Page:The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas.djvu/169

 deeds. Have mercy upon us, God, according to thy will, and deliver us from our great error." And some of them were on their faces and cried; others bent their knees and prayed. Others, again, rent their garments and lamented; still others tried to escape.

43. And John lifted up his hands and prayed with uplifted soul to the Lord: "Glory be to thee, my Jesus, true, only God, that procurest servants for thee in manifold manner!" And after these words he spoke to the people: "Rise up from the ground, men of Ephesus, pray to my God, and know how His invisible power was made manifest and his miraculous deeds took place before your eyes! Artemis herself should have helped. Her servant should have received help from her and not die. Where is the power of the deity? Where the sacrifices (offered to her)? Where the birthday? Where the festivals? Where the wreaths? Where the great enchantment and the poisoning congenial to it?"

44. And the people rose up from the ground and made haste to destroy also the remainder of the temple, crying, "We know that the God of John is the only one, and henceforth we worship him, since we have obtained mercy from him." And as they came down, many of the people touched John, saying, "Help us, John, help us who die useless! Thou seest our intention; thou seest how the multitude following thee cleaves to the hope in thy God. We saw the way, which we have gone astray, when