1 Enoch 61

LXI. Angels go off to measure Paradise: the Judgement of the Righteous by the Elect One: the Praise of the Elect One and of God.

1And I saw in those days how long cords were given to those angels, and they took to themselves wings and flew, and they went towards the north.*only assigned to angels in the latest books of the O.T. cf. 1 Chron. xxi. 16.*The true text of the Parables is resumed, but the opening verses are difficult. 2And I asked the angel, saying unto him: ‘Why have those (angels) taken these cords and gone off?’ And he said unto me: ‘They have gone to measure.’ 3And the angel who went with me said unto me: ‘These shall bring the measures of the righteous, And the ropes of the righteous to the righteous, That they may stay themselves on the name of the Lord of Spirits for ever and ever.*3-5. The measures and ropes seem to represent the nature of the ideal community of the righteous living and departed, and the union and communion of such with one another and with the Lord of Spirits.*Belong to Son of Man source, as 'the angel who went with me' interprets. 4The elect shall begin to dwell with the elect, And those are the measures which shall be given to faith And which shall strengthen righteousness. 5And these measures shall reveal all the secrets of the depths of the earth, And those who have been destroyed by the desert, And those who have been devoured by the beasts, And those who have been devoured by the fish of the sea, That they may return and stay themselves On the day of the Elect One; For none shall be destroyed before the Lord of Spirits, And none can be destroyed.*The righteous alone rise here; in li. 1, 2 all Israel. 6And all who dwell above in the heaven received a command and power and one voice and one light like unto fire.*i.e. the angels as in vv. 8, 10, 12, ix. 3, xlvii. 2. 7And that One (with) their first words they blessed, And extolled and lauded with wisdom, And they were wise in utterance and in the spirit of life. 8And the Lord of Spirits placed the Elect One on the throne of glory. And he shall judge all the works of the holy above in the heaven, And in the balance shall their deeds be weighed. 9And when he shall lift up his countenance To judge their secret ways according to the word of the name of the Lord of Spirits, And their path according to the way of the righteous judgement of the Lord of Spirits, Then shall they all with one voice speak and bless, And glorify and extol and sanctify the name of the Lord of Spirits. 10And He will summon all the host of the heavens, and all the holy ones above, and the host of God, the Cherubin, Seraphin and Ophannin, and all the angels of power, and all the angels of principalities, and the Elect One, and the other powers on the earth (and) over the water.*Cf. xiv. 11, 18, xx. 7, lxxi. 7. The Cherubim were primarily symbolic figures, the means of revealing or concealing God's presence, but here = an order of angels. Cf. Rev. v. 6; 2 En. xix. 6, xx. 1. The Seraphim served in His immediate presence. They are not classed together in O. T. The Ophannim (i.e. wheels) come from Ezek. i. 15. The Talmud classes them with Cherubim and Seraphim, Weber, Jüd. Theol. 168, 205. 11On that day shall raise one voice, and bless and glorify and exalt in the spirit of faith, and in the spirit of wisdom, and in the spirit of patience, and in the spirit of mercy, and in the spirit of judgement and of peace, and in the spirit of goodness, and shall all say with one voice: "Blessed is He, and may the name of the Lord of Spirits be blessed for ever and ever."*The seven virtues of the praising angels. Cf. xlix. 3. 12All who sleep not above in heaven shall bless Him: All the holy ones who are in heaven shall bless Him, And all the elect who dwell in the garden of life: And every spirit of light who is able to bless, and glorify, and extol, and hallow Thy blessed name, And all flesh shall beyond measure glorify and bless Thy name for ever and ever.*i.e. good spirit, human or angelic. Cf. cviii. 11; Luke xvi. 8. 13For great is the mercy of the Lord of Spirits, and He is long-suffering, And all His works and all that He has created He has revealed to the righteous and elect In the name of the Lord of Spirits.’