The Ends of the Earth

¹And they took and brought me to a place in which those who were there were like flaming fire, and, when they wished, they appeared as men.

² And they brought me to the place of darkness, and to a mountain the point of whose summit reached to heaven. ³ And I saw the places of the luminaries and the treasuries of the stars and of the thunder and in the uttermost depths, where were a fiery bow and arrows and their quiver, and a fiery sword and all the lightnings. ⁴ And they took me to the living waters, and to the fire of the west, which receives every setting of the sun. ⁵ And I came to a river of fire in which the fire flows like water and discharges itself into the great sea towards the west. ⁶ I saw the great rivers and came to the great river and to the great darkness, and went to the place where no flesh walks. ⁷ I saw the mountains of the darkness of winter and the place whence all the waters of the deep flow. ⁸ I saw the mouths of all the rivers of the earth and the mouth of the deep.

⁶And I proceeded and saw a place which burns day and night, where there are seven mountains of magnificent stones, three towards the east, and three towards the south.

⁷ And as for those towards the east, was of coloured stone, and one of pearl, and one of jacinth, and those towards the south of red stone. ⁸ But the middle one reached to heaven like the throne of God, of alabaster, and the summit of the throne was of sapphire. ⁹ And I saw a flaming fire. ¹⁰ And beyond these mountains Is a region the end of the great earth: there the heavens were completed. ¹¹ And I saw a deep abyss, with columns of heavenly fire, and among them I saw columns of fire fall, which were beyond measure alike towards the height and towards the depth. ¹² And beyond that abyss I saw a place which had no firmament of the heaven above, and no firmly founded earth beneath it: there was no water upon it, and no birds, but it was a waste and horrible place. ¹³ I saw there seven stars like great burning mountains, and to me, when I inquired regarding them, ¹⁴ The angel said: 'This place is the end of heaven and earth: this has become a prison for the stars and the host of heaven. ¹⁵ And the stars which roll over the fire are they which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord in the beginning of their rising, because they did not come forth at their appointed times. ¹⁶ And He was wroth with them, and bound them till the time when their guilt should be consummated (even) for ten thousand years.'

¹And I proceeded to where things were chaotic.

² And I saw there something horrible: I saw neither a heaven above nor a firmly founded earth, but a place chaotic and horrible. ³ And there I saw seven stars of the heaven bound together in it, like great mountains and burning with fire. ⁴ Then I said: 'For what sin are they bound, and on what account have they been cast in hither?' ⁵ Then said Uriel, one of the holy angels, who was with me, and was chief over them, and said: 'Enoch, why 6 dost thou ask, and why art thou eager for the truth? ⁶ These are of the number of the stars of heaven, which have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and are bound here till ten thousand years, the time entailed by their sins, are consummated.' ⁷ And from thence I went to another place, which was still more horrible than the former, and I saw a horrible thing: a great fire there which burnt and blazed, and the place was cleft as far as the abyss, being full of great descending columns of fire: neither its extent or magnitude could I see, nor could I conjecture. ⁸ Then I said: 'How fearful is the place and how terrible to look upon!' ⁹ Then Uriel answered me, one of the holy angels who was with me, and said unto me: 'Enoch, why hast thou such fear and affright?' And I answered: 'Because of this fearful place, and because of the spectacle of the pain.' ¹⁰ And he said unto me: 'This place is the prison of the angels, and here they will be imprisoned for ever.'

¹And from thence I went towards the north to the ends of the earth, and there I saw a great and glorious device at the ends of the whole earth.

² And here I saw three portals of heaven open in the heaven: through each of them proceed north winds: when they blow there is cold, hail, frost, snow, dew, and rain. ³ And out of one portal they blow for good: but when they blow through the other two portals, it is with violence and affliction on the earth, and they blow with violence.

¹And from thence I went to the south to the ends of the earth, and saw there three open portals of the heaven: and thence there come dew, rain, and wind.

² And from thence I went to the east to the ends of the heaven, and saw here the three eastern portals of heaven open and small portals above them. ³ Through each of these small portals pass the stars of heaven and run their course to the west on the path which is shown to them. ⁴ And as often as I saw I blessed always the Lord of Glory, and I continued to bless the Lord of Glory who has wrought great and glorious wonders, to show the greatness of His work to the angels and to spirits and to men, that they might praise His work and all His creation: that they might see the work of His might and praise the great work of His hands and bless Him for ever. SECTION TWO "The Parables" Chapters 37-71, XXXVII-LXXI

¹And thence I went towards the east, into the midst of the mountain range of the desert, and I saw a wilderness and it was solitary, full of trees and plants.

² And water gushed forth from above. ³ Rushing like a copious watercourse which flowed towards the north-west it caused clouds and dew to ascend on every side.

¹And thence I went to another place in the desert, and approached to the east of this mountain range.

² And there I saw aromatic trees exhaling the fragrance of frankincense and myrrh, and the trees also were similar to the almond tree.

¹And beyond these, I went afar to the east, and I saw another place, a valley (full) of water.

² And therein there was a tree, the colour (?) of fragrant trees such as the mastic. ³ And on the sides of those valleys I saw fragrant cinnamon.

¹And I saw other mountains, and amongst them were groves of trees, and there flowed forth from them nectar, which is named sarara and galbanum.

² And beyond these mountains I saw another mountain to the east of the ends of the earth, whereon were aloe-trees, and all the trees were full of stacte, being like almond-trees. ³ And when one burnt it, it smelt sweeter than any fragrant odour.

¹And from thence I went to the ends of the earth and saw there great beasts, and each differed from the other; and (I saw) birds also differing in appearance and beauty and voice, the one differing from the other.

² And to the east of those beasts I saw the ends of the earth whereon the heaven rests, and the portals of the heaven open. ³ And I saw how the stars of heaven come forth, and I counted the portals out of which they proceed, and wrote down all their outlets, of each individual star by itself, according to their number and their names, their courses and their positions, and their times and their months, as Uriel the holy angel who was with me showed me. ⁴ He showed all things to me and wrote them down for me: also their names he wrote for me, and their laws and their companies.

¹And from thence I went towards the west to the ends of the earth, and saw there three portals of the heaven open such as I had seen in the east, the same number of portals, and the same number of outlets. XXXVI. The Journey to the South.