1 Enoch (Ethiopic) Parallel Translations

XCIX

1Woe to you who work godlessness,
And glory in lying and extol them:
Ye shall perish, and no happy life shall be yours.

2Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness,
And transgress the eternal law,
And transform themselves into what they were not {into sinners}:
They shall be trodden under foot upon the earth.

3In those days make ready, ye righteous, to raise your prayers as a memorial,
And place them as a testimony before the angels,
That they may place the sin of the sinners for a memorial before the Most High.

4In those days the nations shall be stirred up,
And the families of the nations shall arise on the day of destruction.

5And in those days the destitute shall go forth and carry off their children,
And they shall abandon them, so that their children shall perish through them:
Yea, they shall abandon their children [that are still] sucklings, and not return to them,
And shall have no pity on their beloved ones.

6,7And again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed. And they who worship stones, and grave images of gold and silver and wood [and stone] and clay, and those who worship impure spirits and demons, and all kinds of idols not according to knowledge, shall get no manner of help from them.

8And they shall become godless by reason of the folly of their hearts,
And their eyes shall be blinded through the fear of their hearts
And through visions in their dreams.

9Through these they shall become godless and fearful;
For they shall have wrought all their work in a lie,
And shall have worshiped a stone:
Therefore in an instant shall they perish.

10But in those days blessed are all they who accept the words of wisdom, and understand them,
And observe the paths of the Most High, and walk in the path of His righteousness,
And become not godless with the godless;
For they shall be saved.

11Woe to you who spread evil to your neighbours;
For you shall be slain in Sheol.

12Woe to you who make deceitful and false measures,
And [to them] who cause bitterness on the earth;
For they shall thereby be utterly consumed.

13Woe to you who build your houses through the grievous toil of others,
And all their building materials are the bricks and stones of sin;
I tell you ye shall have no peace.

14Woe to them who reject the measure and eternal heritage of their fathers
And whose souls follow after idols;
For they shall have no rest.

15Woe to them who work unrighteousness and help oppression,
And slay their neighbours until the day of the great judgement.

16For He shall cast down your glory,
And bring affliction on your hearts,
And shall arouse His fierce indignation
And destroy you all with the sword;
And all the holy and righteous shall remember your sins.

97

97:1 Woe to them who act impiously, who laud and honour the word of falsehood. You have been lost in perdition; and have never led a virtuous life.

97:2 Woe to you who change the words of integrity. They transgress against the everlasting decree; (140)

(140) They transgress…the everlasting decree. Or, "they distort the eternal law" (Knibb, p. 232).

97:3 And cause the heads of those who are not sinners to be trodden down upon the earth.

97:4 In those days you, O righteous, shall have been deemed worthy of having your prayers rise up in remembrance; and shall have deposited them in testimony before the angels, that they might records the sins of the sinners in the presence of the Most High.

97:5 In those days the nations shall be overthrown; but the families of the nations shall rise again in the day of perdition.

97:6 In those days they who become pregnant shall go forth, carry off their children, and forsake them. Their offspring shall slip from them, and while suckling them shall they forsake them; they shall never return to them, and never instruct their beloved.

97:7 Again I swear to you, sinners, that crime has been prepared for the day of blood, which never ceases.

97:8 They shall worship stones, and engrave golden, silver, and wooden images. They shall worship impure spirits, demons, and every idol, in temples; but no help shall be obtained for them. Their hearts shall become impious through their folly, and their eyes be blinded with mental superstition. (141) In their visionary dreams shall they be impious and superstitious, lying in all their actions, and worshipping a stone. Altogether shall they perish.

(141) Mental superstition. Literally, "with the fear of their hearts" (Laurence, p. 162).

97:9 But in those days blessed shall they be, to whom the word of wisdom is delivered; who point out and pursue the path of the Most High; who walk in the way of righteousness, and who act not impiously with the impious.

97:10 They shall be saved.

97:11 Woe to you who expand the crime of your neighbour; for in hell shall you be slain.

97:12 Woe to you who lay the foundation of sin and deceit, and who are bitter on earth; for on it shall you be consumed.

97:13 Woe to you who build your houses by the labour of others, every part of which is constructed with brick, and with the stone of crime; I tell you, that you shall not obtain peace.

97:14 Woe to you who despise the extent of the everlasting inheritance of your fathers, while your souls follow after idols; for to you there shall be no tranquillity.

97:15 Woe to them who commit iniquity, and give aid to blasphemy, who slay their neighbour until the day of the great judgment; for your glory shall fall; malevolence shall He put into your hearts, and the spirit of his wrath shall stir [you] up, that every one of you may perish by the sword.

97:16 Then shall all the righteous and the holy remember your crimes.