These are all forms of
Christian Apocrypha
Revelation of Paul -
Revelation of John the Theologian -
Gospel of Marcion -
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew - part 1 -
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew - part 2 -
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew - part 3 -
Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew - part 4 -
Gospel of Peter -
Gospel of the Nativity of Mary -
Gospel of Mary of Magdalene -
Gospel of James -
Gospel of Bartholomew -
Gospel of Nicodemus -
Consummation of Thomas the Apostle -
Compilation of Thomas - part 1 -
Compilation of Thomas - part 2 -
Apocalypse of the Virgin -
Apocalypse of Peter -
Apocalypse of Thomas -
Acts of Thomas -
Acts of Phillip -
Acts of Peter -
Acts of Peter and Paul -
Acts of Peter and Andrew -
Acts of Paul -
Acts of John -
Acts of John the Theologian -
Acts of Barnabus -
Acts of Andrew and Matthew -
Acts and Martyrdom of Matthew -
Acts and Martyrdom of Andrew
CHAP. 30.--Now a certain Jewish schoolmaster named
Zachyas
1 heard Jesus thus speaking; and seeing that He
could not be overcome, from knowing the power that was in
Him,
2 he became angry, and began rudely and foolishly, and
without fear, to speak against Joseph. And he said: Dost thou
not wish to entrust me with thy son, that he may be
instructed in human learning and in reverence? But I see that
Mary and thyself have more regard for your son than for what
the elders of the people of Israel say against him. You
should have given more honour to us, the elders of the whole
church of Israel, both that he might be on terms of mutual
affection with the children, and that among us he might be
instructed in Jewish learning. Joseph, on the other hand,
said to him: And is there any one who can keep this child,
and teach him? But if thou canst keep him and teach him, we
by no means hinder him from being taught by thee those things
which are learned by all. And Jesus, having heard what
Zachyas had said, answered and said unto him: The precepts of
the law which thou hast just spoken of, and all the things
that thou hast named, must be kept by those who are
instructed in human learning; but I am a stranger to your
law-courts, because I have no father after the flesh. Thou
who readest the law, and art learned in it, abidest in the
law; but I was before the law, But since thou thinkest that
no one is equal to thee in learning, thou shalt be taught by
me, that no other can teach anything but those things which
thou hast named. But he alone can who is worthy.
3 For when
I shall be exalted on earth, I will cause to cease all
mention of your genealogy. For thou knowest not when thou
wast born: I alone know when you were born, and how long your
life on earth will be. Then all who heard these words were
struck with astonishment, and cried out: Oh! oh! oh! this
marvellously great and wonderful mystery. Never have we heard
the like! Never has it been heard from any one else, nor has
it been said or at any time heard by the prophets, or the
Pharisees, or the scribes. We know whence he is sprung, and
he is scarcely five years old; and whence does he speak these
words? The Pharisees answered: We have never heard such words
spoken by any other child so young. And Jesus answered and
said unto them: At this do ye wonder, that such things are
said by a child? Why, then, do ye not believe me in those
things which I have said to you? And you all wonder because I
said to you that I know when you were born. I will tell you
greater things, that you may wonder more. I have seen
Abraham, whom you call your father, and have spoken with him;
and he has seen me.
4 And when they heard this they held
their tongues, nor did any of them dare to speak. And Jesus
said to them: I have been among you with children, and you
have not known me; I have spoken to you as to wise men, and
you have not understood my words; because you are younger
than I am,
5 and of little faith.
CHAP. 31--A second time the master Zachyas, doctor of the
law, said to Joseph and Mary: Give me the boy, and I shall
hand him over to master Levi, who shall teach him his letters
and instruct him. Then Joseph and Mary, soothing Jesus, took
Him to the schools, that He might be taught His letters by
old Levi. And as soon as He went in He held His tongue. And
the master Levi said one letter to Jesus, and, beginning from
the first letter Aleph, said to Him: Answer. But Jesus was
silent, and answered nothing. Wherefore the preceptor Levi
was angry, and seized his storax-tree rod, and struck Him on
the head. And Jesus said to the teacher Levi: Why dost thou
strike me? Thou shall know in truth, that He who is struck
can teach him who strikes Him more than He can be taught by
him. For I can teach you those very things that yon are
saying. But all these are blind who speak and hear, like
sounding brass or tinkling cymbal, in which there is no
perception of those things which are meant by their sound.6
And Jesus in addition said to Zachyas: Every letter from
Aleph even to Thet7 is known by its arrangement. Say thou
first, therefore, what Thet is, and I will tell thee what
Aleph is. And again Jesus said to them: Those who do not know
Aleph, how can they say Thet, the hypocrites? Tell me what
the first one, Aleph, is; and I shall then believe you when
you have said Beth. And Jesus began to ask the names of the
letters one by one, and said: Let the master of the law tell
us what the first letter is, or why it has many triangles,
gradate, subacute, mediate, obduced, produced, erect,
prostrate, curvistrate.1 And when Levi heard this, he was
thunderstruck at such an arrangement of the names of the
letters. Then he began in the heating of all to cry out, and
say: Ought such a one to live on the earth? Yea, he ought to
be hung on the great cross. For he can put out fire, and make
sport of other modes of punishment. I think that he lived
before the flood, and was born before the deluge. For what
womb bore him? or what mother brought him forth? or what
breasts gave him suck? I flee before him; I am not able to
withstand the words from his mouth, but my heart is astounded
to hear such words. I do not think that any man can
understand what he says, except God were with him. Now I,
unfortunate wretch, have given myself up to be a laughing-
stock to him. For when I thought I had a scholar, I, not
knowing him, have found my master. What shall I say? I cannot
withstand the words of this child: I shall now flee from this
town, because I cannot understand them. An old man like me
has been beaten by a boy, because I can find neither
beginning nor end of what he says. For it is no easy matter
to find a beginning of himself.2 I tell you of a certainty,
I am not lying, that to my eyes the proceedings of this boy,
the commencement of his conversation, and the upshot of his
intention, seem to have nothing in common with mortal man.
Here then I do not know whether he be a wizard or a god; or
at least an angel of God speaks in him. Whence he is, or
where he comes from, or who he will turn out to be, I know
not. Then Jesus, smiling at him with a joyful countenance,
said in a commanding voice to all the sons of Israel standing
by and hearing: Let the unfruitful bring forth fruit, and the
blind see, and the lame walk right, and the poor enjoy the
good things of this life, and the dead live, that each may
return to his original state, and abide in Him who is the
root of life and of perpetual sweetness. And when the child
Jesus had said this, forthwith all who had fallen under
malignant diseases were restored. And they did not dare to
say anything more to Him, or to hear anything from Him.
CHAP. 32.--After these things, Joseph and Mary departed
thence with Jesus into the city of Nazareth; and He remained
there with His parents. And on the first of the week, when
Jesus was playing with the children on the roof of a certain
house, it happened that one of the children pushed another
down from the roof to the ground, and he was killed. And the
parents of the dead boy, who had not seen this, cried out
against Joseph and Mary, saying: Your son has thrown our son
down to the ground, and he is dead. But Jesus was silent, and
answered them nothing. And Joseph and Mary came in haste to
Jesus.; and His mother asked Him, saying: My lord, tell me if
thou didst throw him down. And immediately Jesus went down
from the roof to the ground, and called the boy by his name,
Zeno. And he answered Him: My lord. And Jesus said to him:
Was it I that threw thee down from the roof to the ground?
And he said: No, my lord. And the parents of the boy who had
been dead wondered, and honoured Jesus for the miracle that
had been wrought. And Joseph and Mary departed thence with
Jesus to Jericho.
CHAP. 33.--Now Jesus was six years old, and His mother
sent Him with a pitcher to the fountain to draw water with
the children. And it came to pass, after He had drawn the
water, that one of the children came against Him, and struck
the pitcher, and broke it. But Jesus stretched out the cloak
which He had on, and took up in His cloak as much water as
there had been in the pitcher, and carried it to His mother.
And when she saw it she wondered, and reflected within
herself, and laid up all these things in her heart.3
CHAP. 34.--Again, on a certain day, He went forth into
the field, and took a little wheat from His mother's barn,
and sowed it Himself. And it sprang up, and grew, and
multiplied exceedingly. And at last it came to pass that He
Himself reaped it, and gathered as the produce of it three
kors,4 and gave it to His numerous acquaintances.5
CHAP. 35.--There is a road going out of Jericho and
leading to the river Jordan, to the place
where the children of Israel crossed: and there the ark of
the covenant is said to have rested. And Jesus was eight
years old, and He went out of Jericho, and went towards the
Jordan. And there was beside the road, near the bank of the
Jordan, a cave where a lioness was nursing her cubs; and no
one was safe to walk that way. Jesus then, coming from
Jericho, and knowing that in that cave the lioness bad
brought forth her young, went into it in the sight of all.
And when the lions saw Jesus, they ran to meet Him, and
adored Him. And Jesus was sitting in the cavern, and the
lion's cubs ran hither and thither round His feet, fawning
upon Him, and sporting. And the older lions, with their heads
bowed down, stood at a distance, and adored Him, and fawned
upon Him with their tails. Then the people who were standing
afar off, not seeing Jesus, said: Unless he or his parents
had committed grievous sins, he would not of his own accord
have offered himself up to the lions. And when the people
were thus reflecting within themselves, and were lying under
great sorrow, behold, on a sudden, in the sight of the
people, Jesus came out of the cave, and the lions went before
Him, and the lion's cubs played with each other before His
feet. And the parents of Jesus stood afar off, with their
heads bowed down, and watched; likewise also the people stood
at a distance, on account of the lions; for they did not dare
to come close to them. Then Jesus began to say to the people:
How much better are the beasts than you, seeing that they
recognise their Lord, and glorify Him; while you men, who
have been made after the image and likeness of God, do not
know Him! Beasts know me, and are tame; men see me, and do
not acknowledge me.
CHAP. 36.--After these things Jesus crossed the Jordan,
in the sight of them all, with the lions; and the water of
the Jordan was divided on the right hand and on the left.1
Then He said to the lions, in the hearing of all: Go in
peace, and hurt no one; but neither let man injure you, until
you return to the place whence you have come forth. And they,
bidding Him farewell, not only with their gestures but with
their voices, went to their own place. But Jesus returned to
His mother.
CHAP. 37.--Now Joseph2 was a carpenter, and used to
make nothing else of wood but ox-yokes, and ploughs, and
implements of husbandry, and wooden beds. And it came to pass
that a certain young man ordered him to make for him a couch
six cubits long. And Joseph commanded his servant3 to cut
the wood with an iron saw, according to the measure which he
had sent. But he did not keep to the prescribed measure, but
made one piece of wood shorter than the other. And Joseph was
in perplexity, and began to consider what he was to do about
this. And when Jesus saw him in this state of cogitation,
seeing that it was a matter of impossibility to him, He
addresses him with words of comfort, saying: Come, let us
take hold of the ends of the pieces of wood, and let us put
them together, end to end, and let us fit them exactly to
each other, and draw to us, for we shall be able to make them
equal. Then Joseph did what he was bid, for he knew that He
could do whatever He wished. And Joseph took hold of the ends
of the pieces of wood, and brought them together against the
wall next himself, and Jesus took hold of the other ends of
the pieces of wood, and drew the shorter piece to Him, and
made it of the same length as the longer one. And He said to
Joseph: Go and work, and do what thou hast promised to do.
And Joseph did what he had promised.4
CHAP. 38.--And it came to pass a second time, that Joseph
and Mary were asked by the people that Jesus should be taught
His letters in school. They did not refuse to do so; and
according to the commandment of the elders, they took Him to
a master to be instructed in human learning. Then the master
began to teach Him in an imperious tone, saying: Say
Alpha.5 And Jesus said to him: Do thou tell me first what
Betha is, and I will tell thee what Alpha is. And upon this
the master got angry and struck Jesus; and no sooner had he
struck Him, than he fell down dead.
And Jesus went home again to His mother. And Joseph,
being afraid, called Mary to him, and said to her: Know of a
surety that my soul is sorrowful even unto death on account
of this child. For it is very likely that at some time or
other some one will strike him in malice, and he will die.
But Mary answered and said: O man of God! do not believe that
this is possible. You may believe to a certainty that He who
has sent him to be born among men will Himself guard him from
all mischief, and will in His own name preserve him from
evil.
CHAP. 39.--Again the Jews asked Mary and Joseph a third
time to coax Him to go to another master to learn. And Joseph
and Mary, fearing the people, and the overbearing of the
princes, and the threats of the priests, led Him again to
school, knowing that He could learn nothing from man, because
He had perfect knowledge from God only. And when Jesus had
entered the school, led by the Holy Spirit, He took the book
out of the hand of the master who was teaching the law, and
in the sight and hearing of all the people began to read, not
indeed what was written in their book; but He spoke in the
Spirit of the living God, as if a stream of water were
gushing forth from a living fountain, and the fountain
remained always full. And with such power He taught the
people the great things of the living God, that the master
himself fell to the ground and adored Him. And the heart of
the people who sat and heard Him saying such things was
turned into astonishment. And when Joseph heard of this, he
came running to Jesus, fearing that the master himself was
dead. And when the master saw him, he said to him: Thou hast
given me not a scholar, but a master; and who can withstand
his words? Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by the
Psalmist: The river of God is full of water: Thou hast
prepared them corn, for so is the provision for it.1
CHAP. 40.--After these things Joseph departed thence with
Mary and Jesus to go into Capernaum by the sea-shore, on
account of the malice of his adversaries. And when Jesus was
living in Capernaum, there was in the city a man named
Joseph, exceedingly rich. But he had wasted away under his
infirmity, and died, and was lying dead in his couch. And
when Jesus heard them in the city mourning, and weeping, and
lamenting over the dead man, He said to Joseph: Why dost thou
not afford the benefit of thy favour to this man, seeing that
he is called by thy name? And Joseph answered him: How have I
any power or ability to afford him a benefit? And Jesus said
to him: Take the handkerchief which is upon thy head, and go
and put it on the face of the dead man, and say to him:
Christ heal thee; and immediately the dead man will be
healed, and will rise from his couch. And when Joseph heard
this, he went away at the command of Jesus, and ran, and
entered the house of the dead man, and put the handkerchief
which he was wearing on his head upon the face of him who was
lying in the couch, and said: Jesus heal thee. And forthwith
the dead man rose from his bed, and asked who Jesus was.2
CHAP. 41.--And they went away from Capernaum into the
city which is called Bethlehem; and Joseph lived with Mary in
his own house, and Jesus with them. And on a certain day
Joseph called to him his first-born son James,3 and sent
him into the vegetable garden to gather vegetables for the
purpose of making broth. And Jesus followed His brother James
into the garden; but Joseph and Mary did not know this. And
while James was collecting the vegetables, a viper suddenly
came out of a hole and struck his hand,4 and he began to
cry out from excessive pain. And, becoming exhausted, he
said, with a bitter cry: Alas! alas! an accursed viper has
struck my hand. And Jesus, who was standing opposite to him,
at the bitter cry ran up to James, and took hold of his hand;
and all that He did was to blow on the hand of James, and
cool it: and immediately James was healed, and the serpent
died. And Joseph and Mary did not know what had been done;
but at the cry of James, and the command of Jesus, they ran
to the garden, and found the serpent already dead, and James
quite cured.
CHAP. 42.--And Joseph having come to a feast with his
sons, James, Joseph, and Judah, and Simeon and his two
daughters, Jesus met them, with Mary His mother, along with
her sister Mary of Cleophas, whom the Lord God had given to
her father Cleophas and her mother Anna, because they had
offered Mary the mother of Jesus to the Lord. And she was
called by the same name, Mary, for the consolation of her
parents.5 And when they had come together, Jesus sanctified
and blessed them, and He was the first to begin to eat and
drink; for none of them dared to eat or drink, or to sit at
table, or to break bread, until He had sanctified them, and
first done so. And if He happened to be absent, they used to
wait until He should do this. And when He did not wish to
come for refreshment, neither Joseph nor Mary, nor the sons
of Joseph, His brothers, came. And, indeed, these brothers,
keeping His life as a lamp before their eyes, observed Him,
and feared Him. And when Jesus slept, whether by day or by
night, the brightness of God shone upon Him. To whom be all
praise and glory for ever and ever. Amen, amen.