1 Enoch (Ethiopic) Parallel Translations

LXXI

1And it came to pass after this that my spirit was translated
And it ascended into the heavens:
And I saw the holy sons of God.
They were stepping on flames of fire:
Their garments were white {and their raiment},
And their faces shone like snow.

2And I saw two streams of fire,
And the light of that fire shone like hyacinth,
And I fell on my face before the Lord of Spirits.

3And the angel Michael {one of the archangels} seized me by my right hand,
And lifted me up and led me forth into all the secrets,
And he showed me all the secrets of righteousness.

4And he showed me all the secrets of the ends of the heaven,
And all the chambers of all the stars, and all the luminaries,
Whence they proceed before the face of the holy ones.

5And he translated my spirit into the heaven of heavens,
And I saw there as it were a structure built of crystals,
And between those crystals tongues of living fire.

6And my spirit saw the girdle which girt that house of fire,
And on its four sides were streams full of living fire,
And they girt that house.

7And round about were Seraphin, Cherubic, and Ophannin:
And these are they who sleep not
And guard the throne of His glory.

8And I saw angels who could not be counted,
A thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand,
Encircling that house.

And Michael, and Raphael, and Gabriel, and Phanuel,
And the holy angels who are above the heavens,
Go in and out of that house.

9And they came forth from that house,
And Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel,
And many holy angels without number.

10And with them the Head of Days,
His head white and pure as wool,
And His raiment indescribable.

11And I fell on my face,
And my whole body became relaxed,
And my spirit was transfigured;

And I cried with a loud voice,
{...} with the spirit of power,
And blessed and glorified and extolled.

12And these blessings which went forth out of my mouth were well pleasing before that Head of 13Days. And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, thousands and ten thousands of angels without number.

{Lost passage wherein the Son of Man was described as accompanying the Head of Days, and Enoch asked one of the angels [as in xlvi. 3] concerning the Son of Man as to who he was.}

14And he [i.e. the angel] came to me and greeted me with His voice, and said unto me:
'This is the Son of Man who is born unto righteousness,
And righteousness abides over him,
And the righteousness of the Head of Days forsakes him not.'
15And he said unto me:
'He proclaims unto thee peace in the name of the world to come;
For from hence has proceeded peace since the creation of the world,
And so shall it be unto thee for ever and for ever and ever.

16And all shall walk in his ways since righteousness never forsaketh him:
With him will be their dwelling-places, and with him their heritage,
And they shall not be separated from him for ever and ever and ever.

And so there shall be length of days with that Son of Man,
And the righteous shall have peace and an upright way
In the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.'

70

70:1 Afterwards my spirit was concealed, ascending into the heavens. I beheld the sons of the holy angels treading on flaming fire, whose garments and robes were white, and whose countenances were transparent as crystal.

70:2 I saw two rivers of fire glittering like the hyacinth.

70:3 Then I fell on my face before the Lord of spirits.

70:4 And Michael, one of the archangels, took me by my right hand, raised me up, and brought me out [to] where [was] every secret [of] mercy and secret [of] righteousness.

70:5 He showed me all the hidden things of the extremities of heaven, all the receptacles of the stars, and the splendours of all, from whence they went forth before the face of the holy.

70:6 And he concealed the spirit of Enoch in the heaven of heavens.

70:7 There I beheld, in the midst of that light, a building raised with stones of ice;

70:8 And in the midst of these stone vibrations (72) of living fire. My spirit saw around the circle of this flaming habitation, on one of its extremities, [that there were] rivers full of living fire, which encompassed it.

(72) Vibrations. Literally, "tongues" (Laurence, p. 90).

70:9 Then the Seraphim, the Cherubim, and Ophanin (73) surrounded [it]: these are those who never sleep, but watch the throne of his glory.

(73) Ophanin. The "wheels" of Ezek. 1:15-21 (Charles, p. 162).

70:10 And I beheld angels innumerable, thousands of thousands, and myriads and myriads, who surrounded that habitation.

70:11 Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Phanuel and the holy angels who were in the heavens above, went in and out of it. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel went out of that habitation, and holy angels innumerable.

70:12 With them [was] the Ancient of days, whose head [was] white as wool, and pure, and his robe [was] indescribable.

70:13 Then I fell upon my face, while all my flesh was dissolved, and my spirit became changed.

70:14 I cried out with a loud voice, with a powerful spirit, blessing, glorifying, and exalting.

70:15 And those blessings, which proceeded from my mouth, became acceptable in the presence of the Ancient of days.

70:16 The Ancient of days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, with thousands of thousands, and myriads and myriads, which could not be numbered.

70:17 Then that angel came to me, and with his voice saluted me, saying, You are the Son of man, (74) who art born for righteousness, and righteousness has rested upon you.

(74) Son of man. Laurence's original translation renders this phrase "offspring of man." Knibb (p. 166) and Charles (p. 185) indicate that it should be "Son of man," consistent with the other occurrences of that term in the Book of Enoch.

70:18 The righteousness of the Ancient of days shall not forsake you.

70:19 He said, On you shall he confer peace in the name of the existing world; for from thence has peace gone forth since the world was created.

70:20 And thus shall it happen to you for ever and ever.

70:21 All who shall exist, and who shall walk in your path of righteousness, shall not forsake you for ever.

70:22 With you shall be their habitations, with you their lot; nor from you shall they be separated for ever and ever.

70:23 And thus shall length of days be with the Son of man. (75)

(75) Son of man. Literally, "offspring of man," or "the Christ who comes from the offspring of man."

70:24 Peace shall be to the righteous; and the path of integrity shall the righteous pursue, in the name of the Lord of spirits, for ever and ever.