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PHILOCHRISTUS.

the ninth hour of the day; and they should meet there a certain slave of Joseph of Arimathea, bearing a pitcher of water upon his head; and they were to say, as a sign to the man, "The Master saith, my time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at thy house with my disciples;" and the slave would shew them an upper room prepared, and there they were to make ready. For the space of an hour after Peter and John were departed, Jesus continued still speaking unto the women; then he arose and bade them farewell, and set his face to go down to Jerusalem.

When it was now late, the sun having set two hours or more, we sat down to keep the feast; and Judas also was with us. While we sat at meat, we spake, according to the custom, concerning the ancient deliverance of Israel in the days of Moses: but our hearts were very heavy, for we said within ourselves, "We need not a past, but a present deliverance; and, behold, it is not to be." Jesus alone was of good cheer, and rejoiced with a marvellous joy; and he spake very cheerfully and tenderly to us, and said that his heart had yearned to eat this Passover with us, for he should not eat with us again till the Kingdom of God should be established. Now at this we marvelled, but we rejoiced not; for we had learned by much experience not to rejoice at the promises of Jesus as if they were the promises of common men. Moreover we were sore disturbed by a certain saying of Jesus. For in the midst of his comfortable discourse to us, he suddenly brake off, saying that one of us, that sat there at meat with him, should betray him. And he said, "The Son of man goeth as it is written of him; but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! It had been good for that man if he had not been born." And hereat we sat a while dumb and looking each at other, wondering whom Jesus might mean, and afterwards we brake out into many and