Enoch 89

1 And one of those four went to that white bull and instructed him in a secret, without his being terrified: he was born a bull and became a man, and built himself a great vessel and lived in it; and three bulls lived with him in that vessel, and they were covered over. 2 And again I raised my eyes toward heaven and saw a high roof, with seven water torrents on it, and those torrents flowed with much water into an enclosure. 3 And I saw again, and springs were opened on the surface of that great enclosure, and that water began to swell and rise on the surface; and I saw that enclosure until all its surface was covered with water.

4 And the water and the darkness and the mist increased on it; and as I looked at the height of that water, that water had risen above the height of that enclosure, and was streaming over that enclosure, and it stood on the earth. 5 And all the cattle of that enclosure were gathered together until I saw how they sank and were swallowed up and perished in that water. 6 But that vessel floated on the water, while all the oxen and elephants and camels and donkeys sank to the bottom with all the animals, so that I could no longer see them; and they were not able to escape, but perished and sank into the depths.

7 And again I saw in the vision until those water torrents were removed from that high roof, and the chasms of the earth were leveled up and other abysses were opened. 8 Then the water began to run down into these, until the earth became visible; but that vessel settled on the earth, and the darkness withdrew and light appeared. 9 But that white bull which had become a man came out of that vessel, and the three bulls with him; and one of those three was white like that bull, and one of them was red as blood, and one black. And that white bull departed from them.

10 And they began to bring forth beasts of the field and birds, so that different kinds arose: lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild boars, foxes, squirrels, swine, falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and ravens; and among them was born a white bull. 11 And they began to bite one another; but that white bull which was born among them fathered a wild donkey and a white bull with it, and the wild donkeys multiplied. 12 But that bull which was born from him fathered a black wild boar and a white sheep; and the first of them fathered many boars, but that sheep fathered twelve sheep.

13 And when those twelve sheep had grown, they gave up one of them to the donkeys, and those donkeys in turn gave that sheep up to the wolves, and that sheep grew up among the wolves. 14 And the Lord brought the eleven sheep to live with it and to pasture with it among the wolves; and they multiplied and became many flocks of sheep. 15 And the wolves began to fear them, and they oppressed them until they destroyed their little ones, and they threw their young into a river of much water. But those sheep began to cry aloud because of their little ones, and to complain to their Lord.

16 And a sheep which had been saved from the wolves fled and escaped to the wild donkeys; and I saw the sheep, how they mourned and cried out and begged their Lord with all their might, until that Lord of the sheep came down at the voice of the sheep from a high dwelling place, and came to them and pastured them. 17 And he called that sheep which had escaped the wolves, and spoke with it about the wolves, that it should warn them not to touch the sheep. 18 And the sheep went to the wolves according to the word of the Lord, and another sheep met it and went with it, and the two went and entered together into the assembly of those wolves, and spoke with them and warned them not to touch the sheep from then on.

19 And then I saw the wolves, and how they oppressed the sheep harshly with all their power; and the sheep cried aloud. 20 And the Lord came to the sheep, and they began to strike those wolves; and the wolves began to wail, but the sheep became quiet and at once stopped crying out. 21 And I saw the sheep until they departed from among the wolves; but the eyes of the wolves were blinded, and those wolves set out in pursuit of the sheep with all their power. 22 And the Lord of the sheep went with them as their leader, and all his sheep followed him; and his face was dazzling and glorious and terrifying to look at.

23 But the wolves began to pursue those sheep until they reached a sea of water. 24 And that sea was divided, and the water stood on this side and on that before their face, and their Lord led them and placed himself between them and the wolves. 25 And as those wolves did not yet see the sheep, the sheep went on into the middle of that sea, and the wolves followed the sheep, and those wolves ran after them into that sea. 26 And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned to flee before his face; but that sea gathered itself together and became as it had been created, and the water swelled and rose until it covered those wolves. 27 And I saw until all the wolves who pursued those sheep perished and were drowned.

28 But the sheep escaped from that water and went out into a wilderness, where there was no water and no grass; and they began to open their eyes and to see. And I saw the Lord of the sheep pasturing them and giving them water and grass, and that sheep going and leading them. 29 And that sheep ascended to the summit of that high rock, and the Lord of the sheep sent it to them. 30 And after that I saw the Lord of the sheep, who stood before them, and his appearance was great and terrifying and majestic; and all those sheep saw him and were afraid before his face. 31 And they all feared and trembled because of him, and they cried out to that sheep with them, the one that was among them, “We are not able to stand before our Lord or to look at him.”

32 And that sheep which led them ascended again to the summit of that rock, but the sheep began to be blinded and to wander from the way which he had shown them; but that sheep did not know it. 33 And the Lord of the sheep was extremely angry with them, and that sheep found it out, and went down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep, and found the greater part of them blinded and fallen away. 34 And when they saw it they feared and trembled at its presence, and wanted to return to their folds. 35 And that sheep took other sheep with it, and came to those sheep which had fallen away, and began to kill them; and the sheep feared its presence. And in this way that sheep brought back those sheep that had fallen away, and they returned to their folds.

36 And I saw in this vision until that sheep became a man and built a house for the Lord of the sheep, and put all the sheep in that house. 37 And I saw until this sheep, which had met that sheep which led them, fell asleep; and I saw until all the great sheep perished and little ones arose in their place, and they came to a pasture and approached a stream of water. 38 Then that sheep, their leader which had become a man, withdrew from them and fell asleep; and all the sheep looked for it and wept over it with a great weeping. 39 And I saw until they stopped weeping for that sheep and crossed that stream of water; and the two sheep arose as leaders in the place of those which had led them and fallen asleep. [a] 40 And I saw until the sheep came to a good place, and a pleasant and glorious land; and I saw until those sheep were satisfied. And that house stood among them in the pleasant land.

41 And sometimes their eyes were opened, and sometimes blinded, until another sheep arose and led them and brought them all back, and their eyes were opened. 42 And the dogs and the foxes and the wild boars began to devour those sheep, until the Lord of the sheep raised up another sheep, a ram from among them, which led them. 43 And that ram began to butt on either side those dogs and foxes and wild boars, until he had destroyed them all. 44 And that sheep whose eyes were opened saw that ram, which was among the sheep, until it abandoned its glory and began to butt those sheep, and trampled on them, and behaved shamefully.

45 And the Lord of the sheep sent the lamb to another lamb and raised it to be a ram and leader of the sheep in place of that ram which had abandoned its glory. 46 And it went to it and spoke to it alone, and raised it to be a ram, and made it the prince and leader of the sheep; but during all these things those dogs oppressed the sheep.

47 And the first ram pursued that second ram, 48 and that second ram arose and fled before it; and I saw until those dogs pulled down the first ram. And that second ram arose and led the little sheep. 49 And those sheep grew and multiplied; but all the dogs and foxes and wild boars feared and fled before it, and that ram butted and killed the wild beasts, and those wild beasts no longer had any power among the sheep, and robbed them of nothing more. And that ram fathered many sheep and fell asleep; and a little sheep became ram in its place, and became prince and leader of those sheep. 50 And that house became great and broad, and it was built for those sheep; and a tower high and great was built on the house for the Lord of the sheep. And that house was low, but the tower was raised up and high; and the Lord of the sheep stood on that tower, and they offered a full table before him.

51 And again I saw those sheep, that they went astray again and went many ways, and abandoned that house of theirs; 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. 52 And one of them was saved and was not killed, and it hurried away and cried aloud over the sheep; and they tried to kill it, but the Lord of the sheep saved it from the sheep, and brought it up to me, and made it live there. 53 And many other sheep he sent to those sheep, to testify to them and to mourn over them.

54 And after that I saw that when they abandoned the house of the Lord and his tower, they fell away entirely, and their eyes were blinded; and I saw the Lord of the sheep, how he worked much slaughter among them in their herds, until those sheep invited that slaughter and betrayed his place. 55 And he gave them over into the hands of the lions and tigers, and wolves and hyenas, and into the hand of the foxes, and to all the wild beasts; and those wild beasts began to tear those sheep in pieces. 56 And I saw that he abandoned that house of theirs and their tower, and gave them all into the hand of the lions, to tear and devour them, into the hand of all the wild beasts. 57 And I began to cry aloud with all my power, and to appeal to the Lord of the sheep, and to lay the case of the sheep before him, that they were devoured by all the wild beasts. 58 But he remained unmoved, though he saw it, and rejoiced that they were devoured and swallowed and robbed, and left them to be devoured in the hand of all the beasts.

59 And he called seventy shepherds, and threw those sheep to them so that they might pasture them; and he spoke to the shepherds and their companions, “From now on let each one of you pasture the sheep, and everything that I command you, do it. 60 And I will deliver them over to you duly numbered, and tell you which of them are to be destroyed — and destroy them.” And he gave those sheep over to them.

61 And he called another and said to him, “Watch and mark everything that the shepherds will do to those sheep, for they will destroy more of them than I have commanded them. 62 And every excess, and the destruction which will be worked by the shepherds, record: how many they destroy according to my command, and how many according to their own whim. Record against every individual shepherd all the destruction he brings about. 63 And read out before me by number how many they destroy, and how many they deliver over for destruction, so that I may have this as a testimony against them, and know every deed of the shepherds, so that I may understand and see what they do, whether or not they keep to the command which I have commanded them. 64 But they will not know it, and you are not to declare it to them or warn them, but only record against each one all the destruction which the shepherds bring about, each in his own time, and lay it all before me.”

65 And I saw until those shepherds pastured in their season; and they began to kill and to destroy more than they were told, and they delivered those sheep into the hand of the lions. 66 And the lions and tigers ate and devoured the greater part of those sheep, and the wild boars ate along with them; and they burned that tower and demolished that house. 67 And I became deeply grieved over that tower, because that house of the sheep was demolished; and afterward I was unable to see whether those sheep entered that house. 68 And the shepherds and their associates delivered those sheep over to all the wild beasts, to devour them; and each one of them received in his own time a definite number. It was written down by the other in a book how many of them each one destroyed. 69 And each one killed and destroyed many more than was prescribed; and I began to weep and mourn because of those sheep.

70 And thus in the vision I saw that one who wrote, how he wrote down every one that was destroyed by those shepherds, day by day; and he carried up and laid down and showed the whole book itself to the Lord of the sheep — everything that they had done, and all that each one of them had made away with, and all that they had given over to destruction. 71 And 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 laid it down.

72 And immediately I saw how the shepherds pastured for twelve hours; and three of those sheep turned back and came and entered and began to build up all that had fallen down of that house; but the wild boars tried to hinder them, yet they were not able. [c] 73 And they began again to build as before, and they raised up that tower, and it was named the high tower; and they began again to set a table before the tower, but all the bread on it was polluted and not pure. 74 And as for all this, the eyes of those sheep were blinded so that they did not see, and the eyes of their shepherds likewise; and they delivered them in large numbers to their shepherds for destruction, and they trampled the sheep with their feet and devoured them.

75 And the Lord of the sheep remained unmoved until all the sheep were scattered over the field and mingled with them; and they did not save them out of the hand of the beasts. [d] 76 And this one who wrote the book carried it up, and showed it and read it before the Lord of the sheep, and pleaded with him on their behalf, and begged him on their behalf as he showed him all the doings of the shepherds, and gave testimony before him against all the shepherds. 77 And he took the book itself and laid it down beside him and departed.