Secret Book of JamesGnostic / Alternative Early ChristianAlternative Early ChristianCoptic translation of Greek traditionsShareSecret Book of James 6Mark M. Mattison - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableMark M. MattisonLanguageEnglishEspañol‹Secret Book of James 1Secret Book of James 2Secret Book of James 3Secret Book of James 4Secret Book of James 5Secret Book of James 6Secret Book of James 7Secret Book of James 8Secret Book of James 9Secret Book of James 10Secret Book of James 11Secret Book of James 12›Secret Book of James: Prophecies and ParablesSecret Book of James 6ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Then I asked him, “Lord, how can we prophesy to those who ask us to prophesy to them? Because there are many who ask us, and who look to us to hear a message from us.” 2In response the Lord said, “Don’t you know that the head of prophecy was cut off with John?” 3But I said, “Lord, is it possible to remove the head of prophecy? 4The Lord told me, “When you realize what ‘head’ means, and that prophecy comes from the head, understand what ‘its head was removed’ means. At first I spoke to you in parables, and you didn’t understand. Now I speak to you openly, and you still don’t perceive. But to me you were a parable among parables and something visible out in the open. 5“Be eager to be saved without being urged. Rather, be ready on your own and, if possible, get there before me, because the Father will love you. 6“Come to hate hypocrisy and evil intention, because intention is what produces hypocrisy, and hypocrisy is far from the truth. 7“Don’t let the kingdom of heaven wither, because it’s like a date palm shoot whose fruit has poured down around it. It sent out some leaves, and after they sprouted, they made their productivity dry up. This is also what happened with the fruit that came from this single root; when it was picked, many acquired fruit. Wouldn’t it truly be good if you could produce the new plants now? <You> would find it. 8“Since I’ve already been glorified like this, why do you hold me back in my eagerness to go? For after the [labor], you’ve made me stay with you another eighteen days because of the parables. For some people, it was enough <to listen> to the teaching and understand ‘The Shepherds,’ ‘The Seed,’ ‘The Building,’ ‘The Lamps of the Young Women,’ ‘The Wage of the Workers,’ and ‘The Silver Coins and the Woman.’ 9“Be eager about the message! The first stage of the message is faith, the second is love, and the third is works, because from these comes life. 10“The message is like a grain of wheat. When someone sowed it, they believed in it, and when it sprouted, they loved it, because they saw many grains in place of one. And after they worked, they were saved because they prepared it as food, then kept enough left over to be sown. This is also how you yourselves can receive the kingdom of heaven. Unless you receive it through knowledge, you won’t be able to find it. ‹Previous chapterSecret Book of James 5Next chapterSecret Book of James 7›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Translation committed to the public domain by Mark M. Mattison