if I conceal her sin, I will become a transgressor of the law, and if I tell the children of Israel about it, I will give up innocent blood to death. What am I to do with it? I will let her go secretly. And night fell. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, Fear not for the virgin: for that which is in her is of the Holy Spirit: she shall bear a son, and thou shalt call him Jesus. For he will save his people from the punishment of their sins. And Joseph awoke and glorified the God of Israel, who had sent him grace, and left her.

XV. Then Annas the scribe came to him and asked why you were not at the meeting? And Joseph answered,

I was tired from the journey and wanted to rest the first day. And Anna turned and saw Mary pregnant. And he ran to the high priest and said to him, "Joseph, whom you consider (righteous), has done against the law." And the high priest said, What has happened? And Annas the scribe said, "The virgin whom he took out of the temple of the Lord, he desecrated, broke the marriage, and did not tell the children of Israel about it." And the high priest asked, "Did Joseph do this?" And the scribe Anna said:

Send the servants and you will find out that she is pregnant. And they sent their servants, and they saw her as he spoke, and brought her and Joseph to court. And the high priest said, "Mary, what have you done?" Why did she defame her soul and forget about the Lord her God? Who dwelt in the Holy of Holies, who took food from the angel, who heard the singing from his mouth, who rejoiced before him, why did you do this? And she, weeping bitterly, said, As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before him, and know no man. And the high priest said to Joseph, Why hast thou done this? And Joseph answered, "As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before her." And the high priest said, "Do not bear false witness, but speak the truth." Thou hast broken the marriage, and hast not made it known to the children of Israel, and hast not bowed thy head before the hand of the Lord, that he may bless thy descendants. Joseph was silent.

XVI. And the high priest said, "Give me the virgin whom you took from the temple of the Lord." And Joseph wept. Then said the high priest, "I will give you to drink the water of reproof before the Lord, and God will show your sins before your eyes." And having taken (the water), he gave Joseph to drink and sent him to the mountain, and he returned unharmed. He also made Mary drunk and sent her to the mountain, and she returned unharmed. And then the people were amazed that no sin was found in them. And the high priest said, If the Lord God has not manifested your sin, I will not judge you. And he let them go. And Joseph took Mary and went home, praising the Lord and rejoicing.

XVII. Then there was an order from Caesar Augustus to take a census in Bethlehem of Judea. And Joseph said, I will write down my sons. But what am I to do with this maiden? Who should write it down? Wife? I'm ashamed.

Daughter? But all the children of Israel know that she is not my daughter. Let the day of the Lord show what will please the Lord. And he put her on a saddled donkey, and one son led him, and Joseph and his other son went after them. And they walked three miles. And Joseph looked (in the text - turned around) and saw that she was sad and thought that the fruit in her saddened her. Then Joseph looked again, and saw that she was joyful, and he asked her, "Mary, why do I see your face now sad, now happy?" And Mary answered Joseph, "Because I see before my eyes two nations, the one weeping and weeping, the other rejoicing and rejoicing. And when they had gone halfway, Mary said unto him, Take me down from the ass, for that which is in me maketh me go. And he took her from the donkey, and said to her, Whither shall I take thee, and hide thy shame? For the place here is deserted.

XVIII. And he found a cave there, and brought it, and left his sons with it, and went to seek the midwife in the region of Bethlehem.

And here I was, Joseph [176], walking and not moving. And he looked into the air, and saw that the air was still, and he looked at the firmament, and saw that it was stopped, and the birds of the air were stopped in flight, and he looked at the earth, and saw the vessel set up, and the laborers reclining beside it, and their hands were near the vessel, and those who ate (food) did not eat, and those who took did not take, and those who brought it to their mouths did not bring it to their mouths; and the faces of all were turned to heaven. And he saw sheep that were being persecuted, but that were standing. And the shepherd lifted up his hand to drive them away, but his hand remained up. And he looked at the course of the river and saw that the goats touched the water, but did not drink, and at that moment everything stopped.

XIX. And I saw a woman coming down from the mountain, who said to me, "Man, where are you going?" I answered: I am looking for a midwife. In response, she asked me: Are you from Israel? And I said to her: Yes. And she said: And who is she who gives birth in a cave? I answered: She is betrothed to me. And she said, "Is she not your wife?" Then I answered, This is Mary, who grew up in the temple of the Lord, and I received her by lot to be my wife, but she is not my wife, but conceived of the Holy Spirit. And his grandmother said to him: Is it true? And Joseph answered, "Go and see." And the midwife went with him [177]. And they stood by the cave, and a shining cloud appeared in the cave. And the grandmother said, "My soul is exalted, my eyes have seen a miracle, for salvation has been born to Israel." And then the cloud moved away from the cave, and there shone in the cave such a light that they could not bear it, and after a while the light disappeared, and a child appeared, and came out and took the breast of his mother Mary. And the grandmother exclaimed, saying: "This day is great for me, for I have seen an unprecedented manifestation. And she came out of the cave, and met Salome,[178] and said to her, "Salome, Salome, I want to tell you about a wondrous phenomenon: a virgin gave birth and preserved her virginity." And Salome said, "As the Lord my God lives, until I stretch out my finger and test her virginity, I believe that a virgin has given birth."

XX. And Salome had hardly stretched out her finger when she cried out and said, "Woe to my unbelief, for I have dared to tempt God. And now my hand is taken away as if in fire. And she fell on her knees before the Lord, saying:

O Lord God of my fathers, remember that I am of the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, do not shame me before the children of Israel, but show me mercy for the poor: for you know that I served you in your name, and from you I wanted to receive recompense. And then an angel of the Lord stood before her, and said to her, "Salome, Salome, the Lord has hearkened unto thee, lift up thy hand to the babe and hold him, and salvation and joy shall come to thee." And Salome came and took the child in her arms, saying, I will worship him, for a great king of Israel is born. And immediately Salome was healed and came out of the cave saved.

XXI. And Joseph prepared to go (further) into Judea. And in Bethlehem of Judea there was great confusion, for the magicians came and asked, "Where is the king of the Jews who has been born?" for we have seen his star in the east, and have come to bow down before him. And when Herod heard this, he was alarmed, and sent his servants for the magicians. Then he summoned the chief priests and asked them in the praetorium [183] where Christ was to be born according to the scriptures. And they answered him, In Bethlehem of Judea, for it is written, and he sent them away. And then he asked the magicians, saying to them: What sign did you see of the birth of the king? And the magicians answered, "We saw a great star shining among the stars and darkening them, so that they were almost invisible, and so we learned that the king of Israel was born, and we came to bow down before Him." And Herod said, "Go and search, and when you find it, let me know, that I also may worship him." And the magicians went. And the star that they saw in the east went before them until they came to the cave, and stopped before the entrance of the cave. And the magicians saw the Child with His mother Mary, and having opened their treasures, they offered Him a gift of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having received a revelation from the angel not to return to Judea, they went to their country by another way.

XXII. Then Herod perceived that the magicians had deceived him, and being angry, he sent assassins, saying to them, "Kill the babes two years old and younger." And Mary, hearing that infants were being slaughtered, was frightened, and took her child, and, wrapped in swaddling clothes, laid it in an ox manger[184]. And Elizabeth[185] hearing that they were looking for John (her son), took him and went to the mountain. And I was looking for a place to hide it, but I did not find it. And she cried out with a loud voice, saying, "The mountain of God, let the mother and son in," and the mountain opened up and let her in. And the light shone upon them, and the angel of the Lord was with them, guarding them.