JUDAS to CHRISTUS, kissing him. 
Hail, Master! hail!

CHRISTUS. 
     Friend, wherefore art thou come? 
Whom seek ye?

CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE. 
              Jesus of Nazareth.

CHRISTUS. 
                         I am he. 
Are ye come hither as against a thief,
With swords and staves to take me?  When I daily
Was with you in the Temple, ye stretched forth
No hands to take me!  But this is your hour,
And this the power of darkness.  If ye seek
Me only, let these others go their way.

The Disciples depart.  CHRISTUS is bound and led away.  A certain young man follows him, having a linen cloth cast about his body.  They lay hold of him, and the young man flees from them naked.

V

THE PALACE OF CAIAPHAS

PHARISEES. 
What do we?  Clearly something must we do,
For this man worketh many miracles.

CAIAPHAS. 
I am informed that he is a mechanic;
A carpenter’s son; a Galilean peasant,
Keeping disreputable company.

PHARISEES. 
The people say that here in Bethany
He hath raised up a certain Lazarus,
Who had been dead three days.

CAIAPHAS. 
                         Impossible! 
There is no resurrection of the dead;
This Lazarus should be taken, and put to death
As an impostor.  If this Galilean
Would be content to stay in Galilee,
And preach in country towns, I should not heed him. 
But when he comes up to Jerusalem
Riding in triumph, as I am informed,
And drives the money-changers from the Temple,
That is another matter.

PHARISEES. 
                        If we thus
Let him alone, all will believe on him,
And then the Romans come and take away
Our place and nation.

CAIAPHAS. 
              Ye know nothing at all. 
Simon Ben Camith, my great predecessor,
On whom be peace! would have dealt presently
With such a demagogue.  I shall no less. 
The man must die.  Do ye consider not
It is expedient that one man should die,
Not the whole nation perish?  What is death? 
It differeth from sleep but in duration. 
We sleep and wake again; an hour or two
Later or earlier, and it matters not,
And if we never wake it matters not;
When we are in our graves we are at peace,
Nothing can wake us or disturb us more. 
There is no resurrection.

PHARISEES, aside. 
                        O most faithful
Disciple of Hircanus Maccabaeus,
Will nothing but complete annihilation
Comfort and satisfy thee?

CAIAPHAS. 
                 While ye are talking
And plotting, and contriving how to take him,
Fearing the people, and so doing naught,
I, who fear not the people, have been acting;
Have taken this Prophet, this young Nazarene,
Who by Beelzebub the Prince of devils
Casteth out devils, and doth raise the dead,
That might as well be dead, and left in peace. 
Annas my father-in-law hath sent him hither. 
I hear the guard.  Behold your Galilean!