1 Enoch (Ethiopic) Parallel Translations

Charles < < Chapter CIII / Chapter 103 > > Laurence

CIII. DIFFERENT DESTINIES OF THE RIGHTEOUS AND THE SINNERS: FRESH OBJECTIONS OF THE SINNERS.

CIII 1Now, therefore, I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great and Honoured and 2Mighty One in dominion, and by His greatness I swear to you. I know a mystery And have read the heavenly tablets, And have seen the holy books, And have found written therein and inscribed regarding them: 3That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them, And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness, And that manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours, And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living. 4And the spirits of you who have died in righteousness shall live and rejoice, And their spirits shall not perish, nor their memorial from before the face of the Great One Unto all the generations of the world: wherefore no longer fear their contumely. 5Woe to you, ye sinners, when ye have died, If ye die in the wealth of your sins, And those who are like you say regarding you: "Blessed are the sinners: they have seen all their days. 6And how they have died in prosperity and in wealth, And have not seen tribulation or murder in their life; And they have died in honour, And judgement has not been executed on them during their life." 7Know ye, that their souls will be made to descend into Sheol And they shall be wretched in their great tribulation. 8And into darkness and chains and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter; And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world. Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace. 9Say not in regard to the righteous and good who are in life: "In our troubled days we have toiled laboriously and experienced every trouble, And met with much evil and been consumed, And have become few and our spirit small. 10And we have been destroyed and have not found any to help us even with a word: We have been tortured {and destroyed}, and not hoped to see life from day to day. 11We hoped to be the head and have become the tail: We have toiled laboriously and had no satisfaction in our toil; And we have become the food of the sinners and the unrighteous, And they have laid their yoke heavily upon us. 12They have had dominion over us that hated us and smote us; And to those that hated us we have bowed our necks But they pitied us not. 13We desired to get away from them that we might escape and be at rest, But found no place whereunto we should flee and be safe from them. 14And are complained to the rulers in our tribulation, And cried out against those who devoured us, But they did not attend to our cries And would not hearken to our voice. 15And they helped those who robbed us and devoured us and those who made us few; and they concealed their oppression, and they did not remove from us the yoke of those that devoured us and dispersed us and murdered us, and they concealed their murder, and remembered not that they had lifted up their hands against us.

103 103:1 But now I swear to you, 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. 103:2 [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. To you it shall be given in return for your troubles; and your portion [of happiness] shall far exceed the portion of the living. 103:3 The spirits of you who die in righteousness shall exist and rejoice. Their spirits shall exult; and their remembrance shall be before the face of the Mighty One from generation to generation. Nor shall they now fear disgrace. 103:4 Woe to you, sinners, when you die in your sins; and they, who are like you, say respecting you, Blessed are these sinners. They have lived out their whole period; and now they die in happiness and in wealth. Distress and slaughter they knew not while alive; in honour they die; nor ever in their lifetime did judgment overtake them. 103:5 [But] has it not been shown to them, that, [when] to the receptacle of the dead their 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. 103:6 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 [manner of] trouble have we seen, and many evil things have suffered. 103:7 Our spirits have been consumed, lessened, and diminished. 103:8 We have perished; nor has there been a possibility of help for us in word or in deed: we have found none, but have been tormented and destroyed. 103:9 We have not expected to live day after day. 103:10 We hoped indeed to have been the head; 103:11 But we have become the tail. We have been afflicted, when we have exerted ourselves; but we have been devoured by sinners and the ungodly; their yoke has been heavy upon us. 103:12 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. 103:13 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; 103:14 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.