Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume VIII/Apocrypha of the New Testament/The Narrative of Joseph/Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

And on the following day, the fourth day of the week, they brought Him at the ninth hour into the hall of Caiaphas.&#160; And Annas and Caiaphas say to Him:&#160; Tell us, why hast thou stolen our law, and renounced the ordinances of Moses and the prophets?&#160; And Jesus answered nothing.&#160; And again a second time, the multitude also being present, they say to Him:&#160; The sanctuary which Solomon built in forty and six years, why dost thou wish to destroy in one moment?&#160; And to these things Jesus answered nothing.&#160; For the sanctuary of the synagogue had been plundered by the robber.

And the evening of the fourth day being ended, all the multitude sought to burn the daughter of Caiaphas, on account of the loss of the law; for they did not know how they were to keep the passover.&#160; And she said to them: &#160;Wait, my children, and let us destroy this Jesus, and the law will be found, and the holy feast will be fully accomplished.&#160; And secretly Annas and Caiaphas gave considerable money to Judas Iscariot, saying:&#160; Say as thou saidst to us before, I know that the law has been stolen by Jesus, that the accusation may be turned against him, and not against this maiden, who is free from blame.&#160; And Judas having received this command, said to them:&#160; Let not all the multitude know that I have been instructed by you to do this against Jesus; but release Jesus, and I persuade the multitude that it is so.&#160; And craftily they released Jesus.

And Judas, going into the sanctuary at the dawn of the fifth day, says to all the people:&#160; What will you give me, and I will give up to you the overthrower of the law, and the plunderer of the prophets?&#160; The Jews say to him:&#160; If thou wilt give him up to us, we will give thee thirty pieces of gold.&#160; And the people did not know that Judas was speaking about Jesus, for many of them confessed that he was the Son of God.&#160; And Judas received the thirty pieces of gold.

And going out at the fourth hour, and at the fifth, he finds Jesus walking in the street.&#160; And as evening was coming on, Judas says to the Jews:&#160; Give me the aid of soldiers with swords and staves, and I will give him up to you.&#160; They therefore gave him officers for the purpose of seizing Him.&#160; And as they were going along, Judas says to them:&#160; Lay hold of the man whom I shall kiss, for he has stolen the law and the prophets.&#160; Going up to Jesus, therefore, he kissed Him, saying:&#160; Hail, Rabbi! it being the evening of the fifth day.&#160; And having laid hold of Him, they gave Him up to Caiaphas and the chief priests, Judas saying:&#160; This is he who stole the law and the prophets.&#160; And the Jews gave Jesus an unjust trial, saying:&#160; Why hast thou done these things?&#160; And he answered nothing.

And Nicodemus and I Joseph, seeing the seat of the plagues, stood off from them, not wishing to perish along with the counsel of the ungodly.