Gospel of Thomas 1:1-114

¹And he said, "Whoever finds the meaning of these sayings will not taste death."

²Jesus said, "Let the one who seeks not stop seeking until that person finds; and upon finding, the person will be disturbed; and being disturbed, will be astounded; and will reign over the entirety."

³Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds of heaven will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. But the kingdom is inside of you. And it is outside of you. When you become acquainted with yourselves, then you will be recognized. And you will understand that it is you who are children of the living father. But if you do not become acquainted with yourselves, then you are in poverty, and it is you who are the poverty."

⁴Jesus said, "A person advanced in days will not hesitate to question a little child seven days old about the place of life. And that person will live. For many who are first will be last, and they will become one."

⁵Jesus said, "Recognize what is before your face, and what is hidden from you will be disclosed to you. For there is nothing hidden that will not be shown forth."

⁶His disciples questioned him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? And how shall we pray? Shall we give alms? And what kind of diet shall we follow?" Jesus said, "Do not lie, and do not do what you hate. For all things are disclosed before heaven. For there is nothing hidden that will not be shown forth, and there is nothing covered that will remain without being disclosed."

⁷Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion that the human being will devour so that the lion becomes human. And cursed is the human being that the lion devours; and the lion will become human."

⁸And he said, "What human beings resemble is an intelligent fisherman who, having cast his net into the sea, pulled the net up out of the sea full of little fish. The intelligent fisherman, upon finding among them a fine large fish, threw all the little fish back into the sea, choosing without any effort the big fish. Whoever has ears to hear should listen!"

⁹Jesus said, "Listen, a sower came forth, took a handful, and cast it. Now, some fell upon the path, and the birds came and picked them out. Others fell upon rock, and they did not take root in the soil, and did not send up ears. And others fell upon the thorns, and they choked the seed; and the grubs devoured them. And others fell upon good soil, and it sent up good crops and yielded sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure."

¹⁰Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am watching over it until it blazes."

¹¹Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. And the dead elements are not alive, and the living elements will not die. In the days when you used to ingest dead elements, you made them alive. When you are in the light, what will you do? On the day that you were one, you made two. And when you are two, what will you do?"

¹²The disciples said to Jesus, "We are aware that you will depart from us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said to him, "No matter where you come, it is to James the Just that you shall go, for whose sake heaven and earth have come to exist."

¹³Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to something and tell me what I resemble." Simon Peter said to him, "A just angel is what you resemble." Matthew said to him, "An intelligent philosopher is what you resemble." Thomas said to him, "Teacher, my mouth utterly will not let me say what you resemble." Jesus said, "I am not your teacher, for you have drunk and become intoxicated from the bubbling wellspring that I have personally measured out." And he took him, withdrew, and said three sayings to him. Now, when Thomas came to his companions they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?" Thomas said to them, "If I say to you one of the sayings that he said to me, you will take stones and stone me, and fire will come out of the stones and burn you up."

¹⁴Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will acquire a sin, and if you pray you will be condemned, and if you give alms, it is evil that you will do to your spirits. And when you go into any land and travel in the country places, when they receive you eat whatever they serve to you. Heal those among them who are sick. For nothing that enters your mouth will defile you. Rather, it is precisely what comes out of your mouth that will defile you."

¹⁵Jesus said, "When you see one who has not been born of woman, fall upon your faces and prostrate yourselves before that one: it is that one who is your father."

¹⁶Jesus said, "People probably think that it is peace that I have come to impose upon the world. And they do not recognize that it is divisions that I have come to impose upon the earth—fire, sword, battle. Indeed, there will be five in a house. There will be three over two and two over three, parent over child and child over parent. And they will stand at rest by being solitaries."

¹⁷Jesus said, "I shall give you what eyes have not seen, what ears have not heard, what hands have not touched, what has not come upon the human heart."

¹⁸The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will come to pass." Jesus said, "Then have you laid bare the beginning, so that you are seeking the end? For the end will be where the beginning is. Blessed is the person who stands at rest in the beginning. And that person will be acquainted with the end and will not taste death."

¹⁹Jesus said, "Blessed is that which existed before coming into being. If you exist as my disciples and listen to my sayings, these stones will minister to you. Indeed, you have five trees in paradise, which do not move in summer or winter, and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever is acquainted with them will not taste death."

²⁰The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the kingdom of heavens resembles." He said to them, "What it resembles is a grain of mustard seed. It is smaller than all other seeds, but if it falls upon plowed terrain it puts forth an enormous foliage and is a shade for birds of heaven."

²¹Mary said to Jesus, "What do your disciples resemble?" He said, "What they resemble is children living in a plot of land that is not theirs. When the owners of the land come they will say, 'Surrender our land to us.' They, for their part, strip naked in their presence in order to give it back to them, and they give them their land. Thus I say that the owner of an estate, knowing that a bandit is coming, will keep watch before the bandit comes and not let the bandit break into the house of the estate and steal the possessions. You, then, be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great power lest the brigands find a way to get to you; for the trouble that you expect will come. Let an experienced person dwell in your midst! When the crop had matured, that person came in haste, sickle in hand, and harvested it. Whoever has ears to hear should listen!"

²²Jesus saw some little ones nursing. He said to his disciples, "These little ones who are nursing resemble those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "So shall we enter the kingdom by being little ones?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one and make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female be one and the same, so that the male might not be male nor the female be female, when you make eyes in place of an eye and a hand in place of a hand and a foot in place of a foot, an image in place of an image—then you will enter [the kingdom]."

²³Jesus said, "I shall choose you—one out of a thousand and two out of ten thousand. And they will stand at rest by being one and the same."

²⁴His disciples said, "Show us the place where you are, for we must seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears should listen! There is light existing within a person of light. And it enlightens the whole world: if it does not enlighten, that person is darkness."

²⁵Jesus said, "Love your sibling like your own soul; look out for that person like the apple of your eye."

²⁶Jesus said, "You see the speck in your sibling's eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you expel the beam from your own eye then you will be able to see to expel the speck from the eye of your sibling."

²⁷<Jesus said>, "If you do not abstain from the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not make the sabbath a sabbath you will not behold the father."

²⁸Jesus said, "I stood at rest in the midst of the world. And I was shown forth to them incarnate; I found them all intoxicated. And I found none of them thirsty. And my soul was pained for the children of humankind, for they are blind in their hearts and cannot see. For empty did they enter the world, and again empty they seek to leave the world. But now they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine then they will have a change of heart."

²⁹Jesus said, "It is amazing if it was for the spirit that flesh came into existence. And it is amazing indeed if spirit came into existence for the sake of the body. But as for me, I am amazed at how this great wealth has come to dwell in this poverty."

³⁰Jesus said, "Where there are three divine beings they are divine. Where there are two or one, I myself dwell with that person."

³¹Jesus said, "A prophet is not acceptable in that prophet's own native town. A physician does not heal people who are acquainted with that physician."

³²Jesus said, "A city built upon a high hill and fortified cannot fall. Nor can it become hidden."

³³Jesus said, "Whatever you hear with your ear, proclaim upon your rooftops into the other ear. Indeed, no one lights a lamp and puts it under a vessel, nor puts it in a hidden place. Rather it is put on a lampstand so that each who enters and leaves might see its light."

³⁴Jesus said, "If a blind person leads a blind person both will fall into a hole."

³⁵Jesus said, "No one can enter the house of the strong man and wreck it without first tying that person's hands. Thereafter, one can ransack the person's house."

³⁶Jesus said, "Do not worry from dawn to dusk and from dusk to dawn about what you will wear."

³⁷His disciples said, "When will you be shown forth to us and when shall we behold you?" Jesus said, "When you strip naked without being ashamed, and take your garments and put them under your feet like little children and tread upon them, then [you] will see the child of the living. And you will not be afraid."

³⁸Jesus said, "On many occasions you have wanted to hear these sayings that I am saying to you. And you have no one else to hear them from. Days will come when you will seek me, and you will not find me."

³⁹Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the Scribes have taken the keys to acquaintance and hidden them. They have neither entered nor let those who want to enter enter. You, then, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

⁴⁰Jesus said, "A grapevine has been planted outside the father. And because it is not sound, it will be plucked out by the root and will perish."

⁴¹Jesus said, "The person who possesses will be given more. And the person who does not have will be deprived of even the little that that person has."

⁴²Jesus said, "Be passersby."

⁴³His disciples said to him, "Who are you, since you say these things to us?" <Jesus said to them>, "Do you not understand who I am from the things I am saying to you? Rather, you have come to be like Jews. For they love the tree, and hate its fruit. And they love the fruit, and hate the tree."

⁴⁴Jesus said, "Whoever utters blasphemy against the father will be forgiven. And whoever utters blasphemy against the son will be forgiven. But whoever utters blasphemy against the holy spirit will not be forgiven—neither on earth nor in heaven."

⁴⁵Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorn trees, nor are figs gathered from thorn bushes, for those do not bear fruit. Good people produce good from their store. Evil people produce wicked things from their evil store within their hearts, and say wicked things. For out of the heart's abundance they produce wicked things."

⁴⁶Jesus said, "From Adam to John the Baptist there has been none among the offspring of women who has been more exalted than John the Baptist, so that such a person's eyes might be broken. But I have said that whoever among you becomes a little one will become acquainted with the kingdom, and will become more exalted than John."

⁴⁷Jesus said, "A person cannot at the same time mount two horses or draw two bows. And a slave cannot serve two masters, but truly will honor the one and scoff at the other. No person drinks vintage wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins lest they burst. And vintage wine is not put into new wineskins lest it go bad. And old patches are not sewed to new garments, for a rip will develop."

⁴⁸Jesus said, "If two make peace with one another within a single house they will say to a mountain 'go elsewhere' and it will go elsewhere."

⁴⁹Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are solitary and superior, for you will find the kingdom; for since you came from it you shall return to it."

⁵⁰Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'Where are you from?' say to them, 'It is from light that we have come—from the place where light, of its own accord alone, came into existence and [stood at rest]. And it has been shown forth in their image.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?' say 'We are its offspring, and we are the chosen of the living father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your father within you?' say to them, 'It is movement and repose.'"

⁵¹His disciples said to him, "When will the repose of the dead come to pass, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "That repose which you are waiting for has come, but for your part you do not recognize it."

⁵²His disciples said to him, "Twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel, and they all spoke by you." He said to them, "You have abandoned the one who is living in your presence, and you have spoken of those who are dead."

⁵³His disciples said to him, "Does circumcision help or not?" He said to them, "If it helped, people's fathers would beget them from their mothers already circumcised. But true circumcision in spirit has become very profitable."

⁵⁴Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heavens."

⁵⁵Jesus said, "Those who do not hate their fathers and their mothers cannot be disciples of mine, and those who do not hate their brothers and their sisters and take up their cross like me will not become worthy of me."

⁵⁶Jesus said, "Whoever has become acquainted with the world has found a corpse, and the world is not worthy of the one who has found the corpse."

⁵⁷Jesus said, "What the kingdom of the father resembles is a man who had a [good] kind of seed. His enemy came at night and scattered grass seed in with the good seed. The man did not let them pluck out the grass, saying to them, 'Do not, lest you go to pluck out the grass and then pluck out the wheat along with it. For on the day of the harvest the grass will be obvious, and it will be plucked out and burned.'"

⁵⁸Jesus said, "Blessed is the person who has labored and found life."

⁵⁹Jesus said, "Consider the one who is alive while you are alive, lest you die and then seek to behold that one—and you will not be able to behold."

⁶⁰They saw a Samaritan carrying a lamb as he went into Judea. He said to his disciples, "This... the lamb." They said to him, "So that he might slaughter it and have it to eat." He said to them, "He will not eat it while it is alive, but rather when he has slaughtered it so it becomes a carcass." They said, "Otherwise, he cannot do it?" He said to them, "You, too, seek for yourselves a place of repose, lest you become a carcass and be devoured."

⁶¹Jesus said, "Two will repose on a couch: one will die, one will live." Salome said, "Who are you, O man? Like a stranger you have gotten upon my couch and you have eaten from my table." Jesus said to her, "It is I who come from that which is integrated. I was given some of the things of my father." "I am your female disciple." "Therefore I say that such a person, once integrated, will become full of light; but such a person, once divided, will become full of darkness."

⁶²Jesus said, "It is to those worthy of my secrets that I am telling my secrets. Do not let your left hand understand what your right hand is doing."

⁶³Jesus said, "There was a rich man who had considerable wealth. He said, 'I shall invest my wealth so as to sow, reap, plant, and fill my barns with crops, lest I run short of something.' These things are what he was thinking in his heart, and that very night the man died. Whoever has ears should listen!"

⁶⁴Jesus said, "A man was receiving out-of-town visitors. And having prepared the dinner, he sent a slave to invite the visitors. The slave went first and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That person said, 'Some wholesale merchants owe me money; they are coming to me this evening, and I shall go and give them instructions. I must decline the dinner invitation.' The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That person said to the slave, 'I have bought a building, and I am needed for a time. I am not free.' The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That person said to the slave, 'My friend is about to get married, and it is I who am going to give the dinner. I cannot come; I must decline the dinner invitation.' The slave went to another and said to that one, 'My master invites you.' That person said to the slave, 'I have bought a village; I am going to collect the rents. I cannot come, I must decline.' The slave came and said to its master, 'The people you have invited to the dinner have declined.' The master said to his slave, 'Go outside into the streets; bring in whomever you find, to have dinner.' Buyers and traders will not enter the places of my father."

⁶⁵He said, "A kind man owned a vineyard, and put it in the hands of cultivators for them to cultivate, so that he might get its produce from them. He sent his slave so the cultivators might give the produce of the vineyard to the slave. They seized, beat, and all but killed his slave, and the slave went and spoke to its owner. Its owner said, 'Perhaps they did not recognize the slave,' and he sent another slave. The cultivators beat the other slave. Next the owner sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they will show respect for my son.' Those cultivators, since they recognized that it was he who was heir to the vineyard, seized him and killed him. Whoever has ears should listen!"

⁶⁶Jesus said, "Show me the stone that the builders rejected: that is the building stone."

⁶⁷Jesus said, "If anyone should become acquainted with the entirety and should fall short of all, that person falls short utterly."

⁶⁸Jesus said, "Blessed are you whenever they hate you and persecute you. And wherever they have persecuted you, they will find no place."

⁶⁹Jesus said, "Blessed are those who have been persecuted in their hearts. It is they who have truly come to be acquainted with the father. Blessed are they who hunger for the belly of the needy to be satisfied."

⁷⁰Jesus said, "If you produce what is in you, what you have will save you. If you do not have what is in you, what you do not have will kill you."

⁷¹Jesus said, "I shall throw down this building, and no one will be able to build it..."

⁷²Someone said to him, "Tell my siblings to share my father's possessions with me." He said to that person, "My good fellow, who has made me into an arbitrator?" He turned to his disciples and said to them, "So am I an arbitrator?"

⁷³Jesus said, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. So plead with the lord to dispatch workers for the harvest."

⁷⁴He said, "O lord, there are many around the drinking trough but nothing in the cistern."

⁷⁵Jesus said, "There are many standing at the door, but it is the solitaries who will enter the bridal chamber."

⁷⁶Jesus said, "What the kingdom of the father resembles is a merchant who owned some merchandise, and then learned about the existence of a certain pearl. That merchant was shrewd, sold the merchandise, and bought the single pearl. You, too, seek the ceaseless and enduring treasure, where moth does not approach to eat nor worm to destroy."

⁷⁷Jesus said, "It is I who am the light that presides over all. It is I who am the entirety: it is from me that the entirety has come, and to me that the entirety goes. Split a piece of wood: I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me there."

⁷⁸Jesus said, "Why have you come out into the countryside? To see a reed shaken by the wind? And to see a person dressed in fine apparel like your governors and your members of court, who wear fine apparel and cannot recognize truth?"

⁷⁹A woman in the crowd said to him, "Blessed are the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you!" He said to her, "Blessed are those who have heard the father's utterance and truly kept it! For days are coming when you will say, 'Blessed are the womb that has not conceived and the breasts that have not given milk!'"

⁸⁰Jesus said, "Whoever has become acquainted with the world has found the body, and the world is not worthy of the one who has found the body."

⁸¹Jesus said, "The one who has become rich should reign. And the one who has power should renounce."

⁸²Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom."

⁸³Jesus said, "Images are visible to human beings. And the light within these images is hidden by the image of the father's light; it will be disclosed. And his image is hidden by his light."

⁸⁴Jesus said, "When you see your resemblance you are happy. But when you see your images that came into existence before you and are neither mortal nor visible, how much you will have to bear!"

⁸⁵Jesus said, "It is from a great power and a great wealth that Adam came into being: and he did not become worthy of you. For, had he been worthy, he would not have tasted death."

⁸⁶Jesus said, "Foxes have their dens and birds have their nests. But the son of man has nowhere to lay his head and gain repose."

⁸⁷Jesus said, "Wretched is the body that depends upon a body. And wretched is the soul that depends upon these two."

⁸⁸Jesus said, "The messengers and the prophets are coming to you, and they will give you the things that you possess. And you, too—give them the things that you have, and say among yourselves, 'When are they coming to take their own?'"

⁸⁹Jesus said, "Why are you washing the inside of the cup? Don't you think that the one who made the inside is the very same one who made the outside?"

⁹⁰Jesus said, "Come to me, for my yoke is easy to use and my lordship is mild, and you will find repose for yourselves."

⁹¹They said to him, "Tell us who you are, so that we might believe in you." He said to them, "You are testing the face of heaven and earth, and you have not recognized the one who is in your presence! And you do not recognize how to test the present time."

⁹²Jesus said, "Seek and you will find. Yet, now I am willing to say the things which you used to ask me about and which I did not say to you; and you are not seeking them."

⁹³Jesus said, "Do not give holy things to dogs, lest they throw them upon the dunghill. Do not throw pearls to swine lest they..."

⁹⁴Jesus said, "One who seeks will find. The door will be opened to one who knocks."

⁹⁵Jesus said, "If you have money, do not lend it out at interest. Rather, give it to one from whom you will not get it back."

⁹⁶Jesus said, "What the kingdom of the father resembles is a woman who took a small amount of leaven, hid it in some dough, and produced huge loaves of bread. Whoever has ears should listen!"

⁹⁷Jesus said, "What the kingdom of the father resembles is a woman who was conveying a jar full of meal. When she had traveled far along the road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal spilled out after her along the road. She was not aware of the fact; she had not understood how to toil. When she reached home she put down the jar and found it empty."

⁹⁸Jesus said, "What the kingdom of the father resembles is a man who wanted to assassinate a member of court. At home, he drew the dagger and stabbed it into the wall in order to know whether his hand would be firm. Next, he murdered the member of court."

⁹⁹The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." He said to them, "It is those who are here and who do the will of my father that are my siblings and my mother. It is they who will enter the kingdom of my father."

¹⁰⁰They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "Caesar's agents are exacting taxes from us." He said to them, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, give to god the things that are god's, and give to me that which is mine."

¹⁰¹Jesus said, "Those who do not hate their father and their mother as I do cannot be disciples of me. And those who do not love their father and their mother as I do cannot be disciples of me. For my mother... But my true mother gave me life."

¹⁰²Jesus said, "Woe to the Pharisees. For what they resemble is a dog sleeping in the manger of some cattle, for it neither eats nor lets the cattle feed."

¹⁰³Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who recognizes which district the brigands are going to enter, so as to arise, gather the forces of his domain, and arm himself before they enter."

¹⁰⁴They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today, and let us fast." Jesus said, "What is the sin that I have committed? Or how have I been overcome? Rather, when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let people fast and pray."

¹⁰⁵Jesus said, "Whoever is acquainted with the father and the mother will be called the offspring of a prostitute."

¹⁰⁶Jesus said, "When you make the two into one you will become sons of man, and when you say, 'O mountain, go elsewhere!' it will go elsewhere."

¹⁰⁷Jesus said, "What the kingdom resembles is a shepherd who had a hundred sheep. One of them, the largest, strayed away. He left the ninety-nine and sought the one until he found it. After having toiled, he said to the sheep, 'I love you more than the ninety-nine.'"

¹⁰⁸Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me; I, too, will become that person, and to that person the obscure things will be shown forth."

¹⁰⁹Jesus said, "What the kingdom resembles is a man who possessed a hidden treasure in his field without knowing it. And upon dying he left it to his son. The son was not aware of the fact. He assumed ownership of the field and sold it. And the person who bought it came plowing, found the treasure, and began to lend out money at interest to whomever he wished."

¹¹⁰Jesus said, "The one who has found the world and become rich should renounce the world."

¹¹¹Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will roll up in your presence. And the living from the living will not see death." Doesn't Jesus mean that the world is not worthy of a person who has found the self?

¹¹²Jesus said, "Woe to the flesh that depends upon a soul. Woe to the soul that depends upon flesh."

¹¹³His disciples said to him, "When is the kingdom going to come?" Jesus said, "It is not by being waited for that it is going to come. They are not going to say, 'Here it is' or 'There it is.' Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out over the earth, and people do not see it."

¹¹⁴Simon Peter said to them, "Mary should leave us, for females are not worthy of life." Jesus said, "See, I am going to attract her to make her male so that she too might become a living spirit that resembles you males. For every female element that makes itself male will enter the kingdom of heaven."