1 Enoch 96

XCVI. Grounds of Hopefulness for the Righteous: Woes for the Wicked.

1Be hopeful, ye righteous; for suddenly shall the sinners perish before you, And ye shall have lordship over them according to your desires.*The righteous are to hope for the coming Messianic kingdom. 2[And in the day of the tribulation of the sinners, Your children shall mount and rise as eagles, And higher than the vultures will be your nest, And ye shall ascend and enter the crevices of the earth, And the clefts of the rock for ever as coneys before the unrighteous, And the sirens shall sigh because of you—and weep.]*Is it suffered or caused by the sinners ?*Interpolation. The wicked will hide themselves, not the righteous, in the coming time; xcvii. 3, c. 4, cii. 1, civ. 5. But the first three lines may be original.*Isa. ii. 10, 19, 21, from the presence of the Lord, not as here 'before the unrighteous' – a clumsy insertion.*'as the sirens' qt,β. These may be satyrs or sirens–by the same word the Eth. version renders σειρήνες in Isa. xiii. 21, Jer. xxvii. (1.) 39. 3Wherefore fear not, ye that have suffered; For healing shall be your portion, And a bright light shall enlighten you, And the voice of rest ye shall hear from heaven. 4Woe unto you, ye sinners, for your riches make you appear like the righteous, But your hearts convict you of being sinners, And this fact shall be a testimony against you for a memorial of (your) evil deeds.*Prosperity was a mark of righteousness, in the O.T. doctrine of retribution. 5Woe to you who devour the finest of the wheat, And drink wine in large bowls, And tread under foot the lowly with your might.*i.e. not in ordinary wine-cups. Cf. the flagons of the magnates in Samaria, Amos vi. 6. The text is corrupt = 'the strength of the root of the fountain' = כח עִיקָר עַיִן which I emend to במזרקי ייִן the phrase in Amos. 6Woe to you who drink water from every fountain, For suddenly shall ye be consumed and wither away, Because ye have forsaken the fountain of life.*The self-indulgent life will fail, for want of the fountain of true life. Cf. Jer. ii. 13; Ps. xxxvi. 9. 7Woe to you who work unrighteousness And deceit and blasphemy: It shall be a memorial against you for evil. 8Woe to you, ye mighty, Who with might oppress the righteous; For the day of your destruction is coming. In those days many and good days shall come to the righteous—in the day of your judgement.*a temporary Messianic kingdom, in which the righteous then alive will share.