Chapter 15: The Chief Priest Questions Mary and Joseph

1Annas the scribe came to Joseph and said to him, “Joseph, why did you not appear among our traveling group?”

2Joseph said to him, “Because I was weary from the journey and rested on the first day after returning.”

3Annas turned and saw that Mary was pregnant.

4He quickly went to the priest and said to him, “Joseph, about whom you bore witness, has acted very lawlessly.”

5The priest said, “What is this?”

6Annas said, “Joseph has defiled the virgin whom he took from the Temple of the Lord. He has stolen her wedding and has not revealed it to the people of Israel.”

7In response, the priest said, “Has Joseph done this?”

8Annas the scribe said to him, “Send officers, and you will find the virgin pregnant.”

9The officers went and found her just as he had said. They led her, together with Joseph, to the court.

10The chief priest said to her, “Mary, why have you done this? Why have you humiliated your soul and forgotten the Lord your God? You were raised in the Holy of Holies, received food from the hand of an angel, heard its hymns, and danced before it. What is this that you have done?”

11She wept bitterly and said, “As the Lord God lives, I am pure before God, and I have not known a man!”

12The priest said, “Joseph, what is this that you have done?”

13Joseph said, “As the Lord my God lives, and by the witness of God’s truth, I am pure toward her.”

14The priest said, “Do not bear false witness, but tell the truth. You stole her wedding and did not reveal it to the people of Israel, and you have not bowed your head under the mighty hand that should bless your offspring.”

15Joseph fell silent.