1 Enoch 99

XCIX. Woes pronounced on the Godless, the Lawbreakers: evil Plight of Sinners in the Last Days: further Woes.

1Woe to you who work godlessness, And glory in lying and extol them: Ye shall perish, and no happy life shall be yours.*Here the admirers of Hellenistic literature are denounced. Cf. xciv. 5, xcviii. 15. 2Woe to them who pervert the words of uprightness, And transgress the eternal law, And transform themselves into what they were not [into sinners]: They shall be trodden under foot upon the earth.*i.e. of Moses. Cf. v. 4, xcix. 14.*adopt Gentile customs, become apostates, and possibly undergo the operation mentioned in Ass. Mos. viii. 3.*A gloss. 3In those days make ready, ye righteous, to raise your prayers as a memorial, And place them as a testimony before the angels, That they may place the sin of the sinners for a memorial before the Most High.*ɑ. 'ye have placed them' β.*For angelic mediation cf. ix. 2-11, and in O.T. Job v. 1; Zech. i. 12; in NT. only Rev. viii. 3, 4. See too my notes in T. Levi iii. 5; T. Dan vi. 2.*in all sections of the book; ix. 3, x. 1, xlvi. 7, lx. 1, 22, lxii. 7, lxxvii. 1, xciv. 8, xcvii. 2, xcviii. 7, 11, xcix. 3, 10, ci. 1, 6, 9. 4In those days the nations shall be stirred up, And the families of the nations shall arise on the day of destruction.*Wars, tumults, and the period of the sword. Cf. xc. 19, etc. 5And in those days the destitute shall go forth and carry off their children, And they shall abandon them, so that their children shall perish through them: Yea, they shall abandon their children (that are still) sucklings, and not return to them, And shall have no pity on their beloved ones.*ɑ. 'abandon their children' β. 6And again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed.*Denunciation of idolatry.*See xci. 12 (note), xlv. 2 (note). Quoted by Tertullian De Idol. iv. See my Comm. on 1 En. in loc. 7And they who worship stones, and grave images of gold and silver and wood 〈and stone〉 and clay, and those who worship impure spirits and demons, and all kinds of idols not according to knowledge, shall get no manner of help from them.*inserted from Tertullian.*β. 'evil' ɑ.*Cf. xvi. 1, xix. 1, also Rev. ix. 20. 8And they shall become godless by reason of the folly of their hearts, And their eyes shall be blinded through the fear of their hearts And through visions in their dreams.*Idolaters go from bad to worse. Cf. Wisdom xiv. 12, 27; Rom. i. 21. 9Through these they shall become godless and fearful; For they shall have wrought all their work in a lie, And shall have worshipped a stone: Therefore in an instant shall they perish. 10But in those days blessed are all they who accept the words of wisdom, and understand them, And observe the paths of the Most High, and walk in the path of His righteousness, And become not godless with the godless; For they shall be saved.*Salvation is for those who accept the true wisdom. 11Woe to you who spread evil to your neighbours; For you shall be slain in Sheol.*Cf. cviii. 3 – the extreme penalty of sin. Condemnation to Sheol is less severe than the slaying of the soul. Cf. xxii. 13. Sheol is here the eternal place of punishment. See lxxiii. 10 (note). 12Woe to you who make deceitful and false measures, And (to them) who cause bitterness on the earth; For they shall thereby be utterly consumed. 13Woe to you who build your houses through the grievous toil of others, And all their building materials are the bricks and stones of sin; I tell you ye shall have no peace.*Cf. Jer. xxii. 13; also 1 En. xciv. 7, xcvii. 8. 14Woe to them who reject the measure and eternal heritage of their fathers And whose souls follow after idols; For they shall have no rest.*the Mosaic law. Prim. v. 2.*Cf. the sufferings of the righteous, ciii. 13; also 'no peace', xciv. 6. 15Woe to them who work unrighteousness and help oppression, And slay their neighbours until the day of the great judgement.*See xciv. 9, xcviii. 10, also xlv. 2 (note). 16For He shall cast down your glory, And bring affliction on your hearts, And shall arouse His fierce indignation And destroy you all with the sword; And all the holy and righteous shall remember your sins.*and so hasten your destruction. See xcvii. 5 (note).