1. Anon., 1 Enoch, 21.5, 21.9, 27.2, 33.3, 80.1-80.8 (3rd cent. BCE - 2nd cent. BCE)
| 21.5. I said: 'For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither' Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: 'Enoch, why 21.9. fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!' Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: 'Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright' And 27.2. accursed valley between' Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: 'This accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever: Here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Here shall they be gathered together, and here 33.3. I counted the portals out of which they proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their 80.1. And in those days the angel Uriel answered and said to me: ' Behold, I have shown thee everything, Enoch, and I have revealed everything to thee that thou shouldst see this sun and this moon, and the leaders of the stars of the heaven and all those who turn them, their tasks and times and departures. 80.2. And in the days of the sinners the years shall be shortened, And their seed shall be tardy on their lands and fields, And all things on the earth shall alter, And shall not appear in their time: And the rain shall be kept back And the heaven shall withhold (it). 80.3. And in those times the fruits of the earth shall be backward, And shall not grow in their time, And the fruits of the trees shall be withheld in their time. 80.4. And the moon shall alter her order, And not appear at her time. 80.5. [And in those days the sun shall be seen and he shall journey in the evening on the extremity of the great chariot in the west] And shall shine more brightly than accords with the order of light. 80.6. And many chiefs of the stars shall transgress the order (prescribed). And these shall alter their orbits and tasks, And not appear at the seasons prescribed to them. 80.7. And the whole order of the stars shall be concealed from the sinners, And the thoughts of those on the earth shall err concerning them, [And they shall be altered from all their ways], Yea, they shall err and take them to be gods. 80.8. And evil shall be multiplied upon them, And punishment shall come upon them So as to destroy all.' |
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4. 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, 7.62-7.74, 7.116-7.131, 8.4-8.14, 8.44-8.45, 9.31-9.32, 9.38, 10.27, 11.39-11.46, 12.11, 12.32, 12.34, 12.36-12.38, 13.26, 13.30-13.50, 13.52-13.56, 13.58, 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. 7.62. 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. 9.31. For behold, I sow my law in you, and it shall bring forth fruit in you and you shall be glorified through it for ever.' 9.32. But though our fathers received the law, they did not keep it, and did not observe the statutes; yet the fruit of the law did not perish -- for it could not, because it was thine. 9.38. When I said these things in my heart, I lifted up my eyes and saw a woman on my right, and behold, she was mourning and weeping with a loud voice, and was deeply grieved at heart, and her clothes were rent, and there were ashes on her head. 10.27. And I looked, and behold, the woman was no longer visible to me, but there was an established city, and a place of huge foundations showed itself. Then I was afraid, and cried with a loud voice and said 11.39. `Are you not the one that remains of the four beasts which I had made to reign in my world, so that the end of my times might come through them? 11.40. You, the fourth that has come, have conquered all the beasts that have gone before; and you have held sway over the world with much terror, and over all the earth with grievous oppression; and for so long you have dwelt on the earth with deceit. 11.41. And you have judged the earth, but not with truth; 11.42. for you have afflicted the meek and injured the peaceable; you have hated those who tell the truth, and have loved liars; you have destroyed the dwellings of those who brought forth fruit, and have laid low the walls of those who did you no harm. 11.43. And so your insolence has come up before the Most High, and your pride to the Mighty One. 11.44. And the Most High has looked upon his times, and behold, they are ended, and his ages are completed! 11.45. Therefore you will surely disappear, you eagle, and your terrifying wings, and your most evil little wings, and your malicious heads, and your most evil talons, and your whole worthless body 11.46. so that the whole earth, freed from your violence, may be refreshed and relieved, and may hope for the judgment and mercy of him who made it.' 12.11. The eagle which you saw coming up from the sea is the fourth kingdom which appeared in a vision to your brother Daniel. 12.32. this is the Messiah whom the Most High has kept until the end of days, who will arise from the posterity of David, and will come and speak to them; he will denounce them for their ungodliness and for their wickedness, and will cast up before them their contemptuous dealings. 12.34. But he will deliver in mercy the remt of my people, those who have been saved throughout my borders, and he will make them joyful until the end comes, the day of judgment, of which I spoke to you at the beginning. 12.36. And you alone were worthy to learn this secret of the Most High. 12.37. Therefore write all these things that you have seen in a book, and put it in a hidden place; 12.38. and you shall teach them to the wise among your people, whose hearts you know are able to comprehend and keep these secrets. 13.26. this is he whom the Most High has been keeping for many ages, who will himself deliver his creation; and he will direct those who are left. 13.30. And bewilderment of mind shall come over those who dwell on the earth. 13.31. And they shall plan to make war against one another, city against city, place against place, people against people, and kingdom against kingdom. 13.32. And when these things come to pass and the signs occur which I showed you before, then my Son will be revealed, whom you saw as a man coming up from the sea. 13.33. And when all the nations hear his voice, every man shall leave his own land and the warfare that they have against one another; 13.34. and an innumerable multitude shall be gathered together, as you saw, desiring to come and conquer him. 13.35. But he shall stand on the top of Mount Zion. 13.36. And Zion will come and be made manifest to all people, prepared and built, as you saw the mountain carved out without hands. 13.37. And he, my Son, will reprove the assembled nations for their ungodliness (this was symbolized by the storm) 13.38. and will reproach them to their face with their evil thoughts and the torments with which they are to be tortured (which were symbolized by the flames), and will destroy them without effort by the law (which was symbolized by the fire). 13.39. And as for your seeing him gather to himself another multitude that was peaceable 13.40. these are the ten tribes which were led away from their own land into captivity in the days of King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser the king of the Assyrians led captive; he took them across the river, and they were taken into another land. 13.41. But they formed this plan for themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the nations and go to a more distant region, where mankind had never lived 13.42. that there at least they might keep their statutes which they had not kept in their own land. 13.43. And they went in by the narrow passages of the Euphrates river. 13.44. For at that time the Most High performed signs for them, and stopped the channels of the river until they had passed over. 13.45. Through that region there was a long way to go, a journey of a year and a half; and that country is called Arzareth. 13.46. Then they dwelt there until the last times; and now, when they are about to come again 13.47. the Most High will stop the channels of the river again, so that they may be able to pass over. Therefore you saw the multitude gathered together in peace. 13.48. But those who are left of your people, who are found within my holy borders, shall be saved. 13.49. Therefore when he destroys the multitude of the nations that are gathered together, he will defend the people who remain. 13.50. And then he will show them very many wonders. 13.52. He said to me, "Just as no one can explore or know what is in the depths of the sea, so no one on earth can see my Son or those who are with him, except in the time of his day. 13.53. This is the interpretation of the dream which you saw. And you alone have been enlightened about this 13.54. because you have forsaken your own ways and have applied yourself to mine, and have searched out my law; 13.55. for you have devoted your life to wisdom, and called understanding your mother. 13.56. Therefore I have shown you this, for there is a reward laid up with the Most High. And after three more days I will tell you other things, and explain weighty and wondrous matters to you. 13.58. and because he governs the times and whatever things come to pass in their seasons. And I stayed there three days. 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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