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Book 4: Astronomy
Chapter 83
1 And now, my son Methuselah, I will show thee all my
visions which I have seen, recounting
2 them before thee. Two visions I saw before I took a
wife, and the one was quite unlike the other: the first when I
was learning to write: the second before I took thy mother,
(when) I saw a terrible
3 vision. And regarding them I prayed to the Lord. I had
laid me down in the house of my grandfather Mahalalel, (when) I
saw in a vision how the heaven collapsed and was borne off and
fell to
4 the earth. And when it fell to the earth I saw how the
earth was swallowed up in a great abyss, and mountains were
suspended on mountains, and hills sank down on hills, and high
trees were rent
5 from their stems, and hurled down and sunk in the
abyss. And thereupon a word fell into my mouth,
6 and I lifted up (my voice) to cry aloud, and said: The
earth is destroyed. And my grandfather Mahalalel waked me as I
lay near him, and said unto me: Why dost thou cry so, my son,
and why
7 dost thou make such lamentation? And I recounted to him
the whole vision which I had seen, and he said unto me: A
terrible thing hast thou seen, my son, and of grave moment is
thy dream- vision as to the secrets if all the sin of the earth:
it must sink into the abyss and be destroyed with
8 a great destruction. And now, my son, arise and make
petition to the Lord of glory, since thou art a believer, that a
remnant may remain on the earth, and that He may not destroy the
whole
9 earth. My son, from heaven all this will come upon the
earth, and upon the earth there will be great
10 destruction. After that I arose and prayed and
implored and besought, and wrote down my prayer for the
generations of the world, and I will show everything to thee, my
son Methuselah. And when I had gone forth below and seen the
heaven, and the sun rising in the east, and the moon setting in
the west, and a few stars, and the whole earth, and everything
as He had known it in the beginning, then I blessed the Lord of
judgement and extolled Him because He had made the sun to go
forth from the windows of the east, and he ascended and rose on
the face of the heaven, and set out and kept traversing the path
shown unto him.
Chapter 84
1 And I lifted up my hands in righteousness and
blessed the Holy and Great One, and spake with the breath of my
mouth, and with the tongue of flesh, which God has made for the
children of the flesh of men, that they should speak therewith,
and He gave them breath and a tongue and a mouth that they
should speak therewith:
2 Blessed be Thou, O Lord, King,
Great and mighty in Thy greatness,
Lord of the whole creation of the heaven,
King of kings and God of the whole world.
And Thy power and kingship and greatness abide for ever and
ever,
And throughout all generations Thy dominion;
And all the heavens are Thy throne for ever,
And the whole earth Thy footstool for ever and ever.
3 For Thou hast made and Thou rulest all things,
And nothing is too hard for Thee,
Wisdom departs not from the place of Thy throne,
Nor turns away from Thy presence.
And Thou knowest and seest and hearest everything,
And there is nothing hidden from Theefor Thou seest everything.
4 And now the angels of Thy heavens are guilty of
trespass,
And upon the flesh of men abideth Thy wrath until the great day
of judgement.
5 And now, O God and Lord and Great King,
I implore and beseech Thee to fulfil my prayer,
To leave me a posterity on earth,
And not destroy all the flesh of man,
And make the earth without inhabitant,
So that there should be an eternal destruction.
6 And now, my Lord, destroy from the earth the flesh
which has aroused Thy wrath,
But the flesh of righteousness and uprightness establish as a
plant of the eternal seed,
And hide not Thy face from the prayer of Thy servant, O Lord.
Chapter 85
1,2 And after this I saw another dream, and I will
show the whole dream to thee, my son. And Enoch lifted up (his
voice) and spake to his son Methuselah: To thee, my son, will I
speak: hear my words-incline thine ear to the dream-vision of
thy father.
3 Before I took thy mother Edna, I saw in a vision on my
bed, and behold a bull came forth from the earth, and that bull
was white; and after it came forth a heifer, and along with this
(latter) came forth two bulls, one of them black and
4 the other red. And that black bull gored the red one
and pursued him over the earth, and thereupon 5 I could
no longer see that red bull. But that black bull grew and that
heifer went with him, and
6 I saw that many oxen proceeded from him which resembled
and followed him. And that cow, that first one, went from the
presence of that first bull in order to seek that red one, but
found him
7 not, and lamented with a great lamentation over him and
sought him. And I looked till that first
8 bull came to her and quieted her, and from that time
onward she cried no more. And after that she bore another white
bull, and after him she bore many bulls and black cows.
9 And I saw in my sleep that white bull likewise grow and
become a great white bull, and from Him proceeded many white
bulls, and they resembled him. And they began to beget many
white bulls, which resembled them, one following the other,
(even) many.
Chapter 86
1 And again I saw with mine eyes as I slept, and I saw
the heaven above, and behold a star fell
2 from heaven, and it arose and eat and pastured amongst
those oxen. And after that I saw the large and the black oxen,
and behold they all changed their stalls and pastures and their
cattle, and began
3 to live with each other. And again I saw in the vision,
and looked towards the heaven, and behold I saw many stars
descend and cast themselves down from heaven to that first star,
and they became
4 bulls amongst those cattle and pastured with
themamongst them. And I looked at them and saw, and behold they
all let out their privy members, like horses, and began to cover
the cows of the oxen,
5 and they all became pregnant and bare elephants,
camels, and asses. And all the oxen feared them and were
affrighted at them, and began to bite with their teeth and to
devour, and to gore with their
6 horns. And they began, moreover, to devour those oxen;
and behold all the children of the earth began to tremble and
quake before them and to flee from them.
Chapter 87
1 And again I saw how they began to gore each other
and to devour each other, and the earth
2 began to cry aloud. And I raised mine eyes again to
heaven, and I saw in the vision, and behold there came forth
from heaven beings who were like white men: and four went forth
from that place
3 and three with them. And those three that had last come
forth grasped me by my hand and took me up, away from the
generations of the earth, and raised me up to a lofty place, and
showed me
4 a tower raised high above the earth, and all the hills
were lower. And one said unto me: Remain here till thou seest
everything that befalls those elephants, camels, and asses, and
the stars and the oxen, and all of them.
Chapter 88
1 And I saw one of those four who had come forth
first, and he seized that first star which had fallen from the
heaven, and bound it hand and foot and cast it into an abyss:
now that abyss was
2 narrow and deep, and horrible and dark. And one of them
drew a sword, and gave it to those elephants and camels and
asses: then they began to smite each other, and the whole earth
quaked
3 because of them. And as I was beholding in the vision,
lo, one of those four who had come forth stoned (them) from
heaven, and gathered and took all the great stars whose privy
members were like those of horses, and bound them all hand and
foot, and cast them in an abyss of the earth.
Chapter 89
1 And one of those four went to that white bull and
instructed him in a secret, without his being terrified: he was
born a bull and became a man, and built for himself a great
vessel and dwelt thereon;
2 and three bulls dwelt with him in that vessel and they
were covered in. And again I raised mine eyes towards heaven and
saw a lofty roof, with seven water torrents thereon, and those
torrents
3 flowed with much water into an enclosure. And I saw
again, and behold fountains were opened on the surface of that
great enclosure, and that water began to swell and rise upon the
surface,
4 and I saw that enclosure till all its surface was
covered with water. And the water, the darkness, and mist
increased upon it; and as I looked at the height of that water,
that water had risen above the height of that enclosure, and was
streaming over that enclosure, and it stood upon the earth.
5 And all the cattle of that enclosure were gathered
together until I saw how they sank and were
6 swallowed up and perished in that water. But that
vessel floated on the water, while all the oxen and elephants
and camels and asses sank to the bottom with all the animals, so
that I could no longer see them,
7 and they were not able to escape, (but) perished and
sank into the depths. And again I saw in the vision till those
water torrents were removed from that high roof, and the chasms
8 of the earth were leveled up and other abysses were
opened. Then the water began to run down into these, till the
earth became visible; but that vessel settled on the earth, and
the darkness
9 retired and light appeared. But that white bull which
had become a man came out of that vessel, and the three bulls
with him, and one of those three was white like that bull, and
one of them was red as blood, and one black: and that white bull
departed from them.
10 And they began to bring forth beasts of the field and
birds, so that there arose different genera: lions, tigers,
wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild boars, foxes, squirrels, swine,
falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and ravens;
11 and among them was born a white bull. And they began
to bite one another; but that white bull which was born amongst
them begat a wild ass and a white bull with it, and the 12
wild asses multiplied. But that bull which was born from him
begat a black wild boar and a white
13 sheep; and the former begat many boars, but that sheep
begat twelve sheep. And when those twelve sheep had grown, they
gave up one of them to the asses, and those asses again gave up
that sheep to the wolves,
14 and that sheep grew up among the wolves. And the Lord
brought the eleven sheep to live with it and to pasture with it
among the wolves: and they multiplied and became many flocks of
sheep.
15And the wolves began to fear them, and they oppressed
them until they destroyed
16 cry aloud on account of their little ones, and to
complain unto their Lord. And a sheep which had been saved from
the wolves fled and escaped to the wild asses; and I saw the
sheep how they lamented and cried, and besought their Lord with
all their might, till that Lord of the sheep descended at the
voice of the sheep from a lofty abode, and came to them and
pastured them.
17 And He called that sheep which had escaped the wolves,
and spake with it concerning the wolves that it should
18 admonish them not to touch the sheep. And the sheep
went to the wolves according to the word of the Lord, and
another sheep met it and went with it, and the two went and
entered together into the assembly of those wolves, and spake
with them and admonished them not to touch the
19 sheep from henceforth. And thereupon I saw the wolves,
and how they oppressed the sheep
20 exceedingly with all their power; and the sheep cried
aloud. And the Lord came to the sheep and they began to smite
those wolves: and the wolves began to make lamentation; but the
sheep became
21 quiet and forthwith ceased to cry out. And I saw the
sheep till they departed from amongst the wolves; but the eyes
of the wolves were blinded, and those wolves departed in pursuit
of the sheep
22 with all their power. And the Lord of the sheep went
with them, as their leader, and all His sheep
23 followed Him: and his face was dazzling and glorious
and terrible to behold. But the wolves
24 began to pursue those sheep till they reached a sea of
water. And that sea was divided, and the water stood on this
side and on that before their face, and their Lord led them and
placed Himself between
25 them and the wolves. And as those wolves did not yet
see the sheep, they proceeded into the midst of that sea, and
the wolves followed the sheep, and those wolves ran after them
into that sea.
26 And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned
to flee before His face, but that sea gathered itself together,
and became as it had been created, and the water swelled and
rose till it covered
27 those wolves. And I saw till all the wolves who
pursued those sheep perished and were drowned.
28 But the sheep escaped from that water and went forth
into a wilderness, where there was no water and no grass; and
they began to open their eyes and to see; and I saw the Lord of
the sheep
29 pasturing them and giving them water and grass, and
that sheep going and leading them. And that
30 sheep ascended to the summit of that lofty rock, and
the Lord of the sheep sent it to them. And after that I saw the
Lord of the sheep who stood before them, and His appearance was
great and
31 terrible and majestic, and all those sheep saw Him and
were afraid before His face. And they all feared and trembled
because of Him, and they cried to that sheep with them which was
amongst
32 them: We are not able to stand before our Lord or to
behold Him. And that sheep which led them again ascended to the
summit of that rock, but the sheep began to be blinded and to
wander
33 from the way which he had showed them, but that sheep
wot not thereof. And the Lord of the sheep was wrathful
exceedingly against them, and that sheep discovered it, and went
down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep, and
found the greatest part of them blinded and fallen
34 away. And when they saw it they feared and trembled at
its presence, and desired to return to their
35 folds. And that sheep took other sheep with it, and
came to those sheep which had fallen away, and began to slay
them; and the sheep feared its presence, and thus that sheep
brought back those
36 sheep that had fallen away, and they returned to their
folds. And I saw in this vision till that sheep became a man and
built a house for the Lord of the sheep, and placed all the
sheep in that house.
37 And I saw till this sheep which had met that sheep
which led them fell asleep: and I saw till all the great sheep
perished and little ones arose in their place, and they came to
a pasture, and
38 approached a stream of water. Then that sheep, their
leader which had become a man, withdrew
39 from them and fell asleep, and all the sheep sought it
and cried over it with a great crying. And I saw till they left
off crying for that sheep and crossed that stream of water, and
there arose the two sheep as leaders in the place of those which
had led them and fallen asleep (lit. had fallen asleep and led
40 them ). And I saw till the sheep came to a goodly
place, and a pleasant and glorious land, and I saw till those
sheep were satisfied; and that house stood amongst them in the
pleasant land.
41 And sometimes their eyes were opened, and sometimes
blinded, till another sheep arose and led them and brought them
all back, and their eyes were opened. 42 And the dogs and
the foxes and the wild boars began to devour those sheep till
the Lord of the sheep raised up another sheep a ram from their
43 midst, which led them. And that ram began to butt on
either side those dogs, foxes, and wild
44 boars till he had destroyed them all. And that sheep
whose eyes were opened saw that ram, which was amongst the
sheep, till it forsook its glory and began to butt those sheep,
and trampled upon them, and behaved itself
45 unseemly. And the Lord of the sheep sent the lamb to
another lamb and raised it to being a ram and leader of the
sheep instead of that
46 ram which had forsaken its glory. And it went to it
and spake to it alone, and raised it to being a ram, and made it
the prince and leader of the sheep; but during all these things
those dogs
47 oppressed the sheep. And the first ram pursued that
second ram, and that second ram arose and fled before it; and I
saw till those dogs pulled
48 down the first ram. And that second ram arose
48b and led the little sheep. And those sheep grew and
multiplied; but all the dogs, and foxes, and wild boars feared
and fled before it, and that ram butted and killed the wild
beasts, and those wild beasts had no longer any power among the
49sheep and robbed them no more of ought. And that ram
begat many sheep and fell asleep; and a little sheep became ram
in its stead, and became prince and leader of those sheep
50 And that house became great and broad, and it was
built for those sheep: (and) a tower lofty and great was built
on the house for the Lord of the sheep, and that house was low,
but the tower was elevated and lofty, and the Lord of the sheep
stood on that tower and they offered a full table before Him.
51 And again I saw those sheep that they again erred and
went many ways, and forsook that their house, and the Lord of
the sheep called some from amongst the sheep and sent them to
the sheep,
52 but the sheep began to slay them. And one of them was
saved and was not slain, and it sped away and cried aloud over
the sheep; and they sought to slay it, but the Lord of the sheep
saved it from
53 the sheep, and brought it up to me, and caused it to
dwell there. And many other sheep He sent to those sheep to
testify unto them and lament over them.
54 And after that I saw that when they forsook the house
of the Lord and His tower they fell away entirely, and their
eyes were blinded; and I saw the Lord of the sheep how He
wrought much slaughter amongst them in their herds until 55
those sheep invited that slaughter and betrayed His place. And
He gave them over into the hands of the lions and tigers, and
wolves and hyenas, and into the hand of the foxes, and to all
the wild
56 beasts, and those wild beasts began to tear in pieces
those sheep. And I saw that He forsook that their house and
their tower and gave them all into the hand of the lions, to
tear and devour them,
57 into the hand of all the wild beasts. And I began to
cry aloud with all my power, and to appeal to the Lord of the
sheep, and to represent to Him in regard to the sheep that they
were devoured
58 by all the wild beasts. But He remained unmoved,
though He saw it, and rejoiced that they were devoured and
swallowed and robbed, and left them to be devoured in the hand
of all the beasts. 59 And He called seventy shepherds,
and cast those sheep to them that they might pasture them, and
He spake to the shepherds and their companions: Let each
individual of you pasture the sheep
60 henceforward, and everything that I shall command you
that do ye. And I will deliver them over unto you duly numbered,
and tell you which of them are to be destroyed-and them destroy
ye. And
61 He gave over unto them those sheep. And He called
another and spake unto him: Observe and mark everything that the
shepherds will do to those sheep; for they will destroy more of
them than
62 I have commanded them. And every excess and the
destruction which will be wrought through the shepherds, record
(namely) how many they destroy according to my command, and how
many according to their own caprice: record against every
individual shepherd all the destruction he
63 effects. And read out before me by number how many
they destroy, and how many they deliver over for destruction,
that I may have this as a testimony against them, and know every
deed of the shepherds, that I may comprehend and see what they
do, whether or not they abide by my
64 command which I have commanded them. But they shall
not know it, and thou shalt not declare it to them, nor admonish
them, but only record against each individual all the
destruction which
65 the shepherds effect each in his time and lay it all
before me. And I saw till those shepherds pastured in their
season, and they began to slay and to destroy more than they
were bidden, and they delivered
66 those sheep into the hand of the lions. And the lions
and tigers eat and devoured the greater part of those sheep, and
the wild boars eat along with them; and they burnt that tower
and demolished
67 that house. And I became exceedingly sorrowful over
that tower because that house of the sheep was demolished, and
afterwards I was unable to see if those sheep entered that
house.
68 And the shepherds and their associates delivered over
those sheep to all the wild beasts, to devour them, and each one
of them received in his time a definite number: it was written
by the other
69 in a book how many each one of them destroyed of them.
And each one slew and destroyed many
70 more than was prescribed; and I began to weep and
lament on account of those sheep. And thus in the vision I saw
that one who wrote, how he wrote down every one that was
destroyed by those shepherds, day by day, and carried up and
laid down and showed actually the whole book to the Lord of the
sheep-(even) everything that they had done, and all that each
one of them had made
71 away with, and all that they had given over to
destruction. And the book was read before the Lord of the sheep,
and He took the book from his hand and read it and sealed it and
laid it down.
72 And forthwith I saw how the shepherds pastured for
twelve hours, and behold three of those sheep turned back and
came and entered and began to build up all that had fallen down
of that
73 house; but the wild boars tried to hinder them, but
they were not able. And they began again to build as before, and
they reared up that tower, and it was named the high tower; and
they began again to place a table before the tower, but all the
bread on it was polluted and not pure.
74 And as touching all this the eyes of those sheep were
blinded so that they saw not, and (the eyes of) their shepherds
likewise; and they delivered them in large numbers to their
shepherds for 75 destruction, and they trampled the sheep
with their feet and devoured them. And the Lord of the sheep
remained unmoved till all the sheep were dispersed over the
field and mingled with them (the beasts),
76 and they (the shepherds) did not save them out of the
hand of the beasts. And this one who wrote the book carried it
up, and showed it and read it before the Lord of the sheep, and
implored Him on their account, and besought Him on their account
as he showed Him all the doings
77 of the shepherds, and gave testimony before Him
against all the shepherds. And he took the actual book and laid
it down beside Him and departed.
Chapter 90
1 And I saw till that in this manner thirty-five
shepherds undertook the pasturing (of the sheep), and they
severally completed their periods as did the first; and others
receive them into their 2 hands, to pasture them for
their period, each shepherd in his own period. And after that I
saw in my vision all the birds of heaven coming, the eagles, the
vultures, the kites, the ravens; but the eagles led all the
birds; and they began to devour those sheep, and to pick out
their eyes and to
3 devour their flesh. And the sheep cried out because
their flesh was being devoured by the birds,
4 and as for me I looked and lamented in my sleep over
that shepherd who pastured the sheep. And I saw until those
sheep were devoured by the dogs and eagles and kites, and they
left neither flesh nor skin nor sinew remaining on them till
only their bones stood there: and their bones too fell
5 to the earth and the sheep became few. And I saw until
that twenty-three had undertaken the pasturing and completed in
their several periods fifty-eight times. 6 But behold
lambs were borne by those white sheep, and they began to open
their eyes and to see,
7 and to cry to the sheep. Yea, they cried to them, but
they did not hearken to what they said to
8 them, but were exceedingly deaf, and their eyes were
very exceedingly blinded. And I saw in the vision how the ravens
flew upon those lambs and took one of those lambs, and dashed
the sheep
9 in pieces and devoured them. And I saw till horns grew
upon those lambs, and the ravens cast down their horns; and I
saw till there sprouted a great horn of one of those sheep, and
their eyes
10 were opened. And it looked at themand their eyes
opened, and it cried to the sheep, and the
11 rams saw it and all ran to it.
12And notwithstanding all this those eagles and vultures
and ravens and kites
13 still kept tearing the sheep and swooping down upon
them
14and devouring them: still the sheep remained silent,
but the rams lamented and cried out.
15 And those ravens fought and battled with it and sought
to lay low its horn, but they had no power over it.
16 All the eagles and vultures and ravens and kites were
gathered together,
17 and there came with them all the sheep of the field,
18 yea, they all came together, and helped each other to
break that horn of the ram.
19 And I saw till a great sword was given to the sheep,
and the sheep proceeded against all the beasts of the field to
slay them, and all the beasts and the birds of the heaven fled
before their face. And I saw that man, who wrote the book
according to the command of the Lord, till he opened that book
concerning the destruction which those twelve last shepherds had
wrought, and showed that they had destroyed much more than their
predecessors, before the Lord of the sheep. And I saw till the
Lord of the sheep came unto them and took in His hand the staff
of His wrath, and smote the earth, and the earth clave asunder,
and all the beasts and all the birds of the heaven fell from
among those sheep, and were swallowed up in the earth and it
covered them.
20 And I saw till a throne was erected in the pleasant
land, and the Lord of the sheep sat Himself thereon, and the
other took the sealed books and opened those books before the
Lord of the sheep.
21 And the Lord called those men the seven first white
ones, and commanded that they should bring before Him, beginning
with the first star which led the way, all the stars whose privy
members
22 were like those of horses, and they brought them all
before Him. And He said to that man who wrote before Him, being
one of those seven white ones, and said unto him: Take those
seventy shepherds to whom I delivered the sheep, and who taking
them on their own authority slew more
23 than I commanded them. And behold they were all bound,
I saw, and they all stood before Him.
24 And the judgement was held first over the stars, and
they were judged and found guilty, and went to the place of
condemnation, and they were cast into an abyss, full of fire and
flaming, and full
25 of pillars of fire. And those seventy shepherds were
judged and found guilty, and they were cast
26 into that fiery abyss. And I saw at that time how a
like abyss was opened in the midst of the earth, full of fire,
and they brought those blinded sheep, and they were all judged
and found guilty and
27 cast into this fiery abyss, and they burned; now this
abyss was to the right of that house. And I saw those sheep
burning and their bones burning.
28 And I stood up to see till they folded up that old
house; and carried off all the pillars, and all the beams and
ornaments of the house were at the same time folded up with it,
and they carried
29 it off and laid it in a place in the south of the
land. And I saw till the Lord of the sheep brought a new house
greater and loftier than that first, and set it up in the place
of the first which had beer folded up: all its pillars were new,
and its ornaments were new and larger than those of the first,
the old one which He had taken away, and all the sheep were
within it.
30 And I saw all the sheep which had been left, and all
the beasts on the earth, and all the birds of the heaven,
falling down and doing homage to those sheep and making petition
to and obeying
31 them in every thing. And thereafter those three who
were clothed in white and had seized me by my handwho had taken
me up before, and the hand of that ram also seizing hold of me,
they
32 took me up and set me down in the midst of those sheep
before the judgement took place. And those
33 sheep were all white, and their wool was abundant and
clean. And all that had been destroyed and dispersed, and all
the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the heaven,
assembled in that house, and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with
great joy because they were all good and had returned to
34 His house. And I saw till they laid down that sword,
which had been given to the sheep, and they brought it back into
the house, and it was sealed before the presence of the Lord,
and all the sheep
35 were invited into that house, but it held them not.
And the eyes of them all were opened, and they
36 saw the good, and there was not one among them that
did not see. And I saw that that house was large and broad and
very full.
37 And I saw that a white bull was born, with large horns
and all the beasts of the field and all the
38 birds of the air feared him and made petition to him
all the time. of And I saw till all their generations were
transformed, and they all became white bulls; and the first
among them became a lamb, and that lamb became a great animal
and had great black horns on its head; and the Lord of the sheep
39 rejoiced over it and over all the oxen. And I slept in
their midst: and I awoke and saw everything.
40 This is the vision which I saw while I slept, and I
awoke and blessed the Lord of righteousness and
41 gave Him glory. Then I wept with a great weeping and
my tears stayed not till I could no longer endure it: when I
saw, they flowed on account of what I had seen; for everything
shall come and
42 be fulfilled, and all the deeds of men in their order
were shown to me. On that night I remembered the first dream,
and because of it I wept and was troubled-because I had seen
that vision.
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