Library › Tatian › Diatessaron

Diatessaron

Tatian, ANF 9

And after that, the Magi came from the east to Jerusalem, and said, Where is the King of …

And after that,¹ the Magi came from the east to Jerusalem, and said, Where is the King of the Jews which was born? 2We have seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him. 3And Herod the king heard, and he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4And he gathered all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and asked them in what place² the Messiah should be born. 5They said, In Bethlehem of Judaea: thus it is written in the prophet,

Thou also, Bethlehem of Judah,

Art not contemptible among the kings of Judah:

From thee shall go forth a king,

And he shall be a shepherd to my people Israel.

Then Herod called the Magi secretly, and inquired of them the time at which the star appeared to them. 8And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said unto them, Go and search about the child diligently; and when ye have found him, come and make known to me, that I also may go and worship him. 9And they, when they heard the king, departed; and lo, the star which they had seen in the east went before them, until it came and stood above the place where the child was. 10And when they beheld the star, they rejoiced with very great joy. 11And they entered the house and beheld the child with Mary his mother, and fell down worshipping him, and opened their saddle-bags and offered to him offerings, gold and myrrh and frankincense. 12And they saw in a dream³ a that they should not return to Herod, and they travelled by another way in going to their country.

And when they had departed, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph, and said unto him, Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I speak to thee; for Herod is determined to seek the child to slay him. 14And Joseph arose and took the child and his mother in the night, and fled into Egypt, 15and remained in it until the time of the death of Herod: that that might be fulfilled which was said by the Lord in the prophet, which said, From Egypt did I call my son. 16And Herod then, when he saw that he was mocked of the Magi, was very angry, and sent and killed all the male children which were in Bethlehem and all its borders, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had inquired from the Magi. 17Then was fulfilled the saying in Jeremiah the prophet, which said,

A voice was heard in Ramah,

Weeping and much lamentation;

Rachel weeping⁴ for her children,

And not willing to be consoled for their loss.

But when Herod the king died, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to 20Joseph in Egypt, and said unto him, Rise and take the child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they have died who sought the child’s life. 21And Joseph rose and took the child and his mother, and came to the land of Israel. 22But when he heard that Archelaus had become king over Judaea instead of Herod his father, he feared to go thither; and he saw in a dream that he should

go into the land of Galilee, and that he should abide in a city called Nazareth: that the saying in the prophet might be fulfilled, that he should be called a Nazarene.

And the child grew, and became strong in spirit, becoming filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him.

And his kinsfolk⁵ used to go every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the passover. 26And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to their custom, to the feast. 27And when the days were accomplished, they returned; and the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not: and they supposed that he was with the children of their company. 28And when they had gone one day’s journey, they sought him beside their people and those who knew them, and they found him not; 29so they returned to Jerusalem and sought him again. 30And after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, 31hearing them and asking them questions; and all who heard him wondered at his wisdom and his words. 32And when they saw him they wondered, and his mother said unto him, My son, why hast thou dealt with us thus? behold, I and thy father have been seeking for thee with much anxiety. 33And he said unto them, Why were ye seeking me? know⁶ ye not that I must be in the house of my Father? 34And they understood not the word which he spake unto them. 35And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was obedient to them: and his mother used to keep all these sayings in her heart.

And Jesus grew in his stature and wisdom, and in grace with God and men.

And in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor in Judaea, and one of the four rulers, Herod, in Galilee; and Philip his brother, one of the four rulers, in Ituraea and in the district of Trachonitis; and Lysanias, one of the four rulers, in Abilene; 38in the chief-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the command⁷ of God went forth to John the son of Zacharias in the desert. 39And he came into all the region which is about Jordan, proclaiming the baptism of repentance unto⁸ the forgiveness of sins. 40And he was preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, and saying, 41Repent ye; the kingdom of heaven is come near. 42This is he that was spoken of in Isaiah the prophet,

The voice which crieth in the desert,

Prepare ye the way of the Lord,

And make straight in the plain, paths for our God.

All the valleys shall become filled,

And all the mountains and hills shall become low;

And the rough shall become plain, And the difficult place, easy;

And all flesh shall see the salvation⁹ of God.

This man came to bear witness, that he might bear witness to the light, that every man might believe through his mediation. 47He was not the light, but that he might bear witness to the light, 48which was the light of truth, that giveth light to every man coming into the world. 49He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 50He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 51And those who received him, to them gave he the power¹⁰ that they might be sons of God,—those which believe in his name: 52which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God. 53And the Word became flesh, and took up his abode among us; and we saw his glory as the glory of the only Son from the Father, which is full of grace and equity.¹¹ 54John bare witness of him, and cried, and said, This is he that I said cometh after me and was before me, because he was before me.¹² 55And of his fullness received we all grace for grace. 56For the law was given through the mediation of Moses, but truth and grace were¹³ through Jesus Christ.

Previous · Contents · Next