Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/447

Rh him, And how didst thou come into the synagogue, for thou dost consent with him? His portion be with thee in the world to come! Nicodemus said, Amen, Amen, Amen! Likewise also Joseph, coming forth, saith to them, Why are ye aggrieved against me because I begged the body of Jesus? Behold, I have placed him in my own new tomb, wrapping him in a clean linen cloth; and I have rolled a stone to the door of the cave. And ye have not acted well towards the Just One, because ye have not laid it to heart that ye crucified him and pierced him with a spear. The Jews therefore, seizing Joseph commanded him to be guarded because of the sabbath day, and they said unto him, Know that the time doth not demand anything to be done with thee because the sabbath beginneth to dawn. But know that thou art not worthy of burial, but we will give thy flesh to the fowls of heaven and the beasts of earth.

Joseph saith unto them, That is the speech of haughty Goliath, who reproached the living God (speaking) against holy David. But God hath said, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. And Pilate, being convinced in heart, took water and washed his hands before the sun, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just man: ye will see. And ye answered Pilate and said, His blood be upon us and upon our children. And now I fear lest the wrath of God should come upon you and upon your