The Gospel of Thomas is a collection of 114 sayings attributed to Jesus: no narrative, no miracles, just the sayings themselves. A complete Coptic copy was found in December 1945 near Nag Hammadi in Egypt, buried since around the fourth century. You can read it one saying a day, free, in The Gospel of Thomas Daily app for Android, and the complete text is free on the web at The Gnostic Library.
What kind of gospel is it?
What are the most famous sayings?
How was the Gospel of Thomas found?
Why was it lost for so long?
What language is the Gospel of Thomas in?
Where can I read the Gospel of Thomas?
What kind of gospel is it?
A sayings gospel: 114 numbered sayings, called logia, with no birth story, no miracles, and no passion narrative. Its most famous lines are the ones people recognize without knowing the source: the kingdom is within you; seek until you find; split the wood, and I am there.
What are the most famous sayings?
Four of the best known, quoted from Mark M. Mattison's public-domain translation, each linked to the full saying at The Gnostic Library:
Saying 2: Jesus said, "Whoever seeks shouldn't stop until they find. When they find, they'll be disturbed. When they're disturbed, they'll be […] amazed, and reign over the All." Read saying 2
Saying 5: Jesus said, "Know what's in front of your face, and what's hidden from you will be revealed to you, because there's nothing hidden that won't be revealed." Read saying 5
Saying 77: Jesus said, "I'm the light that's over all. I am the All. The All has come from me and unfolds toward me. "Split a log; I'm there. Lift the stone, and you'll find me there." Read saying 77
Saying 113: His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" "It won't come by looking for it. They won't say, 'Look over here!' or 'Look over there!' Rather, the Father's kingdom is already spread out over the earth, and people don't see it." Read saying 113
How was the Gospel of Thomas found?
In December 1945, near the cliffs of Jabal al-Tarif by Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt, a farmer digging for fertilizer struck a sealed clay jar. Inside were thirteen leather-bound codices buried around the fourth century. Codex II held a complete Gospel of Thomas.
Why was it lost for so long?
Before 1945 the text was known only from Greek fragments. The complete gospel had been in the ground for roughly 1,600 years, which is why its rediscovery reshaped how scholars read the earliest Jesus traditions.
What language is the Gospel of Thomas in?
The complete copy is in Coptic, the late form of the Egyptian language. Reading it word by word beside the English shows how each saying assembles, the way a fourth-century reader heard it.
Where can I read the Gospel of Thomas?
The complete text is free on the web at The Gnostic Library, in Mark M. Mattison's public-domain translation, and the sayings index here links each saying straight to it. The Gnostic Library carries it alongside seventeen more texts, from the Gospel of Mary to Pistis Sophia: see all 18 texts. Scholarly translations exist in many editions, and on Android, The Gospel of Thomas Daily app carries all 114 sayings (no ads, no account, no tracking), with word-by-word interlinear Coptic on a growing set of sayings. One saying is open free each day, and a single one-time purchase opens the whole library.
Last updated October 18, 2026.
THE GNOSTIC LIBRARY: THE COMPLETE TEXT, FREE
Read all 114 sayings in Mark M. Mattison's public-domain translation, numbered so you can cite them.
The 114 sayings, indexed: Every Gospel of Thomas saying, the prologue plus 1–114, indexed by number and theme, each linked to its full text free at The Gnostic Library.