The "Scholars' Translation" of the Gospel of Thomas
copyright Polebridge Press
used with permission
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
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 reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will
rest.]"
3 Jesus said, "If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom 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 kingdom is
within you and it is 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 will not be revealed. [And there is nothing
buried that will not be raised."]
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 person 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 messenger."
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 will not defile you; rather, it's what
comes out of your mouth that will defile you."
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 casy 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 kingdom is like."
He said to them, It's like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds, but
when it falls on prepared soil, it produces a large plant 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 kingdom."
They said to him, "Then shall we enter the kingdom 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 kingdom]."
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 kingdom. 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 your food--what you're going to eat, or about your
clothing--] what you are going to wear. [You're much better than the lilies,
which neither card nor spin.
As for you, when you have no garment, what will you put on? Who might add to
your stature? That very one will give you your garment.]"
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
whoever has 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
kingdom 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 kingdom. 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
kingdom."
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 person 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 to that one, "My master invites you." That one said, "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 to that one, "My master has invited you." That one 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 to that one, "My
master invites you." That one 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 went to another and said to that
one, "My master invites you." That one 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 peal. 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 ."
82 Jesus said, "Whoever is near me is near the fire, and whoever is far from
me is far from the kingdom."
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 holy 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] kingdom 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 kingdom 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 kingdom 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) kingdom 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 kingdom 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."
[Saying added to the original collection at a later date:] 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."
Translation: "The Scholars' Version," copyright Polebridge Press, used with
permission
|