Gospel of Judas 4

1Another day Jesus came to them. They said to him, "Master, we saw you in a dream, because we had great [dreams last] night."

2But Jesus said, "Why […] hidden yourselves?"

3And they [said, "We saw] a great [house, with a great] altar [in it, and] twelve people—we would say they were priests—and a name. A crowd of people was waiting at the altar [until] the priests [finished receiving] the offerings. We kept waiting too."

4[Jesus said], "What were they like?"

5And they said, "[Some] fast [for] two weeks. Others sacrifice their own children; others, their wives, praising and humbling themselves among one another. Others sleep with men; others murder; still others commit many sins and do criminal things. [And] the people standing [before] the altar invoke your [name]! And in all their sacrificing, they fill the [altar] with their offerings." When they said this, [they] fell silent because they were troubled.

6Jesus said to them, "Why are you troubled? Truly I say to you, all the priests standing before that altar invoke my name. And [again], I say to you, my name has been written on this [house] of the generations of the stars by the human generations. [And they] have shamefully planted fruitless trees in my name." Jesus said to them, "You are the ones receiving the offerings on the altar you saw. That is the God you serve, and you are the twelve people you saw. The animals you saw being brought in for sacrifice are the crowd you lead astray before that altar. [Your minister] will stand up and use my name in that way, and [the] generations of the pious will be loyal to him. After him, another person will present [those who sleep around], another those who murder children, another those who sleep with men, and those who fast, and the rest of impurity, crime, and error. And those who say, ‘We are equal to the angels’—they are the stars that finish everything. It has been said to the human generations, ‘Look, God has accepted your sacrifice from the hands of priests,’ that is, the minister of error. But the Lord who commands is the Lord over everything. On the last day, they will be found guilty."

7Jesus said [to them], "Stop [sacrificing animals]. You have [offered them] over the altar, over your stars with your angels, where they have already been completed. So let them become […] with you, and let them [become] clear."

8His disciples [said to him], "Cleanse us from our [sins] that we have committed through the deceit of the angels."

9Jesus said to them, "It is not possible […], nor [can] a fountain quench the fire of the entire inhabited world. Nor can a [city’s] well satisfy all the generations, except the great, stable one. A single lamp will not illuminate all the realms, except the second generation, nor can a baker feed all creation under [heaven]."

10And [when the disciples heard] these [things], they said to [him], "Master, help us and save us!"

11Jesus said to them, "Stop struggling against me. Each one of you has his own star, [and …] of the stars will […] what belongs to it […] I was not sent to the corruptible generation, but to the strong and incorruptible generation, because no enemy has ruled [over] that generation, nor any of the stars. Truly I say to you, the pillar of fire will fall quickly, and that generation will not be moved by the stars."