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. 20.-- And it came to pass on the third day of their
journey, while they were walking, that the blessed Mary was
fatigued by the excessive heat of the sun in the desert; and
seeing a palm tree, she said to Joseph: Let me rest a little
under the shade of this tree. Joseph therefore made haste,
and led her to the palm, and made her come down from her
beast. And as the blessed Mary was sitting there, she looked
up to the foliage of the palm, and saw it full of fruit, and
said to Joseph: I wish it were possible to get some of the
fruit of this palm. And Joseph said to her: I wonder that
thou sayest this, when thou seest how high the palm tree is;
and that thou thinkest of eating of its fruit. I am thinking
more of the want of water, because the skins are now empty,
and we have none wherewith to refresh ourselves and our
cattle. Then the child Jesus, with a joyful countenance,
reposing in the bosom of His mother, said to the palm: O
tree, bend thy branches, and refresh my mother with thy
fruit. And immediately at these words the palm bent its top
down to the very feet of the blessed Mary; and they gathered
from it fruit, with which they were all refreshed. And after
they had gathered all its fruit, it remained bent down,
waiting the order to rise from Him who bad commanded it to
stoop. Then Jesus said to it: Raise thyself, O palm tree, and
be strong, and be the companion of my trees, which are in the
paradise of my Father; and open from thy roots a vein of
water which has been hid in the earth, and let the waters
flow, so that we may be satisfied from thee. And it rose up
immediately, and at its root there began to come forth a
spring of water exceedingly clear and cool and sparkling.
And when they saw the spring of water, they rejoiced with
great joy, and were satisfied, themselves and all their
cattle and their beasts. Wherefore they gave thanks to God.
CHAP. 21. -- And on the day after, when they were setting
out thence, and in the hour in which they began their
journey, Jesus turned to the palm, and said: This privilege I
give thee, O palm tree, that one of thy branches be carried
away by my angels, and planted in the paradise of my Father.
And this blessing I will confer upon thee, that it shall be
said of all who conquer in any contest, You have attained the
palm of victory. And while He was thus speaking, behold, an
angel of the Lord appeared, and stood upon the palm tree; and
taking off one of its branches, flew to heaven with the
branch in his hand. And when they saw this, they fell on
their faces, and became as it were dead. And Jesus said to
them: Why are your hearts possessed with fear? Do you not
know that this palm, which I have caused to be transferred to
paradise, shall be prepared for all the saints in the place
of delights, as it has been prepared for us in this place of
the wilderness? And they were filled with joy; and being
strengthened, they all rose up.
CHAP. 22.--After this, while they were going
on their journey, Joseph said to Jesus: Lord, it is a boiling
heat; if it please Thee, let us go by the sea-shore, that we
may be able to rest in the cities on the coast. Jesus said to
him: Fear not, Joseph; I will shorten the way for you, so
that what you would have taken thirty days to go over, you
shall accomplish in this one day. And while they were thus
speaking, behold, they looked forward, and began to see the
mountains and cities of Egypt.
And rejoicing and exulting, they came into the regions of
Hermopolis, and entered into a certain city of Egypt which is
called Sotinen; 1 and because they knew no one there from
whom they could ask hospitality, they went into a temple
which was called the Capitol of Egypt. And in this temple
there had been set up three hundred and fifty-five idols, 2
to each of which on its own day divine honours and sacred
rites were paid. For the Egyptians belonging to the same city
entered the Capitol, in which the priests told them how many
sacrifices were offered each day, according to the honour in
which the god was held.
CHAP. 23.--And it came to pass, when the most blessed
Mary went into the temple with the little child, that all the
idols prostrated themselves on the ground, so that all of
them were
lying on their faces shattered and broken to pieces; 3 and
thus they plainly showed that they were nothing. Then was
fulfilled that which was said by the prophet Isaiah: Behold,
the Lord will come upon a swift cloud, and will enter Egypt,
and all the handiwork of the Egyptians shall be moved at His
presence. 4
CHAP. 24.--Then Affrodosius, that governor of the city,
when news of this was brought to him, went to the temple with
all his army. And the priests of the temple, when they saw
Affrodosius with all his army coming into the temple, thought
that he was making haste only to see vengeance taken on those
on whose account the gods had fallen down. But when he came
into the temple, and saw all the gods lying prostrate on
their faces, he went up to the blessed Mary, who was carrying
the Lord in her bosom, and adored Him, and said to all his
army and all his friends: Unless this were the God of our
gods, our gods would not have fallen on their faces before
Him; nor would they be lying prostrate in His presence:
wherefore they silently confess that He is their Lord. Unless
we, therefore, take care to do what we have seen our gods
doing, we may run the risk of His anger, and all come to
destruction, even as it happened to Pharaoh king of the
Egyptians, who, not believing in powers so mighty, was
drowned in the sea, with all his army. 5 Then all the
people of that same city believed in the Lord God through
Jesus Christ.
CHAP. 25.--After no long time the angel said to Joseph:
Return to the land of Judah, for they are dead who sought the
child's life. 1
CHAP. 26.--And it came to pass, after Jesus had returned
out of Egypt, when He was in Galilee, and entering on the
fourth year of His age, that on a Sabbath-day He was playing
with some children at the bed of the Jordan. And as He sat
there, Jesus made to Himself seven pools of clay, and to each
of them He made passages, through which at His command He
brought water from the torrent into the pool, and took it
back again. Then one of those children, a son of the devil,
moved with envy, shut the passages which supplied the pools
with water, and overthrew what Jesus had built up. Then said
Jesus to him: Woe unto thee, thou son of death, thou son of
Satan! Dost thou destroy the works which I have wrought? And
immediately he who had done this died. Then with great uproar
the parents of the dead boy cried out against Mary and
Joseph, saying to them: Your son has cursed our son, and he
is dead. And when Joseph and Mary heard this, they came
forthwith to Jesus, on account of the outcry of the parents
of the boy, and the gathering together of the Jews. But
Joseph said privately to Mary: I dare not speak to Him; but
do thou admonish Him, and say: Why hast Thou raised against
us the hatred of the people; and why must the troublesome
hatred of men be borne by us? And His mother having come to
Him, asked Him, saying: My Lord, what was it that he did to
bring about his death? And He said: He deserved death,
because he scattered the works that I had made. Then His
mother asked Him, saying: Do not so, my Lord, because all men
rise up against us. But He, not wishing to grieve His mother,
with His right foot kicked the hinder parts of the dead boy,
and said to him: Rise, thou son of iniquity for thou art not
worthy to enter into the rest of my Father, because thou
didst destroy the works which I had made. Then he who had
been dead rose up, and went away. And Jesus, by the word of
His power, brought water into the pools by the aqueduct.
CHAP. 27.--And it came to pass, after these
things, that in the sight of all Jesus took clay froth the
pools which He had made, and of it made twelve sparrows. And
it was the Sabbath when Jesus did this, and there were very
many children with Him. When, therefore, one of the Jews had
seen Him doing this, he said to Joseph: Joseph, dost thou not
see the child
Jesus working on the Sabbath at what it is not lawful for
him to do? for he has made twelve sparrows of clay. And when
Joseph heard this, he reproved him, saying: Wherefore doest
thou on the Sabbath such things as are not lawful for us to
do? And when Jesus heard Joseph, He struck His hands
together, and said to His sparrows: Fly! And at the voice of
His command they began to fly. And in the sight and hearing
of all that stood by, He said to the birds: Go and fly
through the earth, and through all the world, and live. And
when those that were there saw such miracles, they were
filled with great astonishment. And some praised and admired
Him, but others reviled Him. And certain of them went away to
the chief priests and the heads of the Pharisees, and
reported to them that Jesus the son of Joseph had done great
signs and miracles in the sight of all the people of Israel.
And this was reported in the twelve tribes of Israel.
CHAP. 28.--And again the son of Annas, a priest of the
temple, who had come with Joseph, holding his rod in his hand
in the sight of all, with great fury broke down the dams
which Jesus had made with His own hands, and let out the
water which He had collected in them from the torrent.
Moreover, he shut the aqueduct by which the water came in,
and then broke it down. And when Jesus saw this, He said to
that boy who had destroyed His dams: O most wicked seed of
iniquity! O son of death! O workshop of Satan! verily the
fruit of thy seed shall be without strength, and thy roots
without moisture, and thy branches withered, bearing no
fruit. And immediately, in the sight of all, the boy withered
away, and died.
CHAP. 29.--Then Joseph trembled, and took hold of Jesus,
and went with Him to his own house, and His mother with Him.
And, behold, suddenly from the opposite direction a boy, also
a worker of iniquity, ran up and came against the shoulder of
Jesus, wishing to make sport of Him, or to hurt Him, if he
could. And Jesus said to him: Thou shall not go back safe and
sound from the way that thou goest. And immediately he fell
down, and died. And the parents of the dead boy, who had seen
what happened, cried out, saying: Where does this child come
from? It is manifest that every word that he says is true;
and it is often accomplished before he speaks. And the
parents of the dead boy came to Joseph, and said to him: Take
away that Jesus from this place, for he cannot live with us
in this town; or at least teach him to bless, and not to
curse. And Joseph came up to Jesus, and admonished Him,
saying: Why doest thou such things? For already many are in
grief and against thee, and hate us on thy account, and we
endure the reproaches of men because of thee. And Jesus
answered and said unto Joseph: No one is a wise son but he
whom his father hath taught, according to the knowledge of
this time; and a father's curse can hurt none but evil-doers.
Then they came together against Jesus, and accused him to
Joseph. When Joseph saw this, he was in great terror, fearing
the violence and uproar of the people of Israel. And the same
hour Jesus seized the dead boy by the ear, and lifted him up
from the earth in the sight of all: and they saw Jesus
speaking to him like a father to his son. And his spirit came
back to him, and he revived. And all of them wondered.
Part 4