ENOCH'S JOURNEYS THROUGH THE EARTH AND SHEOL
- Preliminary and final place of punishment of the fallen angels (stars).’
Chapter 21
1 Then I made a circuit to a place in which nothing was furnished.
2 And there I saw neither the commanding work of a lofty heaven nor of a steadfast earth, but a waste place, prepared and terrible.
3 There also I saw in it seven stars of heaven bound together like great mountains, and like a flaming fire.
4 I exclaimed, “For what sort of crime have they been bound, and why have they been taken to this place?”
5 Then Uriel one of the holy angels who was with me and who conducted me, answered, “Enoch, wherefore askest thou, wherefore reasonest thou with thyself, and anxiously searchest out?
6 These are those of the stars who have transgressed the commandment of the Most High God, and are here bound until the infinite number of the days of their crime be finished.”
7 Afterwards I went further to another terrible place, where I saw the activity of a great flaming and glittering fire, in the middle of which there was a separation, and fiery columns struggled together to the end of the gulf, and their declivity was deep. But I was not able to discover either its measure or magnitude, and I could not perceive its origin.
8 Then I exclaimed, “How terrible is this place, and how difficult to search out!”
9 Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said, “Enoch, why art thou frightened and amazed at this terrible place, at the sight of this place of suffering?”
10 He said, “This is the prison of the angels, and here they are kept forever.”
- Shoel, or the Underworld.
Chapter 22
1 I passed on from there to another place, where I saw on the west a great and high mountain, a strong rock,
2 and four pleasant places. Internally it was deep, spacious, and very smooth, as smooth as it had been rolled over, it was both deep and dark to behold.
3 Then Raphael, one of the holy angels who were with me, answered and said, “These are the pleasant places where the spirits, the souls of the dead will be gathered, for them they were prepared, and here will be gathered all the souls of the sons of men.
4 They shall occupy these places in which they dwell until the day of judgment, and until their appointed time. Their appointed time will be long, even until the great judgment.”
5 And I saw the spirits of the sons of men who were dead, and their voices reached to heaven while they accused.
6 Then I asked of Raphael, an angel who was with me, and said, “Whose spirit is that, the voice of which reaches to heaven and accuses?”
7 He answered and said, “This is the spirit of Abel, who was slain by Cain his brother. And he will accuse him, until his seed be destroyed from the surface of the earth, until his seed perish from the seed of the human generation.”
8 Therefore at that time I enquired concerning him, and concerning the general judgment, and said, “Wherefore is one divided from another?”
9 He answered, “Three divisions have been made between the souls of the dead, and thus the spirits of the righteous have been divided, namely, by a gulf, by water, and by light above it.
10 And in the same manner also sinners shall be divided when they die, and shall be buried in the earth, they whom judgment has not overtaken in their lifetime.
11 Here their souls shall be divided, moreover their suffering is great until the time of the great judgment, the punishment and the torment of those who for ever execrate, whose souls are punished and bound there for ever.
12 And so it has been from the beginning of the world, thus a division has there existed between the souls of those who bring forth complaints, and of those who watch for their destruction, to murder them in the day of sinners.
13 A receptacle of this sort has been made for the souls of ungodly men and of sinners, of those who have committed crimes, and joined with the impious, to whom they are like. But their souls shall not be destroyed in the day of judgment, nor shall they arise from this place.”
14 Then I praised God and said, “Praised be my Lord, the Lord of Glory and of Righteousness, who reigns over all for ever and ever.”
- The Fire that deals with the Luminaries of Heaven.
Chapter 23
1 I went from there to another place towards the west, unto the ends of the earth,
2 where I saw a fire flaming and running on without ceasing which intermitted not its course either by day or by night, but continued always the same.
3 Then I enquired and said, “What is this which never ceases?”
4 Then answered Raquel, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said, “This flaming fire which thou seest running towards the west is that of all the lights of heaven.”