James writes to [...]: Peace be with you from Peace, love from Love, grace from Grace,
faith from Faith, life from Holy Life!
Since you asked that I send you a secret book which was revealed to me and Peter by
the Lord, I could not turn you away or gainsay (?) you; but I have written it in the Hebrew
alphabet and sent it to you, and you alone. But since you are a minister of the salvation
of the saints, endeavor earnestly and take care not to rehearse this text to many - this
that the Savior did not wish to tell to all of us, his twelve disciples. But blessed will they
be who will be saved through the faith of this discourse.
I also sent you, ten months ago, another secret book which the Savior had revealed to
me. Under the circumstances, however, regard that one as revealed to me, James; but
this one ... [untranslatable fragments]
... the twelve disciples were all sitting together and recalling what the Savior had said to
each one of them, whether in secret or openly, and putting it in books - But I was writing
that which was in my book - lo, the Savior appeared, after departing from us while we
gazed after him. And five hundred and fifty days since he had risen from the dead, we
said to him, "Have you departed and removed yourself from us?" But Jesus said, "No,
but I shall go to the place from whence I came. If you wish to come with me, come!"
They all answered and said, "If you bid us, we come."
He said, "Verily I say unto you, no one will ever enter the kingdom of heaven at my
bidding, but (only) because you yourselves are full. Leave James and Peter to me, that I
may fill them." And having called these two, he drew them aside and bade the rest
occupy themselves with that which they were about.
The Savior said, "You have received mercy ...
(7 lines missing)
Do you not, then, desire to be filled? And your heart is drunken; do you not, then,
desire to be sober? Therefore, be ashamed! Henceforth, waking or sleeping, remember
that you have seen the Son of Man, and spoken with him in person, and listened to him
in person. Woe to those who have seen the Son of Man; blessed will they be who have
not seen the man, and they who have not consorted with him, and they who have not
spoken with him, and they who have not listened to anything from him; yours is life! Know,
then, that he healed you when you were ill, that you might reign. Woe to those who have
found relief from their illness, for they will relapse into illness. Blessed are they who
have not been ill, and have known relief before falling ill; yours is the kingdom of God.
Therefore, I say to you, 'Become full, and leave no space within you empty, for he who
is coming can mock you."
Then Peter replied, "Lo, three times you have told us, 'Become full'; but we are full."
The Savior answered and said, "For this cause I have said to you, 'Become full,'
that you may not be in want. They who are in want, however, will not be saved. For it is
good to be full, and bad to be in want. Hence, just as it is good that you be in want and,
conversely, bad that you be full, so he who is full is in want, and he who is in want does
not become full as he who is in want becomes full, and he who has been filled, in turn
attains due perfection. Therefore, you must be in want while it is possible to fill you, and
be full while it is possible for you to be in want, so that you may be able to fill yourselves
the more. Hence, become full of the Spirit, but be in want of reason, for reason
<belongs to> the soul; in turn, it is (of the nature of) soul."
But I answered and said to him, "Lord, we can obey you if you wish, for we have
forsaken our fathers and our mothers and our villages, and followed you. Grant us,
therefore, not to be tempted by the devil, the evil one."
The Lord answered and said, "What is your merit if you do the will of the Father and
it is not given to you from him as a gift while you are tempted by Satan? But if you are
oppressed by Satan, and persecuted, and you do his (i.e., the Father's) will, I say that
he will love you, and make you equal with me, and reckon you to have become beloved
through his providence by your own choice. So will you not cease loving the flesh and
being afraid of sufferings? Or do you not know that you have yet to be abused and to be
accused unjustly; and have yet to be shut up in prison, and condemned unlawfully, and
crucified <without> reason, and buried as I myself, by the evil one? Do you dare to
spare the flesh, you for whom the Spirit is an encircling wall? If you consider how long
the world existed <before> you, and how long it will exist after you, you will find that
your life is one single day, and your sufferings one single hour. For the good will not
enter into the world. Scorn death, therefore, and take thought for life! Remember my
cross and my death, and you will live!"
But I answered and said to him, "Lord, do not mention to us the cross and death, for
they are far from you."
The Lord answered and said, "Verily, I say unto you, none will be saved unless they
believe in my cross. But those who have believed in my cross, theirs is the kingdom of
God. Therefore, become seekers for death, like the dead who seek for life; for that which
they seek is revealed to them. And what is there to trouble them? As for you, when you
examine death, it will teach you election. Verily, I say unto you, none of those who fear
death will be saved; for the kingdom belongs to those who put themselves to death.
Become better than I; make yourselves like the son of the Holy Spirit!"
Then I asked him, "Lord, how shall we be able to prophesy to those who request us to
prophesy to them? For there are many who ask us, and look to us to hear an oracle
from us."
The Lord answered and said, "Do you not know that the head of prophecy was cut
off with John?"
But I said, "Lord, can it be possible to remove the head of prophecy?"
The Lord said to me, "When you come to know what 'head' means, and that
prophecy issues from the head, (then) understand the meaning of 'Its head was
removed.' At first I spoke to you in parables, and you did not understand; now I speak to
you openly, and you (still) do not perceive. Yet, it was you who served me as a parable
in parables, and as that which is open in the (words) that are open.
"Hasten to be saved without being urged! Instead, be eager of your own accord, and, if
possible, arrive even before me; for thus the Father will love you."
"Come to hate hypocrisy and the evil thought; for it is the thought that gives birth to
hypocrisy; but hypocrisy is far from truth."
"Do not allow the kingdom of heaven to wither; for it is like a palm shoot whose fruit has
dropped down around it. They (i.e., the fallen fruit) put forth leaves, and after they had
sprouted, they caused their womb to dry up. So it is also with the fruit which had grown
from this single root; when it had been picked (?), fruit was borne by many (?). It (the
root) was certainly good, (and) if it were possible for you to produce the new plants now,
<you> would find it."
"Since I have already been glorified in this fashion, why do you hold me back in my
eagerness to go? For after the labor, you have compelled me to stay with you another
eighteen days for the sake of the parables. It was enough for some <to listen> to the
teaching and understand 'The Shepherds' and 'The Seed' and 'The Building' and 'The
Lamps of the Virgins' and 'The Wage of the Workmen' and the 'Didrachmae' and 'The
Woman.'"
"Become earnest about the word! For as to the word, its first part is faith; the second,
love; the third, works; for from these comes life. For the word is like a grain of wheat;
when someone had sown it, he had faith in it; and when it had sprouted, he loved it,
because he had seen many grains in place of one. And when he had worked, he was
saved, because he had prepared it for food, (and) again he left (some) to sow. So also
can you yourselves receive the kingdom of heaven; unless you receive this through
knowledge, you will not be able to find it."
"Therefore, I say to you, be sober; do not be deceived! And many times have I said to
you all together, and also to you alone, James, have I said, 'Be saved!' And I have
commanded you to follow me, and I have taught you what to say before the archons.
Observe that I have descended and have spoken and undergone tribulation, and
carried off my crown after saving you. For I came down to dwell with you, so that you in
turn might dwell with me. And, finding your houses unceiled, I have made my abode in
the houses that could receive me at the time of my descent."
"Therefore, trust in me, my brethren; understand what the great light is. The Father has no
need of me, - for a father does not need a son, but it is the son who needs the father -
though I go to him. For the Father of the Son has no need of you."
"Hearken to the word, understand knowledge, love life, and no one will persecute you,
nor will anyone oppress you, other than you yourselves."
"O you wretches; O you unfortunates; O you pretenders to the truth; O you falsifiers of
knowledge; O you sinners against the Spirit: can you still bear to listen, when it behooved
you to speak from the first? Can you still bear to sleep, when it behooved you to be
awake from the first, so that the kingdom of heaven might receive you? Verily, I say unto
you, had I been sent to those who listen to me, and had I spoken with them, I would
never have come down to earth. So, then, be ashamed for these things."
"Behold, I shall depart from you and go away, and do not wish to remain with you any
longer, just as your yourselves have not wished it. Now, therefore, follow me quickly.
This is why I say unto you, 'For your sakes I came down.' You are the beloved; you are
they who will be the cause of life in many. Invoke the Father, implore God often, and he
will give to you. Blessed is he who has seen you with Him when He was proclaimed
among the angels, and glorified among the saints; yours is life. Rejoice, and be glad,
as sons of God. Keep his will, that you may be saved; accept reproof from me and save
yourselves. I intercede on your behalf with the Father, and he will forgive you much."
And when we had heard these words, we became glad, for we had been grieved at the
words we have mentioned before. But when he saw us rejoicing, he said, "Woe to you
who lack an advocate! Woe to you who stand in need of grace! Blessed will they be who
have spoken out and obtained grace for themselves. Liken yourselves to foreigners; of
what sort are they in the eyes of your city? Why are you disturbed when you cast
yourselves away of your own accord and separate yourselves from your city? Why do
you abandon your dwelling place of your own accord, making it ready for those who want
to dwell in it? O you outcasts and fugitives, woe to you, for you will be caught! Or do you
perhaps think that the Father is a lover of mankind, or that he is won over without
prayers, or that he grants remission to one on another's behalf, or that he bears with
one who asks? - For he knows the desire, and also what it is that the flesh needs! - (Or
do you think) that it is not this (flesh) that desires the soul? For without the soul, the body
does not sin, just as the soul is not saved without the spirit. But if the soul is saved (when
it is) without evil, and the spirit is also saved, then the body becomes free from sin. For it
is the spirit that raises the soul, but the body that kills it; that is, it is it (the soul) which
kills itself. Verily, I say unto you, he will not forgive the soul the sin by any means, nor the
flesh the guilt; for none of those who have worn the flesh will be saved. For do you think
that many have found the kingdom of heaven? Blessed is he who has seen himself as a
fourth one in heaven!"
When we heard these words, we were distressed. But when he saw that we were
distressed, he said, "For this cause I tell you this, that you may know yourselves. For the
kingdom of heaven is like an ear of grain after it had sprouted in a field. And when it had
ripened, it scattered its fruit and again filled the field with ears for another year. You
also, hasten to reap an ear of life for yourselves, that you may be filled with the kingdom!"
"And as long as I am with you, give heed to me, and obey me; but when I depart from you,
remember me. And remember me because when I was with you, you did not know me.
Blessed will they be who have known me; woe to those who have heard and have not
believed! Blessed will they be who have not see, yet have believed!"
"And once more I prevail upon you, for I am revealed to you building a house which is of
great value to you when you find shelter beneath it, just as it will be able to stand by your
neighbors' house when it threatens to fall. Verily, I say unto you, woe to those for whose
sakes I was sent down to this place; blessed will they be who ascend to the Father! Once
more I reprove you, you who are; become like those who are not, that you may be with
those who are not."
"Do not make the kingdom of heaven a desert within you. Do not be proud because of the
light that illumines, but be to yourselves as I myself am to you. For your sakes I have
placed myself under the curse, that you may be saved."
But Peter replied to these words and said, "Sometimes you urge us on to the kingdom of
heaven, and then again you turn us back, Lord; sometimes you persuade and draw us to
faith and promise us life, and then again you cast us forth from the kingdom of heaven."
But the Lord answered and said to us, "I have given you faith many times; moreover, I
have revealed myself to you, James, and you (all) have not known me. Now again, I see
you rejoicing many times; and when you are elated at the promise of life, are you yet
sad, and do you grieve, when you are instructed in the kingdom? But you, through faith
and knowledge, have received life. Therefore, disdain the rejection when you hear it,
but when you hear the promise, rejoice the more. Verily, I say unto you, he who will
receive life and believe in the kingdom will never leave it, not even if the Father wishes
to banish him."
"These are the things that I shall tell you so far; now, however, I shall ascend to the place
from whence I came. But you, when I was eager to go, have cast me out, and instead of
accompanying me, you have pursued me. But pay heed to the glory that awaits me, and,
having opened your heart, listen to the hymns that await me up in the heavens; for today I
must take (my place at) the right hand of the Father. But I have said (my) last word to you,
and I shall depart from you, for a chariot of spirit has borne me aloft, and from this
moment on, I shall strip myself, that I may clothe myself. But give heed; blessed are
they who have proclaimed the Son before his descent, that when I have come, I might
ascend (again). Thrice blessed are they who were proclaimed by the Son before they
came to be, that you might have a portion among them."
Having said these words, he departed. But we bent (our) knee(s), I and Peter, and gave
thanks, and sent our heart(s) upwards to heaven. We heard with our ears, and saw with
our eyes, the noise of wars, and a trumpet blare, and a great turmoil.
And when we had passed beyond that place, we sent our mind(s) farther upwards, and
saw with our eyes and heard with our ears hymns, and angelic benedictions, and angelic
rejoicing. And heavenly majesties were singing praise, and we, too, rejoiced.
After this again, we wished to send our spirit upward to the Majesty, and after ascending,
we were not permitted to see or hear anything, for the other disciples called us and
asked us, "What did you hear from the Master. And what has he said to you? And where
did he go?"
But we answered them, "He has ascended, and has given us a pledge, and promised life
to us all, and revealed to us children (?) who are to come after us, after bidding us love
them, as we would be saved for their sakes."
And when they heard (this), they indeed believed the revelation, but were displeased
about those to be born. And so, not wishing to give them offense, I sent each one to
another place. But I myself went up to Jerusalem, praying that I might obtain a portion
among the beloved, who will be made manifest.
And I pray that the beginning may come from you, for thus I shall be capable of salvation,
since they will be enlightened through me, by my faith - and through another (faith) that is
better than mine, for I would that mine be the lesser. Endeavor earnestly, then, to make
yourself like them, and pray that you may obtain a portion with them. For because of what
I have said, the Savior did not make the revelation to us for their sakes. We do, indeed,
proclaim a portion with those for whom the proclamation was made - those whom the Lord
has made his sons.
