1 Enoch 83

And now, my son Methuselah, I will show thee all my visions which I have seen, recounting them before thee.

I lifted up my hands in righteousness, and blessed the holy, and the Great One. I spoke with the breath of my mouth, and with a tongue of flesh, which God has formed for all the sons of mortal men, that with it they may speak; giving them breath, a mouth, and a tongue to converse with.

And now, my son Methuselah, I will show thee all the visions that I have seen, relating 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 vision. And regarding them I prayed to the [paragraph continues] Lord.

Blessed art thou, O Lord, the King, great and powerful in thy greatness, Lord of all the creatures of heaven, King of kings, God of the whole world, whose reign, whose kingdom, and whose majesty endure for ever and ever.

Two visions I saw before I took a wife, and the one of them was not similar to the other ; the first time, when I was learning to write, the second time, before I took thy mother I saw an awful vision ; and on their account I petitioned 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 the earth^a.

From generation to generation shall thy dominion *exist*. All the heavens are thy throne for ever, and all the earth thy footstool for ever and for ever.

As I was reposing in the house of Malalel, my grandfather, I saw there in a vision that the heavens were lowered and disappeared and fell on 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 from their stems, and hurled down and sunk in the abyss.

For thou hast made *them*, and over all thou reignest. No act whatsoever exceeds thy power. With thee wisdom is unchangeable; nor from thy throne and from thy presence is it ever averted. Thou knowest all things, seest and hearest them; nor is anything concealed from thee; for thou perceivest all things.

And as it fell on the earth I saw the earth that it was devoured in a THE BOOK OF ENOCH. 207 great abyss, and mountains descended on mountains, and hills sank upon hills, and high trees were torn from the trunks, and fell down and sank into the abyss.

And thereupon a word fell into my mouth, and I lifted up (my voice) to cry aloud, and said: 'The earth is destroyed.'

The angels of thy heavens have transgressed; and on mortal flesh shall thy wrath remain, [^l1] until the day of the great judgment.

And on account of this a speech fell into my mouth, and I began to cry and to say : " 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 dost thou make such lamentation?'

Now then, O God, Lord and mighty King, I entreat thee, and beseech thee to grant my prayer, that a posterity may be left to me on earth, and that the whole human race may not perish;

And Malalel, my grandfather, aroused me, as I was reposing near him, and said to me : " Why dost thou cry so, my son, and why dost thou lament so ? "

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 of all the sin of the earth: it must sink into the abyss and be destroyed with a great destruction.

That the earth may not be left destitute, and destruction take place for ever.

And I related to him the whole vision which I had seen, and he said to me : " A terrible thing thou hast seen, my son, and the power of the vision of thy dream is concerning the secrets of all the sins of the earth ; it will be about to descend into the abyss and be destroyed terribly.

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 earth.

O my Lord, let the race perish from off the earth which has offended thee, but a righteous and upright race establish for a posterity [^l1] for ever. Hide not thy face, O Lord, from the prayer of thy servant.

And now, my son, arise and petition the Lord of glory — since thou art a believer — that a remnant may remain on the earth and all the earth be not destroyed.

My son, from heaven all this will come upon the earth, and upon the earth there will be great destruction.

(not present in Laurence 1821)

My son, from heaven all this will come on the earth, and over the eartli there will be a great 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.

(not present in Laurence 1821)

After that I arose and prayed and petitioned, and wrote down my prayer for the generations of the world, and I will show thee everything, 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.

(not present in Laurence 1821)

And as I went out below, and looked at the heavens and the sun rising in the east, and the moon descending in the west, and some few stars, and everything as he had known it from the first, I blessed the Lord of the judgment, and to him I gave greatness, because he led forth the sun from the windows of the east, and lie ascends and rises on the surface of the heavens, and elevates himself, and goes the path which is shown to him.