Vu \

",7.1—1*1

0

"Igtvt tht/t £o»As
I jfiife^ 8te finniffng tf a. College. bt.tMs Colony"

Bought with the income
of the
Anna H, Chittenden Fund

Br rHE SAME AUTHOR
BIBLIA INNOCENTIUM : Being the
Story of God's Chosen People before the
Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ upon
Earth, written anew for Children. Crown
8vo, 6s.
THE SAYINGS OF THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST, as recorded by His Four Evan
gelists. Collected and Arranged by J. W.
Mackail. Fcp. 8vo, 2s. 6d.

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY

BIBLIA INNOCENTIUM

BIBLIA INNOCENTIUM:
PART SECOND
BEING THE STORY OF GOD'S
CHOSEN PEOPLE AFTER THE
COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS
CHRIST UPON EARTH, WRIT
TEN ANEW FOR CHILDREN BY
J. W. MACKAIL, SOMETIME FEL
LOW' OF BALLIOL COLLEGE,
OXFORD

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
NEW YORK AND BOMBAY
MDCCCCI

MiySO

Ballantyne Press
Edinburgh 53* London

CONTENTS
1. The Light of the World Tage i
II. The Angel with the LUy 2
111. The Vision by the Altar 3
IV. The Preparer of the Way 4
V. The Winter Journey 5
VI. The First Christmas 6
VII. The Ancient Gods 8
VIII. The Consolation of the People 9
IX. The Star in the East 10
X. The Gifts of the Kings 1 1
XI. The Slaughter of the Innocents 12
XII. The Flight into Egypt 14
XIII. The Boy in the Temple 15
XIV. The Voice in the Wilderness 16
XV. The Witness of John 17
XVI. The Hill of Evil Counsel 18
XVII. The Fishermen 19
XVIII. The Water made Wine 21
XIX. The Lake at Morning 22
XX. The Bridegroom's Friend 23
XXI. The Message from Prison 24
XXII. The Dance of Death 25
vii

XXIII. The Sower Tage 26
XXIV. The Hidden Meaning 27
XXV. The Tares in the Wheatfield 28
XXVI. The Harvesters of God 29
XXVII. The Inner Kingdom 30
XXVIII. The House of Birds 30
XXIX. The Great Supper 31
XXX. The Rich Fool 32
XXXI. The Two Prayers 33
XXXII. The Storm on the Lake 34
XXXIII. The Man among the Tombs 35
XXXIV. The Touch in the Crowd 37
XXXV. The House of Wailing 38
XXXVL The Choosing of the Twelve 39
XXXVII. The Mission of the Church 40
XXXVIII. The Feast in the Desert 42
XXXIX. The Water-Spirit 43
XL. The Greek Woman 44
XLl. The Vision on the Hill 45
XL II. The Greatest in the Kingdom 46
XLIII. The Unmerciful Servant 47
XLIV. The Inhospitable Village 49
XLV. The Pool of the Five Porches 50
XLVI. The Mercy of the Master 5 1
XLVII. The WeU in the Valley 52
XL VIII. The Invisible Bread 53
XLIX. The Perilous Road
L. The Lost Found
LL The Far Country 56
LII. The Elder Son 58
LIIl. The Alabaster Box 59
viii

5455

LIV. The Narrow Gate Tage 6i
LV. The Day's Wages 62
LVI. The Ten Pounds 64
LVII. The Joyful Entry 65
LVIII. The Wicked Husbandmen 67
LIX. The Ten Virgins 68
LX. The Parting of the Ways 70
LXI. The Man with the Water-Pitcher 71
LXII. The Thirty Pieces of Silver 72
LXIII. The Traitor 73
LXIV. The Last Supper 75
LXV. The Olive-Garden 76
LXVI. The Kiss of Judas 77
LXVII. The Fire in the Courtyard 78
LXVIIL The Field of Blood 79
LXIX. The Judgment-Seat 81
LXX, The King of the Jews 82
LXXL The Dolorous Way 83
LXXII. The Two Thieves 85
LXXIII. The Cross 86
LXXIV. The Darkness of the World 87
LXXV. The Spirits in Prison 88
LXXVL The Opening of the Gates 89
LXXVII. The Deliverer 90
LXXVllI. The Centurion's Spear 91
LXXIX. The Tomb in the Rock 92
LXXX. The Garden at Dawn 94
LXXXI. The Empty Grave 95
LXXXII. The Country Road 97
LXXXIIL The Locked Room 98
LXXXIV. The Print of the Nails 99

LXXXV. The Fire on the Beach Tage lOO
L XXXVL The Promise of the Presence 102
LXXXVII. The Baptism of Fire 103
LXXXVIII. The Beautiful Gate 104
LXXXIX. The Power of the Name 105
XC. The Liars 106
XCI. The Flower of Martyrdom 108
XCII. The Man in Bright Clothing 109
XCllI. The Vision by the Sea 1 10
XCIV. The Chariot in the Desert 1 1 2
XCV. The Light at Noon 113
XCVI. The Street in Damascus 114
XCVII. The Pilot Angel 115
XCVm. The Midnight City 117
XCIX. The Golden Robe 118
C. The Apostle of the Gentiles 119
CI. The Works of the Gods 1 20
CH. The Shore of Troy 122
CHI. The Earthquake in the Prison 123
CIV. The City of Wisdom 124
CV. The Speech at Athens 125
CVl. The Image of Ephesus 126
CVIL The Appeal to Rome 128
CVIII. The Sea-Tempest 129
CIX. The Shipwreck 130
ex. The Winter Island 131
CXI. The Emperor's Magician 133
CXIl. The Prince of the Apostles 134
CXlll. The Angel with the Palm 135
CXIV. The Lord's Brother 137
CXV. The City of Destruction 138

CXVI.

The Flight into the Wilderness

Tage 139

CXVII.

The Confusion of the World

140

CXVIII.

The Acts of the Apostles

142

CXIX.

The Indian King

143

CXX.

The Impregnable City

145

CXXl.

The Beloved Disciple

146

CXXIL

The Four Evangelists

147

CXXIII.

The Heathen Emperors

148

CXXIV.

Margaret of Antioch

149

CXXV.

The Winter Roses

150

CXXVl.

The Princess of Cyprus

152

CXXVII.

The Palace in the Desert

153

CXXVIll.

The Ring of Betrothal

155

CXXIX.

The Wise Masters

156

CXXX.

The Emperor's Wheel

158

CXXXI.

The Sign of Victory

159

CXXXll.

The Three Crosses

160

CXXXIII.

The Iron Crown

161

CXXXIV.

The Bough of Paradise

162

cxxxv.

The Tree of Life

163

CXXXVl.

The Knight's Cloak

164

CXXXVll.

The Four Doctors

165

CXXXVIIL

The King of the World

166

CXXXIX.

The Crossways

167

CXL.

The Ford of the River

169

CXLL

The Child in the Night

170

CXLII.

The Cave in the Hill

171

CXLIII.

The Cross over the Gate

173

CXL IV.

The Ancient Money

174

CXLV.

The Beginning of the End

176

CXLVL

TKe Fifteen Signs

177

XI

CXLVIL The Voice on the Island Tage 179
CXL VIII. The Watchers of the Throne 180
CXLIX. The Four Horsemen 181
CL. The Trumpets of God 182
CLI. The White Cloud 183
CLIL The Last Judgment 184
CLIII. The Eternal City 185

CHAPTER I
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
IN the beginning the word was alive with God,
and made all things, for the word was God.
Life was in the word, and that life was the light
of men. The light shone in the darkness, but
the darkness was not turned into light, until in
the end the word was made flesh and lived upon
earth, and men's eyes saw the glory of the word
made visible, as the glory of God's only son.
He was in the world that he had made, and the
world did not know him : but to those who
knew him he was truth and beauty, power and
life. For no man's bodily eyes have ever seen
God ; but the word that is alive with God, and
came from God into the world, has shown God
to men. This is the true light, which lights every
one who comes into the world.

CHAPTER II
THE ANGEL WITH THE LILY
AT the end of the ancient days there lived in
L the village of Nazareth in Galilee a man
named Joseph, a carpenter, and his wife Mary,
the daughter of Joachim and Anne. They were
poor people, but both of them came of the house
of King David. In spring, at the time of the year
when day and night are equal, Mary went out at
evening to draw water from the well; and as
she stood by the well, she heard a voice that said
to her, " Hail, full of grace ! " She was troubled,
and looked all ways, but saw no one; so she
filled her pitcher and went home. But while
she sat there in the dusk, Gabriel the archangel
came down from heaven and entered the room in
a great light. In his hand he carried a lily ; and
holding it out to her, he said, " Hail, highly
favoured ! the Lord is with you, and you are
blessed among women." Mary was afraid, and
wondered what might be the meaning of the
angel's salutation. But he said, " Mary, do not
fear : you have found favour with God, and shall
bring forth a son; and you shall call his name

Jesus. God shall give him the throne of David,
and his kingdom shall never have an end." Then
Mary found her voice, and said, " How shall this
be ? " The archangel answered, " The Holy
Spirit shall come upon you, and the Power of the
Highest overshadow you ; and the holy thing that
shall be born of your body shall be the Son of
God." Mary answered again, " Behold the Lord's
handmaiden ; let it be with me according to your
word." Then the angel and the light departed,
and she was left in the dark alone.
CHAPTER III
THE VISION BY THE ALTAR
WHEN the summer days grew long, Mary
went into the hill country to visit her
cousin Elizabeth, the wife of Zacharias the priest.
Zacharias and Elizabeth had been married for
many years and were still childless, though they
had often prayed for a son, that their name might
not cease out of the land. But the autumn before
this, Zacharia'- was serving in his turn in the
temple/i and ^ the custom was, he went into the
sanctufcry alone to burn incense before the golden
altaE. i-lVhen he w/ent' into the holy place he
3

saw an angel standing on the right hand of the
altar, who said, "Zacharias, your prayers are
heard : you shall have a son, whose name shall
be John ; and he shall be great in God's sight,
and shall make ready the people for One who
shall come after him." Zacharias was troubled,
and said, " How may I be sure of this ? " The
angel answered, " I am sent from the presence of
God to tell you this ; and because you do not
believe it, you shall be dumb until the child is
born." Meanwhile the people outside were won
dering why Zacharias was so long in the temple ;
but when he came out, they perceived that he had
seen a vision, for he made signs to them, but could
not speak.
CHAPTER IV
THE PREPARER OF THE WAY
NOW when Mary came into the house, Eliza
beth heard her voice in the doorway, and
at the sound of her voice the baby within her
leaped for joy ; and she cried out to Mary, " O
blessed among women, havgjj^'ou_gaffle to me,
mother of my Lord ? " ^Wsaid, ' was filled with
gladness, saying, "My fur with tkftf.aV' God,
for he has done great t|m, gij^y (.gu hand all
4

generations from henceforth shall call me blessed."
She stayed there with Elizabeth until the full
time came, and Elizabeth gave birth to a son.
When the baby was a week old, as the custom
was, all the neighbours came to feast and rejoice
with her : and at the feast Zacharias got his
speech again, and gave thanks to God ; and being
filled with the Holy Spirit, he said, " This child
shall go before the face of the Lord to prepare
his way, and to guide men's feet into the way of
peace ; for now the dayspring from on high is
come to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death."
CHAPTER V
THE WINTER JOURNEY
AT that time the Peace of Rome was over the
-l\ whole world; and Augustus Caesar the
Emperor made a decree that a reckoning should
be made of all the people of his dominion, each
in his own city or village, and that every man
should bring a penny in acknowledgment that
he was subject to the Empire of Rome. Now
Joseph had been born in Bethlehem of Judaea, the
town of his ancestor, King David : so he and
5

Mary set forth to go to Bethlehem to be enrolled
there, though now it was mid-winter, and the
time for Mary's child to be born was close at
hand. On Christmas Eve they came to Bethlehem.
But so many other people had come on the same
errand, that they found no room in the inn.
Near the inn was a cave that had once belonged
to the house of Jesse, the father of King David ;
but now the house was long ago fallen into ruin,
and the cave was used as a stable for cattle.
There Joseph put Mary while he went into the
town to find help for her. But before he could
come back, Mary brought forth her son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, while she was all alone in the cold
stable in the dark. She wrapped the baby in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in the manger;
and the ox and the ass that were stabled in the
cave looked on, and knelt down to worship the
new-born child.
CHAPTER VI
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS
ON the hills round Bethlehem there were
shepherds out in the fields keeping watch
over their flocks by night. As they kept watch

at midnight a great light shone out, and the
angel of God came down to them out of heaven.
At first they were afraid ; but the angel said, " Do
not be afraid : I bring you good tidings of great
joy that shall be upon all people; for this day
there is born in the city of David your saviour,
Christ the Lord." Then suddenly there was
with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host,
who sang, " Glory to God in the highest, and on
earth peace to men." They sang this, and passed
away still singing into heaven. When the
angels were gone, and the light and the music
had died away, there yet remained a great star
in the winter sky, shining steadily above Beth
lehem. Then the shepherds said one to another,
" Come, let us go down to Bethlehem and see this
thing which God has made known to us." So
they made haste to go down from the hills, and
by the light of the star they found the stable in
the cave, with Mary and Joseph, and the baby
lying in the manger, and they knelt down and
worshipped him : for the shining of the star from
overhead made the cave as bright as day.

CHAPTER VII
THE ANCIENT GODS
ON the day when the Lord Jesus Christ was
born, the Sibyl in Rome looked from her
tower into the sky at mid-noon and saw a circle
of gold about the sun, and in the middle of it was
the figure of a maiden holding a child in her
arms. Then she called the Emperor out of his
palace and showed it to him, saying, " This child
is greater than you, O Emperor ; therefore wor
ship him." On that same day a ship sailing to
Italy was becalmed at evening off the mouth of
the river Acheloiis, and drifted with the tide
towards the island of Paxos. About midnight a
voice from the island called to the Egyptian pilot
on board the ship three times by his name. At
the third call he answered to his name, and the
voice said, " When you come to Palodes, tell that
Pan is dead." Next day they came to Palodes,
and there the wind dropped again and the sea fell
quite calm, so that they could not sail farther.
Then the pilot cried from the stern of the ship
towards the land, " Pan is dead " : and before he
had ceased speaking, there was heard along the
8

shore a great lamentation of many voices. For
the reign of the ancient gods was over, and their
life was done.
CHAPTER VIII
THE CONSOLATION OF THE PEOPLE
WHEN the forty days of the Purification
were finished, Mary and Joseph brought
the baby to the temple to present him to God,
and to make the offering of two young pigeons
for the first-born according to the law. In
Jerusalem was an aged man named Simeon, who
had lived far beyond the common years of human
life waiting for the Consolation of God. For
long ago, when he was turning the book of the
prophets into the Greek language, he mused
much over the place where it is told of the
sign that God gave to King Ahaz, of a child
to be born who should save Israel : and he had
prayed that he might not die before he had
seen God's chosen one, the Consolation of the
People. Now when Mary and Joseph brought
Jesus into the temple, Simeon came in also,
led by the Holy Spirit ; and taking the baby in
his arms, he gave thanks to God. But as he
9

gave him back to his mother, he said to her,
"Lo, this child shall cause many in Israel to
fall and to rise again; and through your own
soul also shall pierce the sword of the seven
sorrows for his sake." Then he blessed Joseph
and Mary, and saying, "Lord, now lettest thou
thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation," he joyfully died.
CHAPTER IX
THE STAR IN THE EAST
IN the East were three kings, Caspar, Melchior,
and Balthasar, who were wizards, and sought
into the secrets of the heavens. A prophecy had
come down to them out of the ancient days, that
a star should rise in the East when the fulness
of the time was come ; and the appearing of the
star was to be for a sign that the King of kings
was born on the earth. Every year the three kings
ascended the Mountain of Victory, and watched
in the sky for the shining of the star. On the
night when Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem,
a bright star shone out suddenly over the moun
tain peak, and burned with a steady brightness
all night. Then the kings were glad, because
IO

they knew that the King was born; and they
made haste to go where the star should lead
them, that they might find the King and worship
him. So they made ready gifts, and set forth
to travel through many countries, over moun
tains and rivers, across plains and seas ; and
the star kept always shining before them, until
at last it led them to Judaea ; and they began to
ask of the people whom they met, "Where is
he that is born King ? for we have seen his Star
in the East, and are come to worship him."
CHAPTER X
THE GIFTS OF THE KINGS
WORD of this came to Herod, king of Judaea:
and being greatly troubled lest his own
kingdom should be taken away from him by the
child who was born a king, he sent for the three
kings of the East secretly, and inquired of them
at what time the star had first appeared. Then
he sent them away, saying to them, "Search
diligently until you have found the child born
to be king, and then bring me word again, that
I also may come and worship him." But in his
heart he meant to kill him. As soon as the

three kings had come out of Herod's palace,
the star appeared to them again which had led
them from the East, and went shining before
them, until it stood still over a house in Beth
lehem. When they entered, they found the
child there in the crib with his mother by him.
They took off their crowns, and knelt before
him; and opening the treasure that they had
brought with them out of the East, they offered
to him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Now gold is given for payment of tribute to
kings, and frankincense for sacrifice to the gods,
and myrrh for burial: and so the three kings
did service to the child as Lord of earth and
the living, and of heaven and the deathless, and
of death and the dead.
CHAPTER XI
THE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS
THAT night the kings were warned by God
in a dream not to go back to King Herod :
therefore they took ship secretly, and returned
to their own countries by another way. King
Herod waited long for them to come and tell him
where they had found the child born to be king ;

but they never came. Then he took counsel
with the wisest of his priests, asking them where
Christ should be born. They told him that
it was written in the book of the prophet, " Out
of Bethlehem shall come the Shepherd of the
People." Then Herod sent soldiers to Bethle
hem, with orders to kill aU the children there
under two years old. But no sooner had the
three kings of the East departed, than an angel
appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said to him,
" Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee into
Egypt : and stay there until I bring you a further
word ; for King Herod is seeking the child to kill
him." Joseph rose in haste, and in the dead of
night he saddled his ass and put Mary and her
baby on it ; and they stole out of Bethlehem in the
darkness, the angel leading them on the way.
That morning the soldiers came into Bethlehem,
and killed all the children under two years old
in the town and round it; and as far away as
Ramah, through the silence of the hills, was
heard the voice of mothers weeping and crying
aloud, and refusing to be comforted, because
their babies were dead.

13

CHAPTER XII
THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT
WHEN day broke, Mary and Joseph were
already far away among the southern
hills : and from the hills they took the desert
road that runs through the long wastes of sand
to Egypt. At the heat of noon they rested in a
grove of trees that made shadow about a well,
and all the trees of the grove bent down over
the child as he lay asleep in his mother's arms.
So they passed through the desert in safety, and
came into Egypt to the city of Heliopolis. For
hundreds of years afterwards the people of that
town showed strangers a peach-tree that grew by
the city gate, and told the story that when Mary
and her child entered, that tree had suddenly
burst all into flower; for even the trees and
flowers, no less than the ox and ass in the stable,
and all God's creatures, knew this child for their
Lord. Joseph and Mary lived in Egypt until
they heard that King Herod was dead ; and then,
at the bidding of the angel, they went back to
their own country and the carpenter's shop at
Nazareth. 14

CHAPTER XIII
THE BOY IN THE TEMPLE
WHEN Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph
and Mary took him up with them to Jeru
salem to keep the feast of the Passover there, as
was the custom of their people. After the feast
was over, they set forth to go home again with all
the rest of their neighbours who had gone up
with them. But the boy was left behind ; and
they had gone a whole day's journey on their
way home before they missed him, for all the
day they had thought that he was somewhere
among the rest of their fellow-travellers. But at
evening they searched for him everywhere among
the company, and he was nowhere to be found.
Next morning they went back to Jerusalem,
and continued searching for him there for three
days, until at last they found him in the temple,
sitting among the ancient men who were learned
in the law. He was listening to them and asking
them questions; and they were all astonished
by his wisdom. Mary ran to him, crying, " My
son, why have you done this ? Your father and
I have sought you sorrowing." But he answered, 15

"Why did you seek me ? did you not know that
I must be about my Father's business ? " Then
he came away, and went back with them to
Nazareth, and until he grew up to be a man he
worked there in the carpenter's shop, and obeyed
his parents in everything. But always as he
grew up he increased in wisdom ; and his mother
treasured up all his sayings in her heart, and
pondered over them.
CHAPTER XIV
THE VOICE IN THE WILDERNESS
IN the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius
Caesar the Emperor, the word of God came
to John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness ;
for now he was thirty years old, and ever since
he grew up, he had lived in the wilderness like
the ancient prophets, dressed in a coat of camel's
hair with a leathern girdle, and feeding on the
locusts of the desert and the wild honey that he
found among the rocks : and he passed through
all the country about the river Jordan, preaching
repentance and the forgiveness of sins. The
people came out from the towns and followed him
in crowds, confessing their sins ; and he baptized
i6

them in the water of the river. Then Jesus came
also from Galilee to Jordan to be baptized by
John ; and as he came up out of the water, the
heavens • opened above him, and the Spirit of
God, like a dove, descended and lit on him ; and
a voice was heard out of heaven, saying, "This
is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."
CHAPTER XV
THE WITNESS OF JOHN
NOW the people all wondered in their hearts
whether John were the Christ or not : and
the Jews sent priests from Jerusalem to ask him,
" Who are you ? " but he said to them, " I am not
the Christ." They asked him again, " What then?
are you Elijah, or one of the old prophets ?" and
he answered, "No." "Who are you then?"
they said : " for we must give an answer to those
who sent us." He answered, " I am the Voice
of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare a way for
the Lord. I indeed baptize with water, but there
stands one among you whom you do not know,
one mightier than I, one who comes after me and
is preferred before me, the lace of whose shoes I
am not worthy to untie: he shall baptize with
B 17

the Holy Spirit and with fire." The next day
Jesus came to John; and when he saw him
coming, he said, " This is he of whom I said that
one who comes after me is preferred before me.
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a
dove and resting on him : I saw, and I bear
witness that this is the Son of God."
CHAPTER XVI
THE HILL OF EVIL COUNSEL
WHEN Jesus came up out of Jordan, he was
led by the Spirit up into the mountains of
the wilderness alone, and fasted there for forty
days and forty nights. At the end of the forty
days he was hungry; and the Enemy, the tempter
of mankind, came to him, saying, "If you are the
Son of God, command that these stones may be
made bread." He answered, " It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone." Then the tempter
took him up into the holy city, and setting him
on the parapet of the temple, said to him, "If
you are the Son of God, fling yourself down;
for it is written. He shall give his angels charge
over thee to keep thee, and they shall bear
thee up in their hands." Jesus answered, " It is
i8

written also. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God." So now the tempter took him away
again, and setting him on a high mountain,
showed him from it by his magic all the king
doms of the world and the glory of them in a
single moment, and said to him, " All this power
and glory I will give you (for it is mine), and it
shall all be yours, if you will only fall down and
worship me." But Jesus answered, " Leave me
alone, O Enemy; for it is written, Thou shalt
worship the Lord thy God, and him only." Then
the tempter seeing that all his temptations were
of no avail, departed from him. But angels
came from heaven bringing him food, and he
returned from the wilderness of the evil counsels
in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and began to
preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God in the
fields and cities by the lake.
CHAPTER XVII
THE FISHERMEN
AS Jesus walked on the shore of the lake, he
^ saw Simon Peter and his brother Andrew,
two lads of the town of Bethsaida, casting a net
into the lake, for they were fishermen ; and he
19

said to them, " Come after me, and I will make
you fishers of men." Then they forsook their
nets and followed him. He went a little farther,
and saw two other fisher lads, James and his
brother John, sitting in their boat with their
father and mending their nets. He called them
likewise ; and they left their father and the hirec?
servants in the boat, and went after him. The
four stayed with him that night; and the next
day they set out to go with him to Cana, where
he was bidden to a marriage-feast. On the way
they met another townsman of Bethsaida called
Philip ; and to him also Jesus said, " Follow me."
Philip went to his fellow Nathanael, and finding
him sitting under a fig-tree, he called him to come,
saying, "We have found the Master of whom
Moses and the prophets wrote; he is Jesus of
Nazareth, the son of Joseph." Nathanael an
swered, " Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth ? " Philip said, " Come and see " : and
brought him to Jesus ; and they all went together
to Cana, where a great company of guests was
met for the marriage.

CHAPTER XVIII
THE WATER MADE WINE
AT the marriage-feast, while Jesus and his
. disciples and his mother Mary sat among
the guests, word went round that there was no
more wine : for the wine that the bridegroom had
provided for the feast had all been drunk. Mary
whispered to her son, "They have no wine."
He answered, " My hour is not come yet." Then
she turned to the servants and said, " Do what
ever he tells you." Now there were standing on
the floor in the room six large stone jars, that
were used for holding water for washing. In a
little while Jesus said to the servants, " Fill these
jars with water." They filled the jars up to the
brim ; and then he said again to them, " Now draw
out, and take what you have drawn to the master
of the feast." So they dipped and drew out from
the jars, and the water in them had become wine.
The servants took a cup of the wine to the master
of the feast, but did not tell him whence it came ;
and when he tasted it, he praised it, and called
out aloud to the bridegroom, " Others set forth
21

their good wine at first, and their worse after
men have drunk well ; but you have kept your
best wine until now."
CHAPTER XIX
THE LAKE AT MORNING
AS Jesus stood by the lake at morning, the
. people came crowding round him to hear
the word of God. Close at hand two fishing-
boats were moored in the lake, and the fishermen
had come out of them at daybreak after fishing
on the lake all night, and were cleaning their
nets on the beach. One of the boats was Simon
Peter's ; and Jesus went into it and asked Peter
to thrust it out a little way from the shore, and
then he sat in it and taught the people who stood
on the land. When he had finished teaching
them, he said to Peter, " Put out into deep water
now, and let down your net." Peter answered,
" Master, we have toiled all night and caught
nothing ; but at your bidding I will let down the
net again." Then he and his man cast their net ;
and as soon as it was cast, a great shoal of fish
were inclosed in it, so that they could not haul it
in, and it began to break under the weight of the
22

fish. They made signals to their partners in the
other boat to come and help ; and with their help
they got the net up, and filled both boats so full
of fish that they began to sink. So when they
had got their boats to land, they forsook all and
followed Jesus ; and he went with them through
all that countryside, healing the sick, and preach
ing the good news of the Kingdom of God.
CHAPTER XX
THE BRIDEGROOM'S FRIEND
JOHN was still baptizing those that came to
him, by the wells of .^non in the hill-
country of the midland : but now fewer and fewer
people sought him, for all men's eyes were turned
on the new prophet, Jesus of Nazareth; and John's
disciples came to him and said, " Master, he
whom you baptized beyond Jordan baptizes now
himself, and all men go to him." John answered
them, " A man can receive nothing except what
it pleases God to give him. He must increase,
and I must decrease : 1 told you that 1 am not
the Christ, but one sent before him to prepare
his way." Also he spoke a parable to them,
saying, " He who has the bride is the bridegroom ;
23

but the bridegroom's friend stands beside him
and is glad when he hears the bridegroom's voice ;
this my joy therefore is fulfilled."
CHAPTER XXI
THE MESSAGE FROM PRISON
KING HEROD, the son of the murderer of
the Innocents, feared John; for he knew
that he was a holy man. But his wife Herodias
hated him, and wished to kill him ; and to please
her, Herod sent John to prison, but would not
let him be put to death. While he lay in prison,
John grew weary for the Kingdom of God to
come; and he sent two of his disciples to find
Jesus, and ask him, "Are you he that should
come, or have we to wait for another yet?"
They came to Jesus as he was healing the sick
and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, and
said to him, "John Baptist has sent us to you,
and bids us ask if you are he that should come,
or have we to wait for another yet?" Jesus
answered, "Go and tell John what you have
seen and heard; how the blind see, the lame
walk, the deaf hear, the sick are healed, the
dead are raised, the poor have the gospel
24

preached to them. Blessed is he who shall
not be offended because of me." Then they
went away : and he said to the people, " I tell
you, among those that are born of women there
is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist ;
yet he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven
is greater than he."

N

CHAPTER XXII
THE DANCE OF DEATH
OW King Herod's birthday came, when he
gave a supper to his lords and captains;
and as they sat feasting, Salome, the daughter
of Herodias, came in and danced before them
so beautifully that Herod cried out to her, "Ask
of me what you will and I will give it you, even
to the half of my kingdom," and swore a great
oath that he would make his promise good.
Salome went to her mother, and said to her,
"What shall I ask?" and Herodias said, "Ask
for the head of John the Baptist." Salome went
back to the banqueting-hall, where Herod still
sat among the lords and captains, who all had
heard the promise he made to her, and said,
" Give me John the Baptist's head in a dish."
25

Then the king was very sorry ; but for his oath's
sake, and for shame of being called a breaker
of oaths, he would not deny her, and sent an
executioner to the prison, who cut off John's
head, and laying it in a dish, brought it in to
Salome, and she took it and gave it to her mother,
Queen Herodias.

CHAPTER XXIII
THE SOWER
BUT Jesus went on preaching to the people
by the lake and on the hills. Now at that
time he taught them many things in parables;
and he began thus, saying : " Listen. A sower
went forth to sow ; and as he sowed, some of the
seed fell by the wayside, and the birds of the air
came and devoured it up. Some fell on stony
places, where it had not much earth; and be
cause it had no depth of soil, it sprang up
immediately : but when the sun was high, it
was scorched, because it had no root, and soon
it withered away. Some fell among weeds ; and
the weeds grew up round it and choked it, and
it yielded no fruit. But other seed, falling into
26

good soil, sprang up and increased, and brought
forth fruit, some of it thirty, and some sixty, and
some a hundredfold."
CHAPTER XXIV
THE HIDDEN MEANING
HIS disciples asked him afterwards, when
they were alone, "What is the meaning
of this parable ? " He said, " I will tell you ;
for to you it is given to know the hidden things
of the Kingdom of God, but they who are without
the Kingdom are such of whom the prophet said.
Seeing, they see not ; and hearing, they do not
understand. Listen, then, to the parable of the
sower. The seed is the word of God. The seed
that fell by the wayside are they who hear it
and take no heed of it ; then comes the Wicked
One, and catches away the word that was sown
in their hearts. The seed on the stony ground
are they who, when they hear the word, receive
it with joy, yet have no root in themselves, but
change with the time; for when persecution or
affliction comes for the word's sake, they are
immediately offended, and cast it away. That
which fell among weeds are they who, when
27

they have heard the word, go forth; and the
cares and pleasures of this world and the deceit-
fulness of riches entering in, choke the word,
so that they bring no fruit to perfection. But
that which fell on the good ground are they
who, in their honest and good heart, keep the
word that they have heard, and bring forth the
fruit of a good life."
CHAPTER XXV
THE TARES IN THE WHEATFIELD
HE said also : " A certain man sowed good
seed in his field. But while men slept
his enemy came and sowed tares among the
wheat, and went his way. So when the corn
blades sprang up and flowered, the tares ap
peared also growing all among them. Then the
man's servants came to him, and said. Sir, did
you not sow good seed in your field ? and how
is it that it yields tares ? He answered them.
An enemy has done this. Then, said they,
shall we go into the field and pluck them out?
But he said. No ; for while you were plucking out
the tares, you might root up the wheat also along
with them. Let both grow together until harvest
28

time; and at harvest time I will say to my
reapers. Gather the tares together first, and bind
them in bundles to be burned, but carry the
wheat into my barn."
CHAPTER XXVI
THE HARVESTERS OF GOD
THEN he sent the multitude away; and his
disciples came and said to him, "Make
plain to us the parable of the tares." He
answered, " The man who sowed the good seed
is the Son of Man. The field is the world. The
good seed are the children of the Kingdom ; and
the tares are the children of the Wicked One.
The enemy that sowed them is the devil. The
harvest is the end of the world ; and the reapers
are the angels. As therefore the tares were
gathered in bundles and burned, so it shall be at
the end of the world : the Son of Man shall send
his angels forth, and they shall gather out of his
kingdom all things that offend, and all who do
wicked deeds, and cast them into the furnace of
fire in the place of wailing; and then the
righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the
kingdom of their Father." 29

CHAPTER XXVII
THE INNER KINGDOM
NOW when they asked him when the King
dom of God would come, he answered,
saying: "The Kingdom of God is not here or
there, and it does not come by men's looking for
it ; for the Kingdom of God is within you. So is
the Kingdom of God, as if a man should cast
seed into the ground, and should sleep and rise
by night and by day, and the seed should spring
and grow up, he does not know how. For the
earth brings forth fruit of herself: first the blade,
then the ear, after that the full grain in the ear.
But when the grain is ripe, immediately he puts
in the sickle, because the harvest is come."
CHAPTER XXVIII
THE HOUSE OF BIRDS
ALSO he spoke this parable, and said:
. "Whereunto shall we liken the Kingdom
of God? or with what comparison shall we
compare it ? It is like a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took and sowed in his field : which
3°

when it is sown, is less than all the seeds that are
in the earth ; but when it has been sown it grows
up, and is the greatest among all herbs, and
becomes a tree, and shoots out great branches, so
that the birds of the air may come and lodge
under the shadow of it."
CHAPTER XXIX
THE GREAT SUPPER
WHEN one of those who sat by Jesus heard
these parables of the Kingdom, he said,
" Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the King
dom of God." Jesus answered him : " A certain
man made a great supper and invited many
guests : and at supper time he sent his servant
to say to those who were bidden. Come : for
everything is ready. But they all with one
consent began to make excuses. The first said,
I have bought a piece of land, and I must needs
go and see it ; pray hold me excused. Another
said, I have bought five pair of oxen, and am
going to try them in harness; pray hold me
excused. Another said, I have married a wife,
and therefore I cannot come. So the servant
came back and told his lord. Then the master
31

of the house was angry, and said to his servants.
Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in hither the beggars and cripples,
the lame and the blind. The servants went out
into the streets, and gathered together all the
people whom they found, both good and bad :
then they came back, and said, Lord, it is done
as you ordered, and yet there is room. The
master answered them, Go out into the high
ways and hedges and compel them to come in,
that my house may be filled : for I tell you, not
one of those who were invited shall taste of my
supper."
CHAPTER XXX
THE RICH FOOL
ALSO he said : " Take heed, and beware of
. covetousness; for a man's life does not
consist in the abundance of what he possesses.
The ground of a certain rich man brought forth
plentifully ; and he thought within himself. What
shall I do ? for I have no place large enough to
hold my goods. This is what I will do : I will
pull down my storehouses and build larger ones,
and there I will lay up all my goods, and I will
32

say to my soul, Soul, you have great riches laid
up for many years ; take your ease ; eat, drink,
and be merry. But God said to him. Fool,
to-night your soul shall be required of you :
then whose shall those things be which you have
laid up ? Such is every one who hoards riches
for himself, and is not rich in the sight of God.
Lay up for yourselves riches in heaven : for
where your treasure is, there your heart will be."
CHAPTER XXXI
THE TWO PRAYERS
THE disciples came to Jesus and said,
"Master, teach us how to pray." He
said: "When you pray, do not be like the
hypocrites, who love to pray in the churches and
at the street corners that they may be seen by
men : and do not use vain repetitions like the
heathen, who think that they will be heard for
their much speaking: and do not be like those
who trust in their own goodness and despise
others. Two men went to pray in the temple,
the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
The Pharisee stood forth by himself and prayed
thus: God, I thank thee that I am not as other
c 33

men are, extortioners, thieves, adulterers, or even
as yonder publican ; I fast twice a week ; I give
the tenth part of my gains in charity. But the
publican, standing back far off, would not so
much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote
on his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me a
sinner. I tell you he went home more clean than
the other in the sight of God. But do you, when
you pray, pray after this manner : Our Father in
heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom
come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in
heaven : give us this day our daily bread ; and
forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors ;
and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us
from evil: for thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, for ever."
CHAPTER XXXII
THE STORM ON THE LAKE
AFTER Jesus had taught the people thus, he
L. went on board a fishing-boat to cross the
lake. A certain scholar came to him, saying,
" Master, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have holes, and
birds have nests, but the Son of Man has
34

nowhere to lay his head." So they set sail : but in
mid-passage a great storm of wind came down
upon the lake, and the waves beat upon the boat
until it began to fill. But Jesus had fallen asleep
on a cushion in the stern of the boat, and slept
until his disciples came and awoke him, crying
out, " Master, do you not care if we all are
lost?" Then he rose, and rebuked the wind
and the fury of the water, and said to the sea,
" Peace I be still." Immediately the wind ceased,
and there was a great calm. Then he said to
them, " Why are you so fearful ? where is your
faith ? " But they were amazed, and one said to
another, " What kind of man is this, that even
the winds and the seas obey him ! "

CHAPTER XXXIII
THE MAN AMONG THE TOMBS
SO they crossed the lake safely, and came
ashore at morning by a place of tombs near
the town of Gadara. When they landed, the
first person they met was a certain man of
Gadara, who had for a long time been possessed
with a troop of evil spirits. He wore no clothes
35

and never lived in a house, but went about naked
and slept among the tombs ; and he was exceed
ingly fierce, so that people were afraid to pass by
that way. He had often been chained up, but
had always wrenched the chains asunder or
broken the fetters in pieces; and no one could
tame him, but he was always, both by night and
by day, on the hills or among the tombs, shriek
ing aloud and cutting himself with stones. But
when he saw Jesus from far off, he ran and fell
down before him, crying, " O Son of the Most
High, I beseech you in God's name, do not tor
ment me before my time." Then Jesus com
manded the evil spirits to come out of him. A
good way off there was a herd of about two
thousand swine feeding on the hill. The madness
that left the man rushed into the swine; and
immediately the whole herd, running violently to
the edge of the cliff, plunged into the lake and
were drowned. The swineherds ran away into
the town, and told what had happened ; and when
the townspeople came out in crowds to see, they
found the man sitting by Jesus, clothed and in
his right mind. When Jesus went aboard the
boat again to go back across the lake, the man
begged that he might go with him. But Jesus
36

would not take him, and said, " Go home to your
friends, and tell them what great things God has
done for you in his mercy."
CHAPTER XXXIV
THE TOUCH IN THE CROWD
WHEN they landed on the other side of the
lake, a crowd of people were waiting for
Jesus on the beach, and a ruler called Jairus
came forward, and falling at his feet, said, "My
little daughter lies at the point of death ; 1 beseech
you, come and lay your hands on her that she
may be healed, and she shall live." Jesus had
pity on him, and went with him ; and the crowd
followed them. Now in the crowd there was
a woman who had been very ill for twelve years,
and had spent all her money on doctors ; yet none
of them could cure her, and she grew no better,
but worse. She had heard of Jesus healing the
sick, and thought to herself, " If I may but touch
his garment, I might be made well." So she got
behind him in the crowd, and reaching out,
touched the border of his garment, and im
mediately she felt that she was cured. But Jesus
knew that virtue had gone out from him, and
37

turning round, he said, "Who touched my
clothes ? " The crowd was close all round him ;
and when no one else answered, Peter said,
"Master, the whole crowd are thronging and
pressing on you; how can you ask who touched
you ? " But Jesus still looking back, said again,
"Some one has touched me; for I feel that
virtue has gone out from me." Then the woman
came trembling, and fell down before him, and
told what she had done, and how that one touch
had healed her. Jesus said to her, "Daughter,
be of good comfort, and go in peace ; your faith
has made you whole."
CHAPTER XXXV
THE HOUSE OF WAILING
WHILE he spoke these words, a messenger
came running from the ruler's house, and
said to him, "Do not trouble the Master any
further; your daughter is dead." Then the
crowd dispersed, leaving the ruler alone with
Jesus and his disciples. But Jesus said to the
ruler, " Do not be afraid : only believe ; " and
they went on to his house. When they came in,
the house was full of mourners wailing and crying.
38

Jesus said to them, "Why do you weep and
make all this ado ? the girl is not dead, she is
asleep." They laughed at him, for they had
seen the girl lying lifeless ; but he put them all
out except the girl's father and mother and three
of his own disciples; and going with them into
the room where the girl lay, he took her by the
hand and said to her, " Maiden, arise." Im
mediately her spirit came to her again, and she
rose up. Her parents were so astonished, that
they did not know what to do : but he told them
to keep quiet and say nothing about it, but give
her something to eat.
CHAPTER XXXVI
THE CHOOSING OF THE TWELVE
WHEN Jesus saw the multitudes, he was
moved with pity for them, because they
were like sheep without a shepherd, and were
full of weariness and sorrow : and he said to his
disciples, " The harvest is plenteous, but the
labourers are few." Then he chose twelve from
among them, to whom he gave power to cast out
evil spirits and to heal all kinds of sickness and
disease. Six of them were those whom he had
39

first chosen and called to follow him from the
village on the lake; namely, Simon the son of
Jonah, who was surnamed Peter, and his brother
Andrew ; James the Greater, the son of Zebedee,
and his brother John, whom Jesus loved the
most of all his disciples ; Philip of Bethsaida,
and his friend Nathanael, who was also called
Bartholomew. The other six were these : James
the Less, the son of Alpheus, who was a near
kinsman of Jesus; Matthew the tax-gatherer,
whom he called to follow him from the table
where he sat taking the taxes ; Thomas the twin ;
Jude, whose surname was Thaddeus; Simon
the Zealot ; and Judas Iscariot, the pursebearer
of the twelve, who also was the traitor.
CHAPTER XXXVII
THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
THESE twelve Jesus now chose and sent out,
saying to them : " Do not go into the way
of the heathen, but go to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel, and tell them that the Kingdom
of Heaven is at hand. Give as freely as you
have received : heal the sick, cure the lepers, cast
out devils, raise the dead. I send you forth like
40

lambs in the midst of wolves ; be therefore wise
as serpents, and harmless as doves. Provide
neither gold nor silver nor copper in your purses,
nor a bag, nor two coats. Into whatever city or
village you enter, inquire who in it is worthy,
and stay with him until you leave the place. He
who receives you receives me : whoever gives
but a cup of cold water to drink to any of these
my little ones, shall not go unrewarded. You
shall be hated, and brought before governors and
kings for my sake ; but do not fear them. Two
sparrows are sold for a farthing, and not one of
them falls to the ground without your Father in
heaven seeing it ; and you are worth more than
many sparrows. Therefore do not fear; for
whoever does not take up his cross and follow
after me is not worthy of me ; but whoever shall
bear witness for me before men, I will also bear
witness for him before my Father in heaven."
So the twelve departed, and went through the
towns of Galilee, healing the sick and preach
ing the good news of the Kingdom.

41

CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE FEAST IN THE DESERT
WHEN the twelve came back to Jesus, they
told him of all that they had done and
taught : and he said to them, " Come with me
into a desert place, and rest a while." But when
the people heard where he had gone, thousands
of them came afoot out of all the towns, and
gathered round him to hear his teaching ; and he
taught them until the day was far spent. Then
his disciples said to him, " It is nearly night, and
this is a desert place ; send the people away now,
that they may go to the villages round about and
buy themselves bread ; for they have nothing to
eat." But he said, " They need not go : do you
give them food." They answered, " How can we
feed them ? we have no food with us here but
five barley loaves and a couple of fish." Jesus
said, " Bring them to me." Then he made all the
multitude sit down in rows on the grass of the
hillside, and took the five loaves and the two
fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed the
food, and gave it to his disciples, and they dis-
42

tributed it among the people : and after all had
eaten their fill, twelve baskets full were taken up
of the fragments that were left over.
CHAPTER XXXIX
THE WATER-SPIRIT
THEN Jesus told his disciples to get into
their boat and cross the lake again, while
he sent the people away ; and when they were
all gone, he went up to a mountain top and
prayed. As night fell, the disciples got into their
boat; but the wind was against them, so that
they could not use the sail, but had to labour
hard with the oars. So they toiled on rowing all
night, until just before dawn Jesus himself seemed
to come to them walking on the water. When
they saw him they were troubled and cried out
in fear, thinking it was a spirit of the lake.
But he spoke to them, saying, "Be of good
cheer ; it is I : do not be afraid." He came into
the boat, and immediately the wind ceased, and
they passed over and came to the land where
they desired to be.

43

CHAPTER XL
THE GREEK WOMAN
FROM thence Jesus went on a journey to the
borders of Tyre and Sidon ; and a Greek
woman, a Phcenician by race, came to him and
fell down at his feet, crying, " Have pity on me,
O Master : my little daughter is grievously vexed
with an evil spirit." For a while he did not
answer her a word ; and the disciples, thinking
that he did not mean to help her, said to him,
" Send her away ; for she keeps crying after us."
When the woman heard them, she cried out all
the more, " Lord, help me." Then he said to
her, " I am sent to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel : let the children be fed first, for it is not
right to take the children's food and cast it to
the dogs." She answered, " Yes, Lord : yet the
dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's
table." Jesus said, "O woman, your faith is
great : go your way ; for this saying let it be as
you desire." Then the woman went home, and
found her child lying in bed sound and well.

44

CHAPTER XLI
THE VISION ON THE HILL
THEN Jesus went up to Mount Lebanon and
the springs of Jordan ; and after six days,
he took Peter and James and John up to a solitary
place on a high mountain, and while they were
there, he was transfigured before them. His face
shone like the sun, and his clothes glittered and
were as white as the light ; and the forms of two
men appeared in a glory, like the two great
prophets of the ancient time, Moses and Elijah,
and talked with him of a death that he should die
at Jerusalem. While they were yet speaking, a
bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice
spoke out of the cloud, saying, "This is my
beloved son, with whom I am well pleased : hear
him." When the three disciples entered into the
cloud and heard the voice, they were afraid, and
fell on their faces in a swoon. When they came
to themselves and looked up, the cloud and the
glory and the two prophets had vanished, and
they were alone with Jesus on the mountain.
He touched them, saying, "Rise up, and do
not be afraid : " and they came down from the
45

mountain ; but he charged them to tell no one of
this vision until he should have died and risen
again from the dead.
CHAPTER XLII
THE GREATEST IN THE KINGDOM
AFTER this the mother of James and John
L came to Jesus with her two sons, and
doing reverence to him, prayed him to grant her
a favour ; and when he asked what it was she
desired, she said, "Grant that these my two
sons may sit, by you, the one on your right hand
and the other on your left, in your kingdom."
Jesus said, " You do not know what it is you are
asking. Can you drink of the cup that I must
drink of?" They answered, "Yes, we can."
"You shall indeed drink of that cup," said he;
" but to sit on my right hand and on my left in
the glory of the Kingdom is not mine to give."
Then the other disciples were very angry with
James and John. But Jesus said to them : " You
know that the great among the heathen have
lordship over them ; but it shall not be so among
you. Whoever wifl be great among you shall be
your servant : even as I myself came not to
46

be served, but to serve, and to give my life for
others." Then he called a little child, and taking
it in his arms, set it down among them, saying,
"Whoever shall humble himself like this little
child is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven ; and
unless you become like little children, you shall
not enter into the kingdom."
CHAPTER XLIII
THE UNMERCIFUL SERVANT
THEN Peter said to him, " Master, how often
shall my brother sin against me, and I
forgive him ? until seven times ? " Jesus an
swered: "Not until seven times, but until
seventy times seven. For the Kingdom of Heaven
is likened to a certain king, who took account
from his servants ; and on the reckoning day
one of them was brought before him who owed
him ten thousand talents, which he could not
pay. So his lord gave orders that he should be
sold for a slave, with his wife and children and
all that he had, that payment might be made.
But the servant fell down before him and be
sought him, crying, Lord, have patience with me,
and I will pay you. Then his lord was moved
47

with compassion for him, and released him, and
forgave him the debt. But that servant went
out ; and finding one of his fellow-servants who
owed him a hundred pence, he caught him by
the throat, saying. Pay me what you owe. His
fellow-servant fell down at his feet and besought
him, crying, Have patience with me, and I will
pay you : and he would not listen, but dragged
him away to prison until he should pay the debt.
When the other servants saw this done, they
were grieved, and came and told their lord.
Then his lord called him, and said, O wicked
servant, I forgave you all that debt when you
besought me. Should you not have had pity on
your fellow-servant, as I had pity on you ? And
his lord was angry with the unmerciful servant,
and delivered him to the tormentors until he
should pay all that he owed. So shall my
heavenly Father do to you, if you do not from
your heart every one forgive his brother."

48

CHAPTER XLIV
THE INHOSPITABLE VILLAGE
WHEN the end of his days was drawing
near, Jesus set his face to go to Jeru
salem : and as he passed through Samaria,
he sent messengers to a village to ask for a
lodging for the night ; but the villagers would not
receive him, because his face was turned towards
Jerusalem : for the Jews and the Samaritans had
no dealings with one another. When his disciples
knew this, they were very angry with the people
of the village ; and James and John said to him,
" Lord, shall we command fire to come down from
heaven and consume them, as the old prophets
did ? " But he rebuked them, saying, " You do
not know what manner of spirit you are of. The
Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives,
but to save them." And they went on to another
village.

49

CHAPTER XLV
THE POOL OF THE FIVE PORCHES
BY the sheep-market in the city of the Jews
there was a pool with five porches opening
on to it, which the people of the city called the
House of Mercy. For an angel, as it was said,
went down at certain times into the pool and
troubled the water ; and whatever sick man was
the first to step into the pool after the angel had
touched the water was cured of his disease,
whatever it might be; so that in all the five
porches there were always lying on beds a great
many sick people, or blind, or lame, or withered,
waiting for the troubling of the water. Among
them was a poor man who had been a cripple
for nearly forty years. When Jesus saw him
lying there, and heard how long he had lain help
less, he asked him whether he did not wish to be
made well. The sick man answered, "Sir, I
cannot walk, and I have no friends to carry me
down into the pool when the water is troubled ;
but some one else always gets in before me while
I am trying to creep down." Jesus had pity on
him, and said, " Rise, take up your bed and
50

walk." Immediately he rose, and took up his
bed and walked ; and Jesus said to him, " See,
you are made whole : sin no more, lest a worse
thing come to you."
CHAPTER XLVI
THE MERCY OF THE MASTER
AS Jesus sat in the temple teaching the
' people, they brought to him a woman who
had been taken in adultery, and setting her in the
middle, they said, " Master, this woman was
taken in adultery, in the very act. The law says
that such women are to be stoned. What do
you say?" For they hoped that he would tell
them to break the law. But he stooped down
and began to draw on the ground, as if he did not
hear them. When they went on asking him, he
rose up and looked at them, saying, " Let him who
is without sin among you cast the first stone at
her." Then he stooped down again and went on
drawing on the ground; and they, being con
victed by their own conscience (for they all knew
that they had often sinned themselves), slipped
away in silence one by one, the oldest among
them going first, until all had gone. Then Jesus
51

rose up again ; and seeing no one left but the
woman, who was stifl standing where they had
set her, he asked her, "Woman, where are your
accusers ? Has no man condemned you ? " She
answered "No man. Lord." Jesus said to her,
" Neither do I condemn you : go away, and sin no
more."
CHAPTER XLVII
THE WELL IN THE VALLEY
AS Jesus passed through Samaria on his way
'- back from Jerusalem into Galilee, he came
at noon to the well called Jacob's Well, in a field
by the roadside below the town of Sychar. The
disciples went up the hill into the town to buy
food ; and Jesus, being wearied with the journey,
sat down by the well until they came back. While
he was resting there, a woman came out of the
town to draw water, and he asked a drink from
her. She said, "You are a Jew, and I am a
Samaritan ; why do you ask a drink from me ? "
Jesus answered, " If you only knew who I am,
you would ask drink from me, and I would give
it you." "You have no vessel to draw with,"
she said, " and the well is deep : how would you
52

get your water?" Jesus answered her, "He
who drinks of this water will be thirsty again;
but he who drinks of the water that I give shall
never thirst." " Sir," said the woman, " give me
of that water, that I may not be thirsty again, or
have to come back every day to draw water from
the well."
CHAPTER XLVIII
THE INVISIBLE BREAD
THEN Jesus said to the woman, "Go, call
your husband and come back." " I have
no husband," said she. " You say the truth," he
answered ; " for the man with whom you live is
not your husband." " Sir," said the woman, " I
see that you are a prophet. But you worship in
Jerusalem ; we and our fathers have always wor
shipped here on the mountain." Jesus answered,
" O woman, the time is at hand when God shall
be worshipped neither here nor there, but wher
ever his true worshippers shall pray to him."
The woman said, " That will be when Christ the
Lord's Anointed comes." Jesus said to her, " 1 who
talk with you am he." Then she left her water-
pot by the well, and going back into the town,
53

said to the people, "Come and see a man who
told me all the things that ever I did : is not this
the Christ?" Meanwhile the disciples came
back with food, and begged Jesus to eat. But
he said, " I have food to eat that you do not
know of: my meat and drink is to do the will
and finish the work of him who sent me."
CHAPTER XLIX
THE PERILOUS ROAD
A CERTAIN lawyer came to Jesus and asked,
" Master, what shall I do to inherit eter
nal life ? " Jesus said, " What is written in
the law ? how do you read in it ? He answered,
"It is written in the law, Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neigh
bour as thyself." Jesus said to him, " You have
answered rightly: do this, and you shall live."
But the lawyer, wishing to justify himself, said,
" But who is my neighbour ? " Then Jesus said,
"A certain man went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho ; and he fell among thieves, who stripped
him and wounded him, and went off leaving him
half dead. By chance a priest came down that
way; and when he saw the man lying by the
54

road naked and bleeding, he passed by on the
other side. A little afterwards, a Levite going
by came and looked at him, and passed by on
the other side. But a certain Samaritan riding
along the road, when he saw the man, had pity
on him; and dismounting, he went to him and
bound up his wounds, and set him on his own
horse and carried him to an inn. He took care
of him there until the next day; and when he
left in the morning, he gave money to the inn
keeper, saying. Take good care of him, and
whatever you spend more than this, I will repay
you when I next come back. Which of those
three do you think was neighbour to the man
who fell among thieves ? " The lawyer answered,
"The one who showed mercy to him." Jesus
said, " Go you and do likewise."
CHAPTER L
THE LOST FOUND
THE rulers of the Jews murmured against
Jesus because he received sinners who
came to him, and went to their houses. Then he
spoke a parable to them, saying: "What man
among you who has a hundred sheep, if he lose
55

one of them, does not leave the ninety and nine
on the hill and go after the lost one until he finds
it ? and when he has found it, he lays it on his
shoulders, rejoicing; and when he comes home,
calling together his friends and neighbours, he
says to them. Rejoice with me, for I have found
my sheep which was lost. So likewise there
shall be joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents, more than over ninety and nine good
people that need no repentance. Or what woman
who has ten pieces of silver, if she lose one
piece, does not light a candle and sweep the
house, and search diligently until she finds it ?
and when she has found it, she calls to her friends
and neighbours, Rejoice with me, for I have
found the piece of silver which I had lost. Even
so there is joy in the Presence among the angels
of God over one sinner who repents."
CHAPTER LI
THE FAR COUNTRY
"A CERTAIN man had two sons. The
¦^*- younger of them said to his father.
Father, give me the portion of goods that is my
inheritance. So he divided all that he had, and
56

gave the younger son his portion. Not long
afterwards the younger son gathered all his
goods together and went on his travels into a far
country; and there he wasted his fortune in
riotous living. When he had spent it all, there
came a great famine in that land, and he began
to be in want. Then that he might not perish
with hunger, he took service with a citizen of
that country, who sent him into the fields to feed
swine. But he got neither food nor fee, so that
for hunger he was ready to gnaw the husks that
the swine fed upon ; and when he came to him
self he said. How many hired servants of my
father's have bread enough and to spare, while I
perish with hunger ! I will arise and go to my
father, and will say to him. Father, I have
sinned against heaven and against you, and am
no longer worthy to be called your son; make
me as one of your hired servants. So he arose,
and went back to his father."

57

CHAPTER LII
THE ELDER SON
" "D UT when he was yet a great way off, his
-L-' father saw him, and had pity on him ; and
running out, he fell on his neck and kissed him.
Then the son began to say. Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you, and am no
longer worthy to be called your son. But his
father called to his servants. Bring forth the
best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on
his finger and shoes on his feet; and fetch the
fatted calf and kill it, that we may make a feast
and be merry ; for this my son was dead and is
alive again ; he was lost and is found. So they
began to be merry. Now the elder son was out
working in the fields: and when he came home
at evening, he heard the sound of music and
dancing as he drew near the house. So he
called one of the servants and asked him what
this meant. The servant said, Your brother is
come home; and your father has killed the
fatted calf, because he has got him back safe
and sound. When he heard this, the elder son
was very angry, and would not go in. His
S8

father came out to him and begged him to go
in. But he answered, Lo, these many years I
have worked for you and never disobeyed you:
yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make
merry with my friends ; but now, as soon as this
son of yours, who has devoured your wealth
with harlots, comes back, you kill the fatted
calf for him. His father said. Son, you are
always with me, and all that is mine is yours:
but it was fit that we should make merry and
be glad ; for your brother was dead, and is alive
again ; he was lost, and is found."
CHAPTER LIII
THE ALABASTER BOX
SIX days before the feast of the Passover,
Jesus came to the village of Bethany, near
Jerusalem, and lodged there in the house of
Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead,
and of his two sisters Martha and Mary. There
they made a supper for him; and while Martha
was busy preparing it, Mary sat at the feet of
Jesus listening to his words. Afterwards, while
they sat at supper, Mary took an alabaster box
full of ointment of spikenard, very precious, and
59

anointed the feet of Jesus with it, and wiped
them with her hair : and the house was filled
with the perfume of the spikenard. Then some
of those who sat at supper were angry with her,
murmuring among themselves : and Judas Is
cariot (he who was the traitor) said aloud, "To
what purpose is this waste? for this ointment
might have been sold for three hundred pieces
of silver and given to the poor." He said this,
not because he cared for the poor, but because
he was a thief, and stole out of the purse that
he carried for Jesus and the disciples. But
Jesus said, " Let her alone. She has done well ;
why do you trouble her? The poor you have
with you always, and may give to them when
ever you will; but me you will not have with
you always. I tell you, wherever the gospel
shall be preached throughout the whole world,
this thing she has done shall be told for a
memorial of her."

60

CHAPTER LIV
THE NARROW GATE
A CERTAIN young man came running to
Jesus, and knelt down and asked him,
" Good master, what shall I do to win eternal
life?" Jesus answered, "You know the com
mandments. Do not commit adultery, do not
kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do
not defraud, honour your father and mother."
"Master," said he, "I have kept all these from
my youth up." Then Jesus, looking at him,
loved him, and said : " Yet you lack one thing :
sell all that you have and distribute it to the
poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven;
and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
But when the young man heard that saying,
he went away sorrowful, for he had great pos
sessions. Jesus looked round among his dis
ciples, and said, "Children, how hard it is for
those who have riches to enter into the Kingdom
of God ! " Peter answered him, " Lo, we have
left all and followed you." Then Jesus said,
" Indeed there is no man who has left house
or parents or kinsfolk or wife and children for
6i

my sake and the Kingdom of God's sake who
shall not receive a hundredfold in this world,
with persecutions, and in the world to come,
eternal life. But strait is the gate and narrow
is the road to life : and many who are the first
shall be last, and the last shall be first."
CHAPTER LV
THE DAY'S WAGES
"T^OR the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man
A who was a householder, who went out
early in the morning to hire labourers into his
vineyard; and when he had agreed with the
labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into
the vineyard. About three hours later he went
out again and saw other labourers standing in
the market-place, and said to them. Go you also
into my vineyard, and I will give you what is
right. So they went into the vineyard. He
went out again at midday, and again in the
middle of the afternoon, and did likewise; and
about an hour before sunset he went out and
found some labourers still in the market-place;
and he said to them. Why do you stand here
all day idle ? They said. Because no man has
62

hired us. He said to them, Go you also into
my vineyard ; and you shall have what is right.
At the end of the day, the lord of the vineyard
said to his steward, Call the labourers and give
them their wages, beginning with the last and
going on to the first. So those who had been
hired an hour before came up ; and they received
every man a penny. Then those who had been
hired in the morning came, expecting to receive
more. But they also received every man a
penny. Then they began to murmur against
the householder, and to say. These last have
wrought only one hour, and you have made
them equal to us who have borne the burden
and heat of the day. But the lord of the vine
yard answered one of them. Friend, I do you
no wrong : did you not agree with me for a
penny? I choose to give to this last even as
to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I
will with my own ? is your eye evil because
I am good ? Even so the last shall be first, and
the first last. For many are called, but few are
chosen."

63

CHAPTER LVI
THE TEN POUNDS
WHEN Jesus drew near Jerusalem, he spoke
another parable for those who thought that
the Kingdom of God would come immediately.
He said therefore: "A certain nobleman went
into a far country to receive a kingdom and return.
So he called his ten servants, and handed over
ten pounds to them, saying. Trade with these
until I come. Now when he had received his
kingdom and returned, he commanded the ser
vants to whom he had given the money to be
called before him, that they might give account
of it. The first servant came, and said. My lord,
your pound has gained ten pounds. He answered.
Well done, good servant : because you have been
faithful in a little thing, be governor over ten
cities. The second servant came, and said. My
lord, your pound has gained five pounds. He
answered, Be you likewise governor over five
cities. Then another servant came carrying a
folded cloth, and said. My lord, here is your
pound, which I have kept wrapped up in a cloth,
fearing you, because I knew you for a hard man,
64

who take up where you did not lay down, and
reap where you had not sown. But his lord said.
Out of your own mouth I will judge you, wicked
servant. You knew me for a hard man, you say,
who take up where I did not lay down, and reap
where I did not sow. Why then did you not
put my money into the bank, that at my coming
I might have my own back with interest ? Take
his pound (he said to those who stood by), and
give it to him who has ten pounds. My lord,
they said, he has ten pounds already. I tell you,
answered the king, to every one who has, shall
be given; and from him who has not, shall be
taken away even what he thinks he has."
CHAPTER LVII
THE JOYFUL ENTRY
NOW Jesus drew near Jerusalem ; and when
he was come to the olive-orchards on the
hill, opposite the city, he sent forward two of his
disciples, saying, "Go into the village over
against you. As soon as you enter it you will
find a she-ass tied, and beside her a colt on which
no one has ridden yet. Untie him and bring him
here: and if any one asks you why you are
E 6s

taking him away, say that the Master needs him."
So the two disciples went to the village ; and they
found the ass and the colt tied up by the door of
a house in a place where two roads met. As
they were untying the colt, some of the villagers
who were standing about said, "What are you
doing with him?" But when they answered,
" The Master needs him," no one hindered them ;
and they brought the colt to Jesus. Then he
rode down across the valley and up into Jeru
salem. Before and behind him there went a
great crowd ; some of them spread their clothes
on the ground before him, and others cut down
branches from the trees and strewed them on
the road; and the whole crowd kept chanting
verses of the song that was made for the proces
sions of the ancient kings when they went up to
to the temple, and that begins, " O give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy
endureth for ever." So when they came up into
the city through the Golden Gate the singing and
shouting were heard all through Jerusalem ; and
when people asked, "Who is this?" all the
crowd cried out, " This is Jesus, the prophet of
Nazareth in Galilee."

66

CHAPTER LVIII
THE WICKED HUSBANDMEN
SO they all went up into the temple ; and there,
as he was healing the sick and teaching the
people, the chief priests and councillors of the
Jews came to him in great anger, asking, "By
what authority is it that you do those things ? "
But he said to them : " Listen to a parable. A
certain householder planted a vineyard, and set a
hedge about it, and dug a place for the wine
press, and built a tower in it, and let it out to
husbandmen, and went into a far country. When
the time of vintage drew near, he sent a servant
to his vineyard to receive his rent from the hus
bandmen. But when he came they caught him
and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.
Then he sent another servant; but they threw
stones at him, and wounded him in the head.
Afterwards he sent other servants ; and they too
were beaten or stoned, and some of them killed.
Now he had one only son, his well-beloved :
and last of all he sent him, saying. They will
reverence my son. But when the husbandmen
saw him, they said among themselves. This is
67

the heir; come, let us kill him, and his inherit
ance shall be ours: and they caught him and
killed him, and threw his dead body over the wall
of the vineyard. When the lord of the vineyard
comes, what will he do to these husbandmen ? "
They answered, ' " He will miserably destroy
those wretches, and let out his vineyard to other
husbandmen." Then Jesus said, "Even so the
Kingdom of God shall be taken from you and
given to others : " and they perceived that he had
spoken this parable against them, but did not
dare to touch him, because they were afraid of a
riot among the people.
CHAPTER LIX
THE TEN VIRGINS
AS he left the temple, one said to him, " Master,
^ what huge stones these are, and what glori
ous buildings ! " He answered, " Do you see
these great buildings ? I tell you, there shall not
be left of them one stone standing upon another
when the end comes." Then his disciples asked
him, "When shall that be?" He answered,
" To you and to all I say this. Watch ; for at an
hour when he is not looked for the Son of Man
68

shall come. Then the Kingdom of Heaven shall
be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps
and went forth to meet the bridegroom ; and five
of them were wise, and five foolish. The foolish
virgins took their lamps, but brought no oil with
them ; but the wise took flasks of oil with their
lamps. The bridegroom delayed his coming so
long that they had all dropped asleep, when at
midnight a cry was heard. The bridegroom
comes; go out to meet him! Then all those
virgins started up and began to trim their lamps ;
and the foolish virgins said to the wise. Give us
some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
But the wise virgins answered, Not so ; for there
would not be enough for us and for you ; go to
the oil-sellers and buy oil for yourselves. So
while they were gone to buy oil, the bridegroom
came, and those who were ready went in with
him to the marriage-feast : and the door was
shut. A little after the other virgins came, cry
ing, Lord, lord, open the door for us ! But he
answered from within, I tell you I do not know
you. Watch therefore : for you do not know the
day nor the hour when the Son of Man shall
come."

69

CHAPTER LX
THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
WHEN the Son of Man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, he
shall sit on the throne and all nations shall be
gathered before him : and he shall separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep
from the goats, setting the sheep on his right
hand, and the goats on his left. Then the King
shall say to those on his right hand. Come, you
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre
pared for you since the foundation of the world :
for I was hungry, and you gave me food ; I was
thirsty, and you gave me drink ; I was a stranger,
and you took me in ; I was naked, and you
clothed me ; I was sick, and you visited me ; I
was in prison, and you comforted me. But the
righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did
we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and
give you drink ? when did we see you a stranger
and take you in, or naked and clothe you ? or
when did we see you sick, or in prison, and
come to you ? And the King shall answer again
and say to them, Inasmuch as you have done it
70

to the least of these my brothers, you have done
it to me. Then also he shall say to those on his
left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into ever
lasting fire : for 1 was hungry, and you gave me
no food ; I was thirsty, and you gave me no
drink ; I was a stranger, and you did not take me
in ; naked, and you clothed me not ; sick and in
prison, and you did not visit me. Then they too
shall answer him, saying. Lord, when did we
ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger, or
naked or sick or in prison, and did not succour
you ? But he shall say to them, Inasmuch as
you did it not to any one of the least of these,
you did it not to me. And they shall go away
into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
into eternal Hfe."
CHAPTER LXI
THE MAN WITH THE WATER-PITCHER
THE next day was the feast of the Passover,
when the lamb had to be killed in every
household, and the feast kept that night with
roast flesh and unleavened bread and bitter
herbs. Peter and John came to Jesus, where
he lodged on the hill of the olive-gardens, and
71

asked him, " Where do you wish us to prepare
our feast ? " He said, " Go into the city : when
you have entered it, you will meet a man carrying
a pitcher of water. Follow him ; and where he
goes into a house, go in after him and tell the
man of the house that you have a message to
him from the Master: then say to him these
words from me : My time is at hand ; where is
the guest-chamber ? for I will keep the feast in
your house with my disciples. Then he will
show you a large upper room furnished and pre
pared ; make ready for us there." Peter and
John went into the city, and met the man, and
found the house just as Jesus had said : and
there they made ready ; and at evening Jesus
came with the rest of the disciples, and they all
sat down to supper.
CHAPTER LXII
THE THIRTY PIECES OF SILVER
THE day before, the chief priests and rulers
of the Jews had met in the palace of the
high priest Caiaphas, to consult what should be
done with Jesus. For they said, " This man does
many wonders ; if we let him alone, all men will
72

believe in him, and the Romans will come and
destroy this city and nation." But Caiaphas
said, " Consider this, that it is better for one man
to die than for all the people to perish." Then
they resolved to put Jesus to death. But they
said, "We must take him by craft and in
secret, or there will be an uproar among the
people." Now the Tempter entered the heart of
Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve; and he went
to the chief priests, and said, " What will you
give me, if I deliver him up to you ? " Then
they were glad, and agreed with him for thirty
pieces of silver, and he promised to betray him
into their hands in secret when he was alone.
But with the money they gave him he meant to
buy a field called the Potter's Field, outside the
city wall.
CHAPTER LXIII
THE TRAITOR
SO now while they sat at supper, Jesus looked
at them, and said, " Of a truth I tell you,
one of you shall betray me." They were amazed,
and looked one at another, wondering of which
of them he spoke; and several of them said,
73

" Master, is it I ? " He answered, " It is one of
the twelve that eat with me out of the same dish.
I go indeed as is fore-ordained ; but woe to him
by whom I am betrayed : good were it for that
man if he had never been born." Then Peter
made a sign to John, who sat next Jesus and
leaned his head on his breast, to ask who it
should be of whom the Master spoke. John
said in a low voice from where he was, " Lord,
who is it ? " and Jesus answered him in a low
voice, " It is he to whom I shall give a sop when
I have dipped it." Then, dipping a sop, he gave
it to Judas Iscariot, saying as he gave it, " What
you do, do quickly." But the rest of the dis
ciples did not know what he meant ; for some of
them thought, because Judas was the purse-
bearer, that Jesus meant to say to him, " Buy
what we have need of against the feast " : and
others, that he meant, " Give something to the
poor." So he, when he had received the sop,
went out immediately : and it was night.

74

CHAPTER LXIV
THE LAST SUPPER
THEN Jesus took bread, and gave thanks,
and breaking it, gave a piece to each of
the disciples, saying, " This is my body which is
given for you ; do this in remembrance of me."
In like manner he took the cup, and gave thanks,
and gave it to them, saying, " This is my blood
which is shed for you " : and they all drank of it.
Then he said, " I have longed to eat this supper
with you ; for 1 shall not eat bread or drink wine
with you again until the Kingdom of God has
come. Children, it is but a little while more that
I am with you. Now I give you a new com
mandment, to love one another as I have loved
you. Do not be troubled at heart because I go
away ; for I go to prepare a place for you, and
will come again." Peter asked him, "Lord,
where are you going ? " Jesus answered, " I go
where you cannot follow me now ; but you shall
follow me afterwards." "Lord," said Peter,
" why cannot I follow you now ? I am ready to
go with you into prison or to death." Jesus
75

answered, " I tell you, Peter, before the cock
crows you will have thrice over denied that you
know me."
CHAPTER LXV
THE OLIVE-GARDEN
THEN after they had sung the psalm In
exitu, they left the house, and going out
at the city gate, took the road across the valley
to the hill of the olive-gardens. But when they
came to an olive-orchard in the valley, called
Gethsemane, Jesus said to them, "Sit down here,
while I pray." Then he took Peter and James
and John with him, and went into the orchard ;
and a great shuddering came over him, and he
said to the three, "My soul is sorrowful unto
death : stay you here, and watch with me."
Going a little further into the orchard, he fell
on the ground and prayed, " O my Father, if it
be possible, let this cup pass from me: yet not
as I will, but as thou wilt." After a while he
returned to the three, and found them all asleep.
" What ! " said he, " could you not watch with
me one hour? watch, and pray." Then he left
them again, and going about a stone's throw off,
76

knelt down and prayed a second time, "O my
Father, if this cup may not pass from me except
I drink it, thy will be done."
CHAPTER LXVI
THE KISS OF JUDAS
THEN an angel came from heaven to give
him strength; and he rose, and coming
back to his disciples, said to them, "The hour
is come. Rise, let us be going : behold, the
traitor is at hand." While he spoke, there were
lights and voices in the orchard, and the clash
of swords: and a band of armed men with
lanterns and torches came through the olives ;
and before them came Judas Iscariot the traitor.
Now Judas had given them a sign, saying,
"Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he:
hold him fast." So he came straight up to Jesus,
and saying, " Hail, Master," he kissed him. But
Jesus only said, "Friend, was it for this you
came ? " Peter drew his sword and struck
at one of the men, a servant in the house of
Caiaphas ; but Jesus said to him, " Put up your
sword into the sheath ; shall I not drink the cup
that my Father has given me ? " Then standing
77

forth, he said to the armed men, " Whom do you
seek?" They answered, "Jesus of Nazareth."
" I am he," Jesus said : " let these others go their
way." Then the captain and the armed men
seized Jesus and bound him; and the disciples
all forsook him, and fled,
CHAPTER LXVII
THE FIRE IN THE COURTYARD
WHEN the captain and the armed men had
bound Jesus, they led him away to the
house of Caiaphas, where the council of the
Jews were all assembled by torchlight. But
Peter followed them far off, that he might see
the end. When he came to the gate of the
courtyard he stood outside; and the maid who
kept the door, seeing him there, said to him,
" Are you not one of the man's disciples ? " "I
am not," said he ; and she let him in. Now Jesus
stood bound in the hall of Caiaphas, while the
council questioned him and called false witnesses
to bear witness against him. But in the court
yard the servants and officers had kindled a fire
in a brasier to keep themselves warm : for it was
a cold spring night ; and Peter stood among them
78

and warmed himself. After a while one of them
said to Peter, "You are one of them too:" and
again he denied with an oath, saying, " I do not
know what you mean." So they fell to talking
of other things. But about an hour later, to
wards dawn, another man came up to Peter and
said, " Fellow, your speech betrays you ; you are
certainly one of those Galilaeans who went about
with Jesus of Nazareth." Then Peter, in terror
of his life, began to curse and swear, and said,
" I do not even know the man." While the
words were yet on his lips, the cock crew: and
Jesus turned, and looked at Peter through the
open door. Then Peter remembered how he had
boasted, and how Jesus had told him, " Before
the cock crows you will deny me three times : "
and he went out, and wept bitterly.
CHAPTER LXVIII
THE FIELD OF BLOOD
NOW morning broke : and the council of the
Jews rose out of the hall of Caiaphas, and
led Jesus away, still bound, to the palace of
Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of Jeru
salem, that he might be sentenced to death.
79

But when Judas who had betrayed him saw
him being led away to death, he repented too
late of what he had done ; and fetching the
thirty pieces of silver for which he had sold
his master, he took them into the temple and
offered them back to the priests, saying, " I
have sinned, and betrayed the innocent." They
answered, " What is that to us ? see you to
that." Then he flung down the thirty pieces
of silver on the temple pavement, and went away
in despair : and going out of the city, he hanged
himself from a tree in the Potter's Field. The
priests took the thirty pieces of silver and de
bated what to do with them : for they said, " We
may not put this money into the treasury; for
it is the price of blood." At last they determined
to buy the Potter's Field with the money, to be
a place to bury strangers in: and the name of
the field was changed, and it was called the
Field of Blood.

80

CHAPTER LXIX
THE JUDGMENT-SEAT
EARLY in the morning Pilate came out of his
palace, and sat down in the seat of judg
ment on the paved terrace in front of the palace.
There Jesus was brought bound before him, and
he asked what accusation they brought against
him. So they began to accuse him, saying,
" This man is a rebel against our lord the
Emperor, and forbids the people to obey him,
saying that he himself is Christ and a King."
Then Pilate had him taken into the palace to be
questioned in private, and asked him, " Are you
king of the Jews ? " Jesus answered, " Do you
say this of yourself, or did others tell it you of
me ? " " Am 1 a Jew ? " said Pilate : " your own
people have brought you before me. What have
you done ? " Jesus answered, " My kingdom is
not of this world. I came into the world to bear
witness to the truth." " What is truth ? " said
Pilate ; and he asked him no more questions, but
went out again to the seat of judgment. As he
took his seat, a message was brought to him from
his wife : " Have nothing to do with this good
F 8i

man ; for I have had a terrible dream about him
to-night." Now it was the custom of the Romans,
that every year the governor of Jerusalem released
one prisoner, whom the people named, at the
feast of the Passover ; and the crowd in the street
before the castle began to raise a cry for the
custom to be kept. Then Pilate said, " Is it your
pleasure that I should release your king ? for I
find no fault in him."
CHAPTER LXX
THE KING OF THE JEWS
THERE was then in Jerusalem a famous
robber, called Jesus Barabbas. He had
been arrested and sentenced to death for sedition
and murder, and now he lay in prison awaiting
execution. When Pilate asked the people whom
they would have released, they all cried out, being
moved to do so by the priests, " Not this one, but
Barabbas." " Then what shall I do," said Pilate,
" with the man whom you call king of the Jews ? "
They shouted, " Crucify him ! " Then Pilate
ordered Barabbas to be released, and said, "As
for this king of the Jews, I will chastise him and
let him go." So the Roman soldiers tied Jesus
82

to a piflar in the castle and scourged him ; and
then they threw a purple robe over him, and
plaited a crown of thorns and set it on his head,
and put a reed in his right hand for a sceptre.
Then they brought him forth to the people wear
ing the purple robe and the crown of thorns ; and
Pilate said to the people, " Behold your king ! "
But they cried out more fiercely than before,
" Crucify him, crucify him ! we have no king but
Caesar." At last, when the tumult still grew,
Pilate was afraid to withstand the people any
longer; and calling for water, he washed his
hands before the whole people, saying, " I am
innocent of the blood of this just man : see you to
it." They all cried out, " His blood be upon us
and on our children." Then Pilate handed him
over to be crucified ; and now it was close on
noon.
CHAPTER LXXI
THE DOLOROUS WAY
LONGINUS the centurion and four Roman
^ soldiers led Jesus away out of the city to
the place of pubhc execution on the hill of Gol
gotha, outside the city walls : and with him they
83

took two thieves who had been sentenced to
death for highway robbery, to crucify all three
together. Each had to carry his own cross up
the hill. But Jesus was so weak that he sank
down under his cross at the city gate : then the
soldiers laid hold of the first person that came
in out of the country, who was one Simon of
Cyrene, and made him carry it behind Jesus for
the rest of the way. So they came to the place
at noon, and crucified Jesus there between the
two thieves, one on his right hand and one on
his left : and over his head they fixed a label on
which was written in three languages, so that all
who passed by might read it, " Jesus of Nazareth,
King of the Jews." The four soldiers divided
his clothes among them by lot, and mocked him,
offering him vinegar to drink, and saying, " King
of the Jews, save yourself." The rulers of the
people also laughed at him, and said, " He saved
others, and cannot save himself; if he be the
Son of God, let him come down from the cross
and we will believe in him." But many in the
crowd that stood about bewailed and lamented
him. From noon onwards for three hours there
was darkness over all the land.

84

CHAPTER LXXII
THE TWO THIEVES
WHILE the two thieves hung nailed on their
crosses on either hand of Jesus, the thief
on his left hand railed and cursed at him, and
said, " If you are Christ, save yourself and us."
But the thief on the right hand rebuked his
fellow, and said to him, " Have you no fear of
God ? We indeed are justly punished, and re
ceive the due reward for what we have done;
but this man has done nothing amiss." Then
turning his face to Jesus he said, " Lord, re
member me when you come into your kingdom."
Jesus turned his face to him and answered, " I
tell you in truth, to-day you shall be with me in
Paradise." With that the penitent thief died in
great joy, and the thief on the left hand died in
horror and anguish.

85

CHAPTER LXXIII
THE CROSS
NOW it was three hours after noon ; and the
darkness still grew heavier, and silence
fell on the crowd round the cross. Then Jesus
spoke again from the cross in the darkness be
tween the two dead thieves, and cried, " My Godj
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Those
who stood by heard him, but were confused, and
some of them thought that he was calling on the
prophet of God to appear and help him. But
Jesus spoke again, saying, " I am thirsty." Then
one of them ran and dipped a sponge in the jar of
drink that the soldiers had by them, and held it
up to Jesus at the end of a long reed to moisten
his lips, saying, "Stop, let us see whether the
prophet of God will come and take him down."
But Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "It is
finished: Father, I commit my spirit into thy
hands." With these words he died.

86

CHAPTER LXXIV
THE DARKNESS OF THE WORLD
THEN there was a great earthquake : the veil
of the temple was torn asunder from top to
bottom so that men saw into the hidden sanctuary;
and rocks were rent and graves opened, and the
bodies of dead people rose out of their graves and
walked in the holy city, where they were seen by
many men's eyes. The centurion and his men,
seeing the darkness of the sun, and the earth
quake, were afraid, and said, " Truly this was the
Son of God." The masters of wisdom among
the heathen sought in vain for the cause of the
darkness and the earthquake ; therefore they said,
" Either the ordinance of nature in this world is
dissolved, or God suffers, and the elements suffer
with him." Also they set up an altar in Athens,
and wrote upon it, " To an unknown God."

87

CHAPTER LXXV
THE SPIRITS IN PRISON
WHEN Jesus had rendered up his spirit on
the cross, his soul left his body and
passed down into the underworld, where the
spirits of men departed sit in darkness until the
last judgment. As he drew near, at the hour ot
midnight, a light shone through the house of
darkness, and the spirits of the dead were lit up
and saw one another. Then the soul of Adam
the first of men uttered a voice, saying, "Surely
the time is come when men shall once more have
approach to the tree of life that grew in the
garden, the tree of whose fruit no man has tasted
since I was driven out of Paradise." The soul of
Isaiah the prophet answered him, saying, " Surely
the time is come of which I prophesied while I
lived on the earth and said, The people that sit
in darkness have seen a great light." Then the
soul of John the Baptist said, "Surely he comes
hither, to prepare whose way I was a voice
crying in the wilderness." Now the light shone
clearer and clearer about them, till it became as
clear as the light of the sun : and the soul of
88

Simeon rose up among them, saying, "Give
glory to Jesus Christ the Lord, whom my hands
held in the temple when he was a baby, and I did
not depart into this place until my eyes had seen
the Salvation of God."
CHAPTER LXXVI
THE OPENING OF THE GATES
THEN there was heard a great voice like
thunder, crying, " Lift up your gates, O
princes; be lifted up, O everlasting doors, that
the King of Glory may come in." The Master of
the underworld ordered the brazen gates to be
fastened and the iron bolts to be drawn ; and then
he answered to the voice as one that did not
know, " Who is this King of Glory ? " But the
thunder of the whole heavenly host answered
him again, crying, " The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle." After that voice
there was silence, and then the voice of a single
soul outside said, " Open for me that 1 may come
in ; " and the wicket being opened a little way,
there came in a soul in the likeness of a thief
carrying a cross of shame on his shoulder, who
said as he entered, " He himself comes after me
89

immediately." Then the great cry came yet
again, but now louder yet and close outside,
" Lift up your gates, O princes ; be lifted up, 0
everlasting doors, that the King of Glory may
come in:" and at the sound of that voice the
brazen gates were broken and the iron bolts
crushed, and as the King entered, all the dark
places of death were lighted up.
CHAPTER LXXVII
THE DELIVERER
ALL the souls of the dead flocked together
- round their King : and he taking hold of
the soul of Adam by his right hand, said to him :
" Peace be upon you, O Adam, and on all your
children for ever." Then the soul of Adam fell
down at his feet, and kissed his hands, and wept,
saying, " Behold the hands that made me ; " and
in like manner Eve fell down at his feet and
kissed his hands, and wept, saying, "Behold
the hands that shaped me." Then the King set
up his cross in the midst of the kingdom of the
underworld to be a sign of his victory for ever ;
and taking Adam by the hand, he ascended with
the saints and prophets and holy men and women
90

of old following, and gave them into the hands of
Michael the archangel to lead them up to the gate
of Paradise. Now as the spirits dehvered out of
prison came to the gate of Paradise, there met
them at the gate two ancient men : of whom the
souls of the saints asked, " Who are you, that are
already here in the body, and your souls have not
been with ours in the underworld among the
dead ? " One of them answered, " I am Enoch,
who was taken up into heaven in the days before
the flood : and this other with me is Elijah, who
went up into heaven in the fiery chariot: and
until now we have not tasted death, but have been
reserved until the coming of Antichrist."
CHAPTER LXXVIII
THE CENTURION'S SPEAR
THE next day after the crucifixion was the
Sabbath of the Passover, which was a high
day among the Jews : therefore towards evening
they came to Pilate and asked that the three
bodies might be taken down from the cross, so
that their feast day might not be polluted by dead
men hanging in the sight of the sun. Then the
soldiers took down the two dead thieves from the
91

cross; but when they came to take down the
body of Jesus, Longinus the centurion reached
out with his spear and pierced him in the side
to make sure that he was really dead ; and forth
with blood and water came out of the wound,
and ran down the shaft of the spear on the cen
turion's hands. Then all the crowd that had
come to look on dispersed to their homes again.
But his disciples, and Mary Magdalene, out of
whom he had cast seven devils, and the other
women who had followed him out of Galilee,
stood still weeping, and looked on from far off.

T

CHAPTER LXXIX
THE TOMB IN THE ROCK
HERE was a councillor of the Jews called
Joseph, of the city of Arimathaea, a rich
man and honourable, who waited for the King
dom of God. He was good and just, and had
not consented to what the council of the Jews
had planned and done. That evening he went
boldly to Pilate, and asked him for the body of
Jesus. Pilate sent for the centurion, and asked
him if Jesus were really dead ; and being told that
he was, he gave Joseph leave to take the body and
92

do with it as he would. Then Joseph fetched his
friend Nicodemus, who had come to hear Jesus
by night for fear of the Jews : and they brought
clean linen cloths, and a hundred pounds weight
of spices, and taking down the body, wound it with
the spices in the linen cloths. Near the hill of the
cross was Joseph's garden, and in it his own
tomb, newly hewn in the rock, in which no body
had been laid yet. Here they laid the body of
Jesus, and rolled a great stone to the door of the
tomb; and the women from Galilee looked on,
and saw where he was laid. Then they went
awa3'. But the priests came to Pilate, and said,
"Sir, we remember that while he was yet alive,
that deceiver said that after three days he would
rise again. Give orders therefore that the tomb
be made sure until the third day, lest his dis
ciples come by night and steal away his body, and
say to the people that he is risen from the dead."
Pilate said to them, "Take a guard, and make
the tomb as sure as you can." So they went and
made it sure, sealing the stone in the doorway,
and setting a watch round it. But the women from
Galilee returned home, and prepared spices and
ointments that night ; and all the next day, being
the Sabbath, they rested according to the law.
93

CHAPTER LXXX
THE GARDEN AT DAWN
THE next day as it began to dawn, very early
in the spring morning, Mary Magdalene
and two others of the women from Galilee set
forth from the city, carrying the spices and oint
ments that they had prepared ; and just before
sunrise they came to the garden where the body
of Jesus had been laid in the tomb hewn out of
the rock. As they went along they wondered
how they might roll away the stone from the
door of the tomb ; for it was very large and
heavy. But when they came to the tomb and
looked, the stone was already rolled away. For
at dawn there had been an earthquake, and the
angel of God had descended like lightning out of
heaven, and had rolled back the stone from the
door. At his coming the guards that were watch
ing the tomb shook for fear, and became like
dead men. Now when the women came up to
the open doorway of the tomb, the body of Jesus
was not there ; but sitting on the stone, by the
right-hand side of the door, was a young man
with a face that shone like flame, clothed in a
94

long garment as white as snow, who spoke to
them, and said, "Why do you seek the living
among the dead ? Jesus who was crucified is
not here, but is risen ; look, there is the place
where your Lord lay. Go now quickly, and tell
his disciples that he is gone before them into
Galilee." The women, hearing these words, fled
out of the garden trembling and amazed. For a
long time they were afraid to say anything to
any one : and when at last they told the rest
what they had seen and heard, their story seemed
to the others to be idle tales, and they did not
believe it.
CHAPTER LXXXI
THE EMPTY GRAVE
BUT Mary Magdalene, meeting Peter and
John, said to them, "They have taken
away the Master out of the tomb, and we do
not know where they have laid him." Then
Peter and John ran to the garden to look, leav
ing her to follow; and going into the tomb in
the rock, they found it empty; and the linen
cloths in which the body had been wound were
folded up and lying there by themselves. So
95

they went home, wondering. But Mary had
come back to the tomb, and stood outside it
weeping; and as she wept, she stooped and
looked into the tomb again; and she saw two
angels in white sitting, the one at the head and
the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus
had lain. Then she cried out again, "They have
taken away my Lord, and I do not know where
they have laid him," But as she spoke, she was
aware of some one who stood behind her: and
supposing him to be the gardener, she cried
without looking round, " Sir, if you have carried
him away, tell me where you have laid him, and
let me take him." A voice answered, saying,
" Mary ! " It was the sound of the voice of her
Lord; and she turned to fall at his feet, crying,
" Master ! " But the voice said to her, " Do not
touch me; for I am not yet ascended to my
Father in heaven." When she came to herself,
she went to the disciples, and told them that she
had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken to her
in these words.

96

CHAPTER LXXXII
THE COUNTRY ROAD
THE same day towards evening, one of the
disciples, named Cleopas, and a friend of
his, set out from Jerusalem to walk to their house
in a village called Emmaus, seven or eight miles
off. As they went along talking to one another
of all that had passed, another wayfarer came up
and walked beside them, and asked them why
they were so sad. Cleopas said, "Are you a
stranger in Jerusalem ? do you not know what
has happened there ? " He said, " What are you
speaking of ? " Cleopas and his friend answered,
" Of Jesus of Nazareth, a mighty prophet both in
deeds and words before God and all the people,
whom our rulers have crucified. But we trusted
that it was he who should have saved Israel.
And some women of our company were early at
his tomb this morning and did not find his body
there, but came back saying that they had seen a
vision of angels who told them that he was not
dead; and some of us went to the tomb and
found it empty, just as the women had said."
The stranger answered, " O foolish and slow of
G 97

heart to believe what the prophets have spoken,
was it not foretold that Christ should suffer thus,
and so enter into his glory?" Then he began
to expound to them ancient sayings of Moses and
the prophets concerning Chfist, until they reached
the village : and he made as if he would go on
farther, but they begged him to stay the night
with them there; for now daylight was nearly
spent, and night was coming on. So he went in
and sat down to supper with them ; and as they
sat at table, he took a piece of bread, and giving
thanks, broke it and gave it to them, and vanished
out of their sight.
CHAPTER LXXXIII
THE LOCKED ROOM
CLEOPAS and his friend rose up at once and
went straight back to Jerusalem. When
they got there late at night, they found the
eleven and the rest of the disciples gathered
together in a room, with the doors locked for fear
of the Jews. They let the two in, and all said at
once, "The Master has risen, and has appeared
to Simon Peter." Then Cleopas and his friend
told in their turn how one had walked along with
98

them in the dusk, and how when he broke the
bread they had known that it was the Master.
While they talked thus among one another, with
the doors still shut and locked, Jesus himself
stood in the midst of them, saying, " Peace be
with you." They were all terrified, supposing
that they saw a spirit. But he said, "Why are
you troubled ? Why do questionings arise in
your hearts ? Look on my hands and my feet ;
it is I myself. Handle me and see ; for a spirit
has not flesh and bones." When he had said
this, he showed them his hands and his pierced
side. Then breathing on them, he said again,
" Peace be with you. Receive the Holy Spirit,
and go into all the world preaching repentance
and forgiveness of sins in my name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem." With these
words he vanished again from among them.
CHAPTER LXXXIV
THE PRINT OF THE NAILS
THOMAS the Twin, one of the eleven, was
not there with the others that night.
When he came back, they said to him, "We
have seen the Lord." But he did not believe
99

them; and he said, "Except I shall see and
touch the print of the nails in his hands, and
lay my hand on the wound ih his side, I will
not believe." Eight days afterwards the disciples
were met together again, and Thomas was with
them: then, the doors being shut, Jesus stood
again in the midst of them, saying, "Peace be
with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Behold
my hands: reach out and touch them, and lay
your hand on my side, and do not be faithless,
but believe."
CHAPTER LXXXV
THE FIRE ON THE BEACH
THE disciples went back into Galilee, follow
ing the word brought by the women out of
the garden, that Jesus was gone thither before
them, and that they should see him again there ;
and they stayed in the hill-country by the lake
waiting for him to appear to them. There Peter
found his old fishing-boat ; and one night he and
six others of the disciples thought they would go
out fishing on the lake; so they launched their
boat and cast their nets, but caught nothing all
night. When dawn began to break, they were

about a hundred yards from the shore in a
little bay; and they saw some one standing on
the beach a little way off, who called to
them, " Children, have you any food ? " They
answered, " None at all." He said, " Cast the
net on the right hand, and you shall have a
catch." So they cast ; and at once the net was
fiUed so full of fish that they could not pull it
aboard. Then John said to Peter, "That is the
Master ! " As soon as Peter heard him, he
tightened the belt of his fisherman's coat, and
leaped out of the boat to swim to land ; and the
others came on in the boat, dragging the net
behind them. When they came ashore they
found a charcoal fire lit, and bread baking on it.
The stranger said, " Bring some of the fish that
you have caught." So they drew up the net on
the beach, and took the fish out of it ; and when
they were counted, there were a hundred and
fifty-three, all large fish. Then he said to them,
" Come and eat : " and none of them dared to ask
him who he was ; for they were sure it was the
Lord.

CHAPTER LXXXVI
THE PROMISE OF TlHE PRESENCE
YET some doubted : for they were all
frightened and confused. Also the rulers
of the Jews promised much money to the guards
who had been set to watch the tomb, if they
would say that the disciples of Jesus had come
while they were asleep, and stolen away his
body by night : and that was the common report
among the Jews for long afterwards. But when
they had no more visions of the Master in
Galilee, the disciples went back to Jerusalem.
There he appeared to them once more, and lead
ing them out to the hill of the olive-gardens by
the road of Bethany, he spoke to them, saying,
" Do not go away any more, but wait in the holy
city until the Spirit of God shall descend on you,
not many days hence. Then go out into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
I will be with you always, even to the end of the
world." When he had spoken thus, he raised
his hands and blessed them, and a cloud took
him out of their sight. Then they returned to

Jerusalem in great joy to wait until the Power
from on high should come upon them according
to the promise of the Lord.
CHAPTER LXXXVII
THE BAPTISM OF FIRE
THUS they waited with one accord for ten
days more, until the day of the feast of
the first-fruits of the new corn ; and then, while
they were all together, there suddenly came a
sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,
and filled all the house where they sat, and an
appearance of cloven tongues of fire descended
and rested on each of them ; and at once they
were filled with the holy Spirit, and began to
speak with other tongues, in the languages of
all the pilgrims who came to Jerusalem from east
and west out of all the countries in the world.
A crowd gathered round them : some were
amazed, asking, " What does this mean ? " and
others mocked at them, saying, " These men are
full of new wine." But Peter stood forth and
preached to the multitude, calling on them to
repent and be baptized in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That day three thousand souls
103

received the word gladly, and were baptized ; and
every day more were added to them. Those
who believed lived together in gladness, praising
God, and having all things in common: and
many signs and wonders were done by the
apostles.
CHAPTER LXXXVIII
THE BEAUTIFUL GATE
PETER and John went up together to the
temple at the hour of afternoon prayer:
and a certain man, who had been lame from his
birth, was being carried up the great flight of
stairs; for he was carried every day to the
temple and set down beside the gate called the
Gate Beautiful, to beg from the worshippers as
they went in. When he saw Peter and John
coming in, he begged an alms of them. Peter
fixed his eyes on him, and said, " Look at us : "
so he looked at them, expecting that they would
give him something. Then Peter said, "Silver
and gold I have none, but what I have I will
give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, rise up and walk." As he spoke he
stooped down, and taking the lame man by the
104

right hand, lifted him up. Immediately his feet
and ankle-bones received strength, and springing
up, he stood upright on his feet and walked ; and
he went with them into the temple, walking and
leaping, and praising God. All the people saw
him, and knew him to be the man who sat
begging at the Beautiful Gate, and were filled
with amazement; and a great crowd gathered
round in the cloister of King Solomon.
CHAPTER LXXXIX
THE POWER OF THE NAME
WHILE Peter and John were preaching to
the crowd, the captain of the temple
came with a guard of soldiers and arrested them ;
and they were put in prison until the next day,
for now it was evening. Next morning they
were brought out, and the lame man whom they
had cured with them, and set in the middle of
the council chamber : and the chief priests asked
them, " By what power, or in whose name, have
you done this ? " Peter answered, " Rulers of
the people, be it known to you and to all
Israel, that by the name and power of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, and
105

whom God has raised from the dead, this man
stands before you whole and sound." When
they saw the boldness of the apostles, they were
perplexed ; and ordering them to be removed,
they conferred among themselves how they might
keep the matter secret, butj found that this was
impossible ; for the whole city knew of it. So
they had Peter and John called back, and charged
them with threats not to speak or teach any
more in the name of Jesus. But they answered,
"Judge you whether it be right to obey you
rather than God ; as for us, we cannot but speak
of the things we have seen and heard." Then
the chief priests threatened them further, and let
them go.
CHAPTER XC
THE LIARS
THE multitude of the faithful were then of
one heart and one soul ; and no one
wanted among them; for those who were rich
sold their lands and houses, and bringing the
price, laid it down at the apostles' feet, and
distribution was made to every one according
to his need. But a man named Ananias, who
io6

sold a piece of land, agreed with his wife
Sapphira to keep back a part of the price
secretly; and he brought the rest and laid it
down before the apostles, pretending that it was
the whole. Peter looked at him, and said,
" Ananias, why has the Tempter put it in your
heart to He about the price of the land ? Was
it not your own, and the price of it your
own, to give to the faithful or not as you chose ?
You have not hed to men, but to God." When
Ananias heard Peter's words, he fell down
dead where he stood : and some of the young
men took up his body and carried it away
for burial. About three hours later Sapphira
came in, not having heard yet what had befallen
her husband. Peter asked her, "Tell me, did
you sell the land for so much ? " naming the sum
of money that Ananias had brought. She an
swered, " Yes, for so much." Then Peter said,
" How is it that you have agreed together to
tempt the Spirit of God ? See, the feet of those
who have buried your husband are at the door,
and shall carry you out." With that she fell
down dead, just as the young men came in : and
they carried her away, and buried her by her
husband. 107

CHAPTER XCI
THE FLOWER OF MARTYRDOM
AS the number of the faithful was multiplied,
¦lx. the work of the daily distribution among
them became a heavy task, and some of them
complained that they were neglected. Therefore
by the advice of the twelve (for the eleven
apostles had chosen another to fill the place of
Judas the traitor) seven men of wisdom were
appointed to be over this business, while the
apostles gave all their time to prayer and the
preaching of the word. Among the seven, one
named Stephen excelled all the rest in beauty of
body and flower of age, and in his eloquence and
wisdom; and being full of faith and power, he
did great wonders among the people. Therefore
the enemies of the faithful hired false witnesses,
who brought him before the council, accusing him
of having spoken blasphemies against the holy
place, and against the law and customs of the
nation. But when he made his defence, his face
shone in sight of all the council as if it had been
the face of an angel, and looking up steadily into
heaven, he cried, " Lo ! I see heaven opened, and
io8

Jesus standing at the right hand of God." At
that they cried out with a loud voice and stopped
their ears ; and then rushing upon him, they
dragged him out of the city and stoned him,
while he still kept crying, " Lord Jesus, receive
my spirit." Then kneeling down, he prayed
aloud, "Lord, do not lay this sin to their
charge," and with these words he fell and died.
CHAPTER XCII
THE MAN IN BRIGHT CLOTHING
A FTER Stephen's murder a great persecution
-t\ rose against the faithful in Jerusalem, so
that many of them fled and were dispersed
abroad, Peter went to the seaport town of Joppa,
where he lodged with one Simon, a tanner, who
had a house by the sea. At that time an Italian
cohort was in garrison at Cassarea; and one of
the centurions, named Cornelius, was a devout
and merciful man, who prayed to God always.
On a day when he had fasted and prayed until
mid-afternoon, he saw before him a man in bright
clothing, who spoke to him by his name, saying,
" Cornelius, your prayers and alms are gone up
before God. Send to Joppa for one Simon Peter,
109

who lodges in the house of one Simon, a tanner,
by the sea ; he shall tell you the word of life, by
which you and all your household shall be saved."
When the angel departed, Cornelius called one of
his soldiers and two of his household servants,
and sent them at once to Joppa. They slept on
the way that night ; and the next day they went
on their journey again, and came in sight of Joppa
by noon.
CHAPTER XCIII
THE VISION BY THE SEA
AS the messengers drew near the city, Peter
-^*- went up on the housetop to pray, and
being hungry, he fell into a trance. In his trance
he saw heaven opened, and out of it a vessel like
a great sheet, fastened at the four corners, seemed
to be let down and to descend on earth. When
it came down near him, he saw in it all kinds of
wild beasts and creeping things and birds of the
air, and heard a voice saying to him, "Rise,
Peter, and eat." But in his trance he answered,
"Not so. Lord, for I have never eaten unclean
food." The voice said again, "Do not call any
creature of God unclean," and then the sheet and

all in it was drawn up again into heaven. When
Peter had come to himself and was still wonder
ing what this might mean, the messengers from
Cornelius came to the gate, and asked whether
one Simon Peter lodged there. Peter went down,
and said, " I am he ; what is your errand ? "
They said, "Cornelius the centurion has had
warning from God by a holy angel to send for
you to his house, and to hear words from you."
Then the Spirit of God said to Peter, " Go with
them ; for I have sent them." So he went with
them to Caesarea, where Cornelius received him
with much honour, saying, "You have done well
to come; and now we are ready to hear from
you the message of God." Then Peter under
stood the meaning of his vision ; and he answered,
" Truly I see that God accepts all who fear him
and do his will out of every nation. You have
heard how God put his spirit and power in Jesus
of Nazareth, who went about doing good : in his
name it is that we preach to all men forgiveness
of sins, and judgment of the living and the dead."
Then Cornelius and his household were baptized;
and thus first the heathen also received the gift
of the Spirit and came into the Kingdom of God.

CHAPTER XCIV
THE CHARIOT IN THE DESERT
PHILIP the evangelist was in Samaria, when
the word of God came to him by an angel,
saying, " Rise, and go toward the south and the
road of the desert." So he rose and went ; and
when he came to the road that ran by the
fortress of Gaza through the great desert to the
lands of the south, a chariot came along the
road, travelling southward : and the Spirit said
to Philip, " Go near, and join this chariot." Now
in the chariot was an Ethiopian, who was cham
berlain and keeper of the treasures of Candace,
queen of Ethiopia. He was on his way home
from Jerusalem, and as he sat in his chariot he
was reading to himself from the book of the
prophet. Philip came up by the side of the
chariot, and said to him, " Do you understand
what you are reading ? " " How can I," said he,
"unless I have a teacher? Come up and sit
with me." Then Phihp, sitting by him in the
chariot, began to tell him of Jesus Christ. As they
went on their way, they came to a pool of water
by the road ; and when the chamberlain saw it, he

said to Philip, "Why should I not be baptized?"
Philip said, " If you believe with all your heart,
you may." He answered, " I believe that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God." Then he stopped the
chariot, and they got out and went down to the
water: there PhiUp baptized him, and as they
came up from the water, an angel caught Philip
away suddenly out of sight ; and the chamberlain
went on his way rejoicing to his own country and
the court of his queen.
CHAPTER XCV
THE LIGHT AT NOON
OTHERS of the persecuted people had fled
to Damascus; and the high priest and
council sent to search them out there, and bring
them back in chains to Jerusalem. The man
they sent was one of the murderers of Stephen,
named Saul, the son of a Pharisee of the city
of Tarsus : but his Roman name was Paul ; for
he and his father were Roman citizens, and
Tarsus was a free city of the Empire. As he
went on this journey, and drew near Damascus
about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven
shone out and struck him to the earth, and as
H 113

he fell, he heard a voice say, "Saul, Saul, why
do you persecute me?" He answered, "Who
are you. Lord?" The voice said, "I am Jesus
of Nazareth whom you persecute." Then he
answered again, trembling and astonished, "Lord,
what am I to do ? " The voice said, " Rise, go
into the city, and it shafl be told you." All this
while Saul's companions stood by speechless ; for
they saw the blaze of light, and heard the sound
of a voice, but they saw no man there, nor did
they hear the words. Then Saul rose from the
ground, but the light from heaven had blinded
him ; and they led him by the hand into Damas
cus, where for three days he lay quite blind, and
neither ate nor drank.
CHAPTER XCVI
THE STREET IN DAMASCUS
MEANWHILE the Lord appeared in a vision
to one of the faithful in Damascus, and
said, " Rise, and go into the street caUed Straight,
and inquire in the house of Judah for one called
Saul of Tarsus ; for behold ! he prays, and has
seen in a vision one bearing the name of the
Grace of God come in and touch him, that he
114

may receive his sight." He answered, " Lord, 1
have heard from many of that man, how much
evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem, and
how he is come here with authority from the
chief priests to put into chains all who call upon
your name." But the Lord spoke again, saying,
"Go your way: for that man is my chosen
vessel, to carry my name before the children of
Israel, and before the heathen and their kings."
Then he rose and went to the house of Judah ;
and entering, he laid his hands on Saul, saying,
" Brother Saul, our Lord who appeared to you
in the way as you came has sent me, that you
may receive your sight and be filled with the
holy Spirit." Immediately, as though scales had
fallen from his eyes, his sight came back to him,
and rising up, he was baptized in the name of
the Lord Jesus, and ate food, and his strength
came back to him,
CHAPTER XCVII
THE PILOT ANGEL
NOW the Romans made Herod, the grandson
of the slayer of the Innocents, king in
Jerusalem; and he stretched out his hands to
"5

vex the faithful who were still left there ; for
many were now dispersed into far countries, in
Cyprus and Phoenicia, and in the great city of
Antioch, At that time he struck off the head of
James the apostle, the brother of John, It is
written in a history of the acts of the apostles,
that certain of the faithful took the body of
James by night to the sea coast and laid it on a
ship, which put out to sea without either sail or
rudder by guidance of an angel, and sailed on
thus until it arrived at the farthest coast of Spain.
There his body was buried, and in after times a
great church was built over it, where many
wonders were wrought on the people who came
to it on pilgrimage. But Herod, when he be
headed James, threw Peter into prison, meaning
to kill him also after the festival was over. So
Peter was put in chains between two soldiers,
who never left him night or day, while other
soldiers kept guard outside the door of his cell ;
and so he was kept until the night before he
was to be brought out for execution.

ii6

CHAPTER XCVIII
THE MIDNIGHT CITY
THAT night as Peter lay asleep in prison, the
angel of the Lord came with a bright light
that ht up the cell, and struck him on the side to
waken him, saying, " Rise up quickly." As he
said the words, the chains fell off Peter's wrists,
and he rose to his feet. " Fasten your belt and
put on your shoes," said the angel: "now cast
your cloak about you and follow me." So Peter
went out behind the angel, still only half-awake
and not sure whether this was really happening,
but thinking it a dream. They went past the
first guard just outside the door, and past the
second guard in the court of the prison, and
came to the iron gate leading into the city. It
opened to them of its own accord, and they went
out into the street. When they had gone along
the length of one street, the angel vanished ; and
then Peter came to himself and knew that it was
not a dream. So after considering what he had
best do, he went to the house of Mary, the mother
of Mark the evapgelist, hoping to find some of
the faithful there : and so it was, for several
117

of them had met in that house, and were praying
for Peter on his last night in prison. He knocked
at the door : and a girl came, and asked " Who's
there?" before opening the door. When Peter
answered, she knew his voice, and was so glad
that she forgot to open the door, but ran in and
told all the others that he was in the porch. At
first they said, "You are mad:" but when she
held to her story, they said, " It is his ghost."
But all the while Peter was knocking outside ; so
at last they thought of opening the door, and he
came in. Then, making a sign to them to keep
quiet, he told them how he had been set free, and
before day broke he went away and hid himself
until the search for him should be over.
CHAPTER XCIX
THE GOLDEN ROBE
NEXT morning when Peter could not be
found, King Herod ordered the keepers of
the prison to be put to death. But soon after
wards he died himself because of his pride and
vainglory. For when he had gone down to
Caesarea, he appointed a day to receive am
bassadors that came to him from Tyre, and sat
1x8

on his throne to receive them, dressed in a robe
woven of gold and silver thread, so that it shone
in the sun like fire, and dazzled the eyes of all
who looked on it. In that dress he made a
speech from his throne ; and the people all gave
a shout, crying, " It is the voice of a god and not
of a man." But as he sat there in his pride, and
exulted at being worshipped as a god, he looked
up, and above his head he saw an owl sitting.
Then he knew by what his soothsayers had told
him that his death was upon him ; and the angel of
God smote him, because he did not give the glory
to God, and within five days after he died in great
misery.
CHAPTER C
THE APOSTLE OF THE GENTILES
WHEN Paul began to preach the gospel in
Damascus, the enemies of the faithful
were dismayed, and resolved to kill him as he left
the city ; so they set a watch at the city gates
both by day and by night. But certain of the
faithful who lived in a house on the city wall let
him down from a window in a basket by night : so
he escaped into the Arabian desert, and got back
119

to his own home at Tarsus, Afterwards Barnabas
of Cyprus went to Tarsus and brought him to
Antioch, where the disciples now began to be
called by the name of Christians : and from
Antioch Paul and Barnabas made many journeys
through Asia, preaching the gospel wherever
they went. Once when they were preaching in
a certain inland city, almost the whole town
gathered to hear them, and when the Jews who
were there saw the crowds listening, they were
full of envy, and contradicted and blasphemed.
Then Paul turned to them and said, "The word
of God had to be spoken first to you : but since
you put it from you and despise everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the heathen, that the words of the
prophet may be fulfilled, who said, I have set a
light among the heathen, and salvation as far as
the ends of the world."

CHAPTER CI
THE WORKS OF THE GODS
PAUL and Barnabas came on their journey to
the city of Lystra ; and when they came up
to the city gate, they found a man sitting there
I20

who was a cripple from his birth, and had never
walked. Paul looked at him, and seeing that he
had faith to be healed, said to him, " Stand up on
your feet ; " and the cripple sprang up and walked.
When the townspeople saw this, they made a
great clamour, crying out in their language,
" The gods have come down among us ! these
are Zeus and Hermes in the shape of men." Then
they ran to the temple of Zeus outside the gate,
and fetched the priest, who came with garlanded
oxen into the gateway to do sacrifice to these
gods. But Paul and Barnabas were dismayed,
and ran in among the people, crying out,
" Masters, why is this ? we are men like your
selves ; and our message to you is to turn away
from these idols to the living God, who made
heaven and earth and sea and all the creatures
that are in them, the giver of good, the sender of
rain from heaven, the bestower of fruitfulness to
the earth." So at last with much pains they
persuaded the people not to offer sacrifice to
them. But soon afterwards Jews came from
other cities who told the people of Lystra that
Paul was a magician ; and believing them, they
stoned him and dragged him out of the town,
leaving him by the road for dead. However,

after a while he came to himself, and the
next day he and Barnabas went on to another
town.
CHAPTER CII
THE SHORE OF TROY
AT last they came on their journey to the plain
1- of Troy, from which across the narrow
seas can be seen the Greek islands and the
mountains of Thrace : and there a vision appeared
to Paul by night, of a man who seemed to stand
on the shore of Europe and to say, " Come over
into Macedonia and help us." He took this vision
for a sign that the Lord was calling him to cross
the seas : therefore he got on board a ship and
sailed for Philippi, the chief city of Macedonia;
and he preached to the people in a meadow by
the river outside the town. Barnabas had gone
back to his own home in Cyprus, but two others
of the brethren went with Paul on this journey,
namely Silas of Jerusalem, and Luke the doctor,
who wrote this part of the story. Now, after a
while, some of the townspeople took Paul and
Silas before the magistrates in the market-place,
complaining that they troubled the city and

taught strange customs. So they were beaten
and sent to prison : and the jailor, being told to
keep them safe at his peril, thrust them into a
cell, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
CHAPTER cm
THE EARTHQUAKE IN THE PRISON
T midnight, while Paul and Silas were pray-

A

ing and singing in their cell, there was a
great earthquake. The prison shook, all the
doors flew open, and the fetters of the prisoners
fell off. The jailor awoke, and seeing the prison
doors open, thought that the prisoners had broken
out and fled ; and knowing that he had to answer
for them at his peril, he was in despair, and drew
his sword to kill himself. But Paul cried out to
him, " Do yourself no harm, for we are all here."
Then he dropped the sword, and calling for
lights, he came in trembling and fell down before
Paul and Silas, saying, "O masters, what must
I do to be saved ? " They answered, " Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ : " and he believed and
was baptized; and bringing them into his own
house, he bathed their wounds and set food before
them. When day broke, orders came from the
123

magistrates to let the men go. So the jailor said
to Paul, "The magistrates have sent to let you
go ; go therefore in peace." But Paul answered,
" We have been beaten and sent to prison with
out trial, although we are Roman citizens, and
would they make us no amends ? No, let
them come themselves and fetch us out." So the
magistrates had to come and beg them to go
away; and they left Philippi and went on their
journey through the cities of Greece, until at last
Paul came to Athens.
CHAPTER CIV
THE CITY OF WISDOM
THERE Paul went about the shining city,
where the streets and temples were full
of statues of the gods, and the marble House
of the Virgin, the wonder of the world, all
beautifully carved and painted and gilt, stood
glittering high on the castle rock ; and it was all
an evil thing to him, and his heart was bitter
within him. So he spoke daily in the market
place of Jesus and the resurrection from the
dead, and disputed with the wise men of the
Garden and the Portico who encountered him,
124

But few listened to him; and of these, some
called him a babbler, and others a preacher of
foreign gods. At last they took him along to
the hill of Ares, and told him to set forth his
new doctrine, whatever it might be. Then Paul
stood up before them and spoke thus.

CHAPTER CV
THE SPEECH AT ATHENS
"T OBSERVE, Athenians, that respect for the
JL gods never fails you : indeed, as I walked
about viewing the objects of your worship, I even
found an altar inscribed: To an unknown God.
This God, whom you worship in ignorance, I
preach among you; the God who created the
universe and all its parts, Lord of heaven and
earth, no dweller in temples built by hands, nor
needing any service that human hands can give
him, but himself the giver of life and breath
and being to all. Of one family he has made
every mortal nation, determining their destined
periods and the boundaries of their settlements
on the whole face of the earth, that they might
feel after him and seek until they find him. Yet
indeed he is not far from any one of us ; in him
125

we live and move and have our being, as certain
of your own poets have said, Yea, of his race
are we: and being of divine race, we may not
think that his deity bears any likeness to gold
or silver or marble shaped by art and human
imagination. The times of this ignorance God
has indeed borne for long ; but now he calls on
all mankind everywhere to change their ways :
for he has ordained a day on which he will judge
the world in righteousness by a man whom he
has chosen ; and for assurance of this to all, has
raised him up from the dead."
CHAPTER CVI
THE IMAGE OF EPHESUS
IN the city of Ephesus was a temple of the
goddess Artemis, which was the largest and
most splendid in the whole world, for it had a
hundred and seventy -five carved pillars, each
the gift of a king, and in it was an ancient image
of the goddess which was said to have fallen
frorti heaven. Ephesus was full of silversmiths
who made silver shrines to hold copies of this
image, and sold them to pilgrims; and one of
them, named Demetrius, called a meeting of his
126

fellow craftsmen, and said to them, " If this man
Paul goes on telling the people that gods made
by men's hands are no gods, our trade will
decay, and the great goddess of Ephesus will be
cast down from her glory." Then they all raised
a shout, " Great is Artemis of Ephesus ! " and
went on shouting this until the uproar spread
through all the city. The people rushed in
crowds into the great theatre, some crying one
thing and some another, and most of them not
knowing what it was all about; and for nearly
two hours on end there was nothing to be heard
but, " Great is Artemis of Ephesus ! " At last
the town-clerk got them to be silent for a mo
ment, and spoke to them thus: "Citizens of
Ephesus, be orderly and do nothing rashly.
Who does not know that the city of Ephesus
is keeper of the temple of Artemis the Great,
and of the image that fell from heaven ? If
Demetrius and his guild have a complaint to make
against any one, the courts are open and they
can bring an action. But this disorderly meet
ing brings us into danger of being charged with
sedition." So the crowd quieted down and dis
persed.

127

CHAPTER CVII
THE APPEAL TO ROME
AFTERWARDS Paul went back to Jeru-
- salem; but the enemies of the faithful
raised a riot against him, and the rioters dragged
him out of the temple court and would have
torn him in pieces, but that the Roman captain
Claudius Lysias came down from the castle and
rescued him : and as all the , city was in an up
roar, he sent him away by night with a guard
of soldiers to the Roman governor at Caesarea,
Antonius Felix. Fehx did not know what to do
with him, and put off his trial again and again,
until at last he left the province. The new
governor who succeeded him, finding Paul still
in prison, was going to send him back for trial
at Jerusalem. Then Paul, being a Roman citizen,
appealed to the Emperor. So he and some other
prisoners were handed over to a Roman cen
turion to be taken to Rome. They were put on
board a Greek coasting-vessel that was return
ing to Asia ; and sailing up the Syrian coast and
under the lee of Cyprus, they crossed to the
128

mainland and put in at Myra in Lycia, where
they found an Egyptian corn-ship in harbour
just sailing for Italy.
CHAPTER CVIII
THE SEA-TEMPEST
THE centurion got his prisoners on board of
the Egyptian ship, and it put to sea. For
a long while they had calms and light airs, and
sailed very slowly; so that the autumn equinox
and the season of gales came on while they were
still only off the coast of Crete, and at anchor
waiting for a wind in the roadstead of Fair-
havens. The captain and the owner of the ship
were anxious to get into a better harbour before
winter; so when a soft south wind began to
blow, they weighed anchor and made sail. But
in a little while the wind rounded into the north
east and blew a great gale. They could not
work up against it, but let the ship drive. The
storm continued day after day. On the third
day they had to cut away the yards and rigging,
and for ten days more they drifted helplessly
before the wind. On the thirteenth night the
vision of an angel stood by Paul, saying to him,
I 129

"Do not be afraid; you must yet stand before
the Emperor; and God has given you the lives
of all who sail in this ship with you : but you
must be wrecked upon an island." All the
fourteenth day they keptj drifting, not know
ing in the least where theV were, for they had
not seen either sun or spars since the storm
began. But towards midnight the sailors heard
the noise of breakers, and when they took sound
ings, found the bottom shelving up rapidly; so,
fearing to run ashore on rocks, they cast four
anchors astern and waited for daylight.
CHAPTER CIX
THE SHIPWRECK
MEANWHILE some of the sailors got out
the boat and lowered it away, saying
that they were going to cast more anchors out
of the forecastle; but they meant to go off in
the boat and leave the ship. Paul saw them
doing this, and said to the centurion, " If these
men quit the ship, you are lost." Then the
soldiers cut away the ropes and let the boat fall
off. Now dawn was breaking, and they saw
land ahead, and a creek in it with a sandy beach,
130

on which they determined, if they could, to run
the ship aground. So after they had aU eaten
breakfast, they lightened the ship by throwing
the wheat in the hold overboard, and managed
to hoist a sail: then cutting the cables of their
anchors, they let the ship drive until she ran
aground, and the bows stuck fast, while the stern
was soon broken up by the sea. Then the crew
and passengers took to the water, those who
could swim swimming, and the rest floating on
planks or broken pieces of the ship ; and at last
all the two hundred and seventy-six souls that
were on board got safe to land.
CHAPTER CX
THE WINTER ISLAND
SOME country people had come down to the
beach when day broke and they saw the
wreck, and told them that they had come ashore
on the island of Malta. They treated the ship
wrecked people very kindly, and began to kindle
a great fire on the beach that they might warm
themselves and dry their clothes. Paul was
gathering sticks to put on the fire, and had just
gathered a bundle and put them on, when a viper
131

that had been coiled up asleep among them, being
wakened by the heat, darted out and fastened its
teeth in his hand. When the islanders saw this,
they looked at one another, whispering, " No
doubt this man is a murderer, whom the Ven
geance of the Gods does not suffer to live
although he has escaped from the sea." But
Paul shook off the viper into the fire, and felt
no harm. They kept looking for him to swell
up or fall down dead suddenly; but after they
had looked for a great while and saw no harm
come to him, they changed their mind, and said
he must be a god. The shipwrecked crew were
sent to the town, where they spent the winter;
and when spring began, the centurion took
passages for himself and his prisoners on another
Egyptian corn-ship, called the Twin Brethren,
which had wintered in the island and was bound
for Rome. This time they had a prosperous
voyage to PuteoU ; and from there they went
on to Rome by land, and Paul was handed over
to the commander of the Imperial Guard. At
that time Nero Caesar was Emperor in Rome.

132

CHAPTER CXI
THE EMPEROR'S MAGICIAN
IT is written in the ancient history that Simon
the Magician, who had once offered Peter
money to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, lived
then at the court of Nero: for he had gone to
Rome, and performed many wonders by magic
before the Emperor, making for him serpents of
brass that moved, and images that laughed.
Afterwards Peter came also to Rome, where
Paul was still a prisoner; and by their preach
ing and prayer they hindered the sorceries of
Simon. Then he said to the Romans, "These
Galilaeans vex me; therefore on a certain day I
will leave this city and ascend into heaven." On
the appointed day he went up to the top of a
tower on the Capitol, and leaping off it, floated
in the air by the help of his magic. Then Peter
cried out, " Angels of the Evil One who bear this
man up in the air, I charge you in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ that you bear him up
no longer." No sooner had he spoken thus,
than Simon's magic failed him, and falling out
of the air, he broke his neck and died. Then
133

the Emperor, being grieved that he had lost a man
who did such great wonders, said that both the
apostles should be put to death. So orders were
given for Peter to be seized and crucified: but
Paul, because a Roman ^itizen might not die
by a shameful death, w&s condemned to be
beheaded ; and being taken out of the city, had
his head struck off beside the Ostian Way, two
miles out of Rome.
CHAPTER CXII
THE PRINCE OF THE APOSTLES
PETER fled out of the city before the soldiers
came to arrest him, and got through the
city gate unnoticed. But as he was going along
the Appian Way past the tombs of the Romans,
he thought he saw one coming towards the city
to meet him, carrying a cross on his shoulder;
and as they came nearer, it bore the likeness
of the Lord Jesus. Peter said, "Lord, whither
are you going ? " and the other made answer, " I
am going to Rome to be crucified again." Theh
Peter, full of shame that he had fled, turned back
and gave himself up to the persecutors. For
when the vision of Jesus appeared to his disciples
134

at dawn by the lake after his death, he had said
to Peter, "Be you the shepherd of my sheep:"
and the good shepherd does not flee away in
danger and leave his flock. Also he had said,
" When you were young, you girded yourself
and walked wherever you would ; but when you
shall be old, you shall stretch forth your hands
and another shall gird you and carry you where
you would not," foretelling thus by what death
Peter should die. But when Jesus walked with
the twelve in Galilee while he was yet alive, he
had said to Peter, " To you I give the keys of my
Kingdom." So now Peter was crucified with out
stretched hands in the Emperor's gardens on the
Vatican hill : and on the place where he died was
built in after times the greatest church in all the
world, in which the image of Peter, wrought in
bronze, sits holding the keys that shut and open
the door of heaven.
CHAPTER CXIII
THE ANGEL WITH THE PALM
MARY, the mother of Jesus, lived for the rest
of her days among the faithful in Jeru
salem in the house of John. For when Jesus
135

hung on the cross, he saw her standing by with
John, his best loved disciple, beside her ; and he
said to her, " Behold your son," and turning his
eyes to John, he said to him, "Behold your
mother." From that day John took her to his
own home and was like a son to her. At last
after many years the archangel Michael came to
her in a great light, as the angel of the Saluta
tion had come to her in the beginning; only now
the angel bore in his hand not a lily but a
branch of palm. He saluted her, and said,
" Hail, blessed among women ; by the token of
this palm out of Paradise know that your soul
shafl be taken from your body the third day
from now, and you shall go where your Son is."
Then he ascended to heaven in a great light.
The third night thereafter, all the apostles were
gathered round her among burning candles ; and
a little before midnight they heard heavenly
voices singing the hymn Vent coronaberis ; and
Mary hearing it also, said, " I come," and died.
The apostles laid her body on a bier, and carried
it out of the city to burial, singing as they went,
while the archangel took her soul to Paradise,
But the story says that her body did not remain
in the tomb, but was taken up into heaven; and
136

that when the apostles went again to visit her
grave, they found it empty but for lilies and roses
that had sprung up and filled it all.

I

CHAPTER CXIV
THE LORD'S BROTHER
N those years the head of the church of the
faithful in Jerusalem was James the Less,
the kinsman of Jesus. He had a vision of his
risen Master certain days after the rest of the
disciples. For he had made a vow that he would
not eat until he should have seen Jesus again ;
but in a vision Jesus himself appeared to him,
and taking bread, blessed it and gave it to him,
saying, "My brother, eat your bread, for I am
risen from among them that sleep." So he grew
old in Jerusalem; but in the end the people,
being stirred up against him by the priests, flung
him down from the wall of the temple, and as he
lay on the ground, a man struck him on the head
with a fuller's club, so that he died. But all the
people confessed that this was a wicked deed;
and from it they reckoned the beginning of the
signs and wonders that foretold the destruction
of their city. 137

CHAPTER CXV
THE CITY OF DESTRUCTION
FOR a whole year a blazing star, shaped hke
a sword, hung in the sky over Jerusalem.
About sunset, there were seen in the air chariots
and a great host of armed men that seemed to
environ the city suddenly. At the dead of night
before dawn there was a great light about the
altar and the holy house, that made it for half an
hour as bright as day. When the priests went
into the inner court of the temple to perform the
service of the feast of the first-fruits, the sanc
tuary shook, and they heard a voice as of the
whole multitude of the Heavenly Ones saying,
" Let us depart hence : " and the brazen gate
swung open of its own accord, although it was
so heavy that it took twenty men to open and
shut it, and was bolted deep into the stone sill.
But what terrified the people stiU more than all
these signs was the word of a prophet, Jesus son
of Hanan, a countryman. He came into the
city at the feast of harvest when it was in great
peace and prosperity, and began to cry aloud,
" The voice of the Orient, the voice of the Occi-
138

dent, the voice of the four winds against the city
and the holy house, against bridegroom and
bride, against this whole people: woe to Jeru
salem ! " Thus he went on crying day by day ;
and the priests and the Roman governor had him
beaten, but to no avail ; for he asked neither for
mercy for himself nor for vengeance on those
who beat him, but as soon as he was released,
went on with his cry in the same words. Thus
he went on crying day after day, until the Roman
army had begun to besiege the city ; and then he
changed his cry for once and once only, and cried
out, " Woe to myself also ! " and as he spoke, a
great stone came flying from one of the Roman
engines and struck him dead as he stood on the
city wall,
CHAPTER CXVI
THE FLIGHT INTO THE WILDERNESS
FOR because the fore-ordained time of ven
geance was come, the Jews broke out into
rebellion against the Empire, and drove out the
Roman garrison. Then the Emperor Nero sent
his legions under a general named Vespasian to
make war against them, and destroy the city
139

and the temple. But the faithful in the city
took note of the signs and wonders that fore
told the end, and remembered the warnings that
Jesus had given of the desolation to come, and
the anguish of the last times, such as was not
since the beginning of the world until then, nor
ever shall be. Therefore they left the city and
fled across Jordan into the wilderness, and the
borderlands near the town of Pella; and there
they lived in quiet, writing down all that they
remembered of what Jesus had said and done
while he was on earth, and awaiting the last
days and the end of the world, that seemed then
to all men very near at hand.
CHAPTER CXVII
THE CONFUSION OF THE WORLD
WHILE Vespasian was waging war in Judaea,
the Senate and People of the Romans
rose against Nero and overthrew him ; and when
he had killed himself, the house of the Caesars
came to an end, and there followed the Year of
the Four Emperors and the confusion of the
world. Vespasian was made Emperor by the
legions of the East; and he went to Rome,
140

leaving his son Titus to besiege Jerusalem. In
the civil wars of Italy in that year the Capitol
at Rome, which was the chief temple of the
gods of Rome, and had a golden roof that shone
like the sun over the whole city, was burned by
the German army that had marched from the
river Rhine and the northern forests to fight
for the general whom they had made Emperor :
and great awe fell on all the nations. But the
Jews rejoiced when they heard of it, thinking
that now the Roman empire would perish and
their own kingdom and temple be established for
ever. But it was not so : for the Capitol was
rebuilt more magnificently than before, and the
Roman Empire renewed its strength and drew
the whole world under it, even to the far-off
island of Britain : and after a two years' siege,
the army of Titus stormed Jerusalem and de
stroyed it. Before the end, the famine had
become so terrible in the city that parents pulled
the bread out of their children's mouths, and
grown men fell down dead in the street when
they tried to walk, and there were not enough
left alive to bury the corpses. The history says,
that eleven hundred thousand souls perished in
the siege by famine and sword; and such as
141

were not kifled were sold for slaves, thirty of
them for one piece of silver. Then the Romans
burned the temple and levelled the ruins, so that
one stone was not left upon another; and the
holy city lay desolate.
CHAPTER CXVIII
THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
OF the Christians that had fled out of
Jerusalem before it was compassed about
by the Roman armies, some lived all the rest
of their life in the peace of the wflderness, and
others went abroad through the realms of the
East preaching the Gospel ; and the apostles, all
except John, came by their death in diverse
countries at the hands of the heathen; but he
outlived them all, and of his last days many
stories were told; for he lived so long that men
began to believe that he would never die.
Three of the apostles were crucified, as their
master had been, in three distant countries :
namely, Andrew in Greece, Philip in the Holy
City of Phrygia, and Bartholomew in a city of
Armenia by the Caspian Sea, Simon and Jude,
who travelled together through the East, were
142

likewise slain together by the worshippers of
idols in a city of Persia, Matthew went as far
as Ethiopia, where he turned the king and many
of his people to the faith of Christ; but after
wards a new king who was a heathen came
to the throne, and Matthew was killed by his
soldiers while he stood praying before the altar
in the church that he had built.
CHAPTER CXIX
THE INDIAN KING
THE Lord appeared to the apostle Thomas in
a vision, and said to him, "Thomas my
servant, the king of India has sent his marshal
into the lands of the West to find a master-builder
that may build him a palace like the Emperor's
at Rome ; I will send you thither." So Thomas
went with the king's ambassador, and they sailed
over the seas to India. Then the king gave a
great treasure into his hands, and telling him
where he desired the palace to be built, he went
away to another province of his kingdom, where
he remained for two years. But all that time
Thomas preached the gospel, and gave away the
treasure in alms to the poor and sick and
M3

hungry; so when the king came back, and
found his treasure spent and no palace built for
him, he was very angry, and threw Thomas into
prison, that he might be put to death. Mean
while the king's brother fell sick, and died ; and
they laid him out on a bier, that he might be
buried in the royal tombs. But on the fourth
day he came to life and sat up on his bier, and
said to the king, " My lord, this man whom you
would kill is the friend of God, and the angels of
God serve him. For when I died, I was taken
by angels into Paradise, and there they showed
me a marvellous palace built all of gold and silver
and precious stones ; and when I was amazed by
its richness and beauty, they said to me, This
is the palace that Thomas has built for your
brother." Then the king fetched Thomas out of
prison, and falling down at his feet, asked pardon
of him; and Thomas baptized him in the name
of the Lord Jesus. But the king's brother said,
" I have seen the palace that you have built, and
fain would I be a doorkeeper in it." Thomas
answered, " You may also have a palace of your
own in that Kingdom; for in it are many
mansions, made ready since the beginning of
the world, and to be bought by price of your
144

prayers and largesse of your riches : for thus
your earthly riches may go before you to those
palaces, but they may by no means follow you
thither."
CHAPTER CXX
THE IMPREGNABLE CITY
A FTERWARDS Thomas went on a journey
¦t\ into another Indian kingdom, where he was
killed by the heathen priests ; but the Christian
men took away his body and buried it, and many
years afterwards it was taken up and borne to
Edessa, the city of King Abgarus ; of whom the
story tells that while Jesus was alive on earth,
and the councillors of the Jews went about to
kill him, King Abgarus sent him a letter saying,
" Come to my city and live in it safely, for it is a
small city, but there is room in it for you and
me." But Jesus sent this message back to him,
" Blessed are you, because you have not seen me
and yet have believed in me : but now I may not
come to you, for I must finish the work for which
I was sent into the world." The story says that
this letter from Jesus was kept in Edessa in the
treasure-house of the kings, and that by the
K 145

virtue of it no enemy might ever prevail against
the city. For if any king came with an army
against Edessa, they set a child to stand on the
battlements of the city gate and read that letter
aloud ; and forthwith the enemy fled, or else made
peace with the king and people of Edessa.
CHAPTER CXXI
THE BELOVED DISCIPLE
IN the killing times of Nero, the apostle John
was imprisoned in the island of Patmos by
order of the Emperor ; and there he had a revela
tion from heaven of the second coming of Christ
upon earth and of the last judgment. But after
the end of Nero he was released, and for many
years he was head of the church of the faithful
in Ephesus; and men held him in great awe
because of the revelation that had been given
him, and because he was the last left alive of
those who had known Jesus Christ on earth
and gone about with him from the beginning.
When he was very old and feeble, he would be
carried into the place where the Christians of
Ephesus met for worship ; and there he said only
these words to them, " Little children, love one
146

another." His disciples asked him why he said
nothing else than this, and why he said it so
often; and he answered them, "Our Lord so
commanded ; and whoever obeys this command
ment well, it shall be sufficient for his salvation."
CHAPTER CXXII
THE FOUR EVANGELISTS
JOHN was in his hundredth year when he
died : he was the last of the four evan
gelists who wrote the story of Jesus Christ
upon earth, and through whom the gospel of
the Kingdom was spread abroad throughout the
world: and his sign is an eagle holding a cup.
Matthew the apostle wrote the first of the four
Gospels; his sign is a man with wings. The
other two evangelists were Mark and Luke,
whose signs are a winged lion and a winged ox.
Luke was the doctor who went about with Paul
on his journeys and was with him in the ship
wreck on the island, and afterwards while he was
a prisoner at Rome ; and he wrote the history of
the acts of the apostles. The evangelist Mark
was nephew of Barnabas of Cyprus; he went
about with Paul and with Peter, and after they
147

had died he went to Alexandria, where he was
killed by the heathen. Many years afterwards
his body was taken away in a ship by the
Venetians, and enclosed in one of the pillars
of the great church that they built at Venice,
and his signet-ring is in their treasure-house;
and by the might of the evangelist the Duke
and people of Venice found help against all their
enemies.

CHAPTER CXXIII
THE HEATHEN EMPERORS
FOR more than two hundred years thereafter
the power of Rome endured and the
heathen Emperors ruled over the world; and
many persecutions befel the church of the
faithful. Yet as time went on, the strength
of the Empire grew less, while the number of
the faithful was multiplied continually. But the
persecution grew fiercest when the end was near,
under the Emperor Decius, and after him in the
times of the Emperors Diocletian and Maximian :
and at that time many of the saints whose fame
has gone throughout all the world laid down
148

their life for the faith of Jesus Christ, and
many others also whose names are only known
to God.
CHAPTER CXXIV
MARGARET OF ANTIOCH
THEODOSIUS of Antioch had a daughter
named Margaret, who became a Christian
while she lived with her nurse in the country.
The prefect of Antioch passed by where she was
keeping sheep, and sending for her, asked her
what was her birth and name and religion. She
answered, " My birth is noble, and my name is
Margaret, and my Lord is Christ." The prefect
said, "Birth and name befit your beauty well;
but it is not well that so fair and noble a maid
should have for her Lord one crucified: there
fore worship our gods, that it may be well with
you." But she said, " I worship the Lord of all
creatures." Then she was put into prison, where
a fiend appeared to her in the shape of a dragon,
and when she asked him who he was, he said,
" I am one of those spirits whom King Solomon
shut up in a vessel of brass. But certain men
in Babylon found the vessel, and hoping to find
149

treasure in it, they broke it, and we issued forth
and wander over the world." Margaret made the
sign of the cross over him, and immediately he
sank into the earth. The next day she was
brought out for execution : then there was heard
great thunder, and a dove flew down from heaven
and set a golden crown on her head; and the
executioner struck off her head, and fell down
himself dead at her feet.

CHAPTER CXXV
THE WINTER ROSES
IN a certain city of Asia there lived a Roman
senator, who had a daughter named Doro
thea. When she grew up, she was the most
beautiful of all the maidens in that kingdom;
but she loved poverty and holiness, and despised
the riches of the world. Fabricius the heathen
governor desired her to be his wife, but she
denied him utterly; whereupon his love was
turned into hatred ; and setting up an idol on
a pillar in the market-place, he said to Dorothea,
"Now do sacrifice to our gods, or your head
shall be cut off forthwith." But she said, " Kifl
150

me or do to me what torment you will, for 1
am ready to suffer aU for the love of Jesus
Christ, that I may go to be with him in the
garden of Paradise." Then Fabricius ordered
her to be beheaded. While she was being led
to execution, a young lawyer of that city, named
Theophilus, said to her in mockery, " Dorothea, I
pray you to send me some of the flowers and fruit
of that garden whither you are going." Now
this was on a cold February day of frost and
snow, when no green thing was to be seen.
Dorothea answered him meekly, " It shall be
as you desire ; " and she passed on to the place
of execution, and the executioner struck off her
head. But as Theophilus stood that day in the
palace of the Emperor, there came to him a fair
child, barefoot, curly-haired, dressed in a purple
garment powdered with golden stars ; and in his
hand he carried a glittering basket filled with
roses and apples: and giving the basket to
Theophilus, he said, " My sister Dorothea .has
sent these to you from Paradise." With that the
child vanished away, leaving Theophilus with
the roses and apples in his hands. But Theo
philus was converted to the faith of Jesus Christ,
and confessed him before the governor of the
151

city; and having first been baptized, he was
condemned to death, and foUowed Dorothea into
the bliss of heaven.

CHAPTER CXXVI
THE PRINCESS OF CYPRUS
HERE reigned in Cyprus a king and queen

T

who had one only daughter named Katha
rine, She was beautiful beyond other women,
and wise above her years ; and her father built
a tower for her in his palace, and got the seven
wisest masters of the world to instruct her;
but her wisdom was so great, that she taught
those who came to be her teachers. Now the
king her father died, and thus Katharine became
Queen of Cyprus. After she was crowned, as
she sat on her throne with all her lords about
her, an old lord, who was her uncle, rose and
knelt before her, saying, " Sovereign lady, your
people desire that it may please you to take some
prince for a husband, that he may defend the
kingdom and that you may have children to
reign here after you. For as you come of noble
blood and inherit a mighty kingdom and excel
other queens in beauty and wisdom, so it is right
152

that these gifts should not die with you, but
continue in your offspring." Then Katharine
answered him, "Good uncle, as you have
described me, so I will describe him who alone
may be my lord : he must be the noblest in
the world and prince of the mightiest kingdom,
and so beautiful that the angels shall rejoice
to behold him, and so rich and great that no
one may say of him that I made him a king."
Then the lords of the council departed, but
Katharine went into her tower and mused how
she might find such a one for her husband.
CHAPTER CXXVII
THE PALACE IN THE DESERT
THERE lived at that time in the desert a
holy man, a hermit, named Adrian. On a
day as he walked before his cell, he saw the
vision of a lady of marvellous beauty, who said
to him, "Brother Adrian, you must go to the
city of Alexandria and the palace of Queen
Katharine, and take her this message from me :
The lady whose son you have chosen for your
husband salutes you, and bids you come with
me to be betrothed to him." Adrian answered.

"Ah, blessed lady, how can I take this message ?
for I do not know the city nor the way thither,
nor do such as I go into the presence of queens."
But she said, " Do not be afraid, but go, for the
angel of my Lord shall lead you." Then he
obeyed her, and going to Alexandria, entered the
palace ; and all the doors opened of themselves
before him, until he came into the tower and the
queen's chamber. When he gave her the mes
sage, she rose at once and followed him out of
the palace and through the city into the desert,
unseen by any man. But as they went, Adrian
thought he must have lost his way; for he did
not know where he was, and the country seemed
strange to him. Then Katharine said to him,
" Father, what is that palace that is so rich and
fair to see ? " " Where ? " said he : and she
said, "Yonder in the East." Then he turned
where she pointed, and saw across the desert
a most glorious house, that he had never seen
before : and as they drew near the gate, a com
pany came to meet them in white, with garlands
of white lilies, who said to Katharine, " Welcome,
dear sister ; " and they led her in to the second
gate, where another company met them in crim
son, with garlands of red roses, who also said,
154

"Welcome, dear sister." Then they entered
into the chapel of that house, which was full of
music; and in the throne of the apse stood a
Queen, with a multitude of saints and angels
around her.
CHAPTER CXXVIII
THE RING OF BETROTHAL
THEN that Queen said to Adrian, "Brother,
baptize this my daughter." So he baptized
her; and the Queen said, "Now, my own daughter,
be joyful, for I will bring you to my son." So
she led her by the hand to the door of the choir ;
and there among a multitude of angels stood
the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who said to her,
" Katharine, come here and give me your hand ; "
and when she did sp, he put a ring on her finger,
saying, "Keep this in remembrance of me, and
I will keep you both in this life and after this
life for ever. Now I must go hence : but do
you stay here with Adrian for ten days to be
instructed perfectly in all my will. Then return
home, and do not fear lest they have missed you
there; for I have set a likeness of you in the
palace to keep your place until you return." Then
155

he blessed her and vanished out of her sight,
and she fell down in a swoon. When she came
to herself and opened her eyes, the palace and
all that company were vanished quite away, and
she saw nothing but an old ruinous cefl in the
desert, and the old hermit weeping beside her
and caUing on her to come to herself; only the
ring of betrothal was still on her finger. So
she stayed there with him until he had instructed
her perfectly in the faith, and then returned to
her palace in the city.
CHAPTER CXXIX
THE WISE MASTERS
NOW the Emperor Maxentius the persecutor
came to Alexandria, and assembled all the
people to sacrifice to his idols : and those who
would not sacrifice to the idols he put to death.
The princess Katharine went out of her palace
to the Emperor, and meeting him before the
gate of the temple, she said to him, "Why, O
Caesar, have you assembled this multitude to
adore the folly of idols ? Do you marvel at this
temple made by men's hands, and its precious
ornaments which are but as dust before the
156

wind? Marvel rather at heaven and earth and
all that is therein, at the sun, the moon, and the
stars that have been since the beginning, and
shall be so long as it shall please God, and that
move from East to West and never are weary ;
and when you have marvelled at all these, ask who
is their Master and maker, and adore him only."
Maxentius answered, " Who and of what lineage
are you ? " She said, "It is a saying of the
wise. Praise not thyself overmuch, neither blame
thyself, for so do fools. I am Katharine,
daughter of the king of Cyprus, born in the
purple and instructed in all wisdom ; but this I
despise, for I have given myself wholly to the
Lord Jesus Christ." The Emperor sent for the
masters of wisdom among the heathen through
out all the provinces of the empire to come and
dispute against Katharine, but she put them all
to silence by her wisdom. At last the master of
those masters said to the Emperor, " Sir, no one
was ever able to withstand us, except this maid,
in whom the Spirit of God speaks; therefore,
unless you can show reason otherwise, we confess
that we believe in Jesus Christ."

157

CHAPTER CXXX
THE EMPEROR'S WHEEL
THEN Maxentius was filled with fury, and
ordered them all to be burned in the city
square. But to Katharine he said, " Lady, have
pity on your own youth and beauty, and you
shall be the first lady in my palace after the
Empress, and your statue shall be set up in
this city and worshipped as a goddess." But
Katharine answered, "Neither fair words nor
torment shall call me away from my Lord Jesus
Christ." Then he ordered her to be put to the
torture ; and four wheels of iron were made, set
round with sharp knives, and fixed so that when
they were turned round the knives might cut to
pieces all that was between them. But when
Katharine was set in the middle of the wheels,
an angel broke them, so that the pieces flew
out and killed many of the heathen who were
looking on. Then they struck off her head :
and angels took up her body and carried it to
Mount Sinai, where God had once appeared to
158

Moses in the burning bush; and certain Chris
tians, following the shadow cast by the angels,
built a chapel there and laid her body in it.
CHAPTER CXXXI
THE SIGN OF VICTORY
THIS Maxentius, son of Maximian, was the
last of the heathen Emperors, and his per
secution was the heaviest of all that had been
since the persecution of Nero. But now deliver
ance came to the faithful out of the island of
Britain. For when Maxentius was Emperor,
Constantine, the son of Constantius Csesar and
the British princess Helena, put on the purple at
York, and because his mother Helena was a
follower of Christ, he made himself protector of
the Christians ; and from Britain his power grew
great throughout the countries of the West,
until at last he came with a great army into Italy
to fight against Maxentius for the empire of the
world. Maxentius came out of Rome to meet
him, and the two armies encamped in sight of
one another by the red rocks near the river
Tiber. On the day before they fought, Constan
tine was in his tent about the middle of the
159

afternoon, when he looked towards the sun ; and
he saw in the sky above the sun a cross of bright
light, and below the cross these words written in
Greek: "By this conquer." The next day he
went out to battle with a cross drawn upon his own
banner and on the shields of his soldiers, and
gained a great victory. Maxentius was drowned
in the Tiber by the Mulvian Bridge as he fled
from the field : and thus Constantine became
master of the world.
CHAPTER CXXXII
THE THREE CROSSES
WHEN Constantine had become Emperor,
the Empress -mother Helena went on
pilgrimage to Jerusalem and the holy places ;
and while she was there, she desired to build a
church on the place where the Lord Jesus had
been crucified. Now after Jerusalem had been
destroyed by the Romans, all memory of that
place had been forgotten ; and on it the Emperor
Hadrian had built a temple of Venus. But now
an ancient Jew came to Helena and said, "My
grandfather knew of the place for which you are
seeking and told it to my father, and my father
1 60

on his deathbed told it to me, but counselled me
not to tell it to any man; for when the cross
which is there is found, he said, then the
worshippers of him who was crucified on it
shall reign over the kingdoms of the world." So
when he told this to Helena, she ordered the
temple of Venus to be pulled down ; and as
the workmen were digging among the founda
tions, they found three crosses deep in the earth.
But they did not know which of these, if any,
was the cross of Christ; so they laid them all
out in the midst of the city, and waited for a sign.
The same day the body of a dead man was
brought by for burial ; and when it touched the
third cross, the dead man came to life.
CHAPTER CXXXIII
THE IRON CROWN
THEN Helena built a great church over the
place where the true cross had been
found ; and she gave two of the nails of the cross
to her son the Emperor, who had one of them set
in his helmet, and made the bit of his bridle out
of the other, that they might prosper him when
he went out to battle ; and another of the nails was
L i6i

taken to Italy, and there Theodolinda Queen of the
Lombards had it beaten out into a thin circlet,
and set in a crown of jewelled gold, with which
the Lombard kings were crowned : and for many
generations thereafter the Christian Emperors
were crowned with that crown as kings of Italy.
CHAPTER CXXXIV
THE BOUGH OF PARADISE
THE ancient history says that when Adam
was in his last sickness, his son Seth
went to the gate of the earthly Paradise, and
kneeling down before the guard of Cherubim
with the flaming sword that kept the gate,
prayed them to give him fruit from the Tree
of Life, that his father might eat of it and might
not die. The angel at the gate plucked a branch
off the Tree of Life and gave it him, saying,
" Of the fruit of the tree no man may eat now
or henceforth, nor be saved that he may not die :
but take this branch and keep it well, for when
it bears fruit, and not before, shall healing of
their sickness come to the children of Adam."
When Seth went back with the branch of the
tree to Adam, he found him already dead; and
162

he planted the branch upon his grave in the
mountains of Lebanon, near where afterwards
stood the city of Damascus. There it struck
root, and grew until the days of King Solomon.
CHAPTER CXXXV
THE TREE OF LIFE
WHEN King Solomon felled the forests of
Lebanon to build the temple and the
cedar house, this tree was cut down and borne
on the rafts with the rest; and he made out of
it a pillar in the palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
Now when the Queen of Sheba came to visit
King Solomon, she knew the virtue of the tree
by her wisdom, and said to him, " On this wood
shall one be lifted up by whom the Law of Moses
and the Kingdom of Israel shall come to an end."
Then Solomon, that the law might endure and
the kingdom never cease out of his house, took
out the pillar and buried it at the foot of the
hill; but out of the place where it was buried,
rose a spring which had virtue to heal all kinds
of sickness: and men made a stone basin for
the waters of the spring, and built round it the
house of the five porches, which was called the
163

House of Mercy. There Jesus healed the crippled
man; and no long time afterwards, the wood of
the tree rose up and floated on the water of the
pool. Then the virtue of the pool ceased; but
of the wood was made the cross on which Jesus
was crucified ; for he was the fruit of which the
angel foretold that healing should go forth from
it to the children of Adam.
CHAPTER CXXXVl
THE KNIGHT'S CLOAK
THERE lived in the West, in the reign of
the three Emperors the sons of Constan
tine, a knight named Martin, who was brave and
merciful. In a bitter winter as he rode through
the gate of the city of Amiens, he saw a poor\
man almost naked in the cold; and having no
money to give him, he drew his sword, and
cutting his own horseman's cloak in two, gave
one half of it to the poor man to keep him warm.
The next night he had a vision in his sleep ; for
he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in heaven, clad
in the half of the cloak that he had given to
the poor man, and heard him say to the angels
who stood round, "My brother Martin has
164

covered me with this cloak." When Martin was
an old man, he died in the city of Tours ; and
on the same day Ambrose the bishop was per
forming the service in the church at Milan, and
between the reading of the Epistle and the
Gospel he fell into a trance at the altar, and
remained in the trance until at last the people
awoke him, saying, " Sir, the hour is late and
the people are weary." He answered, " Do not
be angry with me; for Martin my brother is
passed to God, and I have performed the office
of his death and burial." They took note of the
time, and afterwards news came that Martin had
died on that day and at that hour.
CHAPTER CXXXVII
THE FOUR DOCTORS
THIS Ambrose, bishop of Milan, was one of
the four doctors of the church of Christ,
whom the Christian people throughout the world
held in reverence next after the apostles and
evangelists. The second of the four doctors was
Augustine, who wrote a book of the City of God
to comfort men's hearts after the sack of Rome,
and died in his cathedral city of Hippo in Africa,
165

when it was being besieged by the Vandals under
King Genseric: for at that time all the Empire
was falling to pieces, and men looked for the
end of the world to come presently. The third
of the four was Jerome; he turned the ancient
histories of God's people on earth and the books
of the prophets into Latin in his monastery at
Bethlehem, and he had a tame lion who served
him. The fourth, who hved after the other
three, was Gregory bishop of Rome, servant of
the servants of God. The might of his prayers
was so great that they made the angel of the
pestilence sheathe his sword when he stood on
the castle of Rome to slay the Roman people,
and won a place in Paradise for the soul of
the heathen Emperor Trajan, because he had
done justice for the widows and orphans of his
empire.
CHAPTER CXXXVIIl
THE KING OF THE WORLD
ONCE upon a time there was a giant called
Reprobus, who was greater of strength
and stature than all other men of his time.
He was so proud of his size and strength that
1 66

he made a vow to serve no other but the greatest
king of all the world : and he travelled through
many countries seeking the greatest of kings,
until at last he came to the court of the Emperor,
who gladly took him into his service. Now on a
feast day there came to the Emperor's palace a
minstrel, who told a tale before the court as they
feasted, in which mention was made of the Evil
One; and whenever the Evil One's name was
spoken, the Emperor and all his court made the
sign of the cross. Reprobus asked the Emperor
why he did this ; and he answered, " I do this to
keep off the power of the Evil One." Reprobus
said to him, " If you fear the power of the Evil
One, he must be a greater king than you : there
fore I will serve you no longer, but seek him
and be his servant." So he left the Emperor's
court and set forth to find the king of whom the
Emperor was afraid.
CHAPTER CXXXIX
THE CROSSWAYS
ON his journey he passed over a great
waste plain, and on it he met a com
pany, at whose head there rode one very beautiful
167

and terrible, armed and crowned, who asked him
" Where are you going ? " He answered, " I travel
seeking the Evil One, that I may serve him,
because he is the greatest king of all the world."
The other said, " I am he : seek no further."
Then Reprobus did him homage, and travelled
on with him, until they came to a place in the
waste where four roads met, and there a cross
stood by the wayside. When the Evil One saw
the cross, he began to tremble, and turned off
the road, making a great circuit that he might not
pass where the cross cast a shadow. Reprobus
asked him why he did this, but he made no
answer : then he said again, " Unless you tell me
why you do this, I will serve you no longer."
Then the Evil One answered unwillingly, " Upon
this cross Jesus Christ died, and I must needs
tremble when I see it." But Reprobus said,
"Then must Jesus Christ, before whose cross
you tremble, be greater than you : I will go to
seek him, that I may serve him." So he left
that company, and travelled through the world
to seek Christ, but for a long time he could not
find him.

i68

A

CHAPTER CXL
THE FORD OF THE RIVER
T last he came to a wood by a great river,

and in the wood was a hermit living in
his cell, whom he asked how he might find
Christ. The hermit said, "Certainly Christ,
whom you seek, is King and Lord of heaven
and of all the earth; but before he will take
you into his service you must perform the task
that he will lay upon you." " Tell me the task,"
said Reprobus, "that I may perform it." The
hermit answered, "You must seek his service
by much fasting and prayer." But Reprobus
answered, " Of prayer I know nothing ; and if
I fast, I shall soon lose the great strength which
I have beyond all other men, and with which
I desire to serve him." Then the hermit thought
a while, and said, " Do you see that river, over
which there is no bridge nor ford, so that many
travellers are drowned in trying to cross it ?
Make your dweUing by it and carry over the
travellers who come, for by so doing you will
find favour with him whom you desire to serve."
So he built himself a hut by the bank of the river,
169

and cut him a great pole to keep his feet steady
in the water ; and for a long while he lived there
carrying over on his shoulders all who came that
way.
CHAPTER CXLI
THE CHILD IN THE NIGHT
ONE night as he lay asleep in his hut, he
heard a little voice outside calling him
by his name; and when he awoke and went
out, he saw a child all alone by the river bank,
who said to him, " Carry me over." So he lifted
the child up on his shoulder, and took his pole
and waded into the river. But as he went, the
water rose and swelled round him, and bore
down on him so that he could hardly keep his
feet, and the child on his shoulder grew heavier
and heavier, until the weight seemed to crush
him down; but at last he won across, and
staggered out of the water on to the other bank ;
then, as the child slid off his shoulder, he sank
down panting, and cried, " Child, you weigh on
me like the weight of all the world." The child
answered, " My servant, do not wonder at this,
for to-night you have borne upon your shoulder
170

him who bears all the world, the Lord Jesus
Christ. That you may know the truth of this,
set your pole in the earth beside your hut and
look at it in the morning. Now have I taken
you into my service, and your name shall be
changed, and be called Christopher, because
you have carried Christ." Then the child
vanished away; and Christopher went back
lightly through the river, that had fallen shallow
and calm, and set his pole in the earth on the
bank : and the next morning when he looked,
it had become a palm-tree, and was covered with
flowers and leaves and fruit.
CHAPTER CXLII
THE CAVE IN THE HILL
IN the persecution of the Emperor Decius,
seven Christian men fled out of the city
of Ephesus and hid themselves in a cave on
the mountain. There they remained in hiding
for a long while; and when their food was all
spent, one of them would dress himself as a
beggar and go down to Ephesus to buy more;
for they had good store of silver money with
them in the cave. After a while, by the will of
171

God they all fell asleep in the cave ; and as time
went on, the mouth of the cave became filled
up with earth, and aU memory of it was for
gotten. So two hundred years passed : the
golden image of Victory had been taken away
from the senate -house, and the cross was set
up in the heathen temples; Attila the Hun
was laying all Europe waste, and the Emperor
Theodosius reigned in Byzantium. On a time,
a citizen of Ephesus began to make a stable for
his herdsmen on that mountain, and the work
men digging for the foundations broke a hole
into the cave. When the fresh air blew in upon
them, the seven sleepers in the cave awoke.
They supposed that they had slept all night
and awaked next morning; and finding no food
left in the cave, they sent one of them as before,
dressed in beggar's clothes, to go down to the
city and buy bread, and get news of the perse
cution; and he took with him from their store
five silver pieces stamped with the head and name
of the Emperor Decius.

172

CHAPTER CXLIII
THE CROSS OVER THE GATE
WHEN he came out of the cave, and saw
the digging and the masons' work where
they had begun to build, he was much astonished
that all this work should have been done in one
night, and that he and his fellows had heard no
noise of the workmen while they slept in the
cave. But he went on down the hill, and along
the highroad to the city gate. There his as
tonishment was greater. For above the gate,
where the image of an idol had stood, was set
up a cross ; and going round under the city walls
to another gate, he saw the cross set up over
it also. He said to himself, "Certainly I am
dreaming." Then he went back to the first
gate, and covering his face in his cloak, went in,
and walked along the streets to the market
place. But as he went along, he heard on every
side men naming the name of Jesus Christ, and
becoming still more bewildered, he said to him
self, "Certainly this is not Ephesus, but some
other city, I do not know what." Then he went
into the market to b"uy bread. But when he
173

offered payment, the market-people looked at his
money and said to one another, " This young man
has found some old buried treasure." He saw
them whispering together, and feared that they
knew who he was, and would take him before
the Emperor ; so he begged them to keep both
their bread and his money and let him go.
But they only came closer round him, saying,
" Whence do you come ? and where did you
find treasure of old Emperors ? " and in a little
while the news spread through all the town.
CHAPTER CXLIV
THE ANCIENT MONEY
WORD was brought to Martin the bishop
and Antipater the governor; and they
sent for him, and asked him, "Where did you
find the treasure that this money comes from ? "
" I found no treasure," said he : " this is my own
money," " Of what city are you ? " they asked.
He said, " I am of this city, if this be the city
of Ephesus." " Then," said the governor, " let
your kinsfolk come and bear witness for you."
But when he named his kinsfolk, no man there
had ever heard of such people. Then the gover-
174

nor said to him, "Young man, how can this
money be yours, when it bears on it the head
and name of an Emperor who is dead these two
hundred years ? confess, then, where you found
it." Then he knelt down before them, and said,
"For God's sake tell me this, lords: where is
Decius the Emperor ? " " My son," said the
bishop, "there is no such person in this world;
Decius was Emperor many generations ago."
" Sir," he answered, " I saw the Emperor Decius
ride into this city yesterday, if this be the city
of Ephesus: and it was in fear of him that we
fled and hid ourselves in a cave." Then the
bishop Martin mused within himself, and said to
the governor, " Truly our Lord shows us strange
matters by this young man." So they sent word
in haste to the Emperor Theodosius, that he
should come and see these marvels; and when
he came, they went to the cave in the mountain,
and found the sleepers sitting in it awake with
shining faces: and they said, "Here we have
lain asleep for two hundred years and felt
nothing, and now the Lord has awakened us
again : " and having said thus, they bowed their
heads to the earth and committed their souls to
Christ. Then the Emperor built a church over
175

the cave; and there they continue asleep until
the day of judgment. But when they turn in
their sleep, wars and pestilences and great cala
mities come upon the world.
CHAPTER CXLV
THE BEGINNING OF THE END
CONCERNING the end of the world, and
the second coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and the last judgment, prophets and holy
men have written, each according to the revela
tion that was given him. But as Jesus said to
his disciples when he was on earth, of the day
and the hour when these things shall be no man
knows, nor yet the angels in heaven, but God
only. For the disciples came to Jesus as he sat
on the hill of the olive-woods over against Jeru
salem, and asked him to tell them what should be
the sign of the coming of his Kingdom, and he
answered, " Take heed that no man deceive you ;
for many shall come in my name, saying that
they are 1. There shall be false prophets
and false Christs, who shall show great signs
and wonders, so as to deceive even the elect.
I have told you this beforehand, therefore beware.
176

If men say to you. Behold, he is in the desert!
do not go forth : if they say. Behold, he is in the
secret chambers ! do not believe them. For the
coming of the Judge in the clouds of heaven shall
be as sudden as the lightning that flashes across
the sky, on the day when the trumpet and the great
voice of his angels shall call together his elect
from the four quarters of the world. Yet there
shall be signs foretelling the end for such as can
understand them ; namely, wars and rumours oi
wars, offences and betrayals, love grown cold and
wickedness overflowing the brim : for these are
the pains that must come before the new birth."
CHAPTER CXLVI
THE FIFTEEN SIGNS
ALSO there were written, about the time
^ when the barbarians under Alaric the
Visigoth took and sacked the holy city of Rome,
the signs of the fifteen days at the end of the
world; which are these. On the first day the
sea shall rise up and stand like a wall fifty feet
above the highest of the tides. On the second,
is shall sink so low that men may hardly see it
from the shore. On the third, whales and great
M 177

fish and creatures of the sea shall appear above
the water and cry to heaven, but none shall
understand their cry except God. On the fourth,
the sea and all waters shall burn. On the fifth,
the trees and herbs shall yield dew of blood, and
all the birds of the air shall assemble in a field
and not eat nor drink, but abide the coming of
the Judge in great fear. On the sixth, cities and
palaces shall crumble, and thunders and fiery
tempests shall rise out of the west where the
sun goes down. On the seventh, stones shall
hurtle together and smite one another with a
dreary sound. On the eighth, all the earth
shall tremble so that neither man nor beast may
stand upright on it. On the ninth, the mountains
shall crumble and fill up the valleys, so that the
whole earth shall be flat and even. On the tenth;
men shafl creep out of caves and not speak to
one another. On the eleventh, all the graves
shaU open, and the bones of the dead rise out of
their tombs and issue forth. On the twelfth,
the stars shall fall out of heaven. On the thir
teenth, afl living things shafl die. On the four
teenth, the heaven and the earth shaU burn. On
the fifteenth, there shall be a new heaven and a
new earth. 178

CHAPTER CXLVII
THE VOICE ON THE ISLAND
THIS is the revelation of the last days that
was made to John the evangelist when he
was in exile on the island of Patmos in the Greek
sea. In a vision he heard a great voice as of a
trumpet behind him, and turning round to look,
he saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the
midst of them the likeness of One clothed in a
garment down to the feet and girt with a golden
girdle. His eyes were like a flame of fire and
his feet like molten metal in the furnace, and his
voice was like the sound of many waters. In
his right hand he held the seven stars : out of
his mouth went a sharp double-edged sword, and
his face was as the sun shining at noon. Seeing
him, John fell down at his feet like one dead.
But he laid his right hand on him and said : " Do
not fear. I am the first and the last : I am he who
lives and was dead and am alive for evermore,
and 1 hold the keys of death and the dead.
Write the things which you have seen, and the
things which are, and the things which shall be
after these." 179

CHAPTER CXLVIII
THE WATCHERS OF THE THRONE
AFTER this a door was opened in heaven;
>- and a voice, as of a trumpet talking, said
to John, " Come up hither, and I wiU show you
things which shall be hereafter." Immediately
he was taken up in the spirit into heaven : and
there he saw a throne set, and One sitting on it,
with a rainbow round him like the shining of an
emerald. Out of the throne came lightnings and
thunderings and voices, and before it burned
seven lamps, which are the seven Spirits of
God. In front of the throne stretched a sea of
glass like crystal : and round it were four hving
creatures full of eyes, each with six wings, who
do not cease by day or night from giving glory
and honour to the Sitter on the throne, saying,
" Holy, holy, holy Lord God, the Almighty, who
was, and who is, and who shall be." But under
the golden altar before the throne lay all the
souls of the saints, clad in white robes, waiting
there until their number should be complete and
the end should come.

1 80

T

CHAPTER CXLIX
THE FOUR HORSEMEN
HEN one came forth sitting on a white
horse, crowned, with a bow in his hand ;
and after him came one sitting on a red horse,
with a great sword; and after them a black
horse, and one sitting on it with a pair of
balances in his hand ; and last of all a pale
horse, and the name of the rider was Death, and
his hound followed close at his heel. Now
the souls of the saints cried out from where
they lay, " How long, O Lord ? " and they
were bidden to have patience for a little longer
yet. After these things the sun turned black and
the moon blood-red, and the stars fell out of
heaven like fruit off a tree in a violent wind,
and the sky parted asunder and curled up like
burning paper; and all the kings and mighty
ones of the earth hid themselves, and called on
the mountains to fall and cover them from the
anger of God. Then there was silence in heaven
for half an hour : and seven trumpets were given
to the seven angels who stand before God.

i8i

CHAPTER CL
THE TRUMPETS OF GOD
AFTER that another angel came and stood at
^ the altar with a golden censer full of
incense, to offer the prayers of the saints before
the throne ; and the smoke of the incense went
up, mingled with the prayers of the saints, from
his hand. Then the angel filled the censer with
fire from the altar, and cast it down upon the
earth, and there followed voices and thunderings
and lightnings and an earthquake: and four
angels stood on the four corners of the earth
holding the four winds of the world, that the
wind might not blow over land or sea : and the
seven angels with the seven trumpets prepared
themselves to sound. But when six of the
trumpets had sounded, another angel came down
from heaven clothed in a cloud ; round his head
was a rainbow, his face was like the sun, and his
feet like fire. He stood with one foot on the
earth and one on the sea, and cried out with
an awful voice, and when he had cried, seven
thunders uttered their voices. But when John
was going to write down what they had said,
182

he heard another voice from heaven saying,
" Seal up those things which the seven thunders
uttered, and do not write them ; for at the sound
ing of the trumpet of the seventh angel there
shall be no more delay, but the mystery of God
shall be finished."

T

CHAPTER CLI
THE WHITE CLOUD
HEN the seventh angel sounded ; and there
were great voices in heaven, saying,
"The kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ : " and
another angel flew across mid-heaven, holding
the everlasting Gospel in his hand, and cried as
he flew, " Fear God and give glory to him : for
the hour of his judgment is come." Then there
appeared a white cloud, and one sitting on the
cloud like the Son of Man, crowned, with a
sharp sickle in his hand : and another angel
came out from the altar, and cried to him who
sat on the cloud, "Thrust in your sickle and
gather the clusters of the vine of earth; for
her grapes are fully ripe, and the time of her
vintage is come." So he thrust his sickle into the
183

earth and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast
it into the great wine-press of God. But in heaven
was another sight, great and wonderful, as it
were a sea of glass mingled with fire. All the
saints stood upon it with the harps of God,
praising him ; and a voice of a great multitude, as
the voice of many waters and of mighty thunder
ings, said, " Salvation, and honour, and glory, and
power to the Lord our God ! Let us be glad and
rejoice, for the marriage of heaven is come, and
the bride has made herself ready."
CHAPTER CLII
THE LAST JUDGMENT
THEN an angel standing in the sun cried
aloud to all the birds that fly in mid-
heaven, "Come and gather together to the
supper of God, to eat the flesh of kings and
captains and mighty men:" and the kings of
the earth went out to battle, and were slain by
the sword of God; and the birds were gorged
with their flesh. Thereafter an angel came
down from heaven, with the key of the bottom
less pit and a great chain in his hand, who
bound the ancient Serpent, the deceiver of the
184

world, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and
sealed it up above him. Then a great white
throne was set, and One sat on it from before
whose face earth and heaven fled away. The
dead, both small and great, stood before the
throne, and the books were opened, and the
dead were judged out of what was written in
the books, according to their works : and when
the judgment was finished, death and hell were
cast into the lake of fire.
CHAPTER CLIII
THE ETERNAL CITY
ALSO there was a new heaven and a new
-^^ earth : for the former heaven and the
former earth were passed away, and there was
no more sea. Then one of the seven angels
came to John and talked with him, saying,
" Come with me, and I will show you the bride."
Then he took him in the spirit to a great
mountain peak on the new earth; and from it
he saw the holy city descending out of heaven
adorned as a bride, having the glory of God.
The splendour of it was like the light of a
precious stone ; it had a wall of jasper, great
-N 185

and high, with twelve gates, and at the gates
twelve angels. The street of the city was
of pure gold like clear glass, and the twelve
gates were twelve pearls, every gate of one
pearl. Through the golden street ran the
river of the water of life, clear as crystal, pro
ceeding out of the throne of God; and in the
middle of the street, on either side of the river,
was the tree of life, new-grown out of Paradise.
The city had no need of sun or moon to shine
in it, and had neither sunlight nor candle-light ;
for the glory of God lightened it ; and the gates
were never shut, for there is no night there.
Blessed are those who do God's wfll: for they
shall have right to the Tree of Life, and shall
enter in through the gates into the City.

"Printed bi) Ballanttne, Hanson & Co.
Edinburgh and London

3 9002 08844 9229

'm

^i

.¦V <.t'

•imi?i

vt?

]£,/fZ

•^¦SKfK.

•!^J