ETHIOPIC MS. BY THE LATE RICHARD LAURENCE, BISHOP OF CASHEL.
CHAP 52
1. There my eyes beheld a deep valley; and wide was its entrance.
2. All who dwell on land, on the sea, and in islands , shall bring to
it gifts, presents, and offerings; yet that deep valley shall not be
full. Their hands shall commit iniquity. Whatsoever they produce by
labour, the sinners shall devour with crime. But they shall perish
from the face of the Lord of spirits, and from the face of his earth.
They shall stand up, and shall not fail for ever and ever.
3. I beheld the angels of punishment , who were dwelling there, and
preparing every instrument of SATAN.
4. Then I inquired of the angel of peace, who proceeded with me, for
whom those instruments were preparing.
5. He said, These they are preparing for the Kings and powerful ones
of the earth, that thus they may perish.
6. After which the righteous and chosen house of his congregation shall
appear, thenceforward unchangeable, in the name of the Lord of spirits.
7. Nor shall those mountains exist in his presence, as the earth and
the hills, as the fountains of water exist. And the righteous shall
be relieved from the vexation of sinners.
CHAP 53
1. Then I looked and turned myself toanother part of the earth, where
I beheld a deep valley burning with fire.
2. To this valley they brought monarchs and the mighty.
3. And there my eyes beheld the instruments which they were making,
fetters of iron without weight.
4. Then I inquired of the angel of peace, who proceeded me, saying,
For whom are these fetters and instruments prepared?
5. He replied, There are prepared for the host of AZAZEEL, that they
may be delivered over and adjudged to the lowest condemnation; and
that their engels may be overwhelmed with hurled stones, as the Lord
of spirits has commanded.
6. MICHAEL and GABRIEL, RAPHAEL and PHANUEL shall be strengthened in
that day, and shall then cast them into a furnace of blazing fire, that
the Lord of spirits may be avenged of them for their crimes; because
they became ministers of SATAN, and seduced those who dwell upon earth.
7. In those days shall punishment go forth from the Lord of spirits;
and the recepticles of water which are above the heavens shall be
opened, and the fountains likewise, which are under the heavens and
under the earth.
CHAP 53
1. Then I looked and turned myself toanother part of the earth, where
I beheld a deep valley burning with fire.
2. To this valley they brought monarchs and the mighty.
3. And there my eyes beheld the instruments which they were making,
fetters of iron without weight.
4. Then I inquired of the angel of peace, who proceeded me, saying,
For whom are these fetters and instruments prepared?
5. He replied, There are prepared for the host of AZAZEEL, that they
may be delivered over and adjudged to the lowest condemnation; and
that their engels may be overwhelmed with hurled stones, as the Lord
of spirits has commanded.
6. MICHAEL and GABRIEL, RAPHAEL and PHANUEL shall be strengthened in
that day, and shall then cast them into a furnace of blazing fire,
that the Lord of spirits may be avenged of them for their crimes;
because they became ministers of SATAN, and seduced those who dwell
upon earth.
7. In those days shall punishment go forth from the Lord of spirits;
and the recepticles of water which are above the heavens shall be
opened, and the fountains likewise, which are under the heavens and
under the earth.
8. All the waters , which are in the heavens and above them, shall
be mixed together.
9. The water which is above heaven shall be the agent;
10. And the water which is under the earth shall be the recipient;
and all shall be destroyed who dwell upon earth, and who dwell under
the extremities of heaven.
11. By these means shall they understand the iniquity which they have
committed on earth: and by these means shall they perish.
CHAP 54
1.Afterwards the ANCIENT of days repente, and said, In vain have I
destroyed all the inhabitations of the earth.
2. And he swore by his great name, saying, Henceforwards I will not
act thus towards all those who dwell upon the earth.
3.But I will place a sign in the heavens; and it shall be a faithful
witness between me and them for ever, as long as the days of heaven
and earth last upon the earth.
4. Afterwards, according to this my decree, when I shall be disposed
to seize them beforehand, by the instrumentality of angels, in the days
of affliction and trouble, my wrath and my punishment shall remain
upon them, my punishment and my wrath, saith GOD the Lord of spirits.
5. O ye kings, O ye mighty, who inhabit the world, you shall behold
my Elect One, sitting upon the throne of my glory. And he shall judge
AZAZEEL, all his associates, and all his hosts, in the name of the
Lord of spirits.
6. There likewise I beheld hosts of angels who were moving in punishment,
confined in a net-work of iron and brass. Then I inquired of the angel
of peace, who proceeded with me, To whom those under confinement were
going.
7. He said, To each of their elect and their beloved, that they may be
cast into the fountains and deep recesses of the valley.
8. And that valley shall be filled with their elect and beloved; the
days of whose life shall be consumed, but the days of their error shall
be innumerable.
9. Then shall princes combine together , and conspire. The chiefs of
the east, among the Parthians and Medes, shall remove kings, in whom
a spirit of perturbations shall enter. They shall hurl them from their
thrones, springing as lions from their dens, and like famished wolves
into the midst of the flock.
10. They shall go up, and tread upon the land of their elect. The land
of their elect shall be before them. The threshing-floor, the path,
and the city of my righteous people shall impede the progress of their
horses. They shall rise up to destroy each other; their right hand
shall be strengthened; nor shall a man acknowledge his friend or his
brother;
11. Nor the son his father and his mother; until the number of the
dead bodies shall be completed, by their death and punishment. Neither
shall this take place without cause.
12. In those days shall the mouth of hell be opened, into which they
shall be immerged; hell shall destroy and swallow up sinners from
the face of the elect.
CHAP 55
1. After this I beheld another army of chariots, with men riding in them.
2. And they came upon the wind from the east, from the west, and from
the south.
3. The sound of the noise of their chariots was heard.
4. And when that agitation took place, the saints out of heaven
percieved it; the pillar of the earth shook from its foundation;
and the sound was heard from the extrem ities of the earth unto the
extremities of heaven at the same time.
5. Then they all fell down, and worshipped the Lord of spirits.
6. This is the end of the second parable.
CHAP 56
1. I now began to utter the third parable,concerning the saints and
the elect.
2. Blessed are ye, O saints and elect, for glorious is your lot.
3. The saints shall exist in the light of the sun, and the elect in
the light of everlasting life, the days of whose life shall never
terminate; nor shall the days of the saints be numbered, who seek
for light, and obtain righteousness with the Lord of spirits.
4. Peace be to the saints with the Lord of the world.
5. Henceforward shall the saints be told to seek in heaven the secrets
of righteousness, the portion of faith; for like the sun has it arisen
upon the earth, while darkness has passed away. There shall be light
interminable: nor shall they enter upon the enumeration of time; for
darkness shall be previously destroyed, and light shall increase before
the Lord of spirits; before the Lord of spirits shall the light of
uprightness increase for ever.
CHAP 57
1. In those days my eyes beheld the secrets of the lightnings and the
splendours , and the judgment belonging to them.
2. They lighten for a blessing and for a curse, according to the will
of the Lord of spirits.
3. And there I saw the secrets of the thunder, when it rattles above
in heaven, and its sound is heard.
4. The habitations also of the earth were shown to me. The sound of
the thunder is for peace and for blessing, as well as for a curse,
according to the word of the Lord of spirits.
5. Afterwards every secret of the splendours and of the lightnings was
seen by me. For blessing and for fertility they lighten.
CHAP 58
1. In the 500th year, and in the 7th month, on the 14th day of the
month, of the lifetime of ENOCH, in that parable, I saw that the
heaven of heavens shook; that it shook violently; and that the powers
of the Most High, and the angels, thousands of thousands, and myriads
of myriads, were agitated with great agitation. And when I looked,
the Ancient of days was sitting on the throne of his glory, while
the angels and saints were standing around him. A great trembling
came upon me, and terror seized me. My loins were bowed down and
loosened; my reins were dissolved; and I fell upon my face. The holy
MICHAEL, another holy angel, one of the holy ones, was sent, who
raised me up.
2. And when he raised me, my spirit returned; for I was incapable
of enduring this vision of violence, its agitation, and the concussion
of heaven.
3. Then holy Michael said to me, Wherefore art thou disturbed at this
vision?
4. Hitherto has existed the day of mercy; and he has been merciful
and longsuffering towards all who dwell upon the earth.
5. But when the time shall come, then shall the power, the punishment,
and the judgement take place, which the lord of spirits has prepared
for those who prostrate themselves to the judgment of righteousness,
for those who abjure that judgment, and for those who take this name
in vain.
6. That day has been prepared for the elect as a day of covenant; and
for sinners as a day of inquisition.
7 In tht day shall be distributed for food two monsters; a female
monster, whose name is LEVIATHAN, dwelling in the depths of the sea,
above the springs of waters;
8. And a male monster, whose name is BEHEMOTH; which possesses,
moving on his breast., the invisible wilderness.
9. His name was DENDAYEN in the east of the garden, where the elect
and the righteous will dwell; where he received it from my ancestor,
who was man, from ADAM the first of men, whom the Lord of spirits made.
10. Then I asked of another angel to show me the power of those
monsters, how they became seperated on the same day, one being in
the depths of the sea, and one in the dry desert.
11. And he said, Thou, son of man, art here desirous of understanding
secret things.
12. And the angel of peace, who was with me, said, These two monsters
are by the power of GOD prepared to become food, that the punishment
of GOD may not be in vain.
13. Then shall children be slain with their mothers, and sons, with
their fathers.
14. And when the punishment of the Lord of spirits shal l continue,
upon them shall it continue, that the
punishment of the Lord of spirits may not take place in vain. After
that, judgment shall exist with mercy and longsuffering.
