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THESE
ARE THE SECRET sayings that the living Jesus spoke and
Didymos Judas Thomas recorded.
1 And he said, "Whoever discovers the interpretation
of these sayings will not taste death."
2 Jesus said, "Those who seek should not stop seeking
until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed.
When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will
rule over all."
3 Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the
(Father's) imperial rule is in the sky,' then the birds
of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It
is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather,
the (Father's) imperial rule is inside you and outside
you. When you know yourselves, then you will be known,
and you will understand that you are children of the
living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then
you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
4 Jesus said, "The person old in days won't hesitate
to ask a little child seven days old about the place
of life, and that person will live. For many of the
first will be last, and will become a single one."
5 Jesus said, "Know what is in front of your face, and
what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For
there is nothing hidden that won't be revealed."
6 His disciples asked him and said to him, "Do you want
us to fast? How should we pray? Should we give to charity?
What diet should we observe?"
Jesus said, "Don't lie, and don't do what you hate,
because all things are disclosed before heaven. After
all, there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed,
and there is nothing covered up that will remain undisclosed."
7 Jesus said, "Lucky is the lion that the human will
eat, so that the lion becomes human. And foul is the
human that the lion will eat, and the lion still will
become human."
8 And he said, The human one is like a wise fisherman
who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the
sea full of little fish. Among them the wise fisherman
discovered a fine large fish. He threw all the little
fish back into the sea, and easily chose the large fish.
Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!
9 Jesus said, Look, the sower went out, took a handful
(of seeds), and scattered (them). Some fell on the road,
and the birds came and gathered them. Others fell on
rock, and they didn't take root in the soil and didn't
produce heads of grain. Others fell on thorns, and they
choked the seeds and worms ate them. And others fell
on good soil, and it produced a good crop: it yielded
sixty per measure and one hundred twenty per measure.
10 Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and
look, I'm guarding it until it blazes."
11 Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the
one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive,
and the living will not die. During the days when you
ate what is dead, you made it come alive. When you are
in the light, what will you do? On the day when you
were one, you became two. But when you become two, what
will you do?"
12 The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you are
going to leave us. Who will be our leader?"
Jesus said to them, "No matter where you are you are
to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth
came into being."
13 Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something
and tell me what I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a just angel."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth is utterly unable
to say what you are like."
Jesus said, "I am not your teacher. Because you have
drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling
spring that I have tended."
And he took him, and withdrew, and spoke three sayings
to him.
When Thomas came back to his friends they asked him,
"What did Jesus say to you?"
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the sayings
he spoke to me, you will pick up rocks and stone me,
and fire will come from the rocks and devour you."
14 Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will bring
sin upon yourselves, and if you pray, you will be condemned,
and if you give to charity, you will harm your spirits.
When you go into any region and walk about in the countryside,
when people take you in, eat what they serve you and
heal the sick among them. After all, what goes into
your mouth won't defile you; what comes out of your
mouth will."
15 Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of
woman, fall on your faces and worship. That one is your
Father."
16 Jesus said, "Perhaps people think that I have come
to cast peace upon the world. They do not know that
I have come to cast conflicts upon the earth: fire,
sword, war. For there will be five in a house: there'll
be three against two and two against three, father against
son and son against father, and they will stand alone.
17 Jesus said, "I will give you what no eye has seen,
what no ear has heard, what no hand has touched, what
has not arisen in the human heart."
18 The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us, how will our
end come?"
Jesus said, "Have you found the beginning, then, that
you are looking for the end? You see, the end will be
where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who
stands at the beginning: that one will know the end
and will not taste death."
19 Jesus said, "Congratulations to the one who came
into being before coming into being. If you become my
disciples and pay attention to my sayings, these stones
will serve you. For there are five trees in Paradise
for you; they do not change, summer or winter, and their
leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste
death."
20 The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what Heaven's
imperial rule is like."
He said to them, It's like a mustard seed, (it's) the
smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on prepared
soil, it produces a large branch and becomes a shelter
for birds of the sky.
21 Mary said to Jesus, "What are your disciples like?"
He said, They are like little children living in a field
that is not theirs. when the owners of the field come,
they will say, "Give us back our field." They take off
their clothes in front of them in order to give it back
to them, and they return their field to them. For this
reason I say, if the owners of a house know that a thief
is coming, they will be on guard before the thief arrives
and will not let the thief break into their house (their
domain) and steal their possessions. As for you, then,
be on guard against the world. Prepare yourselves with
great strength, so the robbers can't find a way to get
to you, for the trouble you expect will come. Let there
be among you a person who understands. When the crop
ripened, he came quickly carrying a sickle and harvested
it. Anyone here with two good ears had better listen!
22 Jesus saw some babies nursing. He said to his disciples,
"These nursing babies are like those who enter the (Father's)
domain."
They said to him, "Then shall we enter the (Father's)
domain as babies?"
Jesus said to them, "When you make the two into one,
and when you make the inner like the outer and the outer
like the inner, and the upper like the lower, and when
you make male and female into a single one, so that
the male will not be male nor the female be female,
when you make eyes in place of an eye, a hand in place
of a hand, a foot in place of a foot, an image in place
of an image, then you will enter [the (Father's) domain]."
23 Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand
and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a
single one."
24 His disciples said, "Show us the place where you
are, for we must seek it."
He said to them, "Anyone here with two ears had better
listen! There is light within a person of light, and
it shines on the whole world. If it does not shine,
it is dark."
25 Jesus said, "Love your friends like your own soul,
protect them like the pupil of your eye."
26 Jesus said, "You see the sliver in your friend's
eye, but you don't see the timber in your own eye. When
you take the timber out of your own eye, then you will
see well enough to remove the sliver from your friend's
eye."
27 "If you do not fast from the world, you will not
find the (Father's) domain. If you do not observe the
sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father."
28 Jesus said, "I took my stand in the midst of the
world, and in flesh I appeared to them. I found them
all drunk, and I did not find any of them thirsty. My
soul ached for the children of humanity, because they
are blind in their hearts and do not see, for they came
into the world empty, and they also seek to depart from
the world empty. But meanwhile they are drunk. When
they shake off their wine, then they will change their
ways."
29 Jesus said, "If the flesh came into being because
of spirit, that is a marvel, but if spirit came into
being because of the body, that is a marvel of marvels.
Yet I marvel at how this great wealth has come to dwell
in this poverty."
30 Jesus said, "Where there are three deities, they
are divine. Where there are two or one, I am with that
one."
31 Jesus said, "No prophet is welcome on his home turf;
doctors don't cure those who know them."
32 Jesus said, "A city built on a high hill and fortified
cannot fall, nor can it be hidden."
33 Jesus said, "What you will hear in your ear, in the
other ear proclaim from your rooftops. After all, no
one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, nor does
one put it in a hidden place. Rather, one puts it on
a lampstand so that all who come and go will see its
light."
34 Jesus said, "If a blind person leads a bind person,
both of them will fall into a hole."
35 Jesus said, "One can't enter a strong person's house
and take it by force without tying his hands. Then one
can loot his house."
36 Jesus said, "Do not fret, from morning to evening
and from evening to morning, about what you are going
to wear. "
37 His disciples said, "When will you appear to us,
and when will we see you?"
Jesus said, "When you strip without being ashamed, and
you take your clothes and put them under your feet like
little children and trample then, then [you] will see
the son of the living one and you will not be afraid."
38 Jesus said, "Often you have desired to hear these
sayings that I am speaking to you, and you have no one
else from whom to hear them. There will be days
when you will seek me and you will not find me."
39 Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scholars have
taken the keys of knowledge and have hidden them. They
have not entered nor have they allowed those who want
to enter to do so. As for you, be as sly as snakes and
as simple as doves."
40 Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted apart from
the Father. Since it is not strong, it will be pulled
up by its root and will perish."
41 Jesus said, "Whoever has something in hand will be
given more, and those who have nothing will be deprived
of even the little they have."
42 Jesus said, "Be passersby."
43 His disciples said to him, "Who are you to say these
things to us?"
"You
don't understand who I am from what I say to you. Rather,
you have become like the Judeans, for they love the
tree but hate its fruit, or they love the fruit but
hate the tree."
44 Jesus said, "Whoever blasphemes against the Father
will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the
son will be forgiven, but whoever blasphemes against
the holy spirit will not be forgiven, either on earth
or in heaven."
45 Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorn
trees, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they
yield no fruit. Good persons produce good from what
they've stored up; bad persons produce evil from the
wickedness they've stored up in their hearts, and say
evil things. For from the overflow of the heart they
produce evil."
46 Jesus said, "From Adam to John the Baptist, among
those born of women, no one is so much greater than
John the Baptist that his eyes should not be averted.
But I have said that whoever among you becomes a child
will recognize the (Father's) imperial rule and will
become greater than John."
47 Jesus said, "A person cannot mount two horses or
bend two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters,
otherwise that slave will honor the one and offend the
other.
"Nobody
drinks aged wine and immediately wants to drink young
wine. Young wine is not poured into old wineskins, or
they might break, and aged wine is not poured into a
new wineskin, or it might spoil. An old patch is not
sewn onto a new garment, since it would create a tear."
48 Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in
a single house, they will say to the mountain, 'Move
from here!' and it will move."
49 Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who are alone
and chosen, for you will find the (Father's) domain.
For you have come from it, and you will return there
again."
50 Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where have you
come from?' say to them, 'We have come from the light,
from the place where the light came into being by itself,
established [itself], and appeared in their image.'
If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say, 'We are its children,
and we are the chosen of the living Father.' If they
ask you, 'What is the evidence of your Father in you?'
say to them, 'It is motion and rest.'"
51 His disciples said to him, "When will the rest for
the dead take place, and when will the new world come?"
He said to them, "What you are looking forward to has
come, but you don't know it."
52 His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets
have spoken in Israel, and they all spoke of you." He
said to them, "You have disregarded the living one who
is in your presence, and have spoken of the dead."
53 His disciples said to him, "is circumcision useful
or not?"
He said to them, "If it were useful, their father would
produce children already circumcised from their mother.
Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has become profitable
in every respect."
54 Jesus said, "Congratulations to the poor, for to
you belongs Heaven's domain."
55 Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate father and mother
cannot be my disciple, and whoever does not hate brothers
and sisters, and carry the cross as I do, will not be
worthy of me."
56 Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has
discovered a carcass, and whoever has discovered a carcass,
of that person the world is not worthy."
57 Jesus said, The Father's kingdom is like a person
who has [good] seed. His enemy came during the night
and sowed weeds among the good seed. The person did
not let the workers pull up the weeds, but said to them,
"No, otherwise you might go to pull up the weeds and
pull up the wheat along with them." For on the day of
the harvest the weeds will be conspicuous, and will
be pulled up and burned.
58 Jesus said, "Congratulations to the person who has
toiled and has found life."
59 Jesus said, "Look to the living one as long as you
live, otherwise you might die and then try to see the
living one, and you will be unable to see."
60 (He saw) a Samaritan carrying a lamb and going to
Judea. He said to his disciples, "(...) that person
(...) around the lamb." They said to him, "So that he
may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "He will not
eat it while it is alive, but only after he has killed
it and it has become a carcass."
They said, "Otherwise he can't do it."
He said to them, "So also with you, seek for yourselves
a place for rest, or you might become a carcass and
be eaten."
61 Jesus said, "Two will recline on a couch; one will
die, one will live."
Salome said, "Who are you mister? You have climbed onto
my couch and eaten from my table as if you are from
someone."
Jesus said to her, "I am the one who comes from what
is whole. I was granted from the things of my Father."
"I
am your disciple."
"For
this reason I say, if one is (whole), one will be filled
with light, but if one is divided, one will be filled
with darkness."
62 Jesus said, "I disclose my mysteries to those [who
are worthy] of [my] mysteries. Do not let your left
hand know what your right hand is doing."
63 Jesus said, There was a rich man who had a great
deal of money. He said, "I shall invest my money so
that I may sow, reap, plant, and fill my storehouses
with produce, that I may lack nothing." These were the
things he was thinking in his heart, but that very night
he died. Anyone here with two ears had better listen!
64 Jesus said, A person was receiving guests. When he
had prepared the dinner, he sent his slave to invite
the guests. The slave went to the first and said, "My
master invites you." The first replied, "Some merchants
owe me money; they are coming to me tonight. I have
to go and give them instructions. Please excuse me from
dinner." The slave went to another and said, "My master
has invited you." The second said to the slave, "I have
bought a house, and I have been called away for a day.
I shall have no time." The slave went to another and
said, "My master invites you." The third said to
the
slave, "My friend is to be married, and I am to arrange
the banquet. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse
me from dinner." The slave wen to another and said,
"My master invites you." The fourth said to the slave,
"I have bought an estate, and I am going to collect
the rent. I shall not be able to come. Please excuse
me." The slave returned and said to his master, "Those
whom you invited to dinner have asked to be excused."
The master said to his slave, "Go out on the streets
and bring back whomever you find to have dinner."
Buyers and merchants [will] not enter the places of
my Father.
65 He said, A [...] person owned a vineyard and rented
it to some farmers, so they could work it and he could
collect its crop from them. He sent his slave so the
farmers would give him the vineyard's crop. They grabbed
him, beat him, and almost killed him, and the slave
returned and told his master. His master said, "Perhaps
he didn't know them." He sent another slave, and the
farmers beat that one as well. Then the master sent
his son and said, "Perhaps they'll show my son some
respect." Because the farmers knew that he was the heir
to the vineyard, they grabbed him and killed him. Anyone
here with two ears had better listen!
66 Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders
rejected: that is the keystone."
67 Jesus said, "Those who know all, but are lacking
in themselves, are utterly lacking."
68 Jesus said, "Congratulations to you when you are
hated and persecuted; and
no place will be found, wherever you have been persecuted."
69 Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who have been
persecuted in their hearts: they are the ones who have
truly come to know the Father. Congratulations to those
who go hungry, so the stomach of the one in want may
be filled."
70 Jesus said, "If you bring forth what is within you,
what you have will save you. If you do not have that
within you, what you do not have within you [will] kill
you."
71 Jesus said, "I will destroy [this] house, and no
one will be able to build it [...]."
72 A [person said] to him, "Tell my brothers to divide
my father's possessions with me."
He said to the person, "Mister, who made me a divider?"
He turned to his disciples and said to them, "I'm not
a divider, am I?"
73 Jesus said, "The crop is huge but the workers are
few, so beg the harvest boss to dispatch workers to
the fields."
74 He said, "Lord, there are many around the drinking
trough, but there is nothing in the well."
75 Jesus said, "There are many standing at the door,
but those who are alone will enter the bridal suite."
76 Jesus said, The Father's kingdom is like a merchant
who had a supply of merchandise and found a pearl. That
merchant was prudent; he sold the merchandise and bought
the single pearl for himself.
So also with you, seek his treasure that is unfailing,
that is enduring, where no moth comes to eat and no
worm destroys."
77 Jesus said, "I am the light that is over all things.
I am all: from me all came forth, and to me all attained.
Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up the stone,
and you will find me there."
78 Jesus said, "Why have you come out to the countryside?
To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person
dressed in soft clothes, [like your] rulers and your
powerful ones? They are dressed in soft clothes, and
they cannot understand truth."
79 A woman in the crowd said to him, "Lucky are the
womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you."
He said to [her], "Lucky are those who have heard the
word of the Father and have truly kept it. For there
will be days when you will say, 'Lucky are the womb
that has not conceived and the breasts that have not
given milk.'"
80 Jesus said, "Whoever has come to know the world has
discovered the body, and whoever has discovered the
body, of that one the world is not worthy."
81 Jesus said, "Let one who has become wealthy reign,
and let one who has power renounce (it)."
82 Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near the fire,
and whoever is far from me is far from the (Father's)
domain."
83 Jesus said, "Images are visible to people, but the
light within them is hidden in the image of the Father's
light. He will be disclosed, but his image is hidden
by his light."
84 Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you are
happy. But when you see your images that came into being
before you and that neither die nor become visible,
how much you will have to bear!"
85 Jesus said, "Adam came from great power and great
wealth, but he was not worthy of you. For had he been
worthy, [he would] not [have tasted] death."
86 Jesus said, "[Foxes have] their dens and birds have
their nests, but human beings have no place to lay down
and rest."
87 Jesus said, "How miserable is the body that depends
on a body, and how miserable is the soul that depends
on these two."
88 Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets will
come to you and give you what belongs to you. You, in
turn, give them what you have, and say to yourselves,
'When will they come and take what belongs to them?'"
89 Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup?
Don't you understand that the one who made the inside
is also the one who made the outside?"
90 Jesus said, "Come to me, for my yoke is comfortable
and my lordship is gentle, and you will find rest for
yourselves."
91 They said to him, "Tell us who you are so that we
may believe in you."
He said to them, "You examine the face of heaven and
earth, but you have not come to know the one who is
in your presence, and you do not know how to examine
the present moment.
92 Jesus said, "Seek and you will find. In the past,
however, I did not tell you the things about which you
asked me then. Now I am willing to tell them, but you
are not seeking them."
93 "Don't give what is sacred to dogs, for they might
throw them upon the manure pile. Don't throw pearls
[to] pigs, or they might ... it [...]."
94 Jesus [said], "One who seeks will find, and for [one
who knocks] it will be opened."
95 [Jesus said], "If you have money, don't lend it at
interest. Rather, give [it] to someone from whom you
won't get it back."
96 Jesus [said], The Father's kingdom is like [a] woman.
She took a little leaven, [hid] it in dough, and made
it into large loaves of bread. Anyone here with two
ears had better listen!
97 Jesus said, The [Father's] imperial rule is like
a woman who was carrying a [jar] full of meal. While
she was walking along [a] distant road, the handle of
the jar broke and the meal spilled behind her [along]
the road. She didn't know it; she hadn't noticed a problem.
When she reached her house, she put the jar down and
discovered that it was empty.
98 Jesus said, The Father's imperial rule is like a
person who wanted to kill someone powerful. While still
at home he drew his sword and thrust it into the wall
to find out whether his hand would go in. Then he killed
the powerful one.
99 The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your
mother are standing outside."
He said to them, "Those here who do what my Father wants
are my brothers and my mother. They are the ones who
will enter my Father's kingdom."
100 They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "The
Roman emperor's people demand taxes from us."
He said to them, "Give the emperor what belongs to the
emperor, give God what belongs to God, and give me what
is mine."
101 "Whoever does not hate [father] and mother as I
do cannot be my [disciple], and whoever does [not] love
[father and] mother as I do cannot be my [disciple].
For my mother [...], but my true [mother] gave me life."
102 Jesus said, "Damn the Pharisees! They are like a
dog sleeping in the cattle manger: the dog neither eats
nor [lets] the cattle eat."
103 Jesus said, "Congratulations to those who know where
the rebels are going to attack. [They] can get going,
collect their imperial resources, and be prepared before
the rebels arrive."
104 They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today, and
let us fast."
Jesus said, "What sin have I committed, or how have
I been undone? Rather, when the groom leaves the bridal
suite, then let people fast and pray."
105 Jesus said, "Whoever knows the father and the mother
will be called the child of a whore."
106 Jesus said, "When you make the two into one, you
will become children of Adam, and when you say, 'Mountain,
move from here!' it will move."
107 Jesus said, The (Fahter's) imperial rule is like
a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the
largest, went astray. He left the ninety- nine and looked
for the one
until he found it. After he had toiled, he said to the
sheep, 'I love you more than the ninety-nine."
108 Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become
like me; I myself shall become that person, and the
hidden things will be revealed to him."
109 Jesus said, The (Father's) imperial rule is like
a person who had a treasure hidden in his field but
did not know it. And [when] he died he left it to his
[son].
The son [did] not know (about it either). He took over
the field and sold it. The buyer went plowing, [discovered]
the treasure, and began to lend money at interest to
whomever he wished.
110 Jesus said, "Let one who has found the world, and
has become wealthy, renounce the world."
111 Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll
up in your presence, and whoever is living from the
living one will not see death." Does not Jesus say,
"Those who have found themselves, of them the world
is not worthy"?
112 Jesus said, "Damn the flesh that depends on the
soul. Damn the soul that depends on the flesh."
113 His disciples said to him, "When will the (Father's)
imperial rule come?"
"It
will not come by watching for it. It will not be said,
'Look, here!' or 'Look, there!' Rather, the Father's
kingdom is spread out upon the earth, and people don't
see it."
114 Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for
females don't deserve life."
Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male,
so that she too may become a living spirit resembling
you males. For every female who makes herself male will
enter the kingdom of Heaven."
Text
copyright 1992, 1994 by Polebridge Press. Used by permission.
All rights reserved. May not be duplicated, distributed
or published in any form without written permission
of the copyright holder.
This text and translation of the Gospel of Thomas is
taken from The Complete Gospels (3rd edition),
edited by Robert J. Miller and published by Polebridge
Press. In addition to the Gospel of Thomas, The Complete
Gospels includes new translations of all known gospels
from the early Christian era, among them the Gospel
of Mary, the Sayings Gospel Q, the Signs Gospel, the
Secret Book of James, and the Gospel of Peter.
For information on The Complete Gospels and other
books on early Christianity contact Polebridge Press,
P.O. Box 6144, Santa Rosa, CA 95406, 707/523-1323.
Photo
courtesy of www.gnosis.org. Used by permission.
The
Gospel of Thomas Homepage
A superb
website published by Stevan Davies.
The
Nag Hammadi Library
On the website
of the Gnostic Society.
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