Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/437

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LATIN GOSPEL OF NICODEMUS.
321

therefore a king? Jesus saith to him, Thou sayest; for I am a king. For on this account was I born, and for this I came, that I should bear witness for the truth, and every one who is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? Jesus saith, Truth is from heaven. Pilate saith, Is truth not on earth? Jesus saith to Pilate, Observe how they who say the truth are judged by those who have power on earth.

CHAPTER IV.

Pilate therefore, leaving Jesus within the prætorium, went out to the Jews and said to them, I find not one fault in him. The Jews say to him, He said, I can destroy this temple, and raise it up again in three days. Pilate said to them, What temple? The Jews say to him, That which Solomon built in forty-six years; and he speaketh of destroying and building it in three days. Pilate saith to them, I am innocent of the blood of this man: Ye shall see to it. The Jews say to him, His blood be on us and on our children.

But Pilate called the elders and priests and Levites and said to them privately, Do not so: for though ye accuse him I have found him in no wise worthy of death, not even for healing and the violation of the Sabbath. The priests and Levites and elders say,