1. Hebrew Bible, Isaiah, 66.24 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 66.24. וְיָצְאוּ וְרָאוּ בְּפִגְרֵי הָאֲנָשִׁים הַפֹּשְׁעִים בִּי כִּי תוֹלַעְתָּם לֹא תָמוּת וְאִשָּׁם לֹא תִכְבֶּה וְהָיוּ דֵרָאוֹן לְכָל־בָּשָׂר׃ | 66.24. And they shall go forth, and look Upon the carcasses of the men that have rebelled against Me; For their worm shall not die, Neither shall their fire be quenched; And they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. " |
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2. Hebrew Bible, Jeremiah, 4.24 (8th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 4.24. רָאִיתִי הֶהָרִים וְהִנֵּה רֹעֲשִׁים וְכָל־הַגְּבָעוֹת הִתְקַלְקָלוּ׃ | 4.24. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, And all the hills moved to and fro." |
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3. Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel, 38.22 (6th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
| 38.22. וְנִשְׁפַּטְתִּי אִתּוֹ בְּדֶבֶר וּבְדָם וְגֶשֶׁם שׁוֹטֵף וְאַבְנֵי אֶלְגָּבִישׁ אֵשׁ וְגָפְרִית אַמְטִיר עָלָיו וְעַל־אֲגַפָּיו וְעַל־עַמִּים רַבִּים אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ׃ | 38.22. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will cause to rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many peoples that are with him, an overflowing shower, and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone." |
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4. Anon., 1 Enoch, 1.3, 1.9, 2.1, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 7.3, 7.4, 8.4, 8.4-9.3, 9.10, 10.5, 10.6, 10.17, 10.18, 10.19, 14.20, 18.10, 18.11, 18.12, 18.13, 18.14, 18.15, 18.16, 21.1, 21.2, 21.3, 21.4, 21.5, 21.6, 21.7, 21.8, 21.10, 22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4, 22.5, 22.6, 22.7, 22.8, 22.9, 22.10, 22.11, 22.12, 22.13, 22.14, 25.6, 25.7, 27.2, 33.3, 33.4, 41.5, 41.6, 54.1, 54.2, 54.6, 60.11, 60.12, 60.13, 60.14, 60.15, 60.16, 60.17, 60.18, 60.19, 60.20, 60.21, 60.22, 66.1, 66.2, 69.21, 69.22, 69.23, 69.24, 69.25, 76.14, 80.1, 80.2, 80.3, 80.4, 80.5, 80.6, 80.7, 80.8, 90.24, 90.25, 91.9, 92.5, 94.9, 98.3, 99.6, 99.7, 99.8, 99.9, 99.11, 99.14, 100.4, 100.7, 100.9, 100.11, 101.6, 102.3, 102.4, 102.6, 102.7, 102.10, 103.4, 103.7, 103.8, 103.9, 103.11, 103.14, 104.9, 108.3, 108.4, 108.5 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 1.3. for to come. Concerning the elect I said, and took up my parable concerning them:The Holy Great One will come forth from His dwelling |
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5. Septuagint, Ecclesiasticus (Siracides), 21.9 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 21.9. An assembly of the wicked is like tow gathered together,and their end is a flame of fire. |
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6. Septuagint, Judith, 16.17 (2nd cent. BCE - 0th cent. CE)
| 16.17. Woe to the nations that rise up against my people! The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgment; fire and worms he will give to their flesh; they shall weep in pain for ever. |
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7. Septuagint, 4 Maccabees, 9.9, 12.12 (2nd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 9.9. but you, because of your bloodthirstiness toward us, will deservedly undergo from the divine justice eternal torment by fire. 12.12. Because of this, justice has laid up for you intense and eternal fire and tortures, and these throughout all time will never let you go. |
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8. Anon., Sibylline Oracles, 2.227-2.232, 2.303-2.305 (1st cent. BCE - 5th cent. CE)
| 2.227. And they all watch at all times and expect 2.228. With sleepless eyes. For it will be at dawn 2.229. Or eve or midday; but he sure shall come 2.230. 230 And it shall be as I say, it shall be 2.231. To them that sleep, that from the starry heaven 2.232. The stars at midday will to all appear 2.303. of impious men. And Moses, the great friend 2.304. of the Most High, shall come enrobed in flesh 2.305. 305 Also great Abraham himself shall come |
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9. Anon., The Life of Adam And Eve, 40.6, 43.1 (1st cent. CE - 5th cent. CE)
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10. New Testament, 2 Peter, 3.10 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.10. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. |
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11. New Testament, Luke, 3.9, 3.17, 16.24 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.9. Even now the ax also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire. 3.17. whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 16.24. He cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.' |
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12. New Testament, Matthew, 3.10, 3.12, 13.50, 25.41 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE)
| 3.10. Even now the ax lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn't bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. 3.12. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. 13.50. and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 25.41. Then he will say also to those on the left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; |
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13. Babylonian Talmud, Hagigah, None (3rd cent. CE - 6th cent. CE)
| 15b. לינוקא פסוק לי פסוקך א"ל (ירמיהו ד, ל) ואת שדוד מה תעשי כי תלבשי שני כי תעדי עדי זהב כי תקרעי בפוך עיניך לשוא תתיפי וגו',עייליה לבי כנישתא אחריתי עד דעייליה לתליסר בי כנישתא כולהו פסקו ליה כי האי גוונא לבתרא א"ל פסוק לי פסוקך א"ל (תהלים נ, טז) ולרשע אמר אלהים מה לך לספר חקי וגו' ההוא ינוקא הוה מגמגם בלישניה אשתמע כמה דאמר ליה ולאלישע אמר אלהים איכא דאמרי סכינא הוה בהדיה וקרעיה ושדריה לתליסר בי כנישתי ואיכא דאמרי אמר אי הואי בידי סכינא הוה קרענא ליה,כי נח נפשיה דאחר אמרי לא מידן לידייניה ולא לעלמא דאתי ליתי לא מידן לידייניה משום דעסק באורייתא ולא לעלמא דאתי ליתי משום דחטא אמר ר"מ מוטב דלידייניה וליתי לעלמא דאתי מתי אמות ואעלה עשן מקברו כי נח נפשיה דר' מאיר סליק קוטרא מקבריה דאחר,אמר ר' יוחנן גבורתא למיקלא רביה חד הוה ביננא ולא מצינן לאצוליה אי נקטיה ביד מאן מרמי ליה מאן אמר מתי אמות ואכבה עשן מקברו כי נח נפשיה דר' יוחנן פסק קוטרא מקבריה דאחר פתח עליה ההוא ספדנא אפילו שומר הפתח לא עמד לפניך רבינו,בתו של אחר אתיא לקמיה דרבי אמרה ליה רבי פרנסני אמר לה בת מי את אמרה לו בתו של אחר אני אמר לה עדיין יש מזרעו בעולם והא כתיב (איוב יח, יט) לא נין לו ולא נכד בעמו ואין שריד במגוריו אמרה לו זכור לתורתו ואל תזכור מעשיו מיד ירדה אש וסכסכה ספסלו של רבי בכה ואמר רבי ומה למתגנין בה כך למשתבחין בה על אחת כמה וכמה,ור"מ היכי גמר תורה מפומיה דאחר והאמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר רבי יוחנן מאי דכתיב (מלאכי ב, ז) כי שפתי כהן ישמרו דעת ותורה יבקשו מפיהו כי מלאך ה' צבאות הוא אם דומה הרב למלאך ה' צבאות יבקשו תורה מפיהו ואם לאו אל יבקשו תורה מפיהו,אמר ר"ל ר"מ קרא אשכח ודרש (משלי כב, יז) הט אזנך ושמע דברי חכמים ולבך תשית לדעתי לדעתם לא נאמר אלא לדעתי,רב חנינא אמר מהכא (תהלים מה, יא) שמעי בת וראי והטי אזנך ושכחי עמך ובית אביך וגו',קשו קראי אהדדי לא קשיא הא בגדול הא בקטן,כי אתא רב דימי אמר אמרי במערבא ר"מ אכל תחלא ושדא שיחלא לברא דרש רבא מאי דכתיב (שיר השירים ו, יא) אל גנת אגוז ירדתי לראות באבי הנחל וגו' למה נמשלו ת"ח לאגוז לומר לך מה אגוז זה אע"פ שמלוכלך בטיט ובצואה אין מה שבתוכו נמאס אף ת"ח אע"פ שסרח אין תורתו נמאסת,אשכחיה רבה בר שילא לאליהו א"ל מאי קא עביד הקב"ה א"ל קאמר שמעתא מפומייהו דכולהו רבנן ומפומיה דר"מ לא קאמר א"ל אמאי משום דקא גמר שמעתא מפומיה דאחר א"ל אמאי ר"מ רמון מצא תוכו אכל קליפתו זרק א"ל השתא קאמר מאיר בני אומר בזמן שאדם מצטער שכינה מה לשון אומרת קלני מראשי קלני מזרועי אם כך הקב"ה מצטער על דמן של רשעים ק"ו על דמן של צדיקים שנשפך,אשכחיה שמואל לרב יהודה דתלי בעיברא דדשא וקא בכי א"ל שיננא מאי קא בכית א"ל מי זוטרא מאי דכתיב בהו ברבנן (ישעיהו לג, יח) איה סופר איה שוקל איה סופר את המגדלים איה סופר שהיו סופרים כל אותיות שבתורה איה שוקל שהיו שוקלים קלין וחמורין שבתורה איה סופר את המגדלים שהיו שונין ג' מאות הלכות במגדל הפורח באויר,ואמר רבי אמי תלת מאה בעיי בעו דואג ואחיתופל במגדל הפורח באויר ותנן ג' מלכים וארבעה הדיוטות אין להם חלק לעולם הבא אנן מה תהוי עלן א"ל שיננא טינא היתה בלבם,אחר מאי זמר יווני לא פסק מפומיה אמרו עליו על אחר בשעה שהיה עומד מבית המדרש הרבה ספרי מינין נושרין מחיקו,שאל נימוס הגרדי את ר"מ כל עמר דנחית ליורה סליק א"ל כל מאן דהוה נקי אגב אימיה סליק כל דלא הוה נקי אגב אימיה לא סליק,ר"ע עלה בשלום וירד בשלום ועליו הכתוב אומר (שיר השירים א, ד) משכני אחריך נרוצה ואף רבי עקיבא בקשו מלאכי השרת לדוחפו אמר להם הקב"ה הניחו לזקן זה שראוי להשתמש בכבודי | 15b. ba child: Recite your verse to me. He recited to him: “And you, spoiled one, what are you doing, that you clothe yourself with scarlet, that you deck yourself with ornaments of gold, that you enlarge your eyes with paint? In vain you make yourself fair”(Jeremiah 4:30)., bHe brought him to another synagogue, until he had brought him into thirteen synagogues,where ballthe children brecited to him similarverses that speak of the hopeless situation of the wicked. bAt the last one, he said to him: Recite your verse to me. He recited to him: “And to the wicked [ ivelerasha /i] God says, what is it for you to declare My statutes”(Psalms 50:16). The Gemara relates: bThat child had a stutter,so bit sounded as though he were saying to him: iVele’elisha /i,i.e., and to Elisha, bGod says.This made Elisha think the child was deliberately insulting him. bSome say iAḥer bhad a knife, and he torethe child bapart and sent him tothe bthirteen synagogues. And others saythat iAḥermerely bsaid: Had I a knife, I would have torn him apart. /b,The Gemara relates: bWhen iAḥer bpassed away,the Heavenly Court bdeclaredthat bhe should not be judged, nor brought into the World-to-Come. He should not be judgedin a manner befitting his deeds, bbecause he occupiedhimself bwith Torah,whose merit protects him. bAnd he should not be brought into the World-to-Come because he sinned. Rabbi Meir said: It is better that he be judgedproperly band be brought into the World-to-Come. When I dieI will request this of Heaven, band I will cause smoke to rise up from his grave,as a sign that he is being sentenced in Gehenna. The Gemara relates: bWhen Rabbi Meir passed away, smoke rose up fromthe bgrave of iAḥer /i,implying that Rabbi Meir’s wish was granted., bRabbi Yoḥa said:Was this ba mightydeed on Rabbi Meir’s part, bto burn his teacher?Was this the only remedy available? Can it be that there bwas oneSage bamong uswho left the path band we cannot save him? If we hold him by the hand, who will remove himfrom our protection; bwho?Rabbi Yoḥa continued and bsaid: When I die I will havethe bsmoke extinguished from his grave,as a sign that he has been released from the sentence of Gehenna and brought to the World-to-Come. Indeed, bwhen Rabbi Yoḥa passed away,the bsmoke ceasedto rise up bfromthe bgrave of iAḥer /i. A certain eulogizerbegan his eulogy of Rabbi Yoḥa with the following: bEven the guard at the entrance could not stand before you, our rabbi.The guard at the entrance to Gehenna could not prevent Rabbi Yoḥa from arranging the release of iAḥer /i.,The Gemara relates: bThe daughter of iAḥercame before RabbiYehuda HaNasi and bsaid to him: Rabbi, provide me with sustece,as she was in need of food. bHe said to her: Whose daughter are you? She said to him: I am the daughter of iAḥer /i. He said to her,angrily: bIs there still of his seedremaining bin the world? But isn’t it stated: “He shall have neither son nor grandson among his people or any remaining in his dwellings”(Job 18:19)? bShe said to him: Remember his Torah, and do not remember his deeds. Immediately, fire descended and licked RabbiYehuda HaNasi’s bbench. RabbiYehuda HaNasi bwept and said: IfGod protects the honor of bthose who treatthe Torah bwith contemptin bsucha manner, as iAḥerdespised the Torah and relinquished its teachings, bhow much more sowould He do bfor those who treat it with honor. /b,The Gemara poses a question: bAnd Rabbi Meir, how could he learn Torah fromthe bmouth of iAḥer /i? But didn’t Rabba bar bar Ḥana saythat bRabbi Yoḥa said: What isthe meaning of that bwhich is written: “For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek Torah from his mouth; for he is an angel of the Lord of hosts”(Malachi 2:7)? The verse teaches: bIf the rabbi is similar to an angel of the Lord of hosts,perfect in his ways, bthey should seek Torah from his mouth; but if not, they should not seek Torah from his mouth. /b, bReish Lakish said: Rabbi Meir found a verse and interpreted it homiletically: “Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to My knowledge”(Proverbs 22:17). bIt does not state “to their knowledge,” but “to My knowledge.”In other words, one must listen to the words of bthe Sages,despite their flaws, provided that their opinion concurs with that of God., bRav Ḥanina saidthat one can find support for this idea bfrom here: “Listen, daughter and consider, and incline your ear; forget also your own people and your father’s house”(Psalms 45:11), which likewise indicates that one must listen to the words of a Sage while forgetting, i.e., ignoring, the faulty aspects of his teachings.,The Gemara asks: If so, bthe verses contradict each other,for one source states that one may learn only from a scholar who is perfect in his ways, while the other indicates that it is permitted even to learn from one whose character is flawed. The Gemara answers: This is bnot difficult. Thiscase, in which it is permitted to a flawed scholar, is referring bto an adult;whereas bthatcase, which prohibits doing so, is referring bto a minor,who should learn only from a righteous person, so that his ways are not corrupted by a teacher with flawed character., bWhen Rav Dimi camefrom Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, bhe said: In the West,Eretz Yisrael, they bsay: Rabbi Meir ate a half-ripe date and threw the peel away.In other words, he was able to extract the important content from the inedible shell. bRava taught: What isthe meaning of that bwhich is written: “I went down into the garden of nuts, to look at the green plants of the valley”(Song of Songs 6:11)? bWhy are Torah scholars compared to nuts? To tell you: Just as this nut, despite being soiled with mud and excrement, its content is not made repulsive,as only its shell is soiled; bso too a Torah scholar, although he has sinned, his Torah is not made repulsive. /b,The Gemara relates: bRabba bar Sheila found Elijahthe prophet, who had appeared to him. He bsaid toElijah: bWhat is the Holy One, Blessed be He, doing?Elijah bsaid to him: He is stating ihalakhottransmitted by all of the Sages, but in the name of Rabbi Meir He will not speak. He said to him: Why?He replied: bBecause he learned ihalakhotfrom the mouth of iAḥer /i. He said to him: Whyshould he be judged unfavorably for that? bRabbi Meir found a pomegranateand bate its contentswhile bthrowing away its peel. He said to him:Indeed, your defense has been heard above. bNowGod bis saying: My son, Meir, says: When a person suffers,e.g., by receiving lashes or the death penalty at the hands of the court, bhow does the Divine Presence express itself? Woe is Me from My head, woe is Me from My arm,as God empathizes with the sufferer. bIf the Holy One, Blessed be He, suffersto bsuchan extent bover the blood of the wicked, how much more sodoes He suffer bover the blood of the righteous that is spilled. /b,The Gemara relates: bShmuel found Rav Yehuda leaning on the bar of the door, crying. He said to him: Long-toothed one [ ishina /i], what are you cryingfor? bHe said to him: Isit ba smallmatter, bthat which is written with regard to Sageswho have sinned: b“Where is he who counted, where is he who weighed? Where is he who counted the towers?”(Isaiah 33:18). He proceeded to explain: b“Where is he who counted”; for they would count all the letters of the Torah. “Where is he who weighed”; for they would weighand compare the bminor and majortransgressions bof the Torah. “Where is he who counted the towers”; for they would teach three hundred ihalakhot /iconcerning the details of tent impurity binvolvinga wooden bcloset floating in the air.If they studied a subject so removed from reality in such depths, how much more so did they analyze other issues., bAnd Rabbi Ami said: Doeg asked Ahithophel three hundred questions with regard to a closet floating in the air,as they were both great Torah scholars. bAnd we learnedin a mishna ( iSanhedrin90a): bThree kings and four commoners have no portion in the World-to-Come,a list that includes Doeg and Ahithophel. If such great Sages could sin and forfeit their share in the World-to-Come, bwe,who are less knowledgeable than they, bwhat will be of us? He said to him: Long-toothed one, there was mud [ itina /i] in their hearts,i.e., they had certain flaws that prevented their Torah learning from protecting them.,The Gemara explains: iAḥer /i, whatwas his failing? bGreek tunes never ceased from his mouth.He would constantly hum Greek songs, even when he was among the Sages. This shows that from the outset he was drawn to gentile culture and beliefs. Similarly, bthey said about iAḥer /i: When he would standafter learning bin the study hall, many heretical books,which he had been reading, would bfall from his lap.Therefore, he was somewhat unsound even when among the Sages.,The gentile philosopher, bNimos HaGardi, asked Rabbi Meir:Does ball wool that enters the cauldronto be dyed bemerge colored?In other words, do all those who learn Torah emerge as decent and worthy? bHe said to him: Whoever was clean whenhe was bwith his mother,from the outset, will bemergedecent and worthy, but ballthose who were bnot clean whenthey were bwith their motherwill bnot emergeworthy. One who approaches Torah study having been flawed from the outset will not be properly influenced by it.,§ The Gemara returns to the four who entered the orchard. It is stated above that bRabbi Akiva ascended in safety and descended safely. With regard to him, the verse states: “Draw me, we will run after you;the king has brought me into his chambers” (Song of Songs 1:4). The Gemara relates: bAnd even Rabbi Akiva, the ministering angels sought to pushhim out of the orchard. bThe Holy One, Blessed be He, said to them: Leave this Elder, for he is fit to serve My glory. /b |
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14. Anon., 3 Baruch, 4.16
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15. Anon., 4 Ezra, 3.4-3.11, 3.20-3.27, 4.36-4.37, 6.45-6.46, 6.53-6.59, 7.11-7.14, 7.33, 7.36-7.38, 7.62-7.74, 7.116-7.131, 8.4-8.14, 8.44-8.45, 13.57, 14.27-14.36
| 3.4. O sovereign Lord, didst thou not speak at the beginning when thou didst form the earth -- and that without help -- and didst command the dust 3.5. and it gave thee Adam, a lifeless body? Yet he was the workmanship of thy hands, and thou didst breathe into him the breath of life, and he was made alive in thy presence. 3.6. And thou didst lead him into the garden which thy right hand had planted before the earth appeared. 3.7. And thou didst lay upon him one commandment of thine; but he transgressed it, and immediately thou didst appoint death for him and for his descendants. From him there sprang nations and tribes, peoples and clans without number. 3.8. And every nation walked after its own will and did ungodly things before thee and scorned thee, and thou didst not hinder them. 3.9. But again, in its time thou didst bring the flood upon the inhabitants of the world and destroy them. 3.10. And the same fate befell them: as death came upon Adam, so the flood upon them. 3.11. But thou didst leave one of them, Noah with his household, and all the righteous who have descended from him. 3.20. Yet thou didst not take away from them their evil heart, so that thy law might bring forth fruit in them. 3.21. For the first Adam, burdened with an evil heart, transgressed and was overcome, as were also all who were descended from him. 3.22. Thus the disease became permanent; the law was in the people's heart along with the evil root, but what was good departed, and the evil remained. 3.23. So the times passed and the years were completed, and thou didst raise up for thyself a servant, named David. 3.24. And thou didst command him to build a city for thy name, and in it to offer thee oblations from what is thine. 3.25. This was done for many years; but the inhabitants of the city transgressed 3.26. in everything doing as Adam and all his descendants had done, for they also had the evil heart. 3.27. So thou didst deliver the city into the hands of thy enemies. 4.36. And Jeremiel the archangel answered them and said, `When the number of those like yourselves is completed; for he has weighed the age in the balance 4.37. and measured the times by measure, and numbered the times by number; and he will not move or arouse them until that measure is fulfilled.' 6.53. On the sixth day thou didst command the earth to bring forth before thee cattle, beasts, and creeping things; 6.54. and over these thou didst place Adam, as ruler over all the works which thou hadst made; and from him we have all come, the people whom thou hast chosen. 6.55. All this I have spoken before thee, O Lord, because thou hast said that it was for us that thou didst create this world. 6.56. As for the other nations which have descended from Adam, thou hast said that they are nothing, and that they are like spittle, and thou hast compared their abundance to a drop from a bucket. 6.57. And now, O Lord, behold, these nations, which are reputed as nothing, domineer over us and devour us. 6.58. But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy first-born, only begotten, zealous for thee, and most dear, have been given into their hands. 6.59. If the world has indeed been created for us, why do we not possess our world as an inheritance? How long will this be so? 7.11. For I made the world for their sake, and when Adam transgressed my statutes, what had been made was judged. 7.12. And so the entrances of this world were made narrow and sorrowful and toilsome; they are few and evil, full of dangers and involved in great hardships. 7.13. But the entrances of the greater world are broad and safe, and really yield the fruit of immortality. 7.14. Therefore unless the living pass through the difficult and vain experiences, they can never receive those things that have been reserved for them. 7.33. And the Most High shall be revealed upon the seat of judgment, and compassion shall pass away, and patience shall be withdrawn; 7.36. Then the pit of torment shall appear, and opposite it shall be the place of rest; and the furnace of hell shall be disclosed, and opposite it the paradise of delight. 7.37. Then the Most High will say to the nations that have been raised from the dead, `Look now, and understand whom you have denied, whom you have not served, whose commandments you have despised! 7.38. Look on this side and on that; here are delight and rest, and there are fire and torments!' Thus he will speak to them on the day of judgment -- 7.62. I replied and said, "O earth, what have you brought forth, if the mind is made out of the dust like the other created things! 7.63. For it would have been better if the dust itself had not been born, so that the mind might not have been made from it. 7.64. But now the mind grows with us, and therefore we are tormented, because we perish and know it. 7.65. Let the human race lament, but let the beasts of the field be glad; let all who have been born lament, but let the four-footed beasts and the flocks rejoice! 7.66. For it is much better with them than with us; for they do not look for a judgment, nor do they know of any torment or salvation promised to them after death. 7.67. For what does it profit us that we shall be preserved alive but cruelly tormented? 7.68. For all who have been born are involved in iniquities, and are full of sins and burdened with transgressions. 7.69. And if we were not to come into judgment after death, perhaps it would have been better for us. 7.70. He answered me and said, "When the Most High made the world and Adam and all who have come from him, he first prepared the judgment and the things that pertain to the judgment. 7.71. And now understand from your own words, for you have said that the mind grows with us. 7.72. For this reason, therefore, those who dwell on earth shall be tormented, because though they had understanding they committed iniquity, and though they received the commandments they did not keep them, and though they obtained the law they dealt unfaithfully with what they received. 7.73. What, then, will they have to say in the judgment, or how will they answer in the last times? 7.74. For how long the time is that the Most High has been patient with those who inhabit the world, and not for their sake, but because of the times which he has foreordained! 8.4. I answered and said, "Then drink your fill of understanding, O my soul, and drink wisdom, O my heart! 8.5. For not of your own will did you come into the world, and against your will you depart, for you have been given only a short time to live. 8.6. O Lord who are over us, grant to thy servant that we may pray before thee, and give us seed for our heart and cultivation of our understanding so that fruit may be produced, by which every mortal who bears the likeness of a human being may be able to live. 8.7. For thou alone dost exist, and we are a work of thy hands, as thou hast declared. 8.8. And because thou dost give life to the body which is now fashioned in the womb, and dost furnish it with members, what thou hast created is preserved in fire and water, and for nine months the womb which thou has formed endures thy creation which has been created in it. 8.9. But that which keeps and that which is kept shall both be kept by thy keeping. And when the womb gives up again what has been created in it 8.10. thou hast commanded that from the members themselves (that is, from the breasts) milk should be supplied which is the fruit of the breasts 8.11. so that what has been fashioned may be nourished for a time; and afterwards thou wilt guide him in thy mercy. 8.12. Thou hast brought him up in thy righteousness, and instructed him in thy law, and reproved him in thy wisdom. 8.13. Thou wilt take away his life, for he is thy creation; and thou wilt make him live, for he is thy work. 8.14. If then thou wilt suddenly and quickly destroy him who with so great labor was fashioned by thy command, to what purpose was he made? 8.44. But man, who has been formed by thy hands and is called thy own image because he is made like thee, and for whose sake thou hast formed all things -- hast thou also made him like the farmer's seed? 8.45. No, O Lord who art over us! But spare thy people and have mercy on thy inheritance, for thou hast mercy on thy own creation. 13.57. Then I arose and walked in the field, giving great glory and praise to the Most High because of his wonders, which he did from time to time 14.27. Then I went as he commanded me, and I gathered all the people together, and said 14.28. Hear these words, O Israel 14.29. At first our fathers dwelt as aliens in Egypt, and they were delivered from there 14.30. and received the law of life, which they did not keep, which you also have transgressed after them. 14.31. Then land was given to you for a possession in the land of Zion; but you and your fathers committed iniquity and did not keep the ways which the Most High commanded you. 14.32. And because he is a righteous judge, in due time he took from you what he had given. 14.33. And now you are here, and your brethren are farther in the interior. 14.34. If you, then, will rule over your minds and discipline your hearts, you shall be kept alive, and after death you shall obtain mercy. 14.35. For after death the judgment will come, when we shall live again; and then the names of the righteous will become manifest, and the deeds of the ungodly will be disclosed. 14.36. But let no one come to me now, and let no one seek me for forty days. |
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16. Anon., Joseph And Aseneth, 12.11
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