Most of the text has been lost; what remains are seven brief quotations, in Chapter 30, from a list of heretical works compiled by Epiphanius in his "Panarion", and used by him as examples of the inconsistencies in the beliefs and practices of the Ebionites when compared with the orthodoxy set out by the Council of Nicaea.
Epiphanius thought the text was a version of "The Gospel of the Hebrews", and as such, possibly, a modified or abbreviated version of the Matthew Gospel, adapted for the sect; scholars now regard Epiphanius as mistaken in this view.
Seven brief quotations are not enough to form a judgement, but this has never precluded anybody yet, and the scholars now generally agree that the text was an attempt to harmonise the Synoptic Gospels, composed in Greek and with various alterations and shortenings to enable the writer to express the specific theology of the sect. There is no virgin birth, nor a genealogy of Jesus, who is chosen to be God's son at the time of his baptism - the view also of Cerinthus, the "heretical" Egyptian thrologian who may have been the inspiration behind the Gospel of John the Evangelist.
Jesus' specific task, in the Ebionite version, was the abolition of the disgusting Jewish practice of sacrificing animals for the purpose of eating them (it is not clear whether this included the destruction of the Temple itself), and replacing barbaric carnivorism with the civilised asceticism of vegetarianism. The work is thought to have been written in the early years of the 2nd century, in or around the region east of the Jordan River, the area where both John the Baptist and the Essenes were located, though the Ebionites appear to have been a separate sect.
Their gospel is, nonetheless, linked with "The Gospel of the Hebrews" and "The Gospel of the Nazoraeans", on the grounds that all three appear to have been written by, and for, early Christians from Jewish backgrounds.
Such text as has survived was arranged chronologically by Wilhelm Schneemelcher, and translated into English by Bernard Pick, in 1908. The brackets after each fragment (below) relate to the sub-sections of Chapter 30 in Epiphanius's "Panarion":
It came to pass in the days of Herod, King of Judaea under the high priest Caiaphas, that John came and baptized with the baptism of repentance in the river Jordan; he is said to be from the tribe of Aaron and a son of Zacharias the priest and of Elizabeth, and all went out to him. (13.6)
And it came to pass when John baptized, that the Pharisees came to him and were baptized, and all Jerusalem also. He had a garment of camels' hair, and a leather girdle about his loins. And his meat was wild honey, which tasted like manna, formed like cakes of oil. (13.4)
The people having been baptized, Jesus came also, and was baptized by John. And as he came out of the water the heavens opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit descending under the form of a dove, and entering into him. And a voice was heard from heaven: "Thou art my beloved Son, and in thee am I well pleased. And again: "This day have I begotten thee." And suddenly shone a great light in that place. And John seeing him, said, "Who art thou, Lord?" Then a voice was heard from heaven: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Thereat John fell at his feet and said: "I pray thee, Lord, baptize me." But he would not, saying "Suffer it, for so it behoveth that all should be accomplished." (13.7)
"There was a man named Jesus, and he was about thirty years old; he has chosen us. And He came into Capernaum and entered into the house of Simon, surnamed Peter, and He opened His mouth and said, 'As I walked by the sea of Tiberias, I chose John and James, the sons of Zebedee, and Simon and Andrew and Thaddaeus and Simon Zelotes, and Judas Isariot; thee also, Matthew, when thou wast sitting at the receipt of custom, did I call and thou didst follow me. According to my intention ye shall be twelve apostles for a testimony unto Israel.'" (13.2b-3)
"Moreover they deny that he was a man, evidently on the ground of the word which the Saviour spoke when it was reported to him: Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, namely: Who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples and said: These are my brethren and mother and sisters, which do the will of my Father." (14.5)
"They say that he was not begotten of God the Father, but created as one of the archangels... that he rules over the angels and all the creatures of the Almighty, and that he came and declared, as their Gospel, which is called according to the Hebrews, reports: I am come to abolish the sacrifices, if ye cease not from sacrificing, the wrath will not cease from you." (16.4–5)
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