ing, "Thou art a Prophet; prophesy who hath struck thee." And all the soldiers laughed and jeered. Then sought I the captain of the guard and told him this, and he said, "They mean naught of ill—they be rude fellows; howbeit, I will stop them." And he went up to them and reproved them. And I paced up and down the courtyard, with the silent stars above and the glowing fire beneath, till an apparitor of the High Priest summoned me, saying, "It beginneth to dawn at the back of the house; the Council will resume its sitting."
When I entered the council-chamber, I found all seated as before, but in the midst was a smaller table, at which was seated a scribe, with a roll in front of him. Then Hanan the High Priest came in, and said, "Ye have all had the time of deliberation prescribed by our sages in capital cases, or at least as much time as the urgency of the matter permits. We must proceed to the formal ratification of this man's sentence, for I cannot doubt that ye will see fit to confirm the righteous judgment which your zeal for the Lord caused you to pass just now upon this man. And again I would
