The Book of Enoch, The Parables, Online

The Book of Enoch

Edited into 21st Century American English from the 1917 translation by

R. H. CHARLES, D.LITT., D.D.

Edited by

Pamela Ayn Austen

The Parables

CHAPTER 37

1. The second vision which he saw, the vision of wisdom, which Enoch the son of Jared, the son of Mahalalel, the son of Cainan, the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, saw:

2. This is the beginning of the words of wisdom which I lifted up my voice to speak and say to those which dwell on earth: Hear, men of old time, and see, you that come after, the words of the Holy One which I will speak before the Lord of Spirits.

3. It was better to declare to the men of old time, but even from those that come after, we will not withhold the beginning of wisdom.

4. Until the present day, such wisdom has never been given by the Lord of Spirits as I have received according to my insight, according to the good pleasure of the Lord of Spirits, by whom the lot of eternal life has been given to me.

5. Now three parables were imparted to me, and I lifted up my voice and recounted them to those that dwell on the earth.

CHAPTER 38

1. The First Parable: When the congregation of the righteous shall appear, and sinners shall be judged for their sins, and shall be driven from the face of the earth,

2. And when the Righteous One shall appear before the eyes of the righteous, whose elect works hang upon the Lord of Spirits, and light shall appear to the righteous and the elect who dwell on the earth, where then will be the dwelling of the sinners, and where the resting place of those who have denied the Lord of Spirits? It would have been good for them if they had not been born.

3. When the secrets of the righteous shall be revealed, and the sinners judged, and the godless driven from the presence of the righteous and elect,

4. From that time, those that possess the earth shall no longer be powerful and exalted; and they shall not be able to behold the face of the holy, for the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear on the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.

5. Then shall the kings and the mighty perish and be given into the hands of the righteous and holy.

6. From then on, none shall seek for themselves mercy from the Lord of Spirits, for their life is at an end.

CHAPTER 39

1. It shall come to pass in those days that elect and holy children will descend from the high heaven, and their seed will become one with the children of men.

2. In those days, Enoch received books of zeal and wrath and books of disquiet and expulsion. And mercy shall not be accorded to them, says the Lord of Spirits.

3. In those days, a whirlwind carried me off from the earth and set me down at the end of the heavens.

4. There I saw another vision, the dwelling places of the holy and the resting places of the righteous.

5. Here my eyes saw their dwellings with His righteous angels, and their resting places with the holy; and they petitioned and interceded and prayed for the children of men, and righteousness flowed before them as water, and mercy like dew upon the earth. So it is among them forever and ever.

6a. In that place, my eyes saw the Elect One of righteousness and of faith,

7a. And I saw his dwelling place under the wings of the Lord of Spirits.

6b. Righteousness shall prevail in his days; and the righteous and elect shall be without number before Him forever and ever.

7b. All the righteous and elect before Him shall be strong as fiery lights, and their mouth shall be full of blessing, and their lips extol the name of the Lord of Spirits, and righteousness before Him shall never fail, and uprightness shall never fail before Him.

8. There I wished to dwell, and my spirit longed for that dwelling place, and there has been my portion, for so has it been established concerning me before the Lord of Spirits.

9. In those days, I praised and extolled the name of the Lord of Spirits with blessings and praises, because He has destined me for blessing and glory according to the good pleasure of the Lord of Spirits.

10. For a long time, my eyes regarded that place, and I blessed Him and praised Him, saying, “Blessed is He, and may He be blessed from the beginning and forevermore.

11. Before Him, there is no ceasing. He knows before the world was created what is forever and what will be from generation to generation.

12. Those who do not sleep bless You; they stand before Your glory and bless, praise, and extol, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Spirits; He fills the earth with spirits.”

13. Here my eyes saw all those who sleep not; they stand before Him and bless and say, “Blessed are You, and blessed is the name of the Lord forever and ever.”

14. And my face was changed; for I could no longer behold.

CHAPTER 40

1. After that, I saw thousands of thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand, I saw a multitude beyond number and reckoning who stood before the Lord of Spirits.

2. On the four sides of the Lord of Spirits, I saw four presences, different from those that sleep not, and I learned their names, for the angel that went with me made known to me their names and showed me all the hidden things.

3. I heard the voices of those four presences as they uttered praises before the Lord of glory.

4. The first voice blesses the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.

5. The second voice I heard blessing the Elect One and the elect ones who hang upon the Lord of Spirits.

6. The third voice I heard pray and intercede for those who dwell on the earth and supplicate in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

7. I heard the fourth voice fending off the Satans and forbidding them to come before the Lord of Spirits to accuse them who dwell on the earth.

8. After that, I asked the angel of peace who went with me, who showed me everything that is hidden, “Who are these four presences which I have seen and whose words I have heard and written down?”

9. He said to me, “This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering; and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael; and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel; and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.” These are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.

CHAPTER 41

1. After that, I saw all the secrets of the heavens, and how the kingdom is divided, and how the actions of men are weighed in the balance.

2. There I saw the mansions of the elect and the mansions of the holy, and my eyes saw there all the sinners being driven from there, 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.

3. There my 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 I saw from where they proceed in that place and from where they saturate the dusty earth.

4. 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 beginning of the world.

5. I saw the chambers of the sun and moon, from where they proceed and where 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 are bound together.

6. First the sun goes forth and traverses his path according to the commandment of the Lord of Spirits, and mighty is His name forever and ever.

7. 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 to them is their thanksgiving rest.

8. For the sun changes often 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.

9. For 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.

CHAPTER 42

1. Wisdom found no place where she might dwell; then a dwelling place was assigned to her in the heavens.

2. Wisdom went forth to make her dwelling among the children of men, and found no dwelling place. Wisdom returned to her place, and took her seat among the angels.

3. Unrighteousness went forth from her chambers, and whom she sought not, she found and dwelt with them, as rain in a desert and dew on a thirsty land.

CHAPTER 43

1. I saw other lightning and the stars of heaven, and I saw how He called them all by their names and they hearkened to Him.

2. I saw how they are weighed in a righteous balance according to their proportions of light, the width of their spaces and the day of their appearing, and how their revolution produces lightning, and their revolution according to the number of the angels, and they keep faith with each other.

3. I asked the angel who went with me, who showed me what was hidden, “What are these?”

4. He said to me, “The Lord of Spirits has shown you their parabolic meaning (their parable): these are the names of the holy who dwell on the earth and believe in the name of the Lord of Spirits forever and ever.”

CHAPTER 44

Also another phenomenon I saw in regard to the lightning: how some of the stars arise and become lightnings and cannot part with their new form.

CHAPTER 45

1. This is the Second Parable concerning those who deny the name of the dwelling of the holy ones and the Lord of Spirits.

2. Into the heaven they shall not ascend, and on the earth they shall not come, such shall be the lot of the sinners who have denied the name of the Lord of Spirits, who are preserved for the day of suffering and tribulation.

3. On that day, My Elect One shall sit on the throne of glory, and shall try their works, and their places of rest shall be innumerable. And their souls shall grow strong within them when they see My Elect Ones, and those who have called upon My glorious name.

4. Then will I cause My Elect One to dwell among them. And I will transform the heaven and make it an eternal blessing and light.

5. I will transform the earth and make it a blessing, and I will cause My elect ones to dwell upon it, but the sinners and evil-doers shall not set foot there.

6. For I have provided and satisfied with peace My righteous ones, and have caused them to dwell before Me, but for the sinners, there is judgement impending with Me, so that I shall destroy them from the face of the earth.

CHAPTER 46

1. There I saw One who had a head of days, and His head was white like wool, and with Him was another being whose countenance had the appearance of a man, and his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.

2. I asked the angel, who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he was, and from where he was, and why he went with the Head of Days? He answered and said to me:

3. This is the son of Man who has righteousness, with whom dwells righteousness, and who reveals all the treasures

of that which is hidden, because the Lord of Spirits has chosen him, and whose lot has the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever.

4. This Son of Man whom you have seen shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats, and the strong from their thrones, and shall loosen the reins of the strong, and break the teeth of the sinners.

5. He shall put down the kings from their thrones and kingdoms, because they do not extol and praise Him, nor humbly acknowledge from whom the kingdom was bestowed upon them.

6. He shall put down the countenance of the strong, and shall fill them with shame, and darkness shall be their dwelling, and worms shall be their bed, and they shall have no hope of rising from their beds, because they do not extol the name of the Lord of Spirits.

7. These are they who judge the stars of heaven, and raise their hands against the Most High, and tread upon the earth and dwell upon it. All their deeds manifest unrighteousness, and their power rests upon their riches, and their faith is in the gods which they have made with their hands, and they deny the name of the Lord of Spirits.

8. They persecute the houses of His congregations, and the faithful who hang upon the name of the Lord of Spirits.

CHAPTER 47

1. In those days shall have ascended the prayer of the righteous, and the blood of the righteous from the earth before the Lord of Spirits.

2. In those days, the holy ones who dwell above in the heavens shall unite with one voice, and supplicate and pray and praise, and give thanks and bless the name of the Lord of Spirits on behalf of the blood of the righteous which

has been shed, and that the prayer of the righteous may not be in vain before the Lord of Spirits, that judgement may be done for them, and that they may not have to suffer forever.

3. In those days, I saw the Head of Days when He seated himself upon the throne of His glory, and the books of the living were opened before Him, and all of His host which is in heaven above and His counselors stood before Him.

4. The hearts of the holy were filled with joy, because the number of the righteous had been offered, and the prayer of the righteous had been heard, and the blood of the righteous been required before the Lord of Spirits.

CHAPTER 48

1. In that place, I saw the fountain of righteousness which was inexhaustible; and around it were many fountains of wisdom; and all the thirsty drank of them and were filled with wisdom, and their dwellings were with the righteous and holy and elect.

2. At that hour, that Son of Man was named in the presence of the Lord of Spirits, and his name before the Head of Days.

3. Yes, before the sun and the signs were created, before the stars of the heaven were made, His name was named before the Lord of Spirits.

4. He shall be a staff to the righteous on which to stay themselves and not fall, and he shall be the light of the Gentiles, and the hope of those who are troubled of heart.

5. All who dwell on earth shall fall down and worship before him, and will praise and bless and celebrate with song the Lord of Spirits.

6. For this reason has he been chosen and hidden before Him, before the creation of the world and forevermore.

7. The wisdom of the Lord of Spirits has revealed him to the holy and righteous, for he has preserved the lot of the righteous, because they have hated and despised this world of unrighteousness, and have hated all of its works and ways in the name of the Lord of Spirits, for in his name they are saved, and according to his good pleasure has it been in regard to their life.

8. In these days, downcast in countenance shall the kings of the earth have become, and the strong who possess the land because of the works of their hands; for on the day of their anguish and affliction, they shall not be able to save themselves.

9. I will give them over into the hands of My elect; as straw in the fire, so shall they burn before the face of the holy; as lead in the water shall they sink before the face of the righteous, and no trace of them shall anymore be found.

10. On the day of their affliction, there shall be rest on the earth, and before them they shall fall and not rise again; and there shall be no one to take them with his hands and raise them, for they have denied the Lord of Spirits and His Anointed. The name of the Lord of Spirits is blessed.

CHAPTER 49

l. For wisdom is poured out like water, and glory fails not before him forevermore.

2. For he is mighty in all the secrets of righteousness, and unrighteousness shall disappear as a shadow and have no continuance, because the Elect One stands before the Lord of Spirits, and his glory is forever and ever, and his might to all generations.

3. In him dwells the spirit of wisdom, and the spirit which gives insight, and the spirit of understanding and of might, and the spirit of those who have fallen asleep in righteousness.

4. He shall judge the secret things, and none shall be able to utter a lying word before him; for he is the Elect One before the Lord of Spirits according to His good pleasure.

CHAPTER 50

1. In those days, a change shall take place for the holy and elect, and the light of days shall abide upon them, and glory and honor shall turn to the holy, on the day of affliction on which evil shall have been treasured up against the sinners.

2. The righteous shall be victorious in the name of the Lord of Spirits, and He will cause the others to witness this so that they may repent and forgo the works of their hands.

3. They shall have no honor through the name of the Lord of Spirits, yet through His name shall they be saved, and the Lord of Spirits will have compassion on them, for His compassion is great.

4. He is righteous also in His judgments, and in the presence of His glory unrighteousness shall not maintain itself; at His judgement, the unrepentant shall perish before Him.

5. From then on, I will have no mercy on them, says the Lord of Spirits.

CHAPTER 51

1. In those days shall the earth also give back that which has been entrusted to it, and Sheol also shall give back what it has received, and hell shall give back what it owes.

2. For in those days, the Elect One shall arise, and he shall choose the righteous and holy from among them, for the day has drawn near that they should be saved.

3. The Elect One shall in those days sit on My throne, and his mouth shall pour forth all the secrets of wisdom and counsel; for the Lord of Spirits has given to him and has glorified him.

4. In those days shall the mountains leap like rams, and the hills also shall skip like lambs satisfied with milk, and the faces of all the angels in heaven shall be lighted up with joy. The earth shall rejoice, and the righteous shall dwell upon it, and the elect shall walk thereon.

CHAPTER 52

l. After those days, in that place where I had seen all of the visions of that which is hidden, for I had been carried off in a whirlwind and they had borne me towards the west,

2. There my eyes saw all the secret things of heaven that shall be, a mountain of iron, and a mountain of copper, and a mountain of silver, and a mountain of gold, and a mountain of soft metal, and a mountain of lead.

3. I asked the angel who went with me, saying, “What are these things which I have seen in secret?”

4. He said to me, “All these things which you have seen shall serve the dominion of His Anointed that he may be potent and mighty on the earth.”

5. That angel of peace answered, saying to me, “Wait a little, and there shall be revealed to you all the secret things which surround the Lord of Spirits.

6. These mountains which your eyes have seen, the mountain of iron and the mountain of copper and the mountain of silver and the mountain of gold and the mountain of soft metal and the mountain of lead, all of these shall be in the presence of the Elect One as wax before the fire, and like the water which streams down from above upon those mountains, and they shall become powerless before his feet.

7. It shall come to pass in those days that none shall be saved, either by gold or by silver, and none be able to escape.

8. There shall be no iron for war, nor shall one clothe oneself with a breastplate. Bronze shall be of no service, and tin shall be of no service and shall not be esteemed, and lead shall not be desired.

9. All of these things shall be denied and destroyed from the surface of the earth, when the Elect One shall appear before the face of the Lord of Spirits.”

CHAPTER 53

1. There my eyes saw a deep valley with open mouths, and all who dwell on the earth and sea and islands shall bring to him gifts and presents and tokens of homage, but that deep valley shall not become full.

2. Their hands commit lawless deeds, and the sinners devour all whom they lawlessly oppress, yet the sinners shall be destroyed before the face of the Lord of Spirits, and they shall be banished from off the face of His earth, and they shall perish forever and ever.

3. For I saw all the angels of punishment abiding and preparing all the instruments of Satan.

4. I asked the angel of peace who went with me, “For whom are they preparing these instruments?”

5. He said to me, “They prepare these for the kings and the mighty of this earth, that they may thereby be destroyed.

6. After this, the Righteous and Elect One shall cause the house of his congregation to appear; from then on, they shall be no more hindered in the name of the Lord of Spirits.

7. These mountains shall not stand as the earth before his righteousness, but the hills shall be as a fountain of water, and the righteous shall have rest from the oppression of sinners.”

CHAPTER 54

1. I looked and turned to another part of the earth, and I saw there a deep valley with burning fire.

2. They brought the kings and the mighty, and began to cast them into this deep valley.

3. There my eyes saw how they made instruments: iron chains of immeasurable weight.

4. I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying, “For whom are these chains being prepared?”

5. He said to me, “These are being prepared for the hosts of Azazel, so that they may take them and cast them into the abyss of complete condemnation, and they shall cover their jaws with rough stones as the Lord of Spirits commanded.

6. Michael and Gabriel and Raphael and Phanuel shall take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the earth.”

Noachic Fragment on the first World Judgement

7. In those days shall punishment come from the Lord of Spirits, and he will open all the chambers of waters which are above the heavens, and of the fountains which are beneath the earth.

8. All the waters shall be joined with the waters, that which is above the heavens is the masculine, and the water which is beneath the earth is the feminine.

9. They shall destroy all who dwell on the earth and those who dwell under the ends of the heaven.

10. When they have recognized their unrighteousness which they have wrought on the earth, then by these shall they perish.

CHAPTER 55

1. After that, the Head of Days repented and said, “In vain have I destroyed all who dwell on the earth.”

2. He swore by His great name, “From now on, I will not do so to all who dwell on the earth, and I will set a sign in the heaven, and this shall be a pledge of good faith between Me and them forever, so long as heaven is above the earth. This is in accordance with My command.”

Final Judgement of Azâzêl, the Watchers and Their Children

3. “When I have desired to take hold of them by the hand of the angels on the day of tribulation and pain because of this, I will cause My chastisement and My wrath to abide upon them, says God, the Lord of Spirits.

4. You mighty kings who dwell on the earth, you shall have to behold My Elect One, how he sits on the throne of glory and judges Azâzêl and all his associates, and all his hosts in the name of the Lord of Spirits.”

CHAPTER 56

1. I saw there the hosts of the angels of punishment going, and they held scourges and chains of iron and bronze.

2. I asked the angel of peace who went with me, saying, “To whom are these who hold the scourges going?”

3. He said to me, “To their elect and beloved ones, that they may be cast into the chasm of the abyss of the valley.

4. Then that valley shall be filled with their elect and beloved, and the days of their lives shall be at an end, and the days of their leading astray shall not thenceforward be reckoned.

Last Struggle of Heathen Powers Against Israel

5. In those days, the angels shall return and hurl themselves to the east upon the Parthians and Medes. They shall stir up the kings so that a spirit of unrest shall come upon them, and they shall rouse them from their thrones that they may break forth as lions from their lairs, and as hungry wolves among their flocks.

6. They shall go up and tread underfoot the land of His elect ones, and the land of His elect ones shall be before them a threshing-floor and a highway.

7. But the city of my righteous shall be a hindrance to their horses. They shall begin to fight among themselves, and their right hand shall be strong against themselves, and a man shall not know his brother, nor a son his father or his mother, until there is no number of the corpses through their slaughter, and their punishment be not in vain.

8. In those days, Sheol shall open its jaws, and they shall be swallowed up by it, and their destruction shall be at an end.

Sheol shall devour the sinners in the presence of the elect.”

CHAPTER 57

1. It came to pass after this that I saw another host of wagons, and men riding on them, and coming on the winds from the east, and from the west to the south.

2. The noise of their wagons was heard, and when this turmoil took place, the holy ones from heaven remarked on it, and the pillars of the earth were moved from their place, and the sound of it was heard from one end of heaven to the other, in one day.

3. They shall all fall down and worship the Lord of Spirits. This is the end of the second Parable.

CHAPTER 58

1. I began to speak the third Parable concerning the righteous and elect.

2. Blessed are you, you righteous and elect, for glorious shall be your lot.

3. The righteous shall be in the light of the sun, and the elect in the light of eternal life, the days of their life shall be unending, and the days of the holy without number.

4. They shall seek the light and find righteousness with the Lord of Spirit. There shall be peace to the righteous in the name of the Eternal Lord.

5. After this, it shall be said to the holy in heaven that they should seek out the secrets of righteousness, the heritage of faith; for it has become bright as the sun upon earth, and the darkness is past.

6. There shall be a light that never ends, and to a limit of days they shall not come, for the darkness shall first have been destroyed, and the light established before the Lord of Spirits, and the light of uprightness established forever before the Lord of Spirits.

CHAPTER 59

1. In those days, my eyes saw the secrets of the lightning and of the lights and the judgments they execute, and they lighten for a blessing or a curse, as the Lord of Spirits wills.

2. There I saw the secrets of the thunder, and how when it resounds above in the heaven, the sound of it is heard, and he caused me to see the judgments executed on the earth, whether they are for well-being and blessing, or for a curse according to the word of the Lord of Spirits.

3. After that, all the secrets of the lights and lightnings were shown to me, and they lighten for blessing and for satisfying.

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