33 The prince's wife then aroseand entertained them, providing agreat feast for Joseph among alarge company of men.
34 And the next day tookperfumed water to wash the LordJesus, and afterwards poured thesame water upon her son, whomshe had brought with her, and herson was instantly cleansed fromhis leprosy,
35 Then she sang thanks andunto God, and said, Blessedis the mother that bare thee,O Jesus!
36 Dost thou thus cure men ofthe same nature with thyself, withthe water with which thy body iswashed?
37 She then offered very largegifts to the Lady Mary, and senther away with all imaginablerespect.
CHAPTER VII.
1 A man who could not enjoy his wife, freed from his disorder.5 A young man who had been bewitched, and turned into amule miraculously cured by Christ being put on his back,28 and is married to the girl who had been cured of leprosy.
THEY came afterwards to anothercity, and had a mind to lodge there.
2 Accordingly they went to a man'shouse, who was newly marriedbut by the influence of sorcererscould not enjoy his wife.
3 But they lodging at his housethat night, the man was freed ofhis disorder.
4 And when they were preparingearly in the morning to go forwardon their journey, the new-marriedperson hindered them, andprovided a noble entertainmentfor them.
5 But going forward on themorrow, they came to anothercity, and saw three women goingfrom a certain grave with greatweeping.
6 When St. Mary saw them, shespake to the girl who was theircompanion, saying, Go and inquireof them, what is the matter withthem, and what misfortune hasbefallen them?
7 When the girl asked them,they made her no answer, butasked her again, Who are ye? andwhere are you going? For the dayis far spent, and night is at hand.
8 We are travellers, saith thegirl, and we are seeking for an innto lodge at.
9 They replied, Go along withus, and lodge with us.
10 They then followed them,and were introduced into a newhouse, well furnished with allsorts of furniture.
11 Now it was winter-time, andthe girl went into the parlourwhere these women were, andfound them weeping and lamentingas before.
12 By them stood a mule, coveredover with silk, and an ebony collarhanging down from his neck, whomthey kissed and were feeding.
13 But when the girl said, Howhandsome, ladies, that mule is!they replied with tears, and said,This mule, which you see, was ourbrother, born of this same motheras we;
14 For when our father died,and left us a very large estate, andwe had only this brother, and weendeavoured to procure him a suitablematch, and thought he shouldbe married as other men, somegiddy and jealous women bewitchedhim without our knowledge.
15 And we one night, a little beforeday, while the doors of the housewere all shut fast, saw this ourbrother was changed into a mule,such as you now see him to be:
16 And we in the melancholycondition in which you see us,having no father to comfort us,have applied to all the wise men,magicians, and diviners in theworld, but they have been of noservice to us.
17 As often therefore as we findourselves oppressed with grief, werise and go with this our motherto our father's tomb, where, whenwe have cried sufficiently, wereturn home.
18 When the girl had heard thisshe said, Take courage, and ceaseyour fears, for you have a remedyfor your afflictions near at handeven amoung you and in the midstof your house.
19 For I was also leprous; butwhen I saw this woman, and thislittle infant with her, whose nameis Jesus, I sprinkled my body withthe water with which his motherhad washed him and I waspresently made well.
20 And I am certain that he isalso capable of relieving you underyour distress. Wherefore arise,go to my mistress Mary, and whenyou have brought her into yourown parlour, disclose to her thesecret, at the same time earnestlybeseeching her to compassionateyour case.
21 As soon as the women hadheard the girl's discourse, theyhastened away to the Lady St.Mary, introduced themselves toher, and sitting down before her,they wept.
22 And said, O our Lady St.Mary, pity your handmaids, forwe have no head of our family, noone elder than us; no father orbrother to go in or out before us.
23 But this mule, which yousee, was our brother, which somewomen by witchcraft have broughtinto this condition which you see:we therefore entreat you tocompassionate us.
24 Hereupon St. Mary wasgrieved at their case, and takingthe Lord Jesus, put him upon theback of the mule.
25 And said to her son, O JesusChrist, restore (or heal) accordingto thy extraordinary power thismule, and grant him to have againthe shape of a man and a rationalcreature, as he had formerly.
26 This was scarce said by theLady St. Mary, but the muleimmediately passed into a humanform, and became a young manwithout any deformity.
27 Then he and his mother andthe sisters worshipped the LadySt. Mary, and lifting the childupon their heads, they kissed him,and said, Blessed is thy mother,O Jesus, O Saviour of the world!Blessed are the eyes which areso happy to see thee.
28 Then both the sisters toldtheir mother, saying, Of a truth,our brother is restored to his formershape by the help of the LordJesus Christ, and the kindnessof that girl who told us of Maryand her son.
29 And inasmuch as our brotheris unmarried, it is fit that wemarry him to this girl theirservant.
30 When they had consultedMary in this matter, and she hadgiven her consent, they made asplendid wedding for this girl.
31 And so their sorrow beingturned into gladness, and theirmourning into mirth, they beganto rejoice, and to make merry,and sing, being dressed in theirrichest attire, with bracelets.
32 Afterwards they glorified andpraised God, saying, O Jesus, sonof David, who changest sorrowinto gladness, and mourning intomirth!
33 After this Joseph and Marytarried there ten days, then wentaway, having received greatrespect from these people.
34 Who, when they took theirleave of them, and returned home,cried,
35 But especially the girl.
CHAPTER VIII.
1 Joseph and Mary pass through a country infested by robbers.3 Titus a humane thief, offers Dumachus, his comrade,forty groats to let Joseph and Mary pass unmolested.6 Jesus prophecies that the thieves Dumachus and Titus shall becrucified with him and that Titus shall go before him into paradise.10 Christ causes a well to spring from a sycamore tree, and Marywashes his coat in it.11 A balsam grows there from his sweat. They go to Memphis, whereChrist works more miracles. Return to Judea.15 Being warned, depart for Nazareth.
IN their journey from hence theycame into a desert country andwere told it was infested withrobbers; so Joseph and St. Maryprepared to pass through it in thenight.
2 And as they were going along,behold they saw two robbers asleepin the road, and with them a greatnumber of robbers, who were theirconfederates, also asleep.
3 The names of these two wereTitus and Dumachus; and Titussaid to Dumachus, I beseech theelet these persons go along quietly,that our company may not perceiveanything of them.
4 But Damachus refusing, Titusagain said, I will give thee fortygroats, and as a pledge take mygirdle, which he gave him beforehe had done speaking, that hemight not open his mouth or makea noise.
5 When the Lady St. Mary sawthe kindness which this robber didshew them, she said to him, TheLord God will receive thee to hisright hand and grant thee pardonof thy sins.
6 Then the Lord Jesus answered,and said to his mother, Whenthirty years are expired, O mother,the Jews will crucify me atJerusalem;
7 And these two thieves shallbe with me at the same time uponthe cross, Titus on my right hand,and Dumachus on my left, andfrom that time Titus shall go beforeme into paradise;
8 And when she had said, Godforbid this should be thy lot, Omy son, they went on to a city inwhich were several idols; which,as soon as they came near to it,was turned into hills of sand.
9 Hence they went to thatsycamore tree, which is now calledMatarea.
10 And in Materea the LordJesus caused a well to springforth, in which St. Mary washedhis coat;
11 And a balsam is produced,or grows, in that country, fromthe sweat which ran down therefrom the Lord Jesus.
12 Thence they proceeded toMemphis, and saw Pharoah, andabode three years in Egypt.
13 And the Lord Jesus did verymany miracles, in Egypt, whichare neither to be found inGospel of the Infancy nor in theGospel of Perfection.
14 At the end of three yearshe returned out of Egypt, andwhen he came near to Judea,Joseph was afraid to enter;
15 For hearing that Herod wasdead, and that Archelaus his sonreigned in his stead, he was afraid.
16 And when he went to Judea,an, angel of God appeared tohim, and said, O Joseph gointo the city of Nazareth, andabide there.
17 It is strange indeed, that he,who is the Lord of all countries,should be thus carried backward andforward, through so many countries.
CHAPTER IX.
2 Two sick children cured by waterwherein Christ was washed.
WHEN they came afterwardsinto the city of Bethlehem,they found there several verydesperate distempers, which becameso troublesome to children by seeingthem, that most of them died.
2 There was there a woman whohad a sick son, whom she brought,when he was at the point of death,to the Lady St. Mary, who sawher when she was washing JesusChrist.
3 Then said the woman, O myLady Mary, look down upon thismy son, who is afflicted with mostdreadful pains.
4 St. Mary hearing her, said,Take a little of that water withwhich I have washed my son, andsprinkle it upon him.
5 Then she took a little of thatwater, as St. Mary had commanded,and sprinkled it upon her son,who being wearied with his violentpains, was fallen asleep; and afterhe had slept a little, awakedperfectly well and recovered.
6 The mother being abundantlyglad of this success, went again toSt. Mary, and St. Mary said toher, Give praise to God, who hathcured this thy son.
7 There was in the same placeanother woman, a neighbour ofher, whose son was now cured.
8 This woman's son was afflictedwith the same disease, and his eyeswere now almost quite shut, andshe was lamenting for him dayand night.
9 The mother of the child whichwas cured, said to her, Why doyou not bring your son to St. Mary,as I brought my son to her, whenhe was in the agonies of death;and he was cure by that water,with which the body of her sonJesus was washed?
10 When the woman heard hersay this, she also went, and havingprocured the same water, washedher son with it, whereupon hisbody and his eyes were instantlyrestored to their former state.
11 And when she brought herson to St. Mary, and opened hiscase to her, she commanded her togive thanks to God for the recoveryof her son's health, and tellno one what had happened.
CHAPTER X.
1 Two wives of one man, each have a son sick.2 One of them named Mary, and whose son's name was Caleb,presents the Virgin with a handsome carpet, and Caleb is cured;but the son of the other wife dies,4 which occasions a difference between the women.5 The other wife puts Caleb into a hot oven, and he ismiraculously preserved,9 she afterwards throws him into a well,and he is again preserved;11 his mother appeals to the Virgin against the other wife,12 whose downfall the Virgin prophecies,13 and who accordingly falls into the well,14 therein fulfilling a saying of old.
THERE were in the same citytwo wives of one man, whohad each a son sick. One of themwas called Mary, and her son'sname was Caleb.
2 She arose, and taking her son,went to the Lady St. Mary, themother of Jesus, and offered her avery handsome carpet, saying, Omy Lady Mary accept this carpetof me, and instead of it give me asmall swaddling cloth.
3 To this Mary agreed, andwhen the mother of Caleb wasgone, she made a coat for her sonof the swaddling cloth, put it onhim, and his disease was cured;but the son of the other wife died.
4 Hereupon there arose betweenthem a difference in doingthe business of the family by turns,each her week;
5 And when the turn of Marythe mother of Caleb came, and shewas heating the oven to bakebread, and went away to fetch themeal, she left her son Caleb by theoven;
6 Whom the other wife, herrival, seeing to be by himself,took and cast him into the oven,which was very hot, and then wentaway.
7 Mary on her return saw herson Caleb lying in the middle ofthe oven laughing, and the ovenquite as cold as though it had notbeen before heated, and knew thather rival the other wife had thrownhim into the fire.
8 When she took him out, shebrought him to the Lady St. Mary,and told her the story, to whomshe replied, Be quiet, I amconcerned lest thou shouldest makethis matter known.
9 After this her rival, the otherwife, as she was drawing water atthe well, and saw Caleb playingby the well, and that no one wasnear, took him, and threw himinto the well.
10 And when some men came tofetch water from the well, theysaw the boy sitting on thesuperficies of the water, anddrew him out with ropes, and wereexceedingly surprised at the child,and praised God.
11 Then came the mother andtook him and carried him to theLady St. Mary, lamenting andsaying, O my Lady, see what myrival hath done to my son, andhow she hath cast him into thewell, and I do not question butone time or other she will be theoccasion of his death.
12 St. Mary replied to her, Godwill vindicate your injured cause.
13 Accordingly a few days after,when the other wife came to thewell to draw water, her foot wasentangled in the rope, so that shefell headlong into the well, andthey who ran to her assistancefound her skull broken, and bonesbruised.
14 So she came to a bad end,and in her was fulfilled that sayingof the author, They digged a well,and made it deep, but fell themselvesinto the pit which they prepared.
CHAPTER XI.
1 Bartholomew, when a child and sick, miraculouslyrestored by being laid on Christ's bed.
ANOTHER woman in that cityhad likewise two sons sick.
2 And when one was dead, theother, who lay at the point ofdeath, she took in her arms to theLady St. Mary, and in a flood oftears addressed herself to her,saying,
3 O my Lady, help and relieveme; for I had two sons, the one Ihave just now buried, the other Isee is fast at the point of deathbehold how I (earnestly) seek foryour from God, and pray to him.
4 Then she said, O Lord, thouart gracious, and merciful, andkind; thou, hast given me twosons; one of them thou halt takento thyself, O spare me this other.
5 St. Mary then perceiving thegreatness of her sorrow, pitied herand said, Do thou place thy son inmy son's bed, and cover him withhis clothes.
6 And when she had placed himin the bed wherein Christ lay,at the moment when his eyes werejust closed by death; as soon asever the small of the garments ofthe Lord Jesus Christ reached theboy, his eyes were opened, andcalling with a loud voice to hismother, he asked for bread, andwhen he had received it, he suckedit.
7 Than his mother said, O LadyMary, now I am assured that thepowers of God do dwell in you, sothat thy son can cure children whoare of the same sort as himself, assoon as they touch his garments.
8 This boy, who was thus cured,is the same who in the Gospel iscalled Bartholomew.
CHAPTER XII.
A leprous woman healed by Christ's washing water.7 A princess healed by it and restored to her husband.
AGAIN, there was a leprouswoman who went to the LadySt. Mary, the mother of Jesus,and said, O my Lady, help me.
2 St. Mary replied, What helpdoes thou desire? Is it gold orsilver, or that thy body be curedof its leprosy?
3 Who, says the woman, cangrant me this?
4 St. Mary replied to her, Waita little till I have washed my sonJesus, and put him to bed.
5 The woman waited, as shewas commanded; and Mary whenshe had put Jesus in bed, givingher the water with which she hadwashed his body, said, Take someof the water, and pour it upon thybody;
6 Which when she had done,she instantly became clean, andpraised God, and gave thanks tohim.
7 Then she went away, aftershe had abode with her threedays;
8 And going into the city, shesaw a certain prince, who hadmarried another prince's daughter;
9 But when he came to see her,he perceived between her eyes thesigns of leprosy like a star, andthereupon declared the marriagedissolved and void.
10 When the woman saw thesepersons in this condition, exceedingsorrowful, and shedding abundanceof tears, she inquired of themthe reason of their crying;
11 They replied, inquire notinto our circumstances; for weare not able to declare ourmisfortunes to any, person,whatsoever.
12 But she still pressed anddesired them to communicate theircase to her; intimating, that shemight be able to direct themto a remedy.
13 So when they showed the youngwoman to her, and the signsof the leprosy, which appearedbetween her eyes;
14 She said, I also whom yesee in this place, was afflictedwith the same distemper, and goingon some business to Bethlehem, Iwent into a certain cave, and sawa woman named Mary, who had ason called Jesus.
15 She seeing me to be leprous,was concerned for me, and gaveme some water with which shehad washed her son's body, withthat I sprinkled my body, andbecame clean.
16 Then said these women, Willyou Mistress, go along with us,and show the Lady St. Mary tous?
17 To which she consenting,they arose and went to the LadySt. Mary, taking with them verynoble presents.
18 And when they came in andoffered their presents to her,they showed the leprous young womanwhom they brought with them toher.
19 Then said St. Mary, Themercy of the Lord Jesus Christrest upon you;
20 And giving them a little ofthat water, with which she hadwashed the body of Jesus Christ,she bade them wash the diseasedperson with it, which when theyhad done, she was presentlycured;
21 So they, and all who werepresent, praised God; and beingfilled with joy, they went back totheir own city, and gave praises toGod on that account.
22 Then the prince hearing thathis wife was cured, took her homeand made a second marriage, givingthanks unto God for the recoveryof his wife's health.
CHAPTER XIII.
1 A girl, whose blood Satan sucked receives oneof Christ's swaddling clothes from the Virgin,14 Satan comes like a dragon, and she shews it to him;flames and burning coals proceed from it and fall upon him;19 he is miraculously discomfited, and leaves the girl.
THERE was also a girl, whowas afflicted by Satan,
2 For that cursed spirit didfrequently appear to her in the shapeof a dragon, and was inclined toswallow her up, and had so suckedout all her blood, that she lookedlike a dead carcass.
3 As often as she came to herself,with her hands wringed abouther head she would cry out, andsay, Wo, Wo is me, that there isno one to be found, who can deliverme from that impious dragon!
4 Her father and mother, andall who were about her and sawher, mourned and wept over her;
5 And all who were presentwould especially be under sorrowand in tears, when they heard herbewailing and saying, My brethrenand friends, is here no one who candeliver me from this murderer?
6 Then the prince's daughter,who had been cured of her leprosy,hearing the complaint of that girl,went upon the top of her castle,and saw her with her hands twistedabout her head, pouring out a floodof tears, and all the people thatwere about her in tears.
7 Then she asked the husbandof the possessed person, Whetherhis wife's mother was alive? Hetold her, That her father andmother were both alive,
8 Then she ordered her motherto be sent to her; to whom, whenshe saw her coming, she said,Is this possessed girl thy daughter?She moaning and bewailing said,Yes madam I bore her.
9 The prince's daughter answered,Disclose the secret of her case to me,for I confess to you that I was leprous,but the Lady Mary, the mother ofJesus Christ, healed me.
10 And if you desire yourdaughter to be restored to herformer state, take her to Bethlehem,and inquire for Mary the motherof Jesus, and doubt not but yourdaughter will be cured; for I donot question but you will comehome with great joy at yourdaughter's recovery.
11 As soon as ever she had donespeaking, she arose and went withher daughter to the place appointed,and to Mary, and told her the caseof her daughter.
12 When St. Mary had heardher story, she gave her a littleof the water with which she hadwashed the body of her son Jesus,and bade her pour it upon thebody of her daughter.
13 Likewise she gave her one ofthe swaddling cloths of the LordJesus, and said, Take this swaddlingcloth, and shew it to thineenemy as often as thou seest himand she sent them away inpeace.
14 After they had left thatcity and returned home, and thetime was come in which Satan waswont to seize her, in the samemoment this cursed spirit appearedto her in the shape of a hugedragon, and the girl seeing himwas afraid,
15 The mother said to her, Benot afraid, daughter; let him alonetill he come nearer to thee! thenshew him the swaddling cloth,which the Lady Mary gave us, andwe shall see the event.
16 Satan then coming like adreadful dragon, the body of thegirl trembled for fear.
17 But as soon as she had putthe swaddling cloth upon herhead, and about her eyes, andchewed it to him, presently thereissued forth from the swaddlingcloth flames and burning coals,and fell upon the dragon.
18 Oh! how great a miracle wasthis, which was done: as soon asthe dragon saw the swaddlingcloth of the Lord Jesus, fire wentforth and was scattered upon hishead and eyes; so that he criedout with a loud voice, What haveI to do with thee, Jesus, thou sonof Mary? Whither shall I fleefrom thee?
19 So he drew back muchaffrighted, and left the girl.
20 And she was delivered fromthis trouble, and sang praises andthanks to God, and with her allwho were present at the workingof the miracle.
CHAPTER XIV.
1 Judas when a boy possessed by Satan, and brought upby his parents to Jesus to be cured, whom he tries to bite,7 but failing, strikes Jesus and makes him cry out.Whereupon Satan goes from Jesus in the shape of a dog.
ANOTHER woman likewiselived there, whose son waspossessed by Satan,
2 This boy, named Judas, asoften as Satan seized him, wasinclined to bite all that werepresent; and if he found no one elsenear him, he would bite his ownhands and other parts.
3 But the mother of this miserableboy, hearing of St. Mary and her sonJesus, arose presently and takingher son in her arms, brought himto the Lady Mary.
4 In the meantime, James andJoses had taken away the infant,the Lord Jesus, to play at a properseason with other children;and when they went forth, theysat down and the Lord Jesus withthem.
5 Then Judas, who was possessed,came and sat down at the right handof Jesus.
6 When Satan was acting upon himas usual, he went about to bitethe Lord Jesus.
7 And because he could not doit, he struck Jesus on the rightside, so that he cried out.
8 And in the same moment Satanwent out of the boy, and ranaway like a mad dog.
9 This same boy who struckJesus, and out of whom Satan wentin the form of a dog, was JudasIscariot, who betrayed him to theJews.
10 And that same side, on whichJudas: struck him, the Jewspierced with a spear.
CHAPTER XV.
1 Jesus and other boys play together,and make clay figures of animals.4 Jesus causes them to walk,6 also makes clay birds, which he causes to fly,and eat and drink.7 The children's parents alarmed,and take Jesus for a sorcerer.8 He goes to a dyer's shop, and throws all thecloths into the furnace, and works a miracle therewith.15 Whereupon the Jews praise God.
AND when the Lord Jesus wasseven years of age, he wason a certain day with other boyshis companions about the sameage;
2 Who, when they were at play,made clay into several shapes,namely--asses, oxen, birds, andother figures;
3 Each boasting of his work,and endeavouring to exceed therest.
4 Then the Lord Jesus said tothe boys, I will command thesefigures which I have made towalk.
5 And immediately they moved,and when he commanded them toreturn, they returned.
6 He had also made the figuresof birds and sparrows, which,when he commanded to fly, didfly, and when he commanded tostand still, did stand still; and ifhe gave them meat and drink, theydid eat and drink.
7 When at length the boys wentaway, and related these things totheir parents, their fathers said tothem, Take heed, children, for thefuture of his company, for he is asorcerer; shun and avoid him, andfrom henceforth never play withhim.
8 On a certain day also, whenthe Lord Jesus was playing withthe boys, and running about, hepassed by a dyer's shop, whosename was Salem.
9 And there were in his shopmany pieces of cloth belonging tothe people of that city, which theydesigned to dye of several colours.
10 Then the Lord Jesus goinginto the dyer's shop, took all thecloths, and threw them into thefurnace.
11 When Salem came home, andsaw the cloths spoiled, he began tomake a great noise, and to chidethe Lord Jesus, saying,
12 What hast thou done to me,O thou son of Mary? Thou hastinjured both me and my neighbours;they all desired their clothsof a proper colour; but thou hastcome and spoiled them all.
13 The Lord Jesus replied, Iwill change the colour of everycloth to what colour thou desirest.
14 And then he presently beganto take the cloths out of the furnace,and they were all dyed of those samecolours which the dyer desired.
15 And when the Jews saw thissurprising miracle, they praisedGod.
CHAP. XVI.
1 Christ miraculously widens or contracts the gates,milk pails, sieves, or boxes, not properly made by Joseph,4 he not being skilful at his carpenter's trade.5 The King of Jerusalem gives Joseph an order for a throne.6 Joseph works on it for two years in the king's palace,and makes it two spans too short. The king being angry with him,10 Jesus comforts him,13 commands him to pull one side of the throne, while hepulls the other, and brings it to its proper dimensions.14 Whereupon the bystanders praise God.
AND Joseph, wheresoever hewent in the city, took theLord Jesus with him, where hewas sent for to work to makegates, or milk-pails, or sieves, orboxes; the Lord Jesus was withhim, wheresoever he went.
2 And as often as Joseph hadanything in his work, to makelonger, or shorter, or wider, ornarrower, the Lord Jesus wouldstretch his hand towards it.
3 And presently it became asJoseph would have it:
4 So that he had no need tofinish anything with his own hands,for he was not very skilful at hiscarpenter's trade.
5 On a certain time the Kingof Jerusalem sent for him, andsaid, I would have thee make mea throne of the same dimensionswith that place in which Icommonly sit.
6 Joseph obeyed, and forthwithbegan the work, and continued twoyears in the king's palace beforehe finished it.
7 And when he came to fix itin its place, he found it wantedtwo spans on each side of theappointed measure.
8 Which when the king saw,he was very angry with Joseph;
9 And Joseph afraid of theking's anger, went to bed withouthis supper, taking not any thingto eat.
10 Then the Lord Jesus askedhim, What he was afraid of?
11 Joseph replied, Because Ihave lost my labour in the workwhich I have been about these twoyears.
12 Jesus said to him, Fear not,neither be cast down;
13 Do thou lay hold on one sideof the throne, and I will the other,and we will bring it to its justdimensions.
14 And when Joseph had doneas the Lord Jesus said, and eachof them had with strength drawnhis side, the throne obeyed, andwas brought to the properdimensions of the place:
15 Which miracle when theywho stood by saw, they wereastonished, and praised God.
16 The throne was made of thesame wood which was in beingin Solomon's time, namely, woodadorned with various shapes, andfigures.
CHAP. XVII.
1 Jesus plays with boys at hide and seek.3 Some women put his playfellows in a furnace,7 where they are transformed by Jesus into kids.10 Jesus calls them to go and play, and theyare restored to their former shape.
ON another day the Lord Jesusgoing out into the street,and seeing some boys who weremet to play, joined himself to theircompany.
2 But when they saw him, theyhid themselves, and left him toseek for them;
3 The Lord Jesus came to thegate of a certain house, and askedsome women who were standingthere, Where the boys were gone?
4 And when they answered,That there was no one there; theLord Jesus said, Who are thosewhom ye see in the furnace?
5 They answered, They werekids of three years old.
6 Then Jesus cried out aloud,and said, Come out hither, O yekids, to your shepherd;
7 And presently the boys cameforth like kids, and leaped abouthim; which when the women saw,they were exceedingly amazed, andtrembled,
8 Then they immediately worshipped,the Lord Jesus, and beseeched him,saying, O our Lord Jesus, son ofMary, thou art truly that goodshepherd of Israel! have mercyon thy handmaids, who stand beforethee, who do not doubt, but thatthou, O Lord, art come to save,and not to destroy.
9 After that, when the LordJesus said, the children of Israelare like Ethiopians among thepeople; the women said, Thou,Lord, knowest all things, nor isany thing concealed from thee:but now we entreat thee, andbeseech of thy mercy, that thouwouldest restore those boys totheir former state.
10 Then Jesus said, Come hither,O boys, that we may go andplay; and immediately, in thepresence of these women, the kidswere changed, and returned intothe shape of boys.
CHAPTER XVIII.
1 Jesus becomes the king of his playfellows,and they crown him with flowers;4 miraculously causes a serpent who hadbitten Simon the Canaanite, then a boy,to suck out all the poison again;16 the serpent bursts, and Christ restores the boy to health.
IN the month Adar Jesusgathered together the boys, andranked them as though he hadbeen a king.
2 For they spread their garmentson the ground for him to siton; and having made a crown offlowers, put it upon his head, andstood on his right and left as theguards of a king.
3 And if any one happened topass by, they took him by force,and said, Come hither, and worshipthe king, that you may have aprosperous journey.
4 In the mean time, whilethese things were doing, therecame certain men, carrying a boyupon a couch;
5 For this boy having gone withhis companions to the mountain togather wood, and having foundthere a partridge's nest, and puthis hand in to take out the eggs,was stung by a poisonous serpent,which leaped out of the nest; sothat he was forced to cry out forthe help of his companions; who,when they came, found him lyingupon the earth like a dead person.
6 After which his neighbourscame and carried him back intothe city.
7 But when they came to theplace where the Lord Jesus, wassitting like a king, and the otherboys stood around him like hisministers, the boys made haste tomeet him, who was bitten by theserpent, and said to his neighbours,Come and pay your respects to theking;
8 But when, by reason of theirsorrow, they refused to come, theboys drew them, and forced themagainst their wills to come.
9 And when they came to theLord Jesus, he inquired, On whataccount they carried that boy?
10 And when they answered thata serpent had bitten him, the LordJesus said to the boys, Let us goand kill that serpent.
11 But when the parents of theboy desired to be excused, becausetheir son lay at the point of death;the boys made answer, and said,Did not ye hear what the kingsaid? Let us go and kill the serpent;and will not ye obey him?
12 So they brought the couchback again, whether they wouldor not.
13 And when they were come tothe nest, the Lord Jesus said tothe boys, Is this the serpent'slurking place? They said, It was.
14 Then the Lord Jesus callingthe serpent, it presently came forthand submitted to him; to whom hesaid, Go and suck out all the poisonwhich thou hast infused into thatboy:
15 So the serpent crept to theboy, and took away all its poisonagain.
16 Then the Lord Jesus cursedthe serpent, so that it immediatelyburst asunder, and died;
17 And he touched the boy withhis hand to restore him to hisformer health;
18 And when he began to cry,the Lord Jesus said, Cease cryingfor hereafter thou shall be mydisciple;
19 And this is that Simon theCanaanite, who is mentioned inthe Gospel.
CHAPTER XIX.
1 James being bitten by a viper,Jesus blows on the wound and cures him.4 Jesus charged with throwing a boy fromthe roof of a house,10 miraculously raises the dead boy to acquit him;12 fetches water for his mother, breaks the pitcherand miraculously gathers the water in his mantleand brings it home;16 makes fish pools on the Sabbath,20 causes a boy to die who broke them down,22 another boy runs against him,whom he also causes to die.
ON another day Joseph sent hisson James to gather wood,and the Lord Jesus went withhim;
2 And when they came to theplace where the wood was, andJames began to gather it, behold,a venomous viper bit him, so thathe began to cry, and make anoise.
3 The Lord Jesus seeing him inthis condition, came to him, andblowed upon the place where theviper had bit him, and it wasinstantly well.
4 On a certain day the LordJesus was with some boys, whowere playing on the house-top,and one of the boys fell down, andpresently died.
5 Upon which the other boys allrunning away, the Lord Jesus wasleft alone on the house-top.
6 And the boy's relations cameto him and said to the Lord Jesus,Thou didst throw our son downfrom the house-top.
7 But he denying it, they criedout, Our son is dead, and this ishe who killed him.
8 The Lord Jesus replied tothem, Do not charge me with acrime of which you are not able toconvict me, but let us go and askthe boy himself, who will bringthe truth to light.
9 Then the Lord Jesus goingdown stood over the head of thedead boy, and said with a loudvoice, Zeinunus, Zeinunus, whothrew thee down from the housetop?
10 Then the dead boy answered,thou didst not throw me down,but such a one did.
11 And when the Lord Jesusbade those who stood by to takepresent praised God on accountof that miracle.
12 On a certain time theLady St. Mary had commandedthe Lord Jesus to fetch her somewater out of the well;
13 And when he had gone tofetch the water, the pitcher, whenit was brought up full, brake;
14 But Jesus spreading his mantlegathered up the water again,and brought it in that to hismother;
15 Who, being astonished atthis wonderful thing, laid up this,and all the other things which shehad seen, in her memory.
16 Again on another day theLord Jesus was with some boysby a river, and they drew waterout of the river by little channels,and made little fish-pools.
17 But the Lord Jesus hadmade twelve sparrows, and placedthem about his pool on each side,three on a side.
18 But it was the Sabbath day,and the son of Hanani a Jew cameby, and saw them making thesethings, and said, Do ye thus makefigures of clay on the Sabbath?And he ran to them, and brokedown their fish-pools.
19 But when the Lord Jesusclapped his hands over the sparrowswhich he had made, they fled awaychirping.
20 At length the son of Hananicoming to the fish-pool of Jesusto destroy it, the water vanishedaway, and the Lord Jesus said tohim,
21 In like manner as this waterhad vanished, so shall thy lifevanish; and presently the boydied.
22 Another time, when theLord Jesus was coming home inthe evening with Joseph, he meta boy, who ran so hard againsthim, that he threw him down;
23 To whom the Lord Jesussaid, As thou hast thrown medown, so shalt thou fall, nor everrise.
24 And that moment the boyfell down and died.
CHAPTER XX.
4 Christ sent to school to Zaccheus to learnhis letters, and teaches Zaccheus.13 Sent to another schoolmaster,14 refuses to tell his letters, and the schoolmastergoing to whip him, his hand withers and he dies.
THERE was also at Jerusalemone named Zaccheus, whowas a schoolmaster:
2 And he said to Joseph, Joseph,why dost thou not send Jesus to me,that he may learn his letters?
3 Joseph agreed, and told St. Mary;
4 So they brought him to thatmaster; who, as soon as he sawhim, wrote out an alphabet for him,
5 And he bade him say Aleph;and when he had said Aleph, themaster bade him pronounce Beth.
6 Then the Lord Jesus said tohim, Tell me first the meaning ofthe letter Aleph, and then I willpronounce Beth.
7 And when the master threatenedto whip him, the Lord Jesusexplained to him the meaning ofthe letters Aleph and Beth;
8 Also which were the straightfigures of the letters, which theoblique, and what letters haddouble figures; which had points,and which had none; why oneletter went before another; andmany other things he began to tellhim, and explain, of which themaster himself had never heard,nor read in any book.
9 The Lord Jesus farther saidto the master, Take notice how Isay to thee; then he began clearlyand distinctly to say Aleph, Beth,Gimel, Daleth, and so on to theend of the alphabet.
10 At this the master was sosurprised, that he said, I believethis boy was born before Noah;
11 And turning to Joseph, hesaid, Thou hast brought a boy tome to be taught, who is morelearned than any master.
12 He said also to St. Mary,This your son has no need of anylearning.
13 They brought him thento a more learned master, who,when he saw him, said, say Aleph;
14 And when he had said Aleph,the master bade him pronounceBeth; to which the Lord Jesusreplied, Tell me first the meaningof the letter Aleph, and then Iwill pronounce Beth.
15 But this master, when he didlift up his hand to whip him, hadhis hand presently withered, andhe died.
16 Then said Joseph to St. Mary,Henceforth we will not allow himto go out of the house; for everyone who displeases him is killed.
CHAPTER XXI.
[Compare Luke ii. 42, whose meagre account is deficientof the sublime details here given of the subjects disputed upon.]
1 Disputes learnedly with the doctors in the temple,7 on law,9 on astronomy,12 on physics and metaphysics.21 Is worshipped by a philosopher,28 and fetched home by his mother.
AND when he was twelve yearsold, they brought him toJerusalem to the feast; and whenthe feast was over, they returned.
2 But the Lord Jesus continuedbehind in the temple among thedoctors and elders, and learnedmen of Israel; to whom he proposedseveral questions of learning,and also gave them answers:
3 For he said to them, Whoseson is the Messiah? They answered,the son of David.
4 Why then, said he, does he inthe spirit call him Lord? When hesaith, The Lord said to my Lord,sit thou at my right hand, till Ihave made thine enemies thy foot-stool.
5 Then a certain principal Rabbiasked him, Hast thou read books?
6 Jesus answered, he had readboth books, and the things whichwere contained in books.
7 And he explained to them thebooks of the law, and precepts,and statutes: and the mysterieswhich are contained in the booksof the prophets; things whichthe mind of no creature couldreach.
8 Then said that Rabbi, I neveryet have seen or heard of suchknowledge! What do you thinkthat boy will be?
9 When a certain astronomer,who was present, asked the LordJesus, Whether he had studiedastronomy?
10 The Lord Jesus replied, andtold him the number of the spheresand heavenly bodies, as also theirtriangular, square, and sextileaspect; their progressive andretrograde motion; their size andseveral prognostications; and otherthings which the reason of manhad never discovered.
11 There was also among thema philosopher well skilled inphysic and natural philosophy,who asked the Lord Jesus, Whetherhe had studied physic?
12 He replied, and explained tohim physics and metaphysics.
13 Also those things which wereabove and below the power of nature;
14 The powers also of the body,its humours, and their effects.
15 Also the number of its members,and bones, veins, arteries,and nerves;
16 The several constitutions ofbody, hot and dry, cold and moist,and the tendencies of them;
17 How the soul operated uponthe body;
18 What its various sensationsand faculties, were;
19 The faculty of speaking, anger,desire;
20 And lastly the manner of itscomposition and dissolution; andother things, which theunderstanding of no creaturehad ever reached.
21 Then that philosopher arose,and worshipped the Lord Jesus,and said, O Lord Jesus, fromhenceforth I will be thy discipleand servant.
22 While they were discoursingon these and such like things,the Lady St. Mary came in, havingbeen three days walking aboutwith Joseph, seeking for him.
23 And when she saw him sittingamong the doctors, and in his turnproposing questions to them, andgiving answers, she said to him,My son, why hast thou done thusby us? Behold I and thy fatherhave been at much pains inseeking thee.