Book 4 – Dreams

Enoch Book 4

Dream-Visions

Section IV. Chapters 83 – 90

Chapter 83

1 And now, my son Methuselah, I will show thee all my visions which I have
seen, recounting 2 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 3 vision. And regarding
them I prayed 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
4 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 5 from their stems, and hurled down and sunk
in the abyss. And thereupon a word fell into my mouth, 6 and I lifted up (my voice)
to cry aloud, and said: ‘ 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 7 dost thou make such lamentation?’ 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 8 a great destruction.
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 9 earth. My son, from heaven all this will come upon the earth, and
upon the earth there will be great 10 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. 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.

Chapter 84

1 And I lifted up my hands in righteousness and blessed the Holy and Great
One, and spake with the breath of my mouth, and with the tongue of flesh, which
God has made for the children of the flesh of men, that they should speak therewith,
and He gave them breath and a tongue and a mouth that they should speak therewith:
2 Blessed be Thou, O Lord, King, Great and mighty in Thy greatness, Lord of the
whole creation of the heaven, King of kings and God of the whole world. And Thy
power and kingship and greatness abide for ever and ever, And throughout all generations
Thy dominion; And all the heavens are Thy throne for ever, And the whole earth
Thy footstool for ever and ever. 3 For Thou hast made and Thou rulest all things,
And nothing is too hard for Thee, Wisdom departs not from the place of Thy throne,
Nor turns away from Thy presence. And Thou knowest and seest and hearest everything,
And there is nothing hidden from Thee (for Thou seest everything). 4 And now the
angels of Thy heavens are guilty of trespass, And upon the flesh of men abideth
Thy wrath until the great day of judgement. 5 And now, O God and Lord and Great
King, I implore and beseech Thee to fulfil my prayer, To leave me a posterity
on earth, And not destroy all the flesh of man, And make the earth without inhabitant,
So that there should be an eternal destruction. 6 And now, my Lord, destroy from
the earth the flesh which has aroused Thy wrath, But the flesh of righteousness
and uprightness establish as a plant of the eternal seed, And hide not Thy face
from the prayer of Thy servant, O Lord.’

Chapter 85

1,2 And after this I saw another dream, and I will show the whole dream to
thee, my son. And Enoch lifted up (his voice) and spake to his son Methuselah:
‘ To thee, my son, will I speak: hear my words-incline thine ear to the dream-vision
of thy father. Before I took thy mother Edna, I saw in a vision on my bed, and
behold a bull came forth from the earth, and that bull was white; and after it
came forth a heifer, and along with this (latter) came forth two bulls, one of
them black and 4 the other red. And that black bull gored the red one and pursued
him over the earth, and thereupon 5 I could no longer see that red bull. But that
black bull grew and that heifer went with him, and 6 I saw that many oxen proceeded
from him which resembled and followed him. And that cow, that first one, went
from the presence of that first bull in order to seek that red one, but found
him 7 not, and lamented with a great lamentation over him and sought him. And
I looked till that first 8 bull came to her and quieted her, and from that time
onward she cried no more. And after that she bore another white bull, and after
him she bore many bulls and black cows. 9 And I saw in my sleep that white bull
likewise grow and become a great white bull, and from Him proceeded many white
bulls, and they resembled him. And they began to beget many white bulls, which
resembled them, one following the other, (even) many.

Chapter 86

1 And again I saw with mine eyes as I slept, and I saw the heaven above, and
behold a star fell 2 from heaven, and it arose and eat and pastured amongst those
oxen. And after that I saw the large and the black oxen, and behold they all changed
their stalls and pastures and their cattle, and began 3 to live with each other.
And again I saw in the vision, and looked towards the heaven, and behold I saw
many stars descend and cast themselves down from heaven to that first star, and
they became 4 bulls amongst those cattle and pastured with them (amongst them).
And I looked at them and saw, and behold they all let out their privy members,
like horses, and began to cover the cows of the oxen, 5 and they all became pregnant
and bare elephants, camels, and asses. And all the oxen feared them and were affrighted
at them, and began to bite with their teeth and to devour, and to gore with their
6 horns. And they began, moreover, to devour those oxen; and behold all the children
of the earth began to tremble and quake before them and to flee from them.

Chapter 87

1 And again I saw how they began to gore each other and to devour each other,
and the earth 2 began to cry aloud. And I raised mine eyes again to heaven, and
I saw in the vision, and behold there came forth from heaven beings who were like
white men: and four went forth from that place 3 and three with them. And those
three that had last come forth grasped me by my hand and took me up, away from
the generations of the earth, and raised me up to a lofty place, and showed me
4 a tower raised high above the earth, and all the hills were lower. And one said
unto me: ‘ Remain here till thou seest everything that befalls those elephants,
camels, and asses, and the stars and the oxen, and all of them.’

Chapter 88

1 And I saw one of those four who had come forth first, and he seized that
first star which had fallen from the heaven, and bound it hand and foot and cast
it into an abyss: now that abyss was 2 narrow and deep, and horrible and dark.
And one of them drew a sword, and gave it to those elephants and camels and asses:
then they began to smite each other, and the whole earth quaked 3 because of them.
And as I was beholding in the vision, lo, one of those four who had come forth
stoned (them) from heaven, and gathered and took all the great stars whose privy
members were like those of horses, and bound them all hand and foot, and cast
them in an abyss of the earth.

Chapter 89

1 And one of those four went to that white bull and instructed him in a secret,
without his being terrified: he was born a bull and became a man, and built for
himself a great vessel and dwelt thereon; 2 and three bulls dwelt with him in
that vessel and they were covered in. And again I raised mine eyes towards heaven
and saw a lofty roof, with seven water torrents thereon, and those torrents 3
flowed with much water into an enclosure. And I saw again, and behold fountains
were opened on the surface of that great enclosure, and that water began to swell
and rise upon the surface, 4 and I saw that enclosure till all its surface was
covered with water. And the water, the darkness, and mist increased upon it; and
as I looked at the height of that water, that water had risen above the height
of that enclosure, and was streaming over that enclosure, and it stood upon the
earth. 5 And all the cattle of that enclosure were gathered together until I saw
how they sank and were 6 swallowed up and perished in that water. But that vessel
floated on the water, while all the oxen and elephants and camels and asses sank
to the bottom with all the animals, so that I could no longer see them, and they
were not able to escape, (but) perished and sank into the depths. And again I
saw in the vision till those water torrents were removed from that high roof,
and the chasms 8 of the earth were leveled up and other abysses were opened. Then
the water began to run down into these, till the earth became visible; but that
vessel settled on the earth, and the darkness 9 retired and light appeared. But
that white bull which had become a man came out of that vessel, and the three
bulls with him, and one of those three was white like that bull, and one of them
was red as blood, and one black: and that white bull departed from them. 10 And
they began to bring forth beasts of the field and birds, so that there arose different
genera: lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild boars, foxes, squirrels, swine,
falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and ravens; and among them was born a white
bull. And they began to bite one another; but that white bull which was born amongst
them begat a wild ass and a white bull with it, and the 12 wild asses multiplied.
But that bull which was born from him begat a black wild boar and a white 13 sheep;
and the former begat many boars, but that sheep begat twelve sheep. And when those
twelve sheep had grown, they gave up one of them to the asses, and those asses
again gave up that sheep to the wolves, and that sheep grew up among the wolves.
And the Lord brought the eleven sheep to live with it and to pasture with it among
the wolves: and they multiplied and became many flocks of sheep. And the wolves
began to fear them, and they oppressed them until they destroyed their little
ones, and they cast their young into a river of much water: but those sheep began
to 16 cry aloud on account of their little ones, and to complain unto their Lord.
And a sheep which had been saved from the wolves fled and escaped to the wild
asses; and I saw the sheep how they lamented and cried, and besought their Lord
with all their might, till that Lord of the sheep descended at the voice of the
sheep from a lofty abode, and came to them and pastured them. And He called that
sheep which had escaped the wolves, and spake with it concerning the wolves that
it should 18 admonish them not to touch the sheep. And the sheep went to the wolves
according to the word of the Lord, and another sheep met it and went with it,
and the two went and entered together into the assembly of those wolves, and spake
with them and admonished them not to touch the 19 sheep from henceforth. And thereupon
I saw the wolves, and how they oppressed the sheep 20 exceedingly with all their
power; and the sheep cried aloud. And the Lord came to the sheep and they began
to smite those wolves: and the wolves began to make lamentation; but the sheep
became 21 quiet and forthwith ceased to cry out. And I saw the sheep till they
departed from amongst the wolves; but the eyes of the wolves were blinded, and
those wolves departed in pursuit of the sheep 22 with all their power. And the
Lord of the sheep went with them, as their leader, and all His sheep 23 followed
Him: and his face was dazzling and glorious and terrible to behold. But the wolves
24 began to pursue those sheep till they reached a sea of water. And that sea
was divided, and the water stood on this side and on that before their face, and
their Lord led them and placed Himself between 25 them and the wolves. And as
those wolves did not yet see the sheep, they proceeded into the midst of that
sea, and the wolves followed the sheep, and (those wolves) ran after them into
that sea. 26 And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned to flee before
His face, but that sea gathered itself together, and became as it had been created,
and the water swelled and rose till it covered 27 those wolves. And I saw till
all the wolves who pursued those sheep perished and were drowned. 28 But the sheep
escaped from that water and went forth into a wilderness, where there was no water
and no grass; and they began to open their eyes and to see; and I saw the Lord
of the sheep 29 pasturing them and giving them water and grass, and that sheep
going and leading them. And that 30 sheep ascended to the summit of that lofty
rock, and the Lord of the sheep sent it to them. And after that I saw the Lord
of the sheep who stood before them, and His appearance was great and 31 terrible
and majestic, and all those sheep saw Him and were afraid before His face. And
they all feared and trembled because of Him, and they cried to that sheep with
them (which was amongst 32 them): ‘ We are not able to stand before our Lord or
to behold Him.’ And that sheep which led them again ascended to the summit of
that rock, but the sheep began to be blinded and to wander 33 from the way which
he had showed them, but that sheep wot not thereof. And the Lord of the sheep
was wrathful exceedingly against them, and that sheep discovered it, and went
down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep, and found the greatest
part of them blinded and fallen 34 away. And when they saw it they feared and
trembled at its presence, and desired to return to their 35 folds. And that sheep
took other sheep with it, and came to those sheep which had fallen away, and began
to slay them; and the sheep feared its presence, and thus that sheep brought back
those 36 sheep that had fallen away, and they returned to their folds. And I saw
in this vision till that sheep became a man and built a house for the Lord of
the sheep, and placed all the sheep in that house. 37 And I saw till this sheep
which had met that sheep which led them fell asleep: and I saw till all the great
sheep perished and little ones arose in their place, and they came to a pasture,
and 38 approached a stream of water. Then that sheep, their leader which had become
a man, withdrew 39 from them and fell asleep, and all the sheep sought it and
cried over it with a great crying. And I saw till they left off crying for that
sheep and crossed that stream of water, and there arose the two sheep as leaders
in the place of those which had led them and fallen asleep (lit. ‘ had fallen
asleep and led 40 them ‘). And I saw till the sheep came to a goodly place, and
a pleasant and glorious land, and I saw till those sheep were satisfied; and that
house stood amongst them in the pleasant land. 41 And sometimes their eyes were
opened, and sometimes blinded, till another sheep arose and led them and brought
them all back, and their eyes were opened. 42 And the dogs and the foxes and the
wild boars began to devour those sheep till the Lord of the sheep raised up (another
sheep) a ram from their 43 midst, which led them. And that ram began to butt on
either side those dogs, foxes, and wild 44 boars till he had destroyed them all.
And that sheep whose eyes were opened saw that ram, which was amongst the sheep,
till it forsook its glory and began to butt those sheep, and trampled upon them,
and behaved itself 45 unseemly. And the Lord of the sheep sent the lamb to another
lamb and raised it to being a ram and leader of the sheep instead of that 46 ram
which had forsaken its glory. And it went to it and spake to it alone, and raised
it to being a ram, and made it the prince and leader of the sheep; but during
all these things those dogs 47 oppressed the sheep. And the first ram pursued
that second ram, and that second ram arose and fled before it; and I saw till
those dogs pulled 48 down the first ram. And that second ram arose 49 and led
the (little) sheep. And those sheep grew and multiplied; but all the dogs, and
foxes, and wild boars feared and fled before it, and that ram butted and killed
the wild beasts, and those wild beasts had no longer any power among the 48b sheep
and robbed them no more of ought. And that ram begat many sheep and fell asleep;
and a little sheep became ram in its stead, and became prince and leader of those
sheep. 50 And that house became great and broad, and it was built for those sheep:
(and) a tower lofty and great was built on the house for the Lord of the sheep,
and that house was low, but the tower was elevated and lofty, and the Lord of
the sheep stood on that tower and they offered a full table before Him. 51 And
again I saw those sheep that they again erred and went many ways, and forsook
that their house, and the Lord of the sheep called some from amongst the sheep
and sent them to the sheep, 52 but the sheep began to slay them. And one of them
was saved and was not slain, and it sped away and cried aloud over the sheep;
and they sought to slay it, but the Lord of the sheep saved it from 53 the sheep,
and brought it up to me, and caused it to dwell there. And many other sheep He
sent to those sheep to testify unto them and lament over them. And after that
I saw that when they forsook the house of the Lord and His tower they fell away
entirely, and their eyes were blinded; and I saw the Lord of the sheep how He
wrought much slaughter amongst them in their herds until 55 those sheep invited
that slaughter and betrayed His place. And He gave them over into the hands of
the lions and tigers, and wolves and hyenas, and into the hand of the foxes, and
to all the wild 56 beasts, and those wild beasts began to tear in pieces those
sheep. And I saw that He forsook that their house and their tower and gave them
all into the hand of the lions, to tear and devour them, 57 into the hand of all
the wild beasts. And I began to cry aloud with all my power, and to appeal to
the Lord of the sheep, and to represent to Him in regard to the sheep that they
were devoured 58 by all the wild beasts. But He remained unmoved, though He saw
it, and rejoiced that they were devoured and swallowed and robbed, and left them
to be devoured in the hand of all the beasts. 59 And He called seventy shepherds,
and cast those sheep to them that they might pasture them, and He spake to the
shepherds and their companions: ‘ Let each individual of you pasture the sheep
60 henceforward, and everything that I shall command you that do ye. And I will
deliver them over unto you duly numbered, and tell you which of them are to be
destroyed-and them destroy ye.’ And 61 He gave over unto them those sheep. And
He called another and spake unto him: ‘ Observe and mark everything that the shepherds
will do to those sheep; for they will destroy more of them than 62 I have commanded
them. And every excess and the destruction which will be wrought through the shepherds,
record (namely) how many they destroy according to my command, and how many according
to their own caprice: record against every individual shepherd all the destruction
he 63 effects. And read out before me by number how many they destroy, and how
many they deliver over for destruction, that I may have this as a testimony against
them, and know every deed of the shepherds, that I may comprehend and see what
they do, whether or not they abide by my 64 command which I have commanded them.
But they shall not know it, and thou shalt not declare it to them, nor admonish
them, but only record against each individual all the destruction which 65 the
shepherds effect each in his time and lay it all before me.’ And I saw till those
shepherds pastured in their season, and they began to slay and to destroy more
than they were bidden, and they delivered 66 those sheep into the hand of the
lions. And the lions and tigers eat and devoured the greater part of those sheep,
and the wild boars eat along with them; and they burnt that tower and demolished
67 that house. And I became exceedingly sorrowful over that tower because that
house of the sheep was demolished, and afterwards I was unable to see if those
sheep entered that house. 68 And the shepherds and their associates delivered
over those sheep to all the wild beasts, to devour them, and each one of them
received in his time a definite number: it was written by the other 69 in a book
how many each one of them destroyed of them. And each one slew and destroyed many
70 more than was prescribed; and I began to weep and lament on account of those
sheep. And thus in the vision I saw that one who wrote, how he wrote down every
one that was destroyed by those shepherds, day by day, and carried up and laid
down and showed actually the whole book to the Lord of the sheep-(even) everything
that they had done, and all that each one of them had made 71 away with, and all
that they had given over to destruction. And the book was read before the Lord
of the sheep, and He took the book from his hand and read it and sealed it and
laid it down. 72 And forthwith I saw how the shepherds pastured for twelve hours,
and behold three of those sheep turned back and came and entered and began to
build up all that had fallen down of that 73 house; but the wild boars tried to
hinder them, but they were not able. And they began again to build as before,
and they reared up that tower, and it was named the high tower; and they began
again to place a table before the tower, but all the bread on it was polluted
and not pure. 74 And as touching all this the eyes of those sheep were blinded
so that they saw not, and (the eyes of) their shepherds likewise; and they delivered
them in large numbers to their shepherds for 75 destruction, and they trampled
the sheep with their feet and devoured them. And the Lord of the sheep remained
unmoved till all the sheep were dispersed over the field and mingled with them
(i.e. the 76 beasts), and they (i.e. the shepherds) did not save them out of the
hand of the beasts. And this one who wrote the book carried it up, and showed
it and read it before the Lord of the sheep, and implored Him on their account,
and besought Him on their account as he showed Him all the doings 77 of the shepherds,
and gave testimony before Him against all the shepherds. And he took the actual
book and laid it down beside Him and departed.

Chapter 90

1 And I saw till that in this manner thirty-five shepherds undertook the pasturing
(of the sheep), and they severally completed their periods as did the first; and
others received them into their 2 hands, to pasture them for their period, each
shepherd in his own period. And after that I saw in my vision all the birds of
heaven coming, the eagles, the vultures, the kites, the ravens; but the eagles
led all the birds; and they began to devour those sheep, and to pick out their
eyes and to 3 devour their flesh. And the sheep cried out because their flesh
was being devoured by the birds, 4 and as for me I looked and lamented in my sleep
over that shepherd who pastured the sheep. And I saw until those sheep were devoured
by the dogs and eagles and kites, and they left neither flesh nor skin nor sinew
remaining on them till only their bones stood there: and their bones too fell
5 to the earth and the sheep became few. And I saw until that twenty-three had
undertaken the pasturing and completed in their several periods fifty-eight times.
6 But behold lambs were borne by those white sheep, and they began to open their
eyes and to see, 7 and to cry to the sheep. Yea, they cried to them, but they
did not hearken to what they said to 8 them, but were exceedingly deaf, and their
eyes were very exceedingly blinded. And I saw in the vision how the ravens flew
upon those lambs and took one of those lambs, and dashed the sheep 9 in pieces
and devoured them. And I saw till horns grew upon those lambs, and the ravens
cast down their horns; and I saw till there sprouted a great horn of one of those
sheep, and their eyes 10 were opened. And it looked at them (and their eyes opened),
and it cried to the sheep, and the 11 rams saw it and all ran to it. And notwithstanding
all this those eagles and vultures and ravens and kites still kept tearing the
sheep and swooping down upon them and devouring them: still the sheep remained
silent, but the rams lamented and cried out. And those ravens fought and battled
with it and sought to lay low its horn, but they had no power over it. All the
eagles and vultures and ravens and kites were gathered together, and there came
with them all the sheep of the field, yea, they all came together, and helped
each other to break that horn of the ram. 19 And I saw till a great sword was
given to the sheep, and the sheep proceeded against all the beasts of the field
to slay them, and all the beasts and the birds of the heaven fled before their
face. And I saw that man, who wrote the book according to the command of the Lord,
till he opened that book concerning the destruction which those twelve last shepherds
had wrought, and showed that they had destroyed much more than their predecessors,
before the Lord of the sheep. And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto them
and took in His hand the staff of His wrath, and smote the earth, and the earth
clave asunder, and all the beasts and all the birds of the heaven fell from among
those sheep, and were swallowed up in the earth and it covered them. 20 And I
saw till a throne was erected in the pleasant land, and the Lord of the sheep
sat Himself thereon, and the other took the sealed books and opened those books
before the Lord of the sheep. 21 And the Lord called those men the seven first
white ones, and commanded that they should bring before Him, beginning with the
first star which led the way, all the stars whose privy members 22 were like those
of horses, and they brought them all before Him. And He said to that man who wrote
before Him, being one of those seven white ones, and said unto him: ‘ Take those
seventy shepherds to whom I delivered the sheep, and who taking them on their
own authority slew more 23 than I commanded them.’ And behold they were all bound,
I saw, and they all stood before Him. 24 And the judgement was held first over
the stars, and they were judged and found guilty, and went to the place of condemnation,
and they were cast into an abyss, full of fire and flaming, and full 25 of pillars
of fire. And those seventy shepherds were judged and found guilty, and they were
cast 26 into that fiery abyss. And I saw at that time how a like abyss was opened
in the midst of the earth, full of fire, and they brought those blinded sheep,
and they were all judged and found guilty and 27 cast into this fiery abyss, and
they burned; now this abyss was to the right of that house. And I saw those sheep
burning and their bones burning. 28 And I stood up to see till they folded up
that old house; and carried off all the pillars, and all the beams and ornaments
of the house were at the same time folded up with it, and they carried 29 it off
and laid it in a place in the south of the land. And I saw till the Lord of the
sheep brought a new house greater and loftier than that first, and set it up in
the place of the first which had beer folded up: all its pillars were new, and
its ornaments were new and larger than those of the first, the old one which He
had taken away, and all the sheep were within it. 30 And I saw all the sheep which
had been left, and all the beasts on the earth, and all the birds of the heaven,
falling down and doing homage to those sheep and making petition to and obeying
31 them in every thing. And thereafter those three who were clothed in white and
had seized me by my hand (who had taken me up before), and the hand of that ram
also seizing hold of me, they 32 took me up and set me down in the midst of those
sheep before the judgement took place. And those 33 sheep were all white, and
their wool was abundant and clean. And all that had been destroyed and dispersed,
and all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the heaven, assembled in
that house, and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they were
all good and had returned to 34 His house. And I saw till they laid down that
sword, which had been given to the sheep, and they brought it back into the house,
and it was sealed before the presence of the Lord, and all the sheep 35 were invited
into that house, but it held them not. And the eyes of them all were opened, and
they 36 saw the good, and there was not one among them that did not see. And I
saw that that house was large and broad and very full. 37 And I saw that a white
bull was born, with large horns and all the beasts of the field and all the 38
birds of the air feared him and made petition to him all the time. And I saw till
all their generations were transformed, and they all became white bulls; and the
first among them became a lamb, and that lamb became a great animal and had great
black horns on its head; and the Lord of the sheep 39 rejoiced over it and over
all the oxen. And I slept in their midst: and I awoke and saw everything. 40 This
is the vision which I saw while I slept, and I awoke and blessed the Lord of righteousness
and 41 gave Him glory. Then I wept with a great weeping and my tears stayed not
till I could no longer endure it: when I saw, they flowed on account of what I
had seen; for everything shall come and 42 be fulfilled, and all the deeds of
men in their order were shown to me. On that night I remembered the first dream,
and because of it I wept and was troubled-because I had seen that vision.