Page:The Apocryphal Acts of Paul, Peter, John, Andrew and Thomas.djvu/329

 put it on the neck of the apostle, and said, "Drag and take him away; I shall see whether God can save him from my hands." And they dragged and took him to King Misdai. When the apostle came into the presence of the king, the king said to him, "Tell me who thou art and by what power thou doest these things?" But the apostle held his peace. And the king ordered his subjects to scourge him one hundred and twenty-eight times and cast him bound into the prison. And they bound him and led him away. And the king and Charis considered how to kill him. But the multitude worshipped him upon the knees like a God. And they had in their mind to say this: "The stranger acted wickedly against the king, and is a deceiver."

107. And when the apostle went to the prison, he said with gladness and rejoicing, "I thank thee, Jesus, that thou hast not only deemed me worthy to believe on thee, but also to suffer much for thee. I thank thee, Lord, that thou hast cared for me and hast given me patience. I thank thee, Lord, that on thy account I have been called a sorcerer and magician. May I also receive of the beatitudes of the lowly, and of the rest of the weary, and of the beatitudes of those whom men hate and persecute and revile by speaking evil against them. For, behold, on thy account I am hated; behold, on thy account I am avoided by the multitude, and on thy account they call me what I am not."

108. And all prisoners saw him pray and asked him to pray for them. After having prayed, and