Fallen Angels and the Origins of Evil (11 page)

14 They shall all entreat thee, but their fathers shall not obtain
their wishes
respecting them; for they shall hope for eternal life, and that they may live, each of them, five hundred years.

15 To Michael likewise the Lord said, Go and announce
his crime
to Samyaza, and to the others who are with him, who have been associated with women, that they might be polluted with all their impurity. And when all their sons shall be slain, when they shall see the perdition of their beloved, bind them for seventy generations underneath the earth, even to the day of judgment, and of consummation, until the judgment,
the effect of
which will last for ever, be completed.

16 Then shall they be taken away into the lowest depths of the fire in torments; and in confinement shall they be shut up for ever.

17 Immediately after this shall he [i.e., Samyaza], together with them, burn and perish; they shall be bound until the consummation of many generations.

18 Destroy all the souls addicted to dalliance [or, “lust” (Knibb, p. 90; cp. Charles, p. 76)], and the offspring of the Watchers, for they have tyrannized over mankind.

19 Let every oppressor perish from the face of the earth;

20 Let every evil work be destroyed;

21 The plant of righteousness and of rectitude appear, and its produce become a blessing.

22 Righteousness and rectitude shall be for ever planted with delight.

23 And then shall all the saints give thanks, and live until they have begotten a thousand
children,
while the whole period of their youth, and their sabbaths shall be completed in peace. In those days all the earth shall be cultivated in righteousness; it shall be wholly planted with trees, and filled with benediction; every tree of delight shall be planted in it.

24 In it shall vines be planted; and the vine which shall be planted in it shall yield fruit to satiety; every seed, which shall be sown in it, shall produce for one measure a thousand; and one measure of olives shall produce ten presses of oil.

25 Purify the earth from all oppression, from all injustice, from all crime, from all impiety, and from all the pollution which is committed upon it. Exterminate them from the earth.

26 Then shall all the children of men be righteous, and all nations shall pay me divine honours, and bless me; and all shall adore me.

27 The earth shall be cleansed from all corruption, from every crime, from all punishment, and from all suffering; neither will I again send a deluge upon it from generation to generation for ever.

28 In those days I will open the treasures of blessing which are in heaven, that I may cause them to descend upon earth, and upon all the works and labour of man.

29 Peace and equity shall associate with the sons of men all the days of the world, in every generation of it.

1 Before all these things Enoch was concealed; nor did any one of the sons of men know where he was concealed, where he had been, and what had happened.

2 He was wholly engaged with the holy ones, and with the Watchers in his days.

3 I, Enoch, was blessing the great Lord and King of peace.

4 And behold the Watchers called me Enoch the scribe.

5 Then
the Lord
said to me: Enoch, scribe of righteousness, go tell the Watchers of heaven, who have deserted the lofty sky, and their holy everlasting station,
who
have been polluted with women.

6 And have done as the sons of men do, by taking to themselves wives, and
who
have been greatly corrupted on the earth;

7 That on the earth they shall never obtain peace and remission of sin. For they shall not rejoice in their offspring; they shall behold the slaughter of their beloved; shall lament for the destruction of their sons; and shall petition for ever; but shall not obtain mercy and peace.

1 Then Enoch, passing on, said to Azazyel: Thou shalt not obtain peace. A great sentence is gone forth against thee. He shall bind thee;

2 Neither shall relief, mercy, and supplication be thine, on account of the oppression which thou hast taught;

3 And on account of every act of blasphemy, tyranny, and sin, which thou hast discovered to the children of men.

4 Then departing
from him
I spoke to them all together;

5 And they all became terrified, and trembled;

6 Beseeching me to write for them a memorial of supplication, that they might obtain forgiveness; and that I might make the memorial of their prayer ascend up before the God of heaven; because they could not themselves thenceforwards address him, nor raise up their eyes to heaven on account of the disgraceful offence for which they were judged.

7 Then I wrote a memorial of their prayer and supplication, for their spirits, for everything which they had done, and for the subject of their entreaty, that they might obtain remission and rest.

8 Proceeding on, I continued over the waters of Danbadan [Dan in Dan (Knibb, p. 94)], which is on the right to the west of Armon, reading the memorial of their prayer, until I fell asleep.

9 And behold a dream came to me, and visions appeared above me. I fell down and saw a vision of punishment, that I might relate it to the sons of heaven, and reprove them. When I awoke I went to them. All being collected together stood weeping in Oubelseyael, which is situated between Libanos and Seneser [Lebanon and Senir (near Damascus)], with their faces veiled.

10 I related in their presence all the visions which I had seen, and my dream;

11 And began to utter these words of righteousness, reproving the Watchers of heaven.

1 This is the book of the words of righteousness, and of the reproof of the Watchers, who belong to the world [or, “who (are) from eternity” (Knibb, p. 95)], according to that which He, who is holy and great, commanded in the vision. I perceived in my dream, that I was now speaking with a tongue of flesh, and with my breath, which the Mighty One has put into the mouth of men, that they might converse with it.

2 And understand with the heart. As he has created and given to men
the power of
comprehending the word of understanding, so has he created and given to me
the power of
reproving the Watchers, the offspring of heaven. I have written your petition; and in my vision it has been shown me, that what you request will not be granted you as long as the world endures.

3 Judgment has been passed upon you:
your request
will not be granted you.

4 From this time forward, never shall you ascend into heaven; He has said, that on the earth He will bind you, as long as the world endures.

5 But before these things you shall behold the destruction of your beloved sons; you shall not possess them, but they shall fall before you by the sword.

6 Neither shall you entreat for them, nor for yourselves;

7 But you shall weep and supplicate in silence. The words of the book which I wrote [or, “Likewise despite your tears and prayers you will receive nothing whatever contained in the writing which I have written” (Charles, p. 80)].

8 A vision thus appeared to me.

9 Behold, in
that
vision clouds and a mist invited me; agitated stars and flashes of lightning impelled and pressed me forwards, while winds in the vision assisted my flight, accelerating my progress.

10 They elevated me aloft to heaven. I proceeded, until I arrived at a wall built with stones of crystal. A vibrating flame [literally, “a tongue of fire” (Laurence, p. 18)] surrounded it, which began to strike me with terror.

11 Into this vibrating flame I entered;

12 And drew nigh to a spacious habitation built also with stones of crystal. Its walls too, as well as pavement, were
formed
with stones of crystal, and crystal likewise was the ground. Its roof had the appearance of agitated stars and flashes of lightning; and among them were cherubim of fire in a stormy sky [literally, “and their heaven was water” (Charles, p. 81)]. A flame burned around its walls; and its portal blazed with fire. When I entered into this dwelling, it was hot as fire and cold as ice. No
trace
of delight or of life was there. Terror overwhelmed me, and a fearful shaking seized me.

13 Violently agitated and trembling, I fell upon my face. In the vision I looked,

14 And behold there was another habitation more spacious than
the former,
every entrance to which was open before me, erected in
the midst of
a vibrating flame.

15 So greatly did it excel in all points, in glory, in magnificence, and in magnitude, that it is impossible to describe to you either the splendour or the extent of it.

16 Its floor was on fire; above were lightnings and agitated stars, while its roof exhibited a blazing fire.

17 Attentively I surveyed it, and saw that it contained an exalted throne;

18 The appearance of which was like that of frost; while its circumference resembled the orb of the brilliant sun; and
there was
the voice of the cherubim.

19 From underneath this mighty throne rivers of flaming fire issued.

20 To look upon it was impossible.

21 One great in glory sat upon it:

22 Whose robe was brighter than the sun, and whiter than snow.

23 No angel was capable of penetrating to view the face of Him, the Glorious and the Effulgent; nor could any mortal behold Him. A fire was flaming around Him.

24 A fire also of great extent continued to rise up before Him; so that not one of those who surrounded Him was capable of approaching Him, among the myriads of myriads [ten thousand times ten thousands (Knibb, p. 99)] who were before Him. To Him holy consultation was needless. Yet did not the sanctified, who were near Him, depart far from Him either by night or by day; nor were they removed from Him. I also was so far advanced, with a veil on my face, and trembling. Then the Lord with his
own
mouth called me, saying, Approach hither, Enoch, at my holy word.

25 And He raised me up, making me draw near even to the entrance. My eye was directed to the ground.

1 Then addressing me, He spoke and said, Hear, neither be afraid, O righteous Enoch, thou scribe of righteousness: approach hither, and hear my voice. Go, say to the Watchers of heaven, who have sent thee to pray for them, You ought to pray for men, and not men for you.

2 Wherefore have you forsaken the lofty and holy heaven, which endures for ever, and have lain with women; have defiled yourselves with the daughters of men; have taken to yourselves wives; have acted like the sons of the earth, and have begotten an impious offspring? [literally, “giants” (Charles, p. 82; Knibb, p. 101)]

3 You being spiritual, holy, and possessing a life which is eternal, have polluted yourselves with women; have begotten in carnal blood; have lusted in the blood of men; and have done as those
who are
flesh and blood do.

4 These however die and perish.

5 Therefore have I given to them wives, that they might cohabit with them; that sons might be born of them; and that this might be transacted upon earth.

6 But you from the beginning were made spiritual, possessing a life which is eternal, and not subject to death for ever.

7 Therefore I made not wives for you, because, being spiritual, your dwelling is in heaven.

8 Now the giants, who have been born of spirit and of flesh, shall be called upon earth evil spirits, and on earth shall be their habitation. Evil spirits shall proceed from their flesh, because they were created from above; from the holy Watchers was their beginning and primary foundation. Evil spirits shall they be upon earth, and the spirits of the wicked shall they be called. The habitation of the spirits of heaven shall be in heaven; but upon earth shall be the habitation of terrestrial spirits, who are born on earth.
[115]

9 The spirits of the giants
shall be like clouds,
[116]
which shall oppress, corrupt, fall, contend, and bruise upon earth.

10 They shall cause lamentation. No food shall they eat; and they shall be thirsty; they shall be concealed, and shall not
[117]
rise up against the sons of men, and against women; for they come forth during the days of slaughter and destruction.

1 And as to the death of the giants, wheresoever their spirits depart from their bodies, let their flesh, that which is perishable, be without judgment [or, “their flesh shall be destroyed before the judgment” (Knibb, p. 102)]. Thus shall they perish, until the day of the great consummation of the great world. A destruction shall take place of the Watchers and the impious.

2 And now to the Watchers, who have sent thee to pray for them, who in the beginning were in heaven,

3
Say,
In heaven have you been; secret things, however, have not been manifested to you; yet have you known a reprobated mystery.

4 And this you have related to women in the hardness of your heart, and by that mystery have women and mankind multiplied evils upon the earth.

5 Say to them, Never therefore shall you obtain peace.

1 They raised me up into a certain place, where there was [or, “where they (the angels) were like” (Knibb, p. 103)] the appearance of a burning fire; and when they pleased they assumed the likeness of men.

2 They carried me to a lofty spot, to a mountain, the top of which reached to heaven.

3 And I beheld the receptacles of light and of thunder at the extremities of the place, where it was deepest. There was a bow of fire, and arrows in their quiver, a sword of fire, and every species of lightning.

4 Then they elevated me to a babbling stream [literally, “to water of life, which spoke” (Laurence, p. 23)], and to a fire in the west, which received all the setting of the sun. I came to a river of fire, which flowed like water, and emptied itself into the great sea westwards.

5 I saw every large river, until I arrived at the great darkness. I went to where all of flesh migrate; and I beheld the mountains of the gloom which constitutes winter, and the place from which issues the water in every abyss.