The Egerton Gospel (Papyrus Egerton 2)

The Egerton Gospel (Papyrus Egerton 2, British Library): fragments of an unknown gospel on a papyrus codex copied in the 2nd or early 3rd century AD, among the oldest surviving Christian manuscripts, first published in 1935 (a further piece, Papyrus Köln 255, was identified later). Its episodes echo both John and the other gospels: Jesus telling the rulers to "search the scriptures", an attempt to stone him that fails because "his hour had not yet come", the healing of a man with leprosy, a question about paying kings, and a damaged miracle on the bank of the Jordan. Author unknown; scholars disagree whether it draws on the canonical gospels or on older tradition. This is Mark M. Mattison's public-domain translation; chapter numbers are the two fragments, and each fragment's two sides run on in his order (fragment 1 verso then recto, fragment 2 recto then verso), each paragraph a verse. Square brackets mark gaps and restorations. Not part of any church's canon.