1 Enoch 89

1And one of those four went to that white bull and taught him a mystery, while he was not trembling; and that bull was born and became a man, and built for himself a great vessel and dwelt upon it. And three bulls were with him on that vessel, and they were covered over above them.

2And again I lifted up my eyes toward heaven, and I saw a lofty roof, and seven streams upon it; and those streams flowed into an enclosure with much water.

3And again I saw, and behold, springs were opened upon the earth in that great enclosure, and that water was bubbling up and rising over the earth, and that enclosure appeared, until all its land was covered with water.

4And water, and darkness, and mist increased upon it; and I looked at the height of that water, and that water rose above that enclosure, and it poured over the enclosure and stood upon the earth.

5And all the cattle in that enclosure were gathered together, until I saw them sink, and be swallowed up, and be destroyed in that water.

6And that vessel floated upon the water, and all the bulls and elephants and camels and donkeys were swallowed up into the earth; and all the beasts—I could not see them—and they were not able to come out, but perished and sank into the depths.

7And again I saw in the vision, until all the streams withdrew from that lofty roof, and the fissures of the earth were leveled, and other abysses were opened.

8And the water began to descend into them until the earth was laid bare; and that vessel rested upon the earth, and darkness was removed, and light came to be.

9And that white bull, which had become a man, went out from that enclosure, and with him came three bulls. And one of those three bulls was white, resembling that white bull, and one of them was red like blood, and one was black; and that white bull departed from among them.

10And they began to bring forth the beasts of the field and the birds; and from among them there came forth every kind of the nations: lions, leopards, wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild boars, foxes, swine, falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and ravens; and in their midst a white bull was born.

11And they began to gore one another; and that white bull which was born in their midst begot a wild ass and a white bull with it, and the wild asses multiplied.

12And that bull which was born from him begot a black wild boar and a white sheep; and that wild boar produced many boars, and that sheep produced twelve sheep.

13And when those twelve sheep had grown, they handed over one of them to the donkeys, and those donkeys in turn handed over that sheep to the wolves, and that sheep grew up in the midst of the wolves.

14And the Lord brought the twelve sheep so that they might dwell with it and graze with it among the wolves; and they multiplied and became many flocks of sheep.

15And the wolves began to terrify them and to oppress them, until they destroyed their little ones and cast their little ones into a stream of much water. And those sheep began to cry out because of their little ones and to lament before their Lord.

16And a sheep that had been rescued from the wolves fled and passed into the wild asses of the wilderness, and I saw the sheep as they lamented and cried out and petitioned their Lord with all their strength, until that Lord of the sheep came down at the voice of the sheep from his lofty dwelling, and he came to them and saw them.

17And he called that sheep which had escaped from the wolves, and spoke with him about the wolves, so that he might hear concerning them, that they might not oppress the sheep.

18And one sheep went to the wolves at the word of the Lord, and another sheep met him and went with him. And the two of them went together and entered into the assembly of those wolves, and they spoke to them and made them hear, that from then on they should not ravage the sheep.

19And from it I saw the wolves, and they became exceedingly strong against the sheep with all their power, and the sheep cried out.

20And the Lord of the sheep came to them, and while they were striking those wolves, and the wolves were crying out, the sheep became silent, and from that time they cried out no more.

21And I saw the sheep until they came out from the wolves; and the eyes of the wolves were blinded, and those wolves went out following the sheep with all their power.

22And the Lord of the sheep went with them as he led them, and all his sheep followed him; and his face was glorious and splendid and terrible to behold.

23And the wolves began to pursue those sheep until they overtook them at a spring of water.

24And that pool of water was split, and the water stood on this side and on that side before their faces; and their Lord, while he was leading them, stood between them and the wolves.

25And those wolves again showed themselves to the sheep, and they went into the midst of that stream of water; and those wolves followed the sheep and ran after them into that stream of water.

26And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned back so as to flee from before his face; and that watercourse gathered together, and it became swift according to its nature, and it filled with water and rose up until it covered those wolves. so as to flee from before his face; and that watercourse gathered together, and it became swift according to its nature, and it filled with water and rose up until it covered those wolves.

27And I saw until all the wolves that followed those sheep perished and were drowned.

28But the sheep passed from that water and went out into a wilderness where there was no water or grass; and they began to open their eyes and to see. And I saw the Lord of the sheep shepherding them and giving them water and grass, and that sheep going and leading them.

29And that sheep went up onto the summit of that lofty rock, and the Lord of the sheep sent him to them.

30And among them I saw the Lord of the sheep, standing before them; and they saw that he was great and fearsome and mighty, and all those sheep saw him and were afraid before him.

31And all those feared and trembled before him, and they followed after that ram that was with them [that was in their midst], because it was not able to stand before our Lord and look at him.

32And that sheep that led them returned and went up upon that rock; and the sheep, while their eyes were blinded, went astray from the path that he had shown them, but that sheep did not know it.

33And the Lord of the sheep was exceedingly angry with them, and that sheep knew it, and came down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep, and found the greater part of them with their eyes blinded, and those who had gone astray.

34And when they saw him, they were afraid and trembled before his face, and they desired to return to their own folds.

35And that ram took other sheep with him, and came upon those sheep that had gone astray; and he began to kill them. And the sheep were afraid before him, and that ram made those sheep that had gone astray return, and they went back into their folds.

36And I saw in the vision until that sheep became a man, and built a house for the Lord of the sheep, and he placed all the sheep in that house.

37And I watched until that sheep lay down—the one that had met that sheep which led them—and I watched until all the great and small sheep were stirred up in their place, and they entered into the pasture and came near the stream of water.

38And that sheep who was leading them, who had become a man, was separated from them and lay down; and all the sheep sought him and cried out over him with a great cry.

39And I saw until they grew quiet from the outcry for that sheep, and they crossed that stream of water. And the other two sheep, which were leading them, stood in place of those who had lain down, and they led them.

40And I saw the sheep until they entered into a good place, and into a pleasant and glorious land; and I saw until the sheep were satisfied, and that house was in their midst in the pleasant land.

41And sometimes their eyes were opened, and sometimes they were blinded, until another sheep arose and led them and brought them all in, and their eyes were opened.

42And dogs and foxes and wild boars of the field began to devour those sheep, until the Lord of the sheep raised up from among them one ram to lead them.

43And that ram began to gore on this side and on that side those dogs and foxes and wild boars, until he had destroyed them all.

44And that sheep, whose eyes had been opened, saw that ram in the midst of the sheep, which had abandoned its glory, and it began to gore those sheep and trample them, and it went about without restraint.

45And the Lord of the sheep sent a sheep to another sheep, and raised him up so that he might become a ram and might lead the sheep in place of that ram, which had abandoned his glory.

46And he went to it and spoke to it alone, and raised up that ram, and made it ruler and leader of the sheep; and through all this, the dogs were afflicting the sheep.

47And the first ram pursued that later ram, and that later ram rose up and fled from before his face; and I saw until those dogs brought down the first ram.

48And afterward that ram arose and led the sheep; and that ram fathered many sheep and lay down. And a little sheep became a ram in its place, and it became ruler and leader of those sheep.

49And those sheep grew and multiplied, and all those dogs and foxes and wild boars of the field feared and fled from them. And that ram gored and killed all the beasts, and those beasts were no longer able again to be in the midst of the sheep, and they did not seize anything from them.

50And that house became great and broad, and it was built for those sheep; and a lofty and great tower was built upon the house for the Lord of the sheep. And that house was low, but the tower was raised up and became lofty; and the Lord of the sheep stood upon that tower, and they set a full table before him.

51And again I saw those sheep, how they went astray and walked in many paths, and they abandoned that house of their Lord. And the Lord of the sheep called some from among the sheep and sent them to the sheep, but the sheep began to kill them.

52And one of them escaped and was not killed; and it cried out over the sheep, and they wanted to kill it, but the Lord of the sheep saved it from among the sheep, and brought it up to me and set it down.

53And he sent many other sheep to those sheep, that they might hear and cry out over them.

54And after that I saw when they abandoned the house of the Lord and his tower, and they all went astray, and their eyes were blinded. And I saw the Lord of the sheep bring about a great slaughter among them in their pasture, until those sheep cried out because of that slaughter and abandoned his place.

55And he gave them over into the hand of the lions and the leopards and the wolves and the hyenas, and into the hand of the foxes, and to all the wild beasts; and those beasts of the field began to tear apart those sheep.

56And I saw that he abandoned that house of theirs and their tower and all their beloved ones into the hand of the lions, so that they might tear them apart, and into the hands of all the wild beasts, so that they might devour them.

57And I began to cry out with all my strength, and I called to the Lord of the sheep and showed him concerning the sheep, that they were being devoured by all the wild beasts.

58And he kept still as he watched, and he rejoiced because they were devoured and swallowed up and carried off; and he abandoned them into the hand of all the beasts for food.

59And he summoned seventy shepherds and gave over those sheep to them, that they might pasture them. And he said to the shepherds and to their companions, “From now on, each of you shall pasture the sheep, and do all that I command you.”

60“And I will hand them over to you by number, and I will tell you which of them are to be destroyed, and those you shall destroy.” And he handed over to them those sheep.

61And he called to another and said to him, “Take note and see all that the shepherds are doing to these sheep; for they are destroying among them more than I commanded them.”

62And all the excess and destruction that was done by the shepherds, the scribe wrote down: how many they destroyed by my command, and how many they destroyed of their own accord; all the destruction of those seventy shepherds was recorded against them.

63And read out before me by number how many they destroy, and how many they hand over to destruction, so that this may be a testimony for me against them, that I may know all the deeds of the shepherds, and assess them, and see what they do—whether they abide by my command that I commanded them, or not.

64And let them not know, and do not show them, and do not rebuke them; but write down all the destruction of the shepherds, each one in its time, and bring all of it up before me.

65And I saw until those shepherds pastured in their season, and they began to kill and destroy much more than they had been commanded, and they abandoned those sheep into the hand of the lions.

66And the lions and the leopards devoured and swallowed up most of those sheep, and the wild boars of the desert ate with them, and they burned that tower and tore down that house.

67And I grieved greatly because of the tower, for that house of the sheep had been torn down; and from among them I was not able to see whether those sheep entered that house.

68And the shepherds and their companions handed over those sheep to all the wild beasts of the desert, so that they might devour them; and all of them, each in its time, was delivered over by number—sixty from among them—while the record of the others was written down in the book, how many were destroyed from among them.

69And beyond their prescribed measure they kept killing and destroying, and I was weeping and crying out because of those sheep.

70And thus in the vision I saw that the one who wrote wrote down every one that was destroyed by those shepherds, day by day, and he brought up and laid down and showed that whole book to the Lord of the sheep, all that they had done, and all that each one of them had made away with, and all that they had given over to destruction.

71And 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 set it down.

72And again I saw the shepherds pasturing for twelve hours, and behold, three of those sheep returned, and they arrived and entered, and they began to build up all that had fallen down of that house.