1 Enoch (Ethiopic) Parallel Translations

XCVII

XCVII. THE EVILS IN STORE FOR SINNERS AND THE POSSESSORS OF UNRIGHTEOUS WEALTH.

1Believe, ye righteous, that the sinners will become a shame
And perish in the day of unrighteousness.
2Be it known unto you [ye sinners] that the Most High is mindful of your destruction,
And the angels of heaven rejoice over your destruction.

3What will ye do, ye sinners,
And whither will ye flee on that day of judgement,
When ye hear the voice of the prayer of the righteous?

4Yea, ye shall fare like unto them,
Against whom this word shall be a testimony:
"Ye have been companions of sinners."

5And in those days the prayer of the righteous shall reach unto the Lord,
And for you the days of your judgement shall come.
6And all the words of your unrighteousness shall be read out before the Great Holy One,
And your faces shall be covered with shame,
And He will reject every work which is grounded on unrighteousness.

7Woe to you, ye sinners, who live on the mid ocean and on the dry land,
Whose remembrance is evil against you.

8Woe to you who acquire silver and gold in unrighteousness and say:
"We have become rich with riches and have possessions;
And have acquired everything we have desired.

9And now let us do what we purposed:
For we have gathered silver,
9cAnd many are the husbandmen in our houses."
9dAnd our granaries are [brim] full as with water,
10Yea and like water your lies shall flow away;
For your riches shall not abide
But speedily ascend from you;

For ye have acquired it all in unrighteousness,
And ye shall be given over to a great curse.

XCVIII

XCVIII. SELF-INDULGENCE OF SINNERS: SIN ORIGINATED BY MAN: ALL SIN RECORDED IN HEAVEN: WOES FOR THE SINNERS.

1And now I swear unto you, to the wise and to the foolish,
For ye shall have manifold experiences on the earth.

2For ye men shall put on more adornments than a woman,
And coloured garments more than a virgin:
In royalty and in grandeur and in power,
And in silver and in gold and in purple,
And in splendour and in food they shall be poured out as water.

3Therefore they shall be wanting in doctrine and wisdom,
And they shall perish thereby together with their possessions;
And with all their glory and their splendour,
And in shame and in slaughter and in great destitution,
Their spirits shall be cast into the furnace of fire.

4I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, as a mountain has not become a slave,
And a hill does not become the handmaid of a woman,
Even so sin has not been sent upon the earth,
But man of himself has created it,
And under a great curse shall they fall who commit it.

5And barrenness has not been given to the woman,
But on account of the deeds of her own hands she dies without children.

6I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, by the Holy Great One,
That all your evil deeds are revealed in the heavens,
And that none of your deeds of oppression are covered and hidden.

7And do not think in your spirit nor say in your heart that ye do not know and that ye do not see 8that every sin is every day recorded in heaven in the presence of the Most High. From henceforthye know that all your oppression wherewith ye oppress is written down every day till the day of your judgement.

9Woe to you, ye fools, for through your folly shall ye perish: and ye transgress against the wise, 10and so good hap shall not be your portion. And now, know ye that ye are prepared for the day of destruction: wherefore do not hope to live, ye sinners, but ye shall depart and die; for ye know no ransom; for ye are prepared for the day of the great judgement, for the day of tribulation and great shame for your spirits.

11Woe to you, ye obstinate of heart, who work wickedness and eat blood: Whence have ye good things to eat and to drink and to be filled? From all the good things which the Lord the Most High has placed in abundance on the earth; therefore ye shall have no peace. 12Woe to you who love the deeds of unrighteousness: wherefore do ye hope for good hap unto yourselves? know that ye shall be delivered into the hands of the righteous, and they shall cut 13off your necks and slay you, and have no mercy upon you. Woe to you who rejoice in the tribulation 14of the righteous; for no grave shall be dug for you. Woe to you who set at nought the words of 15the righteous; for ye shall have no hope of life. Woe to you who write down lying and godless words; for they write down their lies that men may hear them and act godlessly towards [their] 16neighbour. Therefore they shall have no peace but die a sudden death.

96

96:1 The righteous are confident that sinners will be disgraced, and perish in the day of iniquity.

96:2 You shall yourselves be conscious of it; for the Most High will remember your destruction, and the angels shall rejoice over it. What will you do sinners? And where will you fly in the day of judgment, when you shall hear the words of the prayer of the righteous?

96:3 You are not like them who in this respect witness against you; you are associates of sinners.

96:4 In those days shall the prayers of the righteous come up before the Lord. When the day of your judgment shall arrive; and every circumstance of your iniquity be related before the great and the holy One;

96:5 Your faces shall be covered with shame; while every deed, strengthened by crime, shall be rejected.

96:6 Woe unto you, sinners, who in the midst of the sea, and on dry land, are those against whom an evil record exists. Woe to you who squander silver and gold, not obtained in righteousness, and say, We are rich, possess wealth, and have acquired everything which we can desire.

96:7 Now then will we do whatsoever we are disposed to do; for we have amassed silver; our barns are full, and the husbandmen of our families are like overflowing water.

96:8 Like water shall your falsehood pass away; for your wealth will not be permanent, but shall suddenly ascend from you, because you have obtained it all iniquitously; to extreme malediction shall you be delivered up.

96:9 And now I swear to you, crafty, as well as simple ones; that you, often contemplating the earth, you [who are] men, clothe yourselves more elegantly that married women, and both together more so than unmarried ones, (138) everywhere [arraying yourselves] in majesty, in magnificence, in authority, and in silver: but gold, purple, honour, and wealth, like water, flow away.

(138) Than married women…unmarried ones. Or, "than a woman and more coloured (garments) than a girl…" (Knibb, p. 230).

96:10 Erudition therefore and wisdom are not theirs. Thus shall they perish, together with their riches, with all their glory, and with their honours;

96:11 While with disgrace, with slaughter, and in extreme penury, shall their spirits be thrust into a furnace of fire.

96:12 I have sworn to you, sinners, that neither mountain nor hill has been or shall be subservient (139) to woman.

(139) Subservient. Literally, "a servant." Perhaps in furnishing them with treasures for ornaments (Laurence, p. 159).

96:13 Neither in this way has crime been sent down to us upon earth, but men of their own heads have invented it; and greatly shall those who give it efficiency be execrated.

96:14 Barrenness shall not be [previously] inflicted on woman; but on account of the work of her hands shall she die childless.

96:15 I have sworn to you, sinners, by the holy and the Great One, that all your evil deeds are disclosed in the heavens; and that none of your oppressive acts are concealed and secret.

96:16 Think not in your minds, neither say in your hearts, that every crime is not manifested and seen. In heaven it is daily written down before the Most High. Henceforwards shall it be manifested; for every act of oppression which you commit shall be daily recorded, until the period of your condemnation.

96:17 Woe to you, simple ones, for you shall perish in your simplicity. To the wise you will not listen, and that which is good you shall not obtain.

96:18 Now therefore know that you are destined to the day of destruction; nor hope that sinners shall live; but in process of time you shall die; for you are not marked for redemption;

96:19 But are destined to the day of the great judgment, to the day of distress, and the extreme ignominy of your souls.

96:20 Woe to you, obdurate in heart, who commit crime, and feed on blood. Whence [is it that] you feed on good things, drink, and are satiated? Is it not because our Lord, the Most High, has abundantly supplied every good thing upon earth? To you there shall not be peace.

96:21 Woe to you who love the deeds of iniquity. Why do you hope for that which is good? Know that you shall be given up into the hands of the righteous; who shall cut off your necks, slay you, and show you no compassion.

96:22 Woe to you who rejoice in the trouble of the righteous; for a grave shall not be dug for you.

96:23 Woe to you who frustrate the word of the righteous; for to you there shall be no hope of life.

96:24 Woe to you who write down the word of falsehood, and the word of the wicked; for their falsehood they record, that they may hear and not forget folly.

96:25 To them there shall be no peace; but they shall surely die suddenly.