ceiving tithes of the people of the Jews. 23 And I also know Simeon, the old man, that he took him when he was a babe, and said to him, Now lettest thou thy servant depart, O Lord.

The Jews said, Let us find the three men who saw him at the mount of Olives, that we may ask them and learn the truth more accurately. And they found and brought them before all, and made them swear to tell the truth. And they said, As the God of Israel liveth, we saw Jesus at the mount of Olives, alive, and ascending into heaven.

Then Annas and Caiaphas separated the three from one another, and asked them privately and singly. They agreed therefore in their speech, and the three spoke the same thing. The chief priests answered and said, Our scripture saith that every word shall be established with two or three witnesses.24 Joseph therefore hath confessed that he performed his funeral-rites, and buried him, along with Nicodemus, and how it is the truth that he hath risen.

23 This receiving of tithes by the family of Jesus is a fiction. 24 Deut. xvii. 6; Matt. xviii. 16.

Joseph saith, And why marvel ye that Jesus hath risen? This is not wonderful; but it is wonderful that he arose not alone, but that he also raised many other dead, who appeared unto many in Jerusalem. And if ye know not the others, Simeon at least, who took Jesus in his arms, and his two sons, whom he raised again, them at least ye know. For we buried them a short time ago, but now their tombs are seen open and empty, and they are living, and abiding in Arimathea. Therefore they sent men and found their sepulchers open and empty. Joseph saith, Let us go to Arimathea, and let us find them.

Then the chief priests, Annas and Caiaphas, arose, and Joseph, and Nicodemus, and Gamaliel, and others with them, and went to Arimathea, and found those whom Joseph said. Therefore they offered prayer, and saluted one another. Then they came with them to Jerusalem, and brought them into the synagogue, and shut the doors, and placed in the midst the Old Testament of the Jews, and the chief priests said unto them, We wish you to swear by the God of Israel and Adonai, and thus that ye may tell the truth, how ye arose, and who raised you from the dead.

When the men who had risen heard this, they made upon their faces the sign of the cross,2 and said to the chief priests, Give us paper and ink and a pen. They brought them therefore; and they sat down and wrote thus

1 In MSS. where this Second Part appears it follows directly upon the earlier half, continuing the chapter-numbers.

2 This notion of the sons of Simeon crossing themselves refers to a practise at least as old as the time of Tertullian (“ De Corona Milit.” 2).

CHAPTER XVIII

O Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection and the life of the world, give us grace that we may rehearse thy resurrection, and thy wonderful works which thou didst in Hades. We, therefore, were in Hades with all those who fell asleep from the beginning. Now at the hour of midnight, upon those dark places, there arose as it were the light of the sun, and shone, and we were all lighted up and saw one another. And immediately our father Abraham was united with the patriarchs and the prophets, and they were together filled with joy, and said to one another, This light is from a great illumination. The prophet Isaiah, who was there, said, This light is from the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, concerning whom I prophesied while I was yet alive, saying, The land of Zebulun, and the land of Nephthalim, the people which sitteth in darkness hath seen a great light.3

Then came into the midst another, an ascetic from the desert, and the patriachs said to him, Who art thou? And he said, I am John, the last of the prophets, who made straight the ways of the Son of God, and preached to the people repentance for remission of sins. And the Son of God came unto me; and when I saw him from afar I said to the people, Behold, the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. And with my hand I baptized him in the river Jordan, and I saw, also, as it were, a dove, the Holy Spirit coming upon him; and I heard also the voice of God and the Father saying thus, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And for this cause he sent me also to you, that I might preach how the only begotten Son of God cometh hither, that whoever believeth in him shall be saved, but whoso shall not believe in him shall be condemned.5 Therefore, I say, to all of you: whereas ye see him, that ye should all worship him, because, now only have ye time of repentance for your worship of idols in the vain world above,

3 Is. ix. 1, 2.

4 Matt. iii. 3, 11; Mark i. 4; John i. 36.

5 Mark xvi. 16.

and for the sins ye have committed: but at another time this can not be.

CHAPTER XIX

Therefore, while John was thus teaching those who were in Hades, and the first made and first father Adam heard it, he saith to his son Seth, My son, I wish thee to tell the forefathers of the race of men, and to the prophets, whither I sent thee when I was about to die. And Seth said, Prophets and patriarchs, harken. When my father Adam, the first made, was about to die, he sent me to offer prayer to God very near the gate of Paradise, that he would guide me by an angel to the tree of mercy, and let me take oil and anoint my father, and that he might recover from his sickness. Which also I did. And after my prayer the angel of the Lord came and said to me, Seth, what dost thou ask? dost thou ask the oil which restoreth the sick, or the tree which poureth forth such oil, because of the sickness of thy father? This is not now to be found. Go, therefore, and tell thy father that, after 5500 years are accomplished from the creation of the world, then shall descend upon earth the only begotten Son of God, being made man, and He shall anoint him with such oil, and he shall rise again, and with water and with the Holy Spirit He shall wash both him and his descendants, and then shall he be healed of all sickness: but now this can not be."

When the patriarchs and the prophets heard this they rejoiced greatly.

CHAPTER XX

Now while they were all in so great joy, Satan, the inheritor of darkness, came and said to Hades, All-devouring and insatiate one, hear my words. From the race of Jews, there is one called Jesus, naming himself the Son of God, but being a man, the Jews through our joint exertions have crucified him. And now that he is dead, be ready that we may bind him safely here. For I know that he is a man, and I also

• This legend of Seth seems to have been borrowed from a Jewish source, and adapted to Christian uses.

heard him saying, My soul is very sorrowful unto death." He wrought me many evils also in the world above while he conversed with mortals. For where he found my servants he persecuted them, and the men whom I made halt, blind, lame, lepers, and the like, he healed by his word alone. And when I had made many ready for burial, even them, by a word alone, he made alive again.

Hades saith, And is he so mighty as to be able to do such things by a word alone? or canst thou resist him who is such? It seemeth to me no one will be able to resist him who is such. But if thou sayest thou heardest him fearing death, he said this mocking and laughing at thee, wishing to seize thee with a mighty hand; and woe, woe, unto thee for evermore.

Satan saith, All-devouring and insatiate Hades, wast thou so afraid when thou heardest of our common foe? I feared him not, but I wrought upon the Jews, and they crucified him, and gave him gall and vinegar to drink. Be ready, therefore, to hold him firmly when he cometh.

Hades answered, Inheritor of darkness, son of perdition, Devil, thou hast but now told me that many whom thou preparedst for burial he by a word alone did make alive: and if he delivered others from burial, how and by what power shall he be held by us? Now a short time ago I swallowed a certain dead man, Lazarus by name, and a little after, one of the living, by a word alone, forcibly drew him out of my bowels. Now I think it was he of whom thou speakest. Therefore, if we receive him here, I fear we may run a risk even in regard to the rest; for lo! I see that all whom I have ever swallowed are in commotion, and my belly is in pain. And Lazarus, who was snatched beforehand from me, seemeth to me no good sign; because he flew away from me, not like a dead man, but like an eagle; so quickly did the earth cast him forth. Wherefore, I conjure thee, both for thy benefit and for mine, not to bring him hither; for I think that he is coming here, in order to raise up all the dead. And this I say to thee, By the darkness which we keep, if thou dost bring him hither, none of the dead will be left to me.

7 Mark. xiv. 34.

8 Jonah ii. 2.

8