The 114 Sayings of the Gospel of Thomas
The complete text in outline: the prologue and all 114 numbered sayings, each with a plain-English summary, the themes it belongs to and its parallels in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
- All 114
- Discipleship 25
- Controversy and division 25
- Self-knowledge 19
- Asceticism and the world 19
- The kingdom 18
- Parables 16
- Unity of opposites 15
- Wealth and poverty 14
- Secrecy and hidden things 14
- Death and immortality 11
- Light and darkness 9
- Solitude 8
- Women in Thomas 6
- Beatitudes 5
- Prologue Prologue: The Hidden Sayings These are the hidden sayings that the living Jesus spoke and that Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.
- Saying 1 Saying 1: Whoever Finds the Meaning Whoever discovers what these sayings mean will not taste death.
- Saying 2 Saying 2: Seek and Do Not Stop Seeking Seek until you find; when you find you will be disturbed; when you are disturbed you will marvel, and you will reign over all.
- Saying 3 Saying 3: The Kingdom Within and Without If your leaders say the kingdom is in the sky the birds will get there first; if in the sea, the fish. The kingdom is inside you and outside you; know yourselves, and you will be known.
- Saying 4 Saying 4: The Old Man and the Infant An old man will not hesitate to ask a seven-day-old infant about the place of life, and will live; many who are first will become last, and they will become one.
- Saying 5 Saying 5: Know What Is in Front of You Know what is in front of your face and what is hidden from you will be revealed; nothing hidden will fail to be disclosed.
- Saying 6 Saying 6: On Fasting, Prayer and Almsgiving The disciples ask how to fast, pray, give alms and eat; the answer is to stop lying and to stop doing what you hate, because everything is uncovered in the end.
- Saying 7 Saying 7: The Lion and the Human Blessed is the lion eaten by a human, for the lion becomes human; cursed is the human eaten by a lion, for the lion becomes human.
- Saying 8 Saying 8: The Wise Fisherman A fisherman hauls up a netful of small fish, finds one fine large fish among them, and throws all the small ones back.
- Saying 9 Saying 9: The Sower A sower scatters seed: some falls on the road, some on rock, some among thorns, and some on good soil that bears sixty and a hundred and twenty times over.
- Saying 10 Saying 10: Fire on the World I have cast fire on the world, and I am watching over it until it blazes.
- Saying 11 Saying 11: This Heaven Will Pass Away This heaven and the one above it will pass away; the dead are not alive and the living will not die. When you were one you became two — so what will you do now that you are two?
- Saying 12 Saying 12: James the Just Asked who will lead them after he goes, Jesus sends the disciples to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.
- Saying 13 Saying 13: Compare Me to Something Peter says Jesus is like a righteous messenger, Matthew like a wise philosopher; Thomas says his mouth cannot say what Jesus is like, and is taken aside and told three things he will not repeat.
- Saying 14 Saying 14: Fasting Brings Sin Fasting brings sin, prayer brings condemnation, almsgiving harms the spirit; go into any land, eat what is put before you, heal the sick. What goes into the mouth will not defile you — what comes out will.
- Saying 15 Saying 15: The One Not Born of Woman When you see the one who was not born of woman, fall on your face and worship: that one is your Father.
- Saying 16 Saying 16: Not Peace but Division People think I have come to bring peace; I have come to bring divisions — fire, sword, war. Five in a house will be three against two, and they will stand alone.
- Saying 17 Saying 17: What No Eye Has Seen I will give you what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no hand has touched, and what has never arisen in the human heart.
- Saying 18 Saying 18: Tell Us How Our End Will Be Asked about the end, Jesus asks whether they have found the beginning: whoever stands at the beginning will know the end and will not taste death.
- Saying 19 Saying 19: The Five Trees in Paradise Blessed is the one who came into being before coming into being. There are five trees in Paradise, unchanged in summer and winter; whoever knows them will not taste death.
- Saying 20 Saying 20: The Mustard Seed The kingdom is like a mustard seed: the smallest of all seeds, but when it falls on worked ground it puts out a great branch and shelters the birds.
- Saying 21 Saying 21: Children in a Field Not Theirs Mary asks what the disciples are like; they are like children living in a field that is not theirs, who give it back when the owners come. Be on guard against the world like a householder expecting thieves, and when the crop is ripe bring the sickle.
- Saying 22 Saying 22: Making the Two Into One Nursing infants are like those who enter the kingdom. When you make the two one, the inside like the outside, the male and female a single one, an eye in place of an eye and an image in place of an image, then you will enter.
- Saying 23 Saying 23: One From a Thousand I will choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one.
- Saying 24 Saying 24: The Light Within a Person of Light Asked to show them where he is, Jesus answers that there is light inside a person of light, and it lights the whole world; if it does not shine, there is darkness.
- Saying 25 Saying 25: Love Your Brother as Your Soul Love your brother as your own soul; protect him as you would the pupil of your eye.
- Saying 26 Saying 26: The Speck and the Log You see the speck in your brother's eye but not the log in your own; take out the log first, and then you will see well enough to remove the speck.
- Saying 27 Saying 27: Fasting From the World If you do not fast from the world you will not find the kingdom; if you do not keep the sabbath as a sabbath you will not see the Father.
- Saying 28 Saying 28: I Found Them All Drunk I took my place in the middle of the world and appeared in flesh; I found everyone drunk and no one thirsty, and my soul ached for them. When they shake off their wine they will change their minds.
- Saying 29 Saying 29: Spirit Dwelling in Poverty If flesh came into being because of spirit that is a marvel; if spirit because of the body, a marvel of marvels. But I marvel at how such great wealth has come to live in such poverty.
- Saying 30 Saying 30: Where There Are Three Where there are three deities they are divine; where there are two or one, I am with that one.
- Saying 31 Saying 31: No Prophet in His Own Village No prophet is welcome in his own village; no doctor heals the people who know him.
- Saying 32 Saying 32: A City on a High Hill A city built on a high hill and fortified cannot fall, and it cannot be hidden.
- Saying 33 Saying 33: Proclaim From the Rooftops What you hear whispered in your ear, announce from the rooftops. No one lights a lamp and hides it under a basket; it goes on a stand where everyone coming and going can see the light.
- Saying 34 Saying 34: The Blind Leading the Blind If a blind person leads a blind person, both of them fall into a pit.
- Saying 35 Saying 35: Binding the Strong Man You cannot get into a strong man's house and take it by force without tying his hands first; then you can loot the place.
- Saying 36 Saying 36: Do Not Worry About Clothing Do not fret from morning to evening and evening to morning about what you will wear.
- Saying 37 Saying 37: When You Strip Without Shame Asked when he will appear to them, Jesus answers: when you undress without being ashamed, and trample your clothes underfoot like little children, then you will see the son of the living one and not be afraid.
- Saying 38 Saying 38: You Will Seek Me and Not Find Me You have often wanted to hear these words from me and had no one else to hear them from; there will be days when you look for me and will not find me.
- Saying 39 Saying 39: The Keys of Knowledge The Pharisees and scholars have taken the keys of knowledge and hidden them; they did not go in themselves and did not let others in. Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
- Saying 40 Saying 40: The Vine Planted Apart A grapevine has been planted away from the Father; it has no strength, and it will be pulled up by the root and destroyed.
- Saying 41 Saying 41: To Whoever Has, More Will Be Given Whoever has something in hand will be given more; whoever has nothing will lose even the little they have.
- Saying 42 Saying 42: Be Passers-By Be passers-by.
- Saying 43 Saying 43: The Tree and Its Fruit Asked who he is to speak this way, Jesus replies that they do not recognise him from what he says: they have become like those who love the tree and hate its fruit, or love the fruit and hate the tree.
- Saying 44 Saying 44: Blasphemy Against the Spirit Whoever blasphemes against the Father will be forgiven, and whoever blasphemes against the Son will be forgiven; whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, on earth or in heaven.
- Saying 45 Saying 45: Grapes Are Not Picked From Thorns Grapes are not gathered from thorns, nor figs from thistles. Good people produce good from their store, bad people produce evil from the corrupt store in their hearts, and what is stored up is what comes out.
- Saying 46 Saying 46: Greater Than John the Baptist From Adam to John the Baptist no one born of women is so far above John that his eyes should not be lowered; yet whichever of you becomes a child will know the kingdom and be greater than John.
- Saying 47 Saying 47: Two Horses, Two Masters, New Wine No one rides two horses or draws two bows; no servant serves two masters. Nobody drinks old wine and immediately wants new; new wine is not put in old skins, and an old patch is not sewn on a new coat.
- Saying 48 Saying 48: Two Making Peace Move a Mountain If two make peace with each other in a single house, they will tell the mountain to move and it will move.
- Saying 49 Saying 49: Blessed Are the Solitary Blessed are the solitary and the chosen, for you will find the kingdom; you came from it, and you will go back there.
- Saying 50 Saying 50: We Came From the Light If they ask where you are from, say: we came from the light, the place where the light came into being by itself. If they ask who you are, say: we are its children, chosen of the living Father. If they ask for the sign of the Father in you, say: motion and rest.
- Saying 51 Saying 51: The New World Has Already Come Asked when the rest for the dead will come and when the new world will arrive, Jesus answers that what they are waiting for has already arrived — they simply do not recognise it.
- Saying 52 Saying 52: Twenty-Four Prophets The disciples say twenty-four prophets spoke in Israel and all of them spoke about him; he replies that they have ignored the living one in front of them and talked about the dead.
- Saying 53 Saying 53: Is Circumcision Useful? If circumcision were useful, fathers would produce sons already circumcised; the true circumcision, in spirit, is what profits.
- Saying 54 Saying 54: Blessed Are the Poor Blessed are the poor, for the kingdom of heaven is yours.
- Saying 55 Saying 55: Hating Father and Mother Whoever does not hate father and mother cannot be my disciple; whoever does not hate brothers and sisters and carry the cross as I do is not worthy of me.
- Saying 56 Saying 56: The World Is a Corpse Whoever has come to know the world has found a corpse, and whoever has found a corpse is worth more than the world.
- Saying 57 Saying 57: The Wheat and the Weeds A man sowed good seed; his enemy sowed weeds among it at night. He would not let his workers pull the weeds in case the wheat came up with them — at harvest the weeds will be obvious, and will be pulled and burned.
- Saying 58 Saying 58: Blessed Is the One Who Has Toiled Blessed is the person who has worked hard and found life.
- Saying 59 Saying 59: Look to the Living One While You Live Look to the living one while you are alive, in case you die and then try to see him and cannot.
- Saying 60 Saying 60: The Samaritan and the Lamb Seeing a Samaritan carrying a lamb to Judea, Jesus observes that the man can only eat it once it is dead and has become a corpse — so find a place of rest yourselves, or you will become a corpse and be eaten.
- Saying 61 Saying 61: Salome and the Undivided Two will rest on a couch; one will die, one will live. Salome asks who he is to climb on her couch and eat from her table; he says he comes from the one who is undivided. Whoever is undivided will be full of light, and whoever is divided will be full of darkness.
- Saying 62 Saying 62: The Left Hand and the Right I tell my mysteries to those worthy of my mysteries; do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.
- Saying 63 Saying 63: The Rich Fool A rich man planned to invest his money, sow, reap and fill his barns so he would lack nothing — and died that night.
- Saying 64 Saying 64: The Great Banquet A man invited guests to dinner; every one of them had business to attend to — debts to collect, a house to buy, a wedding to cater, rents to gather. So he sent his servant to bring in whoever was found in the streets. Buyers and merchants will not enter my Father's places.
- Saying 65 Saying 65: The Wicked Tenants A man leased his vineyard to farmers. He sent a servant for the produce and they beat him; he sent another and they beat him too; he sent his son, and they killed him, knowing he was the heir.
- Saying 66 Saying 66: The Rejected Stone Show me the stone the builders rejected: that is the cornerstone.
- Saying 67 Saying 67: Knowing All but Lacking Oneself Whoever knows everything but is lacking in themselves lacks everything.
- Saying 68 Saying 68: Blessed Are You When You Are Hated Blessed are you when you are hated and persecuted; and no place will be found wherever you have been persecuted.
- Saying 69 Saying 69: Blessed Are the Hungry Blessed are those persecuted in their hearts — they have truly come to know the Father. Blessed are the hungry, so that the belly of the one in need may be filled.
- Saying 70 Saying 70: Bring Forth What Is Within You If you bring out what is inside you, what you bring out will save you; if you do not, what you fail to bring out will destroy you.
- Saying 71 Saying 71: I Will Destroy This House I will tear down this house, and no one will be able to build it again.
- Saying 72 Saying 72: Who Made Me a Divider? A man asks Jesus to make his brothers share their inheritance with him; Jesus asks who made him a divider, and turns to the disciples: am I really a divider?
- Saying 73 Saying 73: The Harvest Is Large The harvest is large but the workers are few; beg the owner to send out more workers.
- Saying 74 Saying 74: Many Around the Well Lord, there are many gathered around the drinking trough, but there is nothing in the well.
- Saying 75 Saying 75: Only the Solitary Enter Many are standing at the door, but it is the solitary who will enter the bridal chamber.
- Saying 76 Saying 76: The Pearl and the Treasure A merchant with a load of goods found a pearl, sold the lot and bought the pearl. Look for the treasure that does not fail, where no moth comes to eat and no worm destroys.
- Saying 77 Saying 77: Split a Piece of Wood I am the light over all things; I am the All. Everything came out from me and everything reaches me. Split a piece of wood and I am there; lift up a stone and you will find me there.
- Saying 78 Saying 78: Why Did You Go Out to the Countryside? Why did you come out to the country — to see a reed shaken by the wind, or a man in soft clothes like your rulers? They wear soft clothes and cannot understand the truth.
- Saying 79 Saying 79: Blessed Is the Womb That Bore You A woman blesses the womb that carried him and the breasts that fed him; he answers that blessed are those who have heard the Father's word and kept it — and that days are coming when people will call blessed the womb that never conceived.
- Saying 80 Saying 80: Whoever Has Found the Body Whoever has come to know the world has found the body, and whoever has found the body is worth more than the world.
- Saying 81 Saying 81: Let the Powerful Renounce Let whoever has become rich reign, and let whoever has power renounce it.
- Saying 82 Saying 82: Whoever Is Near Me Is Near the Fire Whoever is close to me is close to the fire, and whoever is far from me is far from the kingdom.
- Saying 83 Saying 83: Images and the Hidden Light Images are visible to people, but the light inside them is hidden in the image of the Father's light; he will be revealed, and his image hidden by his light.
- Saying 84 Saying 84: The Images That Came Before You When you see your own likeness you are pleased; but when you see the images of yourselves that existed before you, that neither die nor become visible, how much will you have to bear?
- Saying 85 Saying 85: Adam Was Not Worthy of You Adam came from great power and great wealth, but he was not worthy of you; had he been worthy, he would not have tasted death.
- Saying 86 Saying 86: Nowhere to Lay His Head Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head and rest.
- Saying 87 Saying 87: The Body That Depends on a Body How wretched is the body that depends on a body, and how wretched is the soul that depends on the two of them.
- Saying 88 Saying 88: The Messengers and the Prophets The messengers and the prophets will come and give you what is already yours; you should give them what you have, and ask yourselves when they will come and collect what belongs to them.
- Saying 89 Saying 89: Washing the Outside of the Cup Why do you wash the outside of the cup? Do you not understand that whoever made the inside also made the outside?
- Saying 90 Saying 90: My Yoke Is Easy Come to me: my yoke is comfortable and my rule is gentle, and you will find rest for yourselves.
- Saying 91 Saying 91: You Cannot Read This Moment They ask him to say who he is so they can believe; he replies that they examine the face of the sky and the earth but have not recognised what is in front of them, and do not know how to read this moment.
- Saying 92 Saying 92: Now I Am Willing to Tell You Seek and you will find. In the past I did not tell you the things you asked about; now I am willing to tell them, and you are not looking for them.
- Saying 93 Saying 93: Do Not Give What Is Holy to Dogs Do not give what is holy to dogs, or they will throw it on the dung heap; do not throw pearls to swine, or they will make mud of them.
- Saying 94 Saying 94: The One Who Knocks Whoever seeks will find; whoever knocks will have it opened for them.
- Saying 95 Saying 95: Do Not Lend at Interest If you have money, do not lend it at interest; give it to someone who will not pay you back.
- Saying 96 Saying 96: The Leaven The Father's kingdom is like a woman who took a little yeast, hid it in dough, and made large loaves of bread.
- Saying 97 Saying 97: The Jar of Meal The kingdom is like a woman carrying a jar of meal. The handle broke on the road and the meal spilled out behind her; she noticed nothing, and found the jar empty when she got home.
- Saying 98 Saying 98: The Assassin The kingdom is like a man who wanted to kill someone powerful. At home he drew his sword and drove it into the wall to test whether his hand was strong enough — then he killed the man.
- Saying 99 Saying 99: My True Brothers and Mother Told that his brothers and mother are outside, Jesus says that those here who do the will of his Father are his brothers and his mother — and they are the ones who will enter the kingdom.
- Saying 100 Saying 100: Give Caesar What Is Caesar’s Shown a gold coin and told that Caesar's people demand taxes, he answers: give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, give God what belongs to God, and give me what is mine.
- Saying 101 Saying 101: My True Mother Gave Me Life Whoever does not hate father and mother as I do cannot be my disciple; whoever does not love father and mother as I do cannot be my disciple. My earthly mother gave me a body, but my true mother gave me life.
- Saying 102 Saying 102: The Dog in the Manger Damn the Pharisees: they are like a dog asleep in the cattle trough, who neither eats nor lets the cattle eat.
- Saying 103 Saying 103: Knowing Where the Robbers Will Enter Blessed is the one who knows where the robbers are going to break in: he can get up, gather his forces and arm himself before they arrive.
- Saying 104 Saying 104: When the Bridegroom Leaves Invited to pray and fast, Jesus asks what sin he has committed or how he has been defeated; rather, when the bridegroom leaves the bridal chamber, then let people fast and pray.
- Saying 105 Saying 105: Whoever Knows the Father and the Mother Whoever knows the father and the mother will be called the child of a prostitute.
- Saying 106 Saying 106: When You Make the Two Into One When you make the two into one you will become children of Adam, and when you say "mountain, move from here", it will move.
- Saying 107 Saying 107: The Largest Sheep A shepherd with a hundred sheep lost the largest one. He left the ninety-nine and searched until he found it, and then told it: I love you more than the ninety-nine.
- Saying 108 Saying 108: Whoever Drinks From My Mouth Whoever drinks from my mouth will become like me, and I will become that person, and what is hidden will be revealed to them.
- Saying 109 Saying 109: The Treasure in the Field A man had a treasure buried in his field and knew nothing about it. He died and left the field to his son, who knew nothing either and sold it. The buyer ploughed, found the treasure, and began lending money at interest.
- Saying 110 Saying 110: Finding the World and Renouncing It Whoever has found the world and become rich should renounce the world.
- Saying 111 Saying 111: The Heavens Will Roll Up The heavens and the earth will roll up in front of you, and whoever is alive from the living one will not see death — for the world is not worthy of those who have found themselves.
- Saying 112 Saying 112: Woe to the Flesh and the Soul How wretched is the flesh that depends on the soul; how wretched is the soul that depends on the flesh.
- Saying 113 Saying 113: The Kingdom Spread Out on the Earth Asked when the kingdom will come, Jesus says it will not come by watching for it; no one will say "look, here" or "look, there". The Father's kingdom is spread out over the earth, and people do not see it.
- Saying 114 Saying 114: Simon Peter and Mary Simon Peter says Mary should leave, because women are not worthy of life. Jesus answers that he will guide her so that she becomes male, since every woman who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven.
About the numbering
The manuscript itself contains no numbers. It runs the sayings together in a continuous block, marked off only by the repeated phrase "Jesus said". The division into 114 units is a modern editorial convention, introduced when the Coptic text was first published in the 1950s and followed by essentially every edition since. A few of the divisions are debatable — sayings 21 and 61 each bundle several distinct images together — but the numbering has become the standard way of citing the text.
A note on the wording
The summaries on this site are original plain-English paraphrases written to convey what each saying says. They are not translations. The Gospel of Thomas is an ancient work, but most modern English translations of it remain in copyright, so a translation you hold rights to can be added to each saying separately.