Joseph's bad carpentry. INFANCY. Christ's miracles at play. on it for two years in the king's palace, and makes it two spans too short. The king being angry with him, 10 Jesus comforts him, 13 commands him to pull one side of the throne, while he pulls the other, and brings it to its proper dimensions. 14 Whereupon the by-side of the throne, and I will the standers praise God. other, and we will bring it to its just dimensions. which I have been about these two years. 12 Jesus said to him, Fear not, neither be cast down; A ND Joseph, wheresoever he went in the city, took the Lord Jesus with him, where he was sent for to work to make gates, or milk-pails, or sieves, or boxes; the Lord Jesus was with him wheresoever he went. 2 And as often as Joseph had anything in his work, to make longer or shorter, or wider, or narrower, the Lord Jesus would stretch his hand towards it. 3 And presently it became as Joseph would have it. 4 So that he had no need to finish anything with his own hands, for he was not very skilful at his carpenter's trade. 5 ¶ On a certain time the King of Jerusalem sent for him, and said, I would have thee make me a throne of the same dimen■ions with that place in which I commonly sit. 6 Joseph obeyed, and forthwith began, the work, and continued two years in the king's palace before he finished it. 7 And when he came to fix it in its place, he found it wanted two spans on each side of the appointed measure. 8 Which, when the king saw, he was very angry with Joseph; 9 And Joseph afraid of the king's anger, went to bed without his supper, taking not any thing to eat. 10 Then the Lord Jesus asked him, What he was afraid of? 11 Joseph replied, Because I have lost my labour in the work 13 Do thou lay hold on one 14 And when Joseph had done as the Lord Jesus said, and each of them had with strength drawn his side, the throne obeyed, and was brought to the proper sions of the place : dimen 15 Which miracle when they who stood by saw, they were astonished, and praised God. 16 The throne was made of the same wood, which was in being in Solomon's time, namely, wood adorned with various shapes and figures. CHAP. XVII. 1 Jesus plays with boys at hide and seek. 3 Some women put his playfellows in a furnace, 7 where they are transformed by Jesus into kids. 10 Jesus calls them to go and play, and they are restored to their former shape. N another day the Lord Jesus going out into the street, and seeing some boys who were met to play, joined himself to their company: 2 But when they saw him, they hid themselves, and left him to seek for them; 3 The Lord Jesus came to the gate of a certain house, and asked some women who were standing there, Where the boys gone? were 4 And when they answered, That there was no one there; the Lord Jesus said, Who are those whom ye see in the furnace? 5 They answered, They were kids of three years old. 6 Then Jesus cried out aloud, and said, Come out hither, O ye kids, to your shepherd; 7 And presently the boys came forth like kids, and leaped about him; which when the women saw, they were exceedingly amazed, and trembled. 8 Then they immediately worshipped the Lord Jesus, and beBeeched him, saying, O our Lord Jesus, son of Mary, thou art truly that good shepherd of Israel ! have mercy on thy handmaids, who stand before thee, who do not doubt, but that thou, O Lord, art come to save, and not to destroy. 9 After that, when the Lord Jesus said, the children of Israel are like Ethiopians among the people; the women said, Thou, Lord, knowest all things, nor is any thing concealed from thee; but now we entreat thee, and beseech of thy mercy, that thou wouldest restore those boys to their former state. by a serpent. 2 For they spread their garments on the ground for him to sit on; and having made a crown of flowers, put it upon his head, and stood on his right and left as the guards of a king; 3 And if any one happened to pass by, they took him by force, and said, Come hither, and worship the king, that you may have a prosperous journey. 4 In the mean time, while these things were doing, there came certain men, carrying a boy upon a couch; 5 For this boy having gone with his companions to the mountain to gather wood, and having found there a partridge's nest, and put his hand in to take out the eggs, was stung by a poisonous serpent, which leaped out of the nest; so that he was forced to cry out for the help of his companions: who, when they came, found him lying earth like a dead upon the 10 Then Jesus said, Come hi- person. ther O boys, that we may go 6 After which his neighbours and play; and immediately, came and carried him back into in the presence of these women, the kids were changed, and returned into the shape of boys. CHAP. XVIII. 1 Jesus becomes the king of his playfel lows, and they crown him with flowers, 4 miraculously causes a serpent who had bitten Simon the Canaanite, then a boy, to suck out all the poison again; 16 the serpent bursts, and Christ restores the boy to health. N the month Adar Jesus ga ranked them as though he had been a king. the city. to 7 But when they came the place where the Lord Jesus was sitting like a king, and the other boys stood around him like his ministers, the boys made haste to meet him, who was bitten by the serpent, and said to his neighbours, Come and pay your respects to the king; 8 But when, by reason of their sorrow, they refused to come, the boys drew them, and come. 9 And when they came to Christ at play. I. INFANCY. Makes a dead boy speak. the Lord Jesus, he inquired On what account they carried that boy? 10 And when they answered, that a serpent had bitten him, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Let us go and kill that serpent. 11 But when the parents of the boy desired to be excused, because their son lay at the point of death; the boys made answer, and said, Did not ye hear what the king said? Let us go and kill the serpent; and will not ye obey him? 12 So they brought the couch back again, whether they would or not. 13 And when they were come to the nest, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Is this the serpent's lurking place? They said, It was. 14 Then the Lord Jesus calling the serpent, it presently came forth and submitted to him; to whom he said, Go and suck out all the poison which thou hast infused into that boy; 15 So the serpent crept to the boy, and took away all its poison again. 16 Then the Lord Jesus cursed the serpent so that it immediately burst asunder, and died. 17 And he touched the boy with his hand to restore him to his former health; 18 And when he began to cry, the Lord Jesus said, Cease crying, for hereafter thou shalt be my disciple, 19 And this is that Simon the Cananite, who is mentioned in the Gospel. CHAP. XIX. 1 James being bitten by a viper, Jesus blows on the wound and cures him. 4 Jesus charged with throwing a boy from the roof of a house, 10 miracu lously causes the dead boy to acquit him, 12 fetches water for his mother, breaks the pitcher und miraculously gathers the water in his mantle and brings it home, 18 mukes fish-pools on the sabbath, 20 causes a boy to die who broke them down, 22 another boy runs against him, whom he also cuuses to die. N another day Joseph sent his son James to gather wood and the Lord Jesus went with him; 2 And when they came to the place where the wood was, and James began to gather it, behold, a venomous viper bit him, so that he began to cry, and make noise. 3 The Lord Jesus seeing him in this condition, came to him, and blowed upon the place where the viper had bit him, and it was instantly well. 4 ¶ On a certain day the Lord Jesus was with some boys, who were playing on the house-top, and one of the boys fell down, and presently died. 5 Upon which the other boys all running away, the Lord Jesus was left alone on the housetop. 6 And the boy's relations came to him and said to the Lord Jesus Thou didst throw our son down from the house-top. 7 But he denying it, they cried out, Our son is dead, and this is he who killed him. 8 The Lord Jesus replied to them, Do not charge me with a crime, of which you are not able to convict me, but let us go ask the boy himself, who will bring the truth to light. 9 Then the Lord Jesus going down stood over the head of the dead boy, and said with a loud Gat.iers spilt wuter. I. INFANCY. voice, Zeinunus, Zeinunus, who threw thee down from the housetop? 10 Then the dead boy answered, thou didst not throw me down, but such a one did. 11 And when the Lord Jesus bade those who stood by to take notice of his words, all who were present praised God on account of that miracle. 12 On a certain time the Lady St. Mary had commanded the Lord Jesus to fetch her some water out of the well; 13 And when he had gone to fetch the water, the pitcher, when it was brought up full, brake. 14 But Jesus spreading his mantle gathered up the water again, and brought it in that to his mother. 15 Who, being astonished at this wonderful thing, laid up this, and all the other things which she had seen, in her memory. Kills a playfellow. away, and the Lord Jesus said to him, 21 In like manner as this water has vanished, so shall thy life vanish; and presently the boy died. 22 Another time, when the Lord Jesus was coming home in the evening with Joseph, he met a boy, who ran so hard against him, that he threw him down; 23 To whom the Lord Jesus said, As thou hast thrown me down, so shalt thou fall, nor ever rise. 24 And that moment the boy fell down and died. CHAP. XX. 4 Sent to school to Zaccheus to learn his letters, and teaches Zaccheus. 13 Sent to another schoolmaster, 14 refuses to tell his letters, and the schoolmaster going to whip him his hand withers and he dies. 16¶Again on another day THE the Lord Jesus was with some boys by a river and they drew water out of the river by little channels, and made little fish pools. 17 But the Lord Jesus had made twelve sparrows, and placed them about his pool on each side, three on a side. 18 But it was the Sabbath day, and the son of Hanani a Jew came by, and saw them making these things and said, Do ye thus make figures of clay on the Sabbath? And he ran to them, and broke down their fish-pools. 19 But when the Lord Jesus clapped his hands over the sparrows which he had made, they fled away chirping. 20 At length the son of Hanani coming to the fish-pool of Jesus to destroy it, the water vanished HERE was also at Jerusalem one named Zaccheus, who was a schoolmaster. 2 And he said to Joseph, Joseph, why dost thou not send Jesus to me, that he may learn his letters? 3 Joseph agreed, and told St. Mary; 4 So they brought him to that master; who, as soon as he saw him, wrote out an alphabet for him. 5 And he bade him say Aleph ; and when he had said Aleph, the master bade him pronounce Beth. 6 Then the Lord Jesus said to him, Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth. 7 And when the master threatened to whip him, the Lord Jesus explained to him the meaning of the letters Aleph and Beth; 8 Also which were the straight Kills his schoolmasters. 1. INFANCY. Disputes with the doc es. ND when he was twelve yar figures of the letters, which the old, they brought hi to oblique, and what letters had to A ble figures; which had points, and which had none; why one letter went before another; and many other things he began to tell him, and explain, of which the master himself had never heard, nor read in any book. 9 The Lord Jesus farther said to the master, Take notice how I say to thee; then he began clearly and distinctly to say Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, and so on to the end of the alphabet. 10 At this the master was so surprised, that he said, I believe this boy was born before Noal; 11 And turning to Joseph, he said, Thou hast brought a boy to me to be taught, who is more learned than any master. 12 He said also unto St. Mary, This your son has no need of any learning. 13 They brought him then to a more learned master, who, when he saw him, said, say Aleph. 14 And when he had said Aleph, the master bade him pronounce Beth; to which the Lord Jesus replied, Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth. 15 But this master, when he lift up his hand to whip him, had his hand presently withered, and he died. 16 Then said Joseph to St. Mary, Henceforth we will not allow him to go out of the house; for every one who displeases him is killed. CHAP. XXI. 1 Disputes miraculously with the doctors in the temple, 7 on buw, 9 on astronomy, 12 on physics and metaphysics, 21 is worshipped by a philosopher, 28 and fetched home by his mother. Jerusalem to the feast; and hen the feast was over, they retɩ ned. 2 But the Lord Jesu continued behind in the emple among the doctors and elders, and learned men of Israel; to whom he proposed several questions of learning, ad also gave them answers: 3 For he said to them, Whose son is the Messiah? They answered, the son of David : 4 Why then, said he, does he in the spirit call him Lord? when he saith, The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, till I have made thine enemies thy footstool. 5 Then a certain principal Rabbi asked him, Hast thou read books? 6 Jesus answered, he had read both books, and the things which were contained in books. 7 And he explained to them the books of the law, and precepts, and statutes: and the mysteries which are contained in the books of the prophets; things which the mind of no creature could reach. 8 Then said that Rabbi, I never yet have seen or heard of such knowledge! What do you think that boy will be! 9 When a certain astrono mer, who was present, asked the Lord Jesus, Whether he had studied astronomy? 10 The Lord Jesus replied, and told him the number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square, and sextile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion; size and several prognostications; and other things which the reason of man had never discovered. their |