4 And when they answered, That there was no one there; the Lord Jesus said, Who are those whom ye see in the furnace? 5 They answered, They were kids of three years old. 6 Then Jesus cried out aloud, and said, Come out hither, O ye kids, to your shepherd; 7 And presently the boys came forth like kids, and leaped about him; which when the women saw, they were exceedingly amazed, and trembled, 8 Then they immediately worshipped, the Lord Jesus, and beseeched him, saying, O our Lord Jesus, son of Mary, thou art truly that good shepherd of Israel! have mercy on thy handmaids, who stand before thee, who do not doubt, but that thou, O Lord, art come to save, and not to destroy. 9 After that, when the Lord Jesus said, the children of Israel are like Ethiopians among the people; the women said, Thou, Lord, knowest all things, nor is any thing concealed from thee: but now we entreat thee, and beseech of thy mercy, that thou wouldest restore those boys to their former state. 10 Then Jesus said, Come hither, O boys, that we may go and play; and immediately, in the presence of these women, the kids were changed, and returned into the shape of boys. CHAPTER XVIII. 1 Jesus becomes the king of his playfellows, and they crown him with flowers; 4 miraculously causes a serpent who had bitten Simon the Cananite, then a boy, to suck out all the poison again; 16 the serpent bursts, and Christ restores the boy to health. IN the month Adar Jesus gathered together the boys, and ranked them as though he had been a king. 2 For they spread their garments on the ground for him to sit on; and having made a crown of flowers, put it upon his head, and stood on his right and left as the guards of a king. 3 And if any one happened to pass by, they took him by force, and said, Come hither, and worship the king, that you may have a prosperous journey. 4 In the mean time, while these things were doing, there came certain men, carrying a boy upon a couch; 5 For this boy having gone with his companions to the mountain to gather wood, and having found there a partridge's nest, and put his hand in to take out the eggs, was stung by a poisonous serpent, which leaped out of the nest; so that he was forced to cry out for the help of his companions; who, when they came, found him lying upon the earth like a dead person. 6 After which his neighbours came and carried him back into the city. 7 But when they came to the place where the Lord Jesus, was sitting like a king, and the other boys stood around him like his ministers, the boys made haste to meet him, who was bitten by the serpent, and said to his neighbours, Come and pay your respects to the king; 8 But when, by reason of their sorrow, they refused to come, the boys drew them, and forced them against their wills to come. 9 And when they came to the Lord Jesus, he inquired, On what account they carried that boy?