ignorance, and that they now know him
     to be the Son of God, according to the
     testimony of the Scriptures; which,
     after they put him to death, were examined.

AFTER these things Pilate went
to the temple of the Jews,
and called together all the rulers
and scribes, and doctors of the
law, and went with them into a
chapel of the temple.

2  And commanding that all the
gates should be shut, said to them,
I have heard that ye have a certain
large book in this temple; I desire
you, therefore, that it may be
brought before me.

3  And when the great book,
carried by four ministers of the
temple, and adorned with gold and
precious stones, was brought,
Pilate said to them all, I adjure
you by the God of your Fathers,
who made and commanded this temple
to be built, that ye conceal not the
truth from me.

4  Ye know all the things which
are written in that book; tell me
therefore now, if ye in the
Scriptures have found any thing of
that Jesus whom ye crucified, and at
what time of the world he, ought
to have come: show it me.

5  Then having sworn Annas and
Caiaphas, they commanded all the
rest who were with them to go out
of the chapel.

6  And they shut the gates of the
temple and of the chapel, and said
to Pilate, Thou hast made us to
swear, O judge, by the building of
this temple, to declare to thee that
which is true and right.

7  After we had crucified Jesus,
not knowing that he was the Son
of God, but supposing he wrought
his miracles by some magical arts,
we summoned a large assembly in
this temple.

8  And when we were deliberating
among one another about the
miracles which Jesus had wrought,
we found many witnesses of our
own country, who declared that
they had seen him alive after his
death, and that they heard him
discoursing with his disciples, and
saw him ascending into the height
of the heavens, and entering into
them;

9  And we saw two witnesses,
whose bodies Jesus raised from the
dead, who told us of many strange
things which Jesus did among the
dead, of which we have a written
account in our hands.

10  And it is our custom annually
to open this holy book before an
assembly, and to search there for
the counsel of God.

11  And we found in the first of
the seventy books, where Michael
the archangel is speaking to the
third son of Adam the first man,
an account that after five thousand
five hundred years, Christ the
most beloved son of God was to
come on earth,

12  And we further considered,
that perhaps he was the very God
of Israel who spoke to Moses,
Thou shalt make the ark of the
testimony; two cubits and a half
shall be the length thereof, and a
cubit and a half the breadth thereof,
and a cubit and a half the height
thereof.

13  By these five cubits and a
half for the building of the ark
of the Old Testament, we perceived
and knew that in five thousand
years and half (one thousand) years,
Jesus Christ was to come in the
ark or tabernacle of a body;

14  And so our Scriptures testify
that he is the Son of God, and the
Lord and King of Israel.

15  And because after his suffering,
our chief priests were surprised
at the signs which were wrought
by his means, we opened that book
to search all the generations down
to the generation of Joseph and
Mary the mother of Jesus,
supposing him to be of the
seed of David;

16  And we found the account of
the creation, and at what time he
made the heaven and the earth,
and the first man Adam, and that
from thence to the flood, were two
thousand seven hundred and forty-
eight years.

17  And from the flood to Abraham,
nine hundred and twelve.
And from Abraham to Moses, four
hundred and thirty. And from
Moses to David the King, five
hundred and ten.

18  And from David to the Babylonish
captivity five hundred years.
And from the Babylonish captivity
to the incarnation of Christ, four
hundred years.

19  The sum of all which amounts
to five thousand and half (a thousand.)

20  And so it appears, that Jesus
whom we crucified, is Jesus Christ
the Son of God, and true Almighty
God. Amen.

(In the name of the Holy Trinity,
thus end the acts of our Saviour
Jesus Christ, which the Emperor
Theodosius the Great found at
Jerusalem, in the hall of Pontius
Pilate, among the public records;
the things were acted in the
nineteenth year of Tiberius Caesar,
Emperor of the Romans, and in
the seventeenth year of the
government of Herod, the son of
Herod and of Galilee, on the
eighth of the calends of April,
which is the twenty-third day of
the month of March, in the CCIId
Olympiad, when Joseph and Caiaphas
were rulers of the Jews; being a
History written in Hebrew by
Nicodemus, of what happened after
our Saviour's crucifixion.)



            REFERENCES TO THE GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS, FORMERLY
                   CALLED THE ACTS OF PONTIUS PILATE.

[Although this Gospel is, by some among the learned, supposed to have
been  really written by Nicodemus, who became a disciple of Jesus Christ,
and conversed with him; others conjecture that it was a forgery towards
the close  of the third century by some zealous believer, who, observing
that there had  been appeals made by the Christians of the former age,
to the acts of Pilate,  but that such acts could not be produced,
imagined it would be of service to  Christianity to fabricate and publish
this Gospel; as it would both confirm the Christians under persecution,
and convince the Heathens of the truth of  the Christian religion. The
Rev. Jeremiah Jones says, that such pious frauds  were very common among
Christians even in the first three centuries; and  that a forgery of this
nature, with the view above-mentioned, seems natural  and probable. The
same author, in noticing that Eusebius in his Ecclesiastical History,
charges the Pagans with having forged and published a book,  called "The
Acts of Pilate," takes occasion to observe that the internal evidence  of
this Gospel shows it was not the work of any Heathen, but that if in the
latter  end of the third century we find it in use among Christians (as
it was then  certainly in some churches), and about the same time find a
forgery of the  Heathens under the same title, it seems exceedingly
probable that some  Christians, at that time, should publish such a piece
as this, in order partly  to confront the spurious one of the Pagans, and
partly to support those appeals  which had been made by former Christians
to the Acts of Pilate; and Mr. Jones says, he thinks so more particularly
as we have innumerable instances  of forgeries by the faithful in the
primitive ages, grounded on less plausible reasons. Whether it be
canonical or not, it is of very great antiquity, and is appealed to by
several of the ancient Christians. The present translation is made from
the Gospel, published by Grynaeus in the Orthodoxographa, vol, i,  tom,
ii, p. 613.]

Notwithstanding the diversity of opinions here alluded to, the majority
of the learned believe  that the internal evidence of the authenticity of
this Gospel is manifested in the correct details  of that period of
Christ's life on which it treats, while it far excels the canonical
Evangelists narrative of the trial of our Saviour before Pilate, with
more minute particulars of persons, evidence, circumstance, &c.





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