1 Enoch (Ethiopic) Parallel Translations

XXXVIII

1The first Parable.

When the congregation of the righteous shall appear,
And sinners shall be judged for their sins,
And shall be driven from the face of the earth:

2And when the Righteous One shall appear before the eyes of the righteous,
Whose elect works hang upon the Lord of Spirits,
And light shall appear to the righteous and the elect who dwell on the earth,

Where then will be the dwelling of the sinners,
And where the resting-place of those who have denied the Lord of Spirits?
It had been good for them if they had not been born.

3When the secrets of the righteous shall be revealed and the sinners judged,
And the godless driven from the presence of the righteous and elect,
4From that time those that possess the earth shall no longer be powerful and exalted:
And they shall not be able to behold the face of the holy,
For the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear
On the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.

5Then shall the kings and the mighty perish
And be given into the hands of the righteous and holy.
6And thenceforward none shall seek for themselves mercy from the Lord of Spirits
For their life is at an end.

38

38:1 Parable the first. When the congregation of the righteous shall be manifested; and sinners be judged for their crimes, and be troubled in the sight of the world;

38:2 When righteousness shall be manifested (38) in the presence of the righteous themselves, who will be elected for their [good] works [duly] weighed by the Lord of spirits; and when the light of the righteous and the elect, who dwell on earth, shall be manifested; where will the habitation of sinners be? And where the place of rest for those who have rejected the Lord of spirits? It would have been better for them, had they never been born.

(38) When righteousness shall be manifested. Or, "when the Righteous One appears" (Knibb, p. 125; cp. Charles, p. 112).

38:3 When, too, the secrets of the righteous shall be revealed, then shall sinners be judged; and impious men shall be afflicted in the presence of the righteous and the elect.

38:4 From that period those who possess the earth shall cease to be powerful and exalted. Neither shall they be capable of beholding the countenances of the holy; for the light of the countenances of the holy, the righteous, and the elect, has been seen by the Lord of spirits. (39)

(39) For the light…Lord of spirits. Or, "for the light of the Lord of spirits will have appeared on the face of the holy, the righteous, and the chosen" (Knibb, p. 126).

38:5 Yet shall not the mighty kings of that period be destroyed; but be delivered into the hands of the righteous and the holy.

38:6 Nor thenceforwards shall any obtain commiseration from the Lord of spirits, because their lives [in this world] will have been completed.