A Reader's Edition

The Sayings at Oxyrhynchus

The Greek Fragments of the Gospel of Thomas · Attributed to Didymos Judas Thomas

What this document is. Thirteen sayings of Jesus, translated from three Greek papyrus fragments excavated at Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, by Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt and published by them in 1897 (P.Oxy 1) and 1904 (P.Oxy 654 and 655) — all long out of copyright. The complete Gospel of Thomas these sayings belong to survives whole only in a Coptic manuscript found at Nag Hammadi in 1945, so no full translation of it is or ever will be public domain; these Greek fragments, discovered half a century earlier, are not a substitute for that text but a distinct witness to it in their own right, and were the only Gospel of Thomas the world had for two generations. The text is reproduced verbatim from the Grenfell & Hunt, Logia Iesou (1897) and New Sayings of Jesus (1904), via the Internet Archive, including Grenfell & Hunt's own brackets marking restored or uncertain readings; a fidelity check (fidelity_oxyrhynchus.py) verifies it against that source on every build. Two fragments (P.Oxy 1's fourth and eighth sayings) survive as a few untranslatable letters and are not included, since Grenfell & Hunt supply no translation of them either. Nothing here is endorsed; as with every work in the Records, it is set down so it can be read on its own terms.

Translator: Bernard P. Grenfell and Arthur S. Hunt, 1897 / 1904 Source: Grenfell & Hunt, Logia Iesou (1897) and New Sayings of Jesus (1904), via the Internet Archive Public domain 577 words 3 chapters · 13 verses Retrieved 2026-07-27

How to read this. Thirteen sayings across the three papyrus fragments that carry them, grouped here by papyrus rather than mixed together, since each is its own physical discovery with its own history. None depend on another — read in order or open anywhere. Use the sidebar to jump to a papyrus, the search box to find a phrase, and the motif chips to spotlight a theme. Terms with a dotted underline have a hover definition.

Chapter Verse — a standalone unit Motif — editorial, from the Concordance

Filter by motif — the Concordance

IP.Oxy 1 — the 1897 leaf

6 verses

The single leaf found in 1897: the tail of one saying followed by five more, two of them (Logia IV and VIII) too fragmentary for Grenfell & Hunt to translate at all and so not included.

I, II

. . . and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother's eye.

Jesus saith. Except ye fast to the world, ye shall in no wise find the kingdom of God ; and except ye keep the sabbath, ye shall not see the Father.

Jesus saith, I stood in the midst of the world, and in the flesh was I seen of them, and I found all men drunken, and none found I athirst among them, and my soul grieveth over the sons of men, because they are blind in their heart . . .

Jesus saith, Wherever there are .... and there is one .... alone, I am with him. Raise the stone and there thou shalt find me, cleave the wood and there am I.

Jesus saith, A prophet is not acceptable in his own country, neither doth a physician work cures upon them that know him.

Jesus saith, A city built upon the top of a high hill, and stablished, can neither fall nor be hid.

IIP.Oxy 654 — the first 1903 fragment

5 verses

A second leaf, found in 1903 and published in 1904: the opening of the collection and its first five sayings, the only place among the three papyri where the sayings show any connecting thread (the first four all concern the Kingdom).

First Saying

Jesus saith, Let not him who seeks . . . cease until he finds, and when he finds he shall be astonished ; astonished he shall reach the kingdom, and having reached the kingdom he shall rest.

Second Saying

Jesus saith, (Ye ask ? who are those) that draw us (to the kingdom, if) the kingdom is in Heaven ? . . . the fowls of the air, and all beasts that are under the earth or upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea, (these are they which draw) you, and the kingdom of Heaven is within you ; and whoever shall know himself shall find it. (Strive therefore ?) to know yourselves, and ye shall be aware that ye are the sons of the (almighty ?) Father ; (and ?) ye shall know that ye are in (the city of God ?), and ye are (the city ? ).

Third Saying

Jesus saith, A man shall not hesitate ... to ask . . . concerning his place (in the kingdom. Ye shall know) that many that are first shall be last and the last first and (they shall have eternal life ?).

Fourth Saying

Jesus saith, Everything that is not before thy face and that which is hidden from thee shall be revealed to thee. For there is nothing hidden which shall not be made manifest, nor buried which shall not be raised.

Fifth Saying

His disciples question him and say, How shall we fast and how shall we (pray ?) . . . and what (commandment) shall we keep . . . Jesus saith, ... do not ... of truth . . . blessed is he . . .

IIIP.Oxy 655 — the second 1903 fragment

2 verses

Eight scraps of a papyrus roll, published alongside P.Oxy 654: the end of one discourse and, separately, a short exchange about a hidden key of knowledge.

i. 1-23

(Take no thought) from morning until even nor from evening until morning, either for your food what ye shall eat or for your raiment what ye shall put on. Ye are far better than the lilies which grow but spin not. Having one garment, what do ye (lack ?) . . . Who could add to your stature ? He himself will give you your garment. His disciples say unto him, When wilt thou be manifest to us, and when shall we see thee ? He saith, When ye shall be stripped and not be ashamed . . .

i. 41-6

. . . He said, The key of knowledge ye hid ; ye entered not in yourselves and to them that were entering in ye opened not.

Glossary

Terms of the text and its translation. Each entry links to a chapter where the term is at work.

kingdom: Short for "the kingdom of God" or "of Heaven" — the subject four of P.Oxy 654's five sayings return to, the one connecting thread among these thirteen otherwise independent sayings. papyrus-1
fast: Here paired with "to the world" rather than from food — an ascetic discipline aimed at ordinary life and its concerns, not eating. papyrus-1
Father: As elsewhere in the gospels, God addressed as a parent — never explained or introduced in these fragments, only assumed. papyrus-1
manifest: Made visible, revealed — the older sense of the word, used twice here of things hidden that will be uncovered. papyrus-2