Book of Enoch

iconChapter - 9

1Then I made a circuit to a place in which nothing was completed.
2And there I beheld neither the tremendous workmanship of an exalted heaven, nor of an established earth, but a desolate spot, prepared, and terrific.
3There, too, I beheld seven stars of heaven bound in it together, like great mountains, and like a blazing fire.
4I exclaimed, For what species of crime have they been bound, and why have they been removed to this place?
5Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, and who conducted me, answered: Enoch, wherefore do you ask; wherefore do you reason with yourself, and anxiously inquire?
6These are those of the stars which have transgressed the commandment of the most high God; and are here bound, until the infinite number of the days of their crimes be completed.
7From there I afterwards passed on to another terrific place;
8Where I beheld the operation of a great fire blazing and glittering, in the midst of which there was a division.
9Columns of fire struggled together to the end of the abyss, and deep was their descent.
10But neither its measurement nor magnitude was I able to discover; neither could I perceive its origin.
11Then I exclaimed, How terrible is this place, and how difficult to explore!
12Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: Enoch, why are you alarmed and amazed at this terrific place, at the sight of this place of suffering?
13This, he said, is the prison of the angels; and here they are kept for ever.
14From there I proceeded to another spot, where I saw on the west a great and lofty mountain, a strong rock, and four delightful places.
15Internally it was deep, capacious, and very smooth; as smooth as if it had been rolled over: it was both deep and dark to behold.
16Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who were with me, answered and said, These are the delightful places where the spirits, the souls of the dead, will be collected; for them were they formed; and here will be collected all the souls of the sons of men.
17These places, in which they dwell, shall they occupy until the day of judgment, and until their appointed period.
18Their appointed period will be long, even until the great judgment.
19And I saw the spirits of the sons of men who were dead; and their voices reached to heaven, while they were accusing.
20Then I inquired of Raphael, an angel who was with me, and said, Whose spirit is that, the voice of which reaches to heaven, and accuses?
21He answered, saying, This is the spirit of Abel who was slain by Cain his brother; and who will accuse that brother, until his seed be destroyed from the face of the earth;
22Until his seed perish from the seed of the human race.
23At that time therefore I inquired respecting him, and respecting the general judgment, saying, Why is one separated from another? He answered, Three separations have been made between the spirits of the dead, and thus have the spirits of the righteous been separated.
24Namely, by a chasm, by water, and by light above it.
25And in the same way likewise are sinners separated when they die, and are buried in the earth; judgment not overtaking them in their lifetime.
26Here their souls are separated. Moreover, abundant is their suffering until the time of the great judgment, the castigation, and the torment of those who eternally execrate, whose souls are punished and bound there for ever.
27And thus has it been from the beginning of the world.
28Thus has there existed a separation between the souls of those who utter complaints, and of those who watch for their destruction, to slaughter them in the day of sinners.
29A receptacle of this sort has been formed for the souls of unrighteous men, and of sinners; of those who have completed crime, and associated with the impious, whom they resemble. Their souls shall not be annihilated in the day of judgment, neither shall they arise from this place.
30Then I blessed God,
31And said, Blessed by my Lord, the Lord of glory and of righteousness,
32who reigns over all for ever and ever.