1 Pontius Pilate to Claudius Tiberius Caesar, greetings.
2 From this writing of mine you will know that wonders such as have never been seen before have befallen Jerusalem.
3 The Jews, out of envy of one of their prophets, named Jesus, have condemned and punished him extremely cruelly, despite being a pious and sincere man, whom his disciples considered God.
4 He had been born to a virgin, and Jewish traditions had predicted that he would be king of his people.
5 He gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, made the paralyzed walk, cast out demons from the bodies of those possessed, raised the dead, ruled over winds and storms, walked over the waves of the sea, and performed so many wonders that, although the people called him the Son of God, the rulers of the Jews, envious of his power, arrested him, handed him over to me, and, in order to lose him, they lied to me, telling me that he was a magician, that he violated the Sabbath, and that he acted against their law.
6 And I, misinformed and worse advised, believed them, had Jesus flogged, and left it to their discretion.
7 And they crucified him, buried him, and placed soldiers in his tomb to guard him, who asked me.
8 However, on the third day he rose again, escaping death.
9 And when the princes of the Jews learned of such a prodigy, they gave money to the guards, warning them: Say that his disciples came to the tomb and stole his body.
10 But as soon as they received the money, the guards could not hide the truth for long, and they revealed it to me.
11 And I am delivering it to you so that you may know it openly, and so that you may not be unaware that the rulers of the Jews have lied.