Chapter 7

The Holy Angels

  1. And these are the names of the holy angels who watch mankind.

  2. Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus.

  3. Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men.

  4. Raguel, one of the holy angels who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries.

  5. Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he that is set over the best part of mankind and over chaos.

  6. Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit.

  7. Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim.

  8. Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise.

  9. And I proceeded to where things were chaotic. And I saw there something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible.

  10. And there I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great mountains and burning with fire.

  11. Then I said: "For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?"

  12. Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: "Enoch, why dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? These are of the number of the stars of heaven, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated."

  13. And from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing. A great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire. Neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture.

  14. Then I said: "How fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!"

  15. Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: "Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?"

  16. And I answered: "Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of the pain."

  17. And he said unto me: "This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever."

  18. And thence I went to another place, the mountain of hard rock.

  19. And there was in it four hollow places, deep and wide and very smooth. How smooth are the hollow places and deep and dark to look at.

  20. Then Raphael answered, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: "These hollow places have been created for this very purpose, that the spirits of the souls of the dead should assemble therein, yea that all the souls of the children of men should assemble here. And these places have been made to receive them till the day of their judgement and till their appointed period, till the great judgement upon them."

  21. I saw a dead man making suit, and his voice went forth to heaven and made suit. And I asked Raphael the angel who was with me, and I said unto him: "This spirit which maketh suit, whose is it, whose voice goeth forth and maketh suit to heaven?"

  22. And he answered me saying: "This is the spirit which went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew, and he makes his suit against him till his seed is destroyed from the face of the earth, and his seed is annihilated from amongst the seed of men."

  23. The I asked regarding it, and regarding all the hollow places: "Why is one separated from the other?"

  24. And he answered me and said unto me: "These three have been made that the spirits of the dead might be separated. And such a division has been make for the spirits of the righteous, in which there is the bright spring of water. And such has been made for sinners when they die and are buried in the earth and judgement has not been executed on them in their lifetime.

  25. Here their spirits shall be set apart in this great pain till the great day of judgement and punishment and torment of those who curse for ever and retribution for their spirits. There He shall bind them for ever. And such a division has been made for the spirits of those who make their suit, who make disclosures concerning their destruction, when they were slain in the days of the sinners.

  26. Such has been made for the spirits of men who were not righteous but sinners, who were complete in transgression, and of the transgressors they shall be companions but their spirits shall not be slain in the day of judgement nor shall they be raised from thence."

  27. The I blessed the Lord of glory and said: "Blessed be my Lord, the Lord of righteousness, who ruleth for ever."

  28. From thence I went to another place to the west of the ends of the earth. And I saw a burning fire which ran without resting, and paused not from its course day or night but regularly.

  29. And I asked saying: "What is this which rests not?"

  30. Then Raguel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me and said unto me: "This course of fire which thou hast seen is the fire in the west which persecutes all the luminaries of heaven."

  31. And from thence I went to another place of the earth, and he showed me a mountain range of fire which burnt day and night.

  32. And I went beyond it and saw seven magnificent mountains all differing each from the other, and the stones were magnificent and beautiful, magnificent as a whole, of glorious appearance and fair exterior: three towards the east, one founded on the other, and three towards the south, one upon the other, and deep rough ravines, no one of which joined with any other.

  33. And the seventh mountain was in the midst of these, and it excelled them in height, resembling the seat of a throne: and fragrant trees encircled the throne.

  34. And amongst them was a tree such as I had never yet smelt, neither was any amongst them nor were others like it: it had a fragrance beyond all fragrance, and its leaves and blooms and wood wither not for ever: and its fruit is beautiful, and its fruit resembles the dates of a palm.

  35. Then I said: "How beautiful is this tree, and fragrant, and its leaves are fair, and its blooms very delightful in appearance."

  36. Then answered Michael, one of the holy and honored angels who was with me, and was their leader.

  37. And he said unto me: "Enoch, why dost thou ask me regarding the fragrance of the tree, and why dost thou wish to learn the truth?"

  38. Then I answered him saying: "I wish to know about everything, but especially about this tree."

  39. And he answered saying: "This high mountain which thou hast seen, whose summit is like the throne of God, is His throne, where the Holy Great One, the Lord of Glory, the Eternal King, will sit, when He shall come down to visit the earth with goodness. And as for this fragrant tree no mortal is permitted to touch it till the great judgement, when He shall take vengeance on all and bring to its consummation for ever. It shall then be given to the righteous and holy. Its fruit shall be for food to the elect: it shall be transplanted to the holy place, to the temple of the Lord, the Eternal King.

  40. Then shall they rejoice with joy and be glad, and into the holy place shall they enter; and its fragrance shall be in their bones, and they shall live a long life on earth. Such as thy fathers lived; and in their days shall no sorrow or plague or torment or calamity touch them."

  41. Then blessed I the God of Glory, the Eternal King, who hath prepared such things for the righteous, and hath created them and promised to give to them.

  42. And I went from thence to the middle of the earth, and I saw a blessed place in which there were trees with branches abiding and blooming.

  43. And there I saw a holy mountain, and underneath the mountain to the east there was a stream and it flowed towards the south. And I saw towards the east another mountain higher than this, and between them a deep and narrow ravine: in it also ran a stream underneath the mountain.

  44. And to the west thereof there was another mountain, lower than the former and of small elevation, and a ravine deep and dry between them: and another deep and dry ravine was at the extremities of the three mountains.

  45. And all the ravines were deep and narrow, of hard rock, and trees were not planted upon them. And I marveled at the rocks, and I marveled at the ravine, yea, I marveled very much.

  46. Then said I: "For what object is this blessed land, which is entirely filled with trees, and this accursed valley between?"

  47. Then Uriel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered and said: "This accursed valley is for those who are accursed for ever. Here shall all the accursed be gathered together who utter with their lips against the Lord unseemly words and of His glory speak hard things. Here shall they be gathered together, and here shall be their place of judgement.

  48. In the last days there shall be upon them the spectacle of righteous judgement in the presence of the righteous for ever: here shall the merciful bless the Lord of glory, the Eternal King. In the days of judgement over the former, they shall bless Him for the mercy in accordance with which He has assigned them."

  49. Then I blessed the Lord of Glory and set forth His glory and lauded Him gloriously.

  50. And thence I went towards the east, into the midst of the mountain range of the desert, and I saw a wilderness and it was solitary, full of trees and plants. And water gushed forth from above. Rushing like a copious watercourse towards the north−west it caused clouds and dew to ascend on every side.

  51. And thence I went to another place in the desert, and approached to the east of this mountain range. And there I saw aromatic trees exhaling the fragrance of frankincense and myrrh, and the trees also were similar to the almond tree.

  52. And beyond these, I went afar to the east, and I saw another place, a valley of water. And therein there was a tree, the color of fragrant trees such as the mastic. And on the sides of those valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon. And beyond these I proceeded to the east.

  53. And I saw other mountains, and amongst them were groves of trees, and there flowed forth from them nectar, which is named sarara and galbanum. And beyond these mountains I saw another mountain to the east of the ends of the earth, whereon were aloe−trees, and all the trees were full of stacte, being like almond−trees. And when one burnt it, it smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour.

  54. And after these fragrant odours, as I looked towards the north over the mountains I saw seven mountains full of choice nard and fragrant trees and cinnamon and pepper.

  55. And thence I went over the summits of all these mountains, far towards the east of the earth, and passed above the Erythraean sea and went far from it, and passed over the angel Zotiel.

  56. And I came to the Garden of Righteousness, and from afar off I saw numerous trees, and these great−two trees there, very great, beautiful, and glorious, and magnificent, and the Tree of Knowledge, whose holy fruit they eat and know great wisdom.

  57. That tree is in height like the strangler fig, and its leaves are like the Carob tree, and its fruit is like the clusters of the vine, very beautiful: and the fragrance of the tree penetrates afar.

  58. Then I said: "How beautiful is the tree, and how attractive is its look!"

  59. Then Raphael the holy angel, who was with me, answered me and said: "This is the tree of wisdom, of which thy father old and thy aged mother, who were before thee, have eaten, and they learnt wisdom and their eyes were opened, and they knew that they were naked and they were driven out of the garden."

  60. And from thence I went to the ends of the earth and saw there great beasts, and each differed from the other; and birds also differing in appearance and beauty and voice, the one differing from the other.

  61. And to the east of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open. And I saw how the stars of heaven come forth, and I counted the portals out of which they proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their times and their months, as Uriel the holy angel who was with me showed me.

  62. He showed all things to me and wrote them down for me; also their names he wrote for me, and their laws and their companies.

  63. And from thence I went towards the north to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious device at the ends of the whole earth.

  64. And here I saw three portals of heaven open in the heaven: through each of them proceed north winds: when they blow there is cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain. And out of one portal they blow for good: but when they blow through the other two portals, it is with violence and affliction on the earth, and they blow with violence.

  65. And from thence I went towards the west to the ends of the earth, and saw there three portals of the heaven open such as I had seen in the east, the same number of portals, and the same number of outlets.

  66. And from thence I went to the south to the ends of the earth, and saw there three open portals of the heaven: and thence there come dew, rain, and wind. And from thence I went to the east to the ends of the heaven, and saw here the three eastern portals of heaven open and small portals above them.

  67. Through each of these small portals pass the stars of heaven and run their course to the west on the path which is shown to them.

  68. And as often as I saw I blessed always the Lord of Glory, and I continued to bless the Lord of Glory who has wrought great and glorious wonders, to show the greatness of His work to the angels and to spirits and to men, that they might praise His work and all His creation: that they might see the work of His might and praise the great work of His hands and bless Him for ever.