1. Attentively consider heaven, all ye progeny of heaven, and all ye works of the Most High; fear him, nor conduct yourselves criminally before him.
2. If He shut up the windows of heaven, restraining the rain and dew, that it may not descend upon earth on your account, what will you do?
3. And if He send his wrath upon you, and upon all your deeds, you are not they who can supplicate him; you who utter 1 against his righteousness, language proud and powerful. 2 To you there shall be no peace.
4. Do you not see the commanders 3 of ships, how their vessels are tossed about by the waves, torn to pieces by the winds, and exposed to the greatest peril?
5. That they therefore fear, because their whole property is embarked with them on the ocean; and}
6. Is not the whole sea, all its waters, and all its commotion, the work of him, the Most High; of him who has sealed up all its exertions, and girded it on every side with sand?
7. Is it not at his rebuke dried up, and alarmed; while all its fish with everything contained in it die? And will not you, ye sinners, who are on earth, fear him? Is not He the maker of heaven and earth, and of all things which are in them?
8. And who has given erudition and wisdom to all that move progressive upon the earth, and over the sea?
9. Are not the commanders of ships terrified at the ocean? And shall not sinners be terrified at the Most High?
1. In those days, when He shall cast the calamity of fire upon you, whither will you fly, and where will you be safe?
2. And when He sends forth his word against you, are you not spared, and terrified?
3. All the luminaries are agitated with great
7. And when you die, sinners say concerning you, "As we die, the righteous die. What profit have they in their works? Behold, like us, they expire in sorrow and in darkness. What advantage have they over us? Henceforward are we equal. What will be within their grasp, and what before their eyes 2 for ever? For behold they are dead; and never will they again 3 perceive the light." I say unto you, ye sinners, You have been satiated
1. But now I swear to you, ye righteous, by the greatness of his splendour and his glory; by his illustrious kingdom and by his majesty, to you I swear, that I comprehend this mystery; that I have read the tablet of heaven, have seen the writing of the holy Ones, and have discovered what is written and impressed on it concerning you.
2. I have seen that all goodness, joy, and glory has been prepared for you, and been written down for the spirits of them who die eminently righteous and good. 1 To you it shall be given in return for your troubles; and your portion of happiness shall far exceed the portion of the living.
3. The spirits of you who die in righteousness shall exist and rejoice. Their spirits shall exult;
5. But has it not been shown to them, that, when to the receptacle of the dead t heir souls shall be made to descend, their evil deeds shall become their greatest torment? Into darkness, into the snare, and into the flame, which shall burn to the great judgment, shall their spirits enter; and the great judgment shall take effect for ever and for ever. 4
6. Woe to you; for to you there shall be no peace. Neither can you say to the righteous, and to the good who are alive, "In the days of our trouble have we been afflicted; every species of trouble have we seen, and many evil things have suffered. 5
7. Our spirits have been consumed, lessened, and diminished.
8. We have perished; nor has there been a possibility
10. We hoped indeed to have been the head;
11. But we have become the tail. We have been afflicted, when we have exerted ourselves; but we have been devoured by sinners 2 and the ungodly; their yoke has been heavy upon us.
12. Those have exercised dominion over us who detest and who goad us; and to those who hate us have we humbled our neck; but they have shown no compassion towards us.
13. We have been desirous of escaping from them, that we might fly away and be at rest; but we have found no place to which we could fly, and be secure from them. We have sought an asylum with princes in our distress, and have cried out to those who were devouring us; but our cry has not been regarded, nor have they been disposed to hear our voice;
14. But rather to assist those who plunder and devour us; those who diminish us, and hide their oppression; who remove not their yoke from us, but devour, enervate, and slay us; who conceal our slaughter, nor remember that they have lifted up their hands against us."
1. I swear to you, ye righteous, that in heaven the angels record your goodness before the glory of the mighty One.
2. Wait with patient hope; for formerly you have been disgraced with evil and with affliction; but now shall you shine like the luminaries of heaven. You shall be seen, and the gates of heaven shall be opened to you. Your cries have cried for judgment; and it has appeared to you: for an account of all your sufferings shall be required from the princes, and from every one who has assisted your plunderers.
3. Wait with patient hope; nor relinquish your confidence; for great joy shall be yours, like that of the angels in heaven. Conduct yourselves as you may, still you shall not be concealed in the day of the great judgment. You shall not be found like sinners; and eternal condemnation shall be far from you, so long as the world exists. 1
4. And now fear not, ye righteous, when you see sinners flourishing and prosperous 2 in their ways.
5. Be not associates with them; but keep yourselves at a distance from their oppression; be you associated with the host of heaven. You, ye sinners, say, All our transgressions shall not be taken
7. Now will I point out a mystery: Many sinners shall turn and transgress against the word of uprightness.
8. They shall speak evil things; they shall utter falsehood; execute great undertakings; 2 and compose books in their own words. But when they shall write all my words correctly in their own languages,
9. They shall neither change or diminish them; but shall write them all correctly; all which from the first I have uttered concerning them.
10. Another mystery also I point out. To the righteous and the wise shall be given books of joy, of integrity, and of great wisdom. To them shall books be given, in which they shall believe;
11. And in which they shall rejoice. And all the righteous shall be rewarded, who from these shall acquire the knowledge of every upright path.
1. In those days, saith the Lord, they shall call to the children of the earth, and make them listen to their wisdom. Show them that you are their leaders;
2. And that renumeration shall take place over the whole earth; for I and my Son will for ever hold communion with them in the paths of uprightness, while they are still alive. 2 Peace shall be yours. Rejoice, children of integrity, in the truth.
1. After a time, 3 my son Mathusala took a wife for his son Lamech.
2. She became pregnant by him, and brought forth a child, the flesh of which was as white as snow, and red as a rose; the hair of whose head was white like wool, and long; and whose eyes were beautiful. When he opened them, he illuminated all the house, like the sun; the whole house abounded with light.
3. And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife, opening also his mouth, he spoke to the
4. His eyes are bright as the rays of the sun; his countenance glorious, and he looks not as if he belonged to me, but to the angels.
5. I am afraid, lest something miraculous should take place on earth in his days.
6. And now, my father, let me entreat and request you to go to our progenitor Enoch, and to learn from him the truth; for his residence is with the angels.
7. When Mathusala heard the words of his son, he came to me at the extremities of the earth; for he had been informed that I was there: and he cried out.
8. I heard his voice, and went to him saying, Behold, I am here, my son; since thou art come to me.
9. He answered and said, On account of a great event have I come to thee; and on account of a sight difficult to be comprehended have I approached thee.
21. Another book, which Enoch wrote for his son Mathusala, and for those who should come after him, and preserve their purity of conduct 2 in the latter days. You, who have laboured, shall wait in those days, until the evil doers be consumed, and the power of the guilty be annihilated. Wait, until sin pass away; for their names shall be blotted out of the holy books; their seed shall be destroyed, and their spirits slain. They shall cry out and lament in the invisible waste, and in the bottomless fire shall they burn. 3 There I perceived, as it were, a cloud which could not be seen through; for from the depth of it I was unable to look upwards. I beheld also a flame of fire blazing brightly, and, as it were, glittering mountains whirled around, and agitated from side to side.
22. Then I inquired of one of the holy angels who was with me, and said, What is this splendid object? For it is not heaven, but a flame of fire alone which blazes; and in it there is the clamour of exclamation, of woe, and of great suffering.
23. He said, There, into that place which thou
25. Such has been their conduct; 2 and much has the Lord tried them; and their spirits have been found pure, that they might bless his name. All their blessings have I related in a book; and He has rewarded them; for they have been found to love heaven with an everlasting aspiration. God has said, While they have been trodden down by wicked men, they have heard from them revilings and blasphemies; and have been ignominiously treated, while they were blessing me. And now will
Here ends the vision of Enoch the prophet. May the benediction of his prayer, and the gift of his appointed period, be with his beloved! Amen.
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES.
166:1 for you utter.
166:2 great and powerful things.
166:3 kings.
167:1 think not good.
167:2 There is no chap. ci. in the MSS.
168:1 your flesh has not found according to your goodness.
168:2 What will they obtain, and what behold.
168:3 henceforward for ever.
169:1 in righteousness and in much goodness.
170:1 They have seen all their days.
170:2 in goodness.
170:3 they saw not.
170:4 shall be for every generation, even for ever.
170:5 found.
171:1 to see life.
171:2 food for sinners.
172:1 during every generation of the world.
172:2 strong and worthy.
173:1 I will show you.
173:2 create a great creation.
174:1 This chapter occurs twice.
174:2 we will for ever mix with them in the paths of uprightness in their lives.
174:3 after days.
175:1 a changed son.
178:1 seeing.
178:2 their state of life.
178:3 in the fire shall they burn, where there is no earth.
179:1 from the time they were.
179:2 And this have they kept.
180:1 of upright ways.
180:2 written down for them.
