Gospel of Nicodemus, Part I: The Acts of Pilate 14

1Now a certain priest named Phineës and Addas a teacher and Aggaeus (Ogias Copt. , Egias Lat. ) a Levite came down from Galilee unto Jerusalem and told the rulers of the synagogue and the priests and the Levites, saying : We saw Jesus and his disciples sitting upon the mountain which is called Mamilch (Mambre or Malech Lat. , Mabrech Copt. ), and he said unto his disciples: Go into all the world and preach unto every creature (the whole creation): he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, but he that disbelieveth shall be condemned. [And these signs shall follow upon them that believe: in my name they shall cast out devils, they shall speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall recover.] And while Jesus yet spake unto his disciples we saw him taken up into heaven.

Φινεὲς δέ τις ἱερεὺς καὶ Ἀδᾶς διδάσκαλος καὶ Ἀγγαῖος Λευίτης κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλιλαίας ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐξηγήσαντο τοῖς ἀρχισυναγώγοις καὶ τοῖς ἱερεῦσιν καὶ τοῖς Λευίταις ὅτι εἴδομεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καθεζόμενον εἰς τὸ ὄρος τὸ καλούμενον Μαμίλχ, καὶ ἔλεγεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ· πορευθέντες εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἅπαντα κηρύξατε πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει· ὁ πιστεύσας καὶ βαπτισθεὶς σωθήσεται, ὁ δὲ ἀπιστήσας κατακριθήσεται. σημεῖα δὲ τοῖς πιστεύσασιν ταῦτα παρακολουθήσουσιν· ἐν τῷ ὀνόματί μου δαιμόνια ἐκβαλοῦσιν, γλώσσαις λαλήσουσιν καιναῖς, ὄφεις ἀροῦσιν, κἂν θανάσιμόν τι πίωσιν οὐ μὴ αὐτοὺς βλάψει, ἐπὶ ἀρρώστους χεῖρας ἐπιθήσουσιν καὶ καλῶς ἕξουσιν. ἔτι τοῦ Ἰησοῦ λαλοῦντος πρὸς τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ εἴδομεν αὐτὸν ἀναληφθέντα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. (67385)

2The elders and the priests and Levites say: Give glory to the God of Israel and make confession unto him: did ye indeed (or that ye did) hear and see those things which ye have told us? They that told them say: As the Lord God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob liveth, we did hear these things and we saw him taken up into heaven. The elders and the priests and the Levites say unto them: Came ye for this end, that ye might tell us, or came ye to pay your vows unto God? And they say: To pay our vows unto God. The elders and the chief priests and the Levites say unto them: If ye came to pay your vows unto God, to what purpose is this idle tale which ye have babbled before all the people? Phineës the priest and Addas the teacher and Aggaeus the Levite say unto the rulers of the synagogue and priests and Levites: If these words which ye have spoken and seen be sin, lo, we are before you: do unto us as seemeth good in your eyes. And they took the book of the law and adjured them that they should no more tell any man these words: and they gave them to eat and to drink, and put them out of the city: moreover they gave them money, and three men to go with them, and they set them on their way as far as Galilee, and they departed in peace.

Λέγουσιν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευῖται· δότε δόξαν τῷ θεῷ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ δότε αὐτῷ ἐξομολόγησιν εἰ ταῦτα ἠκούσατε καὶ ἴδετε ἅπερ ἐξηγήσασθε. λέγουσιν οἱ ἐξηγησάμενοι· ζῇ κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν Ἀβραὰμ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, ὅτι ταῦτα ἠκούσαμεν καὶ ἴδομεν αὐτὸν ἀναληφθέντα εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν. λέγουσιν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται πρὸς αὐτούς· εἰς τοῦτο ἤλθατε εὐαγγελίσασθαι ἡμῖν, ἢ ἤλθατε εὐχὴν δοῦναι τῷ θεῷ; οἱ δὲ λέγουσιν· εὐχὴν δοῦναι τῷ θεῷ. λέγουσιν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ Λευῖται πρὸς αὐτούς· εἰ εὐχὴν ἤλθατε δοῦναι τῷ θεῷ, εἰς τί οὖν ἡ φλυαρία αὕτη ἦν ἣν ἐφλυαρήσατε ἀπέναντι παντὸς τοῦ λαοῦ; λέγει Φινεὲς ἱερεὺς καὶ Ἀδᾶς διδάσκαλος καὶ Ἀγγαῖος Λευίτης πρὸς τοὺς ἀρχισυναγώγους καὶ ἱερεῖς καὶ Λευίτας· εἰ οἱ λόγοι οὗτοι οὓς ἐλαλήσαμεν καὶ εἴδομεν ἁμαρτία ἐστίν, ἰδοὺ ἐσμὲν ἐνώπιον ὑμῶν· κατὰ τὸ ἀγαθὸν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ὑμῶν ποιήσατε ἡμῖν. οἱ δὲ λαβόντες τὸν νόμον ὥρκισαν αὐτοὺς μηδενὶ ἐξηγήσασθαι ἔτι τοὺς λόγους τούτους. καὶ ἔδωκαν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν καὶ πιεῖν, καὶ ἐξέβαλαν αὐτοὺς ἔξω τῆς πόλεως, δεδωκότες αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀργύρια καὶ ἄνδρας τρεῖς μετ᾽ αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀπεκατέστησαν αὐτοὺς ἕως τῆς Γαλιλαίας. (102453)

3Now when these men were departed into Galilee, the chief priests and the rulers of the synagogue and the elders gathered together in the synagogue, and shut the gate, and lamented with a great lamentation, saying: What is this sign which is come to pass in Israel? But Annas and Caiaphas said: Wherefore are ye troubled? why weep ye? Know ye not that his disciples gave much gold unto them that kept the sepulchre and taught them to say that an angel came down and rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? But the priests and the elders said: Be it so, that his disciples did steal away his body; but how is his soul entered into his body, and how abideth he in Galilee? But they could not answer these things, and hardly in the end said: It is not lawful for us to believe the uncircumcised. [ Lat. (and Copt. , and Arm. ): Ought we to believe the soldiers, that an angel came down from heaven and rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? but in truth his disciples gave . . . sepulchre. Know ye not that it is not lawful for Jews to believe any word of the uncircumcised, knowing that they who received much good from us have spoken according as we taught them.]

Πορευθέντων δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐκείνων ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ συνήχθησαν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ οἱ ἀρχισυνάγωγοι καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ, ἀποκλείσαντες τὴν πύλην, καὶ ἐκόπτοντο κοπετὸν μέγαν λέγοντες· ὅτι τοῦτο γέγονεν τὸ σημεῖον ἐν τῷ Ἰσραήλ; ὁ δὲ Ἄννας καὶ Καϊάφας εἶπον· τί θορυβεῖσθε, τί κλαίετε; ἢ οὐκ οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἔδωκαν χρυσίον ἱκανὸν τοῖς φρουροῖς τοῦ τάφου καὶ ἐδίδαξαν αὐτοὺς εἰπεῖν ὅτι ἄγγελος καταβὰς ἀπεκύλισε τὸν λίθον ἀπὸ τῆς θύρας τοῦ μνημείου; οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι εἶπον· ἔστω ὅτι ἔκλεψαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα· ἡ ψυχὴ δὲ πῶς εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ σῶμα, καὶ διατρίβει ἐν τῇ Γαλιλαίᾳ; οἱ δὲ μὴ δυνάμενοι πρὸς ταῦτα ἀποκριθῆναι μόλις ποτὲ εἶπον· οὐκ ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν ἀκροβύστοις πιστεῦσαι. (62109)