diff --git a/lib/capybara/node/matchers.rb b/lib/capybara/node/matchers.rb
index d1dee99c..4fa36b05 100644
--- a/lib/capybara/node/matchers.rb
+++ b/lib/capybara/node/matchers.rb
@@ -196,6 +196,42 @@ module Capybara
         has_no_xpath?(XPath::HTML.content(content))
       end
 
+      ##
+      #
+      # Checks if the page or current node has the given text content,
+      # ignoring any HTML tags and normalizing whitespace. 
+      #
+      # Unlike has_content this only matches text displayed on the page
+      # and specifically excludes text contained within script nodes.
+      #
+      # @param [String] content       The text to check for
+      # @return [Boolean]             Whether it exists
+      #
+      def has_text?(content)
+        literal = XPath::Expression::StringLiteral.new(content).to_xpath
+        expression = "./descendant-or-self::*[text()[contains(normalize-space(.), #{literal})] and not(ancestor-or-self::script)]"
+        
+        has_xpath?(expression)
+      end
+
+      ##
+      #
+      # Checks if the page or current node does not have the given text
+      # content, ignoring any HTML tags and normalizing whitespace.
+      #
+      # Unlike has_content this only matches text displayed on the page
+      # and specifically excludes text contained within script nodes.
+      #
+      # @param [String] content       The text to check for
+      # @return [Boolean]             Whether it exists
+      #
+      def has_no_text?(content)
+        literal = XPath::Expression::StringLiteral.new(content).to_xpath
+        expression = "./descendant-or-self::*[text()[contains(normalize-space(.), #{literal})] and not(ancestor-or-self::script)]"
+        
+        has_no_xpath?(expression)
+      end
+
       ##
       #
       # Checks if the page or current node has a link with the given
diff --git a/lib/capybara/rspec/matchers.rb b/lib/capybara/rspec/matchers.rb
index 33689573..dc19130b 100644
--- a/lib/capybara/rspec/matchers.rb
+++ b/lib/capybara/rspec/matchers.rb
@@ -122,6 +122,12 @@ module Capybara
         %(expected there to be content #{matcher.locator.inspect} in #{page.text.inspect})
       end
     end
+    
+    def have_text(text)
+      HaveMatcher.new(:text, text.to_s) do |page, matcher|
+        %(expected there to be text #{matcher.locator.inspect} in #{page.text.inspect})
+      end
+    end
 
     def have_link(locator, options={})
       HaveMatcher.new(:link, locator, options)
diff --git a/lib/capybara/session.rb b/lib/capybara/session.rb
index e7833931..fd503395 100644
--- a/lib/capybara/session.rb
+++ b/lib/capybara/session.rb
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ module Capybara
       :all, :first, :attach_file, :text, :check, :choose,
       :click_link_or_button, :click_button, :click_link, :field_labeled,
       :fill_in, :find, :find_button, :find_by_id, :find_field, :find_link,
-      :has_content?, :has_css?, :has_no_content?, :has_no_css?, :has_no_xpath?,
+      :has_content?, :has_text?, :has_css?, :has_no_content?, :has_no_text?, 
+      :has_no_css?, :has_no_xpath?,
       :has_xpath?, :select, :uncheck, :has_link?, :has_no_link?, :has_button?,
       :has_no_button?, :has_field?, :has_no_field?, :has_checked_field?,
       :has_unchecked_field?, :has_no_table?, :has_table?, :unselect,
diff --git a/lib/capybara/spec/session.rb b/lib/capybara/spec/session.rb
index 6edc3997..b36da286 100644
--- a/lib/capybara/spec/session.rb
+++ b/lib/capybara/spec/session.rb
@@ -98,6 +98,7 @@ shared_examples_for "session" do
   it_should_behave_like "find_by_id"
   it_should_behave_like "find"
   it_should_behave_like "has_content"
+  it_should_behave_like "has_text"
   it_should_behave_like "has_css"
   it_should_behave_like "has_css"
   it_should_behave_like "has_selector"
diff --git a/lib/capybara/spec/session/has_text_spec.rb b/lib/capybara/spec/session/has_text_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..45da700d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/capybara/spec/session/has_text_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+shared_examples_for 'has_text' do
+  describe '#has_text?' do
+    it 'works' do
+      @session.visit('/with_html')
+      @session.should have_text('Lorem')
+    end
+  end
+
+  describe '#has_no_text?' do
+    it 'works' do
+      @session.visit('/with_html')
+      @session.should have_no_text('Merol')
+    end
+  end
+end