Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/362

246 Jesus, Thine own nation hath convicted thee as a king; therefore I have declared that thou shalt first be scourged after the custom of the pious kings, and then be fastened upon the cross in the garden where thou wast taken: and let Dysmas and Gestas the two malefactors be crucified with thee.

Jesus went out of the prætorium, and the two malefactors with him; and when they came to the place they stripped him of his garments, and put about him a linen cloth, and they put a crown of thorns on him about his head. And they crucified him: and at the same time they hanged the two malefactors with him. And Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And the soldiers parted his garments. And the people stood beholding him. And the chief priests and the rulers with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself: if he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross. And the soldiers mocked him, coming and offering him vinegar and gall, and said, Thou art the King of the Jews; save thyself.

And after the sentence, Pilate commanded that for a title his accusation should be written up, in Greek, Roman, and Hebrew letters, as the Jews said, He is King of the Jews.