Gospel of Thomas

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

2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks not cease seeking until he finds, and when he finds, he will be troubled. When he has been troubled, he will marvel, and he will reign over the All."

3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say, 'See, the Kingdom is in heaven,' then the birds of the heaven 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 without you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living Father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."

4) Jesus said, "The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child of seven days about the place of Life, and he will live. For many who are first shall become last, and they shall become a single one."

5) Jesus said, "Know what is in the presence of your face, and what is hidden from you will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."

6) His disciples questioned him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?" Jesus said, "Do not lie, and do not do what you hate, for all things are exposed in the presence of the sky. There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed, and nothing covered that will remain undiscovered."

7) Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which the man consumes and the lion becomes man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man."

8) And he said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large and good fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without trouble. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

9) Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, filled his hand with seeds, and cast. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not send roots down to the earth, and did not send ears rising to the sky. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed and the worm ate them. And others fell on good earth and produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure."

10) Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and behold, I watch over it until it is ablaze."

11) Jesus said, "This sky shall pass away, and the one above it shall pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it alive. When you come into the light, what will you do? On the day you were one you made two, but having become two, what will you do?"

12) The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our rabbi?" Jesus said to them, "Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being."

13) Jesus said to his disciples, "Make a comparison to me and tell me whom I resemble."
Simon Peter said to Him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to Him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to Him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like."
Jesus said, "I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated by the bubbling spring which I have measured out." And he took him and withdrew and spoke to him three words. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?"
Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the words he has spoken to me, you will take stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you."

14) Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, they will condemn you; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth - it is that which will defile you."

15) Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your Father."

16) Jesus said, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is divisions which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will come to be five in a house: three will come to be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand to their feet alone.

17) Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has not arisen in the heart of man."

18) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will be." Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will stand to his feet at the beginning; he will know the end and will not taste death."

19) Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came to be from the beginning, before he came to be. If you become disciples to me and hear my words, these stones will become servants to you. For there are five trees in Paradise which are unmoved in summer and in winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever knows them will not taste death."

20) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the Kingdom of heaven is like." He said to them, "It is like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great branch and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky."

21) Mary said to Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?" He said, "They are like small children dwelling in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Give our field back to us.' They strip naked in their presence to release their field and give it back to them. Therefore I say to you, if the owner of a house is aware that the thief is coming, he will stay awake and will not let him tunnel into his house of the Kingdom to carry away his goods. You, then, keep watch from the beginning of the world. Gird up your loins in great power lest the robbers find a road to you; because the help which you look outward for, they will find. Let there be among you a man of understanding. When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear."

22) Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who enter the Kingdom." They said to him, "Shall we, then, be as children to enter the Kingdom?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inner as the outer and the outer as the inner, and the above as the below, and when you make the male and the female into a single one, so that the male not be male and the female not be female; and when you make eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in the place of a hand, and a foot in the place of a foot, and an image in place of an image; then will you enter the Kingdom."

23) Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand to their feet as a single one."

24) His disciples said to him, "Show us to the place which you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. Within a man of light there is light, and he becomes light to the whole world. If he does not become light, he is darkness."

25) Jesus said, "Love your brother as your soul, guard him as the pupil of your eye."

26) Jesus said, "You see the mote in your brother's eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote out of your brother's eye."

27) Jesus said, "If you do not fast from the world, you will not find the Kingdom. If you do not keep the Sabbath as Sabbath, you will not see the Father."

28) Jesus said, "I took my stand in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in the flesh. I found all of them intoxicated; I found none among them thirsty. And my soul was pained for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not see that empty they have come into the world, and empty they seek to go out of the world. But now they are drunk. When they have shaken off their wine, then they will repent."

29) Jesus said, "If the flesh comes into being because of spirit, it is a wonder. But if spirit comes into being because of the body, it is a wondrous wonder. Indeed, I am amazed at how this great richness has been placed in this poverty."

30) Jesus said, "In the place which has three gods, they are gods. In the place which has two or one, I exist with him."

31) Jesus said, "No prophet is accepted in his own village; no physician heals those who know him."

32) Jesus said, "A city being built on a high mountain and fortified cannot fall, nor can it be hidden."

33) Jesus said, "What you will hear in your ear and in the other ear, proclaim from your housetops. For no one lights a lamp and puts it under a bushel, nor does he put it in a hidden place, but rather he sets it on a lampstand so that all who come in and go out may look upon his light."

34) Jesus said, "If a blind man leads a blind man, both of them will fall down into a pit."

35) Jesus said, "It is not possible for anyone to enter the house of the strong man and take it by force, unless he binds his hands; then he will move out of his house."

36) Jesus said, "Do not be concerned from morning until evening and from evening until morning about what you will put upon yourselves."

37) His disciples said, "When will you be revealed to us and when will we see you?" Jesus said, "When you strip yourselves naked without being ashamed, and take your garments and place them under your feet, like little children, and trample them, then will you look upon the son of the living One, and you will have no fear."

38) Jesus said, "Many times have you desired to hear these words which I speak to you, and you have no other to hear them from. There will be days when you seek after me and you will not find me."

39) Jesus said, "The Pharisees and the scribes took the keys of Gnosis and hid them. They did not enter, nor did they permit those to enter who wished to. But you, be cunning as serpents and innocent as doves."

40) Jesus said, "A vine has been planted outside of the Father, but not being fortified, it will be pulled up by its roots and destroyed."

41) Jesus said, "He who has in his hand, to him shall be given, and he who has not, the little he has shall be taken from his hand."

42) Jesus said, "Come into being as you pass away."

43) His disciples said to him, "Who are you, that you speak these things to us?" Jesus said to them, "From what I say to you, you do not know who I am. You have become like those Judeans, for they love the tree and hate its fruit, and love the fruit and hate the tree."

44) Jesus said, "Whoever maligns the father, it will be forgiven him, and whoever maligns the son it will be forgiven, but whoever maligns the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him either on earth or in heaven."

45) Jesus said, "Grapes are not harvested from thorns, nor are figs gathered from thistles, for they have no fruit. A good man brings forth good out of his treasure; an evil man brings some evil out of the wicked treasure which is in his mind, and he speaks some evil things. Because of the excess in the mind he brings out some evil things."

46) Jesus said, "Among those born of women, from Adam until John the Baptist, there is no one so superior to John the Baptist that his eyes should not be lowered before him. Yet I have said, whoever among you becomes as a child will know the Kingdom and will become greater than John."

47) Jesus said, "It is impossible for a man to mount two horses or to stretch two bows. And it is impossible for a servant to serve two masters; otherwise he will honor the one and offend the other. No man drinks old wine and immediately desires to drink new wine. And new wine is not put into old wineskins, lest they burst; nor is old wine put into new wineskins, lest it spoil. An old patch is not sewn onto a new garment, because there it would split."

48) Jesus said, "If two make peace with each other in this single house, they will say to the mountain, 'Be moved,' and it will move."

49) Jesus said, "Blessed are the solitary and elect, for you will find the Kingdom. For you are from it, and to it you will return."

50) Jesus said, "If they say to you, 'From where have you originated?', say to them, 'We have come from the light, where the light has originated through itself. It revealed itself in images.' If they say to you, 'Is it you?', say, 'We are its children, we are the elect of the living Father.' If they ask you, 'What is the sign of your Father in you?', say to them, 'It is a movement and a rest.'"

51) His disciples said to him, "When will the repose of the dead come about, and when will the new world come?" He said to them, "What you look outward for has already come, but you do not know it."

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

53) His disciples said to him, "Is circumcision beneficial or not?" He said to them, "If it were beneficial, their father would beget them already circumcised from their mother. Rather, the true circumcision in spirit has every benefit."

54) Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of heaven."

55) Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother cannot become a disciple to me. And whoever does not hate his brothers and sisters and take up his cross in my way will not be deserving to me."

56) Jesus said, "Whoever has known the world has found a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse, of him the world is not worthy."

57) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a man who had good seed. His enemy came by night and sowed weeds among the good seed. The man did not allow the workers to pull up the weeds; he said to them, 'You might intend to pull up the weeds and pull up the wheat along with them.' For on the day of the harvest the weeds will be plainly visible, and they will be pulled up and burned."

58) Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who is troubled; he has found the Life."

59) Jesus said, "Take heed of the living one while you are alive, lest you die and seek to see him, and you cannot find power."

60) They saw a Samaritan taking a lamb to Judea. He said to his disciples, "That man is carrying the lamb." They said to him, "So that he may kill it and eat it." He said to them, "While it is alive, he will not eat it, but only when he has killed it and it has become a corpse." They said to him, "He cannot do otherwise." He said to them, "You too, seek a place for yourselves in repose, lest you become a corpse and be eaten."

61) Jesus said, "Two will rest on a bed: the one will die, and other will live." Salome said to him, "Who are you, man, that you, as though from the One, have come up on my bed and eaten from my table?" Jesus said to her, "I am he who is Undivided. To me was given of the things of my Father." Salome said, "I am your disciple." Jesus said to her, "Therefore I say, if one is undivided, he will be filled with light, but if he is divided, he will be filled with darkness."

62) Jesus said, "I tell my mysteries to those who are worthy of my mysteries. Let not your left know what your right is doing."

63) Jesus said, "There was a rich man who had much money. He said, 'I will use my money to sow and reap and plant, and fill my storehouse with produce, so that I shall lack nothing. This is what he thought in his heart, and that night he died. Whoever has ears, let him hear."

64) Jesus said, "A man had received guests. And when he had prepared the dinner, he sent his servant to invite the guests. The servant went to the first one and said to him, "My master invites you.' He said, 'I have claims against some merchants. They are coming to me this evening. I must go and give them my orders. I ask to be excused from the dinner.' The servant went to another and said, 'My master has invited you.' He said to him, 'I have just bought a house and am required for the day. I will have no time.' The servant went to another and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said to him, 'My friend is to be married, and I am to prepare the banquet. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused from the dinner.' The servant went to another and said to him, 'My master invites you.' He said to him, 'I have just bought a farm, and I am on my way to collect the rent. I shall not be able to come. I ask to be excused.' The servant returned and said to his master, 'Those whom you invited to the dinner have asked to be excused.' The master said to his servant, 'Go outside to the streets and bring back those whom you happen to meet, so that they may dine.' Businessmen and merchants will not enter the places of My Father."

65) He said, "A good man owned a vineyard. He leased it to tenant farmers so that they would work it and he would receive its fruit. He sent his servant so that the tenants would give him the fruit of the vineyard. They seized his servant and beat him, all but killing him. The servant went back and told his master. The master said, 'Perhaps they did not recognize him.' He sent another servant; the tenants beat him as well. Then the owner sent his son and said, 'Perhaps they will show respect to my son.' Because the tenants knew that it was he who was the heir of the vineyard, they seized him and killed him. Whoever has ears, let him hear."

66) Jesus said, "Show me the stone which the builders have rejected. That one is the cornerstone."

67) Jesus said, "Whoever knows the All but fails to know himself lacks everything."

68) Jesus said, "Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted. Wherever you have been persecuted there is no Place."

69) Jesus said, "Blessed are they who have been persecuted within themselves. It is they who have come to know the Father in truth. Blessed are the hungry, for they will fill their belly with what they desire."

70) Jesus said, "If you bring forth that within you, that which 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 shall destroy this house, and no one will be able to rebuild it."

72) A man said to Him, "Tell my brothers to divide my father's possessions with me." He said to him, "O man, who has made Me a divider?" He turned to His disciples and said to them, "I am not a divider, am I?"

73) Jesus said, "The harvest is great but the laborers are few. Beseech the lord of the house therefore, to send laborers to the harvest."

74) He said, "Lord, there are many around the well, but there is no one drinking from the well."

75) Jesus said, "Many are standing at the door, but the solitary are the ones who will enter the bridal chamber."

76) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a merchant who had a consignment of merchandise and found a pearl. That merchant was wise. He sold the merchandise and bought the single pearl for himself. You too, seek the unfailing and enduring treasure where no moth comes near to devour and no worm destroys."

77) Jesus said, "I am the light which is above them all. I am the All, the All came forth from me, and the All reaches towards Me. Cleave a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift up the stone, and you will find Me there."

78) Jesus said, "Why have you come out into the desert? To see a reed shaken by the wind? To see a man clothed in soft garments? Your kings and your great men are those who are clothed in soft garments, and they are unable to know the truth."

79) A woman from the crowd said to Him, "Blessed is the womb which bore You and the breasts which nourished You." He said to her, "Blessed are those who have heard the word of the Father and have kept it in truth. For there will be days when you will say, 'Blessed is the womb which has not conceived and the breasts which have not suckled.'"

80) Jesus said, "Whoever has known the world has found the body, and whoever has found the body, of him the world is not worthy."

81) Jesus said, "Let him who has become rich be king, and let him who has power renounce it."

82) Jesus said, "Whoever is near to Me is near to the fire, and whoever is far from Me is far from the Kingdom."

83) Jesus said, "The images are manifest to man, but the light in them is hidden in the image of the light of the Father. He will become manifest, but his image will be concealed by his light."

84) Jesus said, "When you see your likeness, you rejoice. But when you see your images which came into being before you, and which neither die nor become manifest, how much will you bear!"

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

86) Jesus said, "The foxes have their holes and the birds have their nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head and rest."

87) Jesus said, "Wretched is the body which depends upon a body, and wretched is the soul which is dependent on these two."

88) Jesus said, "The angels and the prophets will come to you and give you what is yours. And you too, give them those things which you hold, and say to yourselves, 'On which day will they come and receive what is theirs?'"

89) Jesus said, "Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not realize that he who made the inside is also he who made the outside?"

90) Jesus said, "Come unto me, for My yoke is simple and My lordship is gentle, and you will find repose."

91) They said to Him, "Tell us who You are so that we may believe in You." He said to them, "You test the face of the sky and of the earth, but you have not come to know the one who is before you. You do not know even to test this moment."

92) Jesus said, "Seek and you will find. Those things which you asked Me about in former times I did not tell you then. Now I desire to tell them, but you do not inquire after them."

93) Jesus said, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, lest they cast them on the dung-heap. Do not cast pearls to swine, lest they grind them to bits."

94) Jesus said, "Whoever seeks will find, and whoever knocks, it will be opened to him."

95) Jesus said, "If you have money, do not lend it at interest, but give it to one who cannot repay it."

96) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a certain woman who taken leaven, and has hidden it in dough, and has made large loaves of it. Whoever has ears, let him hear."

97) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a certain woman who was carrying a jar full of meal. While she was walking on a distant road, the handle of the jar broke and the meal emptied out behind her on the road. She did not know it; she had noticed no accident. When she came into her house, she set the jar down and found it empty."

98) Jesus said, "The Kingdom of the Father is like a certain man who wanted to kill a powerful man. He drew his sword In his own house and stuck it into the wall in order to know whether his hand would carry through. Then he slew the powerful man."

99) The disciples said to him, "Your brothers and your mother are standing outside." He said to them, "Those here who do the will of my Father are my brothers and my mother. It is they who will enter the Kingdom of my Father."

100) They showed Jesus a gold coin and said to him, "Caesar's men demand taxes from us." He said to them, "Give the things of Caesar to Caesar, give the things of God to God, and give me what is mine."

101) Jesus said, "Whoever does not hate his father and his mother in my way will not be able to be a disciple to me. And whoever does not love his father and his mother in my way will not be able to be a disciple to me. For my mother has begotten me, but my true Mother gave me Life."

102) Jesus said, "Woe to the Pharisees, for they are like a dog sleeping in the manger of oxen, for neither does he eat nor does he let the oxen eat."

103) Jesus said, "Blessed is the man who knows in which part of the night the robbers will enter, so that he may rise, collect himself, and gird up his loins before they invade."

104) They said to Jesus, "Come, let us pray today and let us fast." Jesus said, "Which, then, is the sin that I have committed, or in what have I been defeated? But when the bridegroom comes out of the bridal chamber, then let them fast and pray."

105) Jesus said, "Whoever knows father and mother will be called the son of a harlot."

106) Jesus said, "When you make the two one, you shall become sons of man, and when you say, 'Mountain, be moved,' it shall be moved."

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 that one until he found it. After he had labored, he said to the sheep, 'I love you more than the ninety-nine.'"

108) Jesus said, "Whoever drinks from my mouth will become as I am. I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him."

109) Jesus said, "The Kingdom is like a man who had a treasure hidden in his field without knowing it. When he died, he left it to his son. The son did not know about the treasure. He inherited the field and sold it. And the one who bought it went plowing and found the treasure. He began to lend money to whomever he wished."

110) Jesus said, "Whoever has found the world and become rich, let him deny the world."

111) Jesus said, "The heavens and the earth will be unveiled in your presence. And one who lives from the Living One will see neither death nor fear." For Jesus says, "Whoever finds himself, of him the world is not worthy."

112) Jesus said, "Woe to the flesh which depends on the soul; woe to the soul which depends on the flesh."

113) His disciples said to him, "When will the Kingdom come?" Jesus said, "It will not come by looking outward. It will not say 'Behold, this side' or 'Behold, that one.' Rather, the Kingdom of the Father is spread out upon the earth, and men do not see it."

114) Simon Peter said to them, "Let Mary leave us, for women are not worthy of the life." Jesus said, "I myself shall lead her in order to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every woman who makes herself male will enter the Kingdom of Heaven."