1 Enoch (Ethiopic) Parallel Translations

XLI

1And after that I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the 2actions of men are weighed in the balance. And there I saw the mansions of the elect and the mansions of the holy, and mine eyes saw there all the sinners being driven from thence which deny the name of the Lord of Spirits, and being dragged off: and they could not abide because of the punishment which proceeds from the Lord of Spirits.

XLI. 3-9. ASTRONOMICAL SECRETS.

3And there mine eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and of the thunder, and the secrets of the winds, how they are divided to blow over the earth, and the secrets of the clouds and dew, and there 4I saw from whence they proceed in that place and from whence they saturate the dusty earth. And there I saw closed chambers out of which the winds are divided, the chamber of the hail and winds, the chamber of the mist, and of the clouds, and the cloud thereof hovers over the earth from the 5beginning of the world. And I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, whence they proceed and whither they come again, and their glorious return, and how one is superior to the other, and their stately orbit, and how they do not leave their orbit, and they add nothing to their orbit and they take nothing from it, and they keep faith with each other, in accordance with the oath by which they 6are bound together. And first the sun goes forth and traverses his path according to the commandment 7of the Lord of Spirits, and mighty is His name for ever and ever. And after that I saw the hidden and the visible path of the moon, and she accomplishes the course of her path in that place by day and by night-the one holding a position opposite to the other before the Lord of Spirits.

And they give thanks and praise and rest not;
For unto them is their thanksgiving rest.
8For the sun changes oft for a blessing or a curse,
And the course of the path of the moon is light to the righteous
And darkness to the sinners in the name of the Lord,
Who made a separation between the light and the darkness,
And divided the spirits of men,
And strengthened the spirits of the righteous,
In the name of His righteousness.

9For no angel hinders and no power is able to hinder; for He appoints a judge for them all and He judges them all before Him.

41

41:1 After this I beheld the secrets of the heavens and of paradise, according to its divisions; and of human action, as they weight it there in balances. I saw the habitations of the elect, and the habitations of the holy. And there my eyes beheld all the sinners, who denied the Lord of glory, and whom they were expelling from there, and dragging away, as they stood [there]; no punishment proceeding against them from the Lord of spirits.

41:2 There, too, my eyes beheld the secrets of the lightning and the thunder; and the secrets of the winds, how they are distributed as they blow over the earth: the secrets of the winds, of the dew, and of the clouds. There I perceived the place from which they issued forth, and became saturated with the dust of the earth.

41:3 There I saw the wooden receptacles out of which the winds became separated, the receptacle of hail, the receptacle of snow, the receptacle of the clouds, and the cloud itself, [which] continued over the earth before [the creation of] the world.

41:4 I beheld also the receptacles of the moon, whence they came, whither they proceeded, their glorious return, and how one became more splendid than another. I [marked] their rich progress, their unchangeable progress, their disunited and undiminished progress; their observance of a mutual fidelity by a stable oath; their proceeding forth before the sun, and their adherence to the path [allotted] them, (42) in obedience to the command of the Lord of spirits. Potent is his name for ever and for ever.

(42) Their proceeding forth…path allotted them. Or, "the sun goes out first and completes its journey" (Knibb, p. 129; cp. Charles, p. 122).

41:5 After this [I perceived], [that] the path both concealed and manifest of the moon, as well as the progress of its path, was there completed by day and by night; while each, one with another, looked towards the Lord of spirits, magnifying and praising without cessation, since praise to them is rest; for in the splendid sun there is a frequent conversion to blessing and to malediction.

41:6 The course of the moon’s path to the righteous is light, but to sinners it is darkness; in the name of the Lord of spirits, who created [a division] between light and darkness, and, separating the spirits of men, strengthened the spirits of the righteous in the name of his own righteousness.

41:7 Nor does the angel prevent [this], neither is he endowed with the power of preventing it; for the Judge beholds them all, and judges them all in his own presence.