THE BOOK OF ENOCH

The Book of Enoch, also known as Ethiopic Enoch, I Enoch, and The Book of Henoch" was revered by the Jews and Christians alike but fell into disfavor among powerful theologians because of its controversial descriptions of the nature and deeds of the fallen angels. The Enochian writings like others such as The Books of Tobias, Esdras, and others, were omitted (or lost) from the Bible. Once it was considered to be among the biblical apocryphal writings by the early church fathers.

To better understand the possible reason for the omission of the Book of Enoch from the Bible, the term "apocryphal" must be considered. Apocryphal is derived from the Greek and means "hidden" or "secret." Originally it was a complimentary term, and when applied to sacred books it meant that their contents was considered too exalted to be made available to the general public. Gradually the idea was accepted that such books were only to be read by the wise. Therefore, the term "apocrypha" began taking on a negative meaning because the orthodoxy felt as if they were being kept in the dark by not being told the teachings of these books. The apocryphal books were just read among esoteric circles of the devout believers. The clergy that was not admitted into such circles because they were thought not to be enlightened soon banned apocryphal material heretical, which were forbidden for all to read.

The Book of Enoch was banned as heretical by later Church fathers mainly because of its theme concerning the nature and actions of the fallen angels. In fact, the material infuriated some Church fathers. And, some rabbi even would not give credence to it. Probably it was considered such a sacrilege that it was denounced, cursed, banned, and no doubt burned and shredded. As a result the book was conveniently lost for a thousand years. But, with ironical persistence the Book of Enoch eventually reappeared.

The preceding material was provided by

http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/e/enoch_book_of_history.html

The following are interesting excerpts from

http://reluctant-messenger.com/book_of_enoch.htm

BOOK OF ENOCH

From-The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old TestamentR.H. CharlesOxford: The Clarendon Press

"Ye have wrought great destruction on the earth: And ye shall have no peace nor forgiveness 6 of sin: and inasmuch as they delight themselves in their children, The murder of their beloved ones shall they see, and over the destruction of their children shall they lament, and shall make supplication unto eternity, but mercy and peace shall ye not attain."'

And I asked Raphael the angel who was 6 with me, and I said unto him: 'This spirit which maketh suit, whose is it, whose voice goeth forth and maketh suit to heaven ?' 7 And he answered me saying: 'This is the spirit which went forth from Abel, whom his brother Cain slew, and he makes his suit against him till his seed is destroyed from the face of the earth, and his seed is annihilated from amongst the seed of men.'

1,2 From thence I went to another place to the west of the ends of the earth. And I saw a burning 3 fire which ran without resting, and paused not from its course day or night but (ran) regularly. And 4 I asked saying: 'What is this which rests not?' Then Raguel, one of the holy angels who was with me, answered me and said unto me: 'This course of fire which thou hast seen is the fire in the west which persecutes all the luminaries of heaven.'

2 And in the days of the sinners the years shall be shortened, And their seed shall be tardy on their lands and fields, And all things on the earth shall alter, And shall not appear in their time: And the rain shall be kept back And the heaven shall withhold (it). 3 And in those times the fruits of the earth shall be backward, And shall not grow in their time, And the fruits of the trees shall be withheld in their time. 4 And the moon shall alter her order, And not appear at her time. 5 [And in those days the sun shall be seen and he shall journey in the evening on the extremity of the great chariot in the west] And shall shine more brightly than accords with the order of light. 6 And many chiefs of the stars shall transgress the order (prescribed). And these shall alter their orbits and tasks, And not appear at the seasons prescribed to them. 7 And the whole order of the stars shall be concealed from the sinners, And the thoughts of those on the earth shall err concerning them, [And they shall be altered from all their ways], Yea, they shall err and take them to be gods. 8 And evil shall be multiplied upon them, And punishment shall come upon them So as to destroy all.'

[Chapter 96]

1 Be hopeful, ye righteous; for suddenly shall the sinners perish before you, And ye shall have lordship over them according to your desires.
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.]
3 Wherefore 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.
4 Woe 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.
5 Woe to you who devour the finest of the wheat, And drink wine in large bowls, And tread under foot the lowly with your might.
6 Woe 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.
7 Woe to you who work unrighteousness And deceit and blasphemy: It shall be a memorial against you for evil.
8 Woe 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.

[Chapter 97]

1 Believe, ye righteous, that the sinners will become a shame And perish in the day of unrighteousness. 2 Be it known unto you (ye sinners) that the Most High is mindful of your destruction,And the angels of heaven rejoice over your destruction.
3 What will ye do, ye sinners, And whither will ye flee on that day of judgement, When ye hear the voice of the prayer of the righteous ?
4 Yea, ye shall fare like unto them, Against whom this word shall be a testimony: " Ye have been companions of sinners."
5 And in those days the prayer of the righteous shall reach unto the Lord, And for you the days of your judgement shall come.
6 And all the words of your unrighteousness shall be read out before the Great Holy One,And your faces shall be covered with shame, And He will reject every work which is grounded on unrighteousness.
7 Woe to you, ye sinners, who live on the mid ocean and on the dry land,Whose remembrance is evil against you.
8 Woe to you who acquire silver and gold in unrighteousness and say: " We have become rich with riches and have possessions; And have acquired everything we have desired.
9 And now let us do what we purposed: For we have gathered silver, 9c And many are the husbandmen in our houses." 9d And our granaries are (brim) full as with water, 10 Yea and like water your lies shall flow away; For your riches shall not abide But speedily ascend from you;
For ye have acquired it all in unrighteousness, And ye shall be given over to a great curse.

[Chapter 98]

1 And now I swear unto you, to the wise and to the foolish, For ye shall have manifold experiences on the earth.
2 For ye men shall put on more adornments than a woman, And coloured garments more than a virgin: In royalty and in grandeur and in power, And in silver and in gold and in purple, And in splendour and in food they shall be poured out as water.
3 Therefore they shall be wanting in doctrine and wisdom, And they shall perish thereby together with their possessions; And with all their glory and their splendour, And in shame and in slaughter and in great destitution, Their spirits shall be cast into the furnace of fire.
4 I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, as a mountain has not become a slave, And a hill does not become the handmaid of a woman, Even so sin has not been sent upon the earth, But man of himself has created it, And under a great curse shall they fall who commit it.
5 And barrenness has not been given to the woman, But on account of the deeds of her own hands she dies without children.
6 I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, by the Holy Great One, That all your evil deeds are revealed in the heavens, And that none of your deeds of oppression are covered and hidden.
7 And do not think in your spirit nor say in your heart that ye do not know and that ye do not see 8 that every sin is every day recorded in heaven in the presence of the Most High. From henceforth ye know that all your oppression wherewith ye oppress is written down every day till the day of your judgement. 9 Woe to you, ye fools, for through your folly shall ye perish: and ye transgress against the wise, 10 and so good hap shall not be your portion. And now, know ye that ye are prepared for the day of destruction: wherefore do not hope to live, ye sinners, but ye shall depart and die; for ye know no ransom; for ye are prepared for the day of the great judgement, for the day of tribulation and great shame for your spirits. 11 Woe to you, ye obstinate of heart, who work wickedness and eat blood: Whence have ye good things to eat and to drink and to be filled ? From all the good things which the Lord the Most High has placed in abundance on the earth; therefore ye shall have no peace. 12 Woe to you who love the deeds of unrighteousness: wherefore do ye hope for good hap unto yourselves? know that ye shall be delivered into the hands of the righteous, and they shall cut 3 off your necks and slay you, and have no mercy upon you. Woe to you who rejoice in the tribulation of the righteous; for no grave shall be dug for you. Woe to you who set at nought the words of 5 the righteous; for ye shall have no hope of life. Woe to you who write down lying and godless words; for they write down their lies that men may hear them and act godlessly towards (their) 6 neighbour. Therefore they shall have no peace but die a sudden death.

[Chapter 99]

1 Woe to you who work godlessness, And glory in lying and extol them: Ye shall perish, and no happy life shall be yours.
2 Woe 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.
3 In 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.
4 In those days the nations shall be stirred up, And the families of the nations shall arise on the day of destruction.
5 And 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.
6, 7 And again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin is prepared for a day of unceasing bloodshed. And 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.
8 And 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.
9 Through these they shall become godless and fearful; For they shall have wrought all their work in a lie, And shall have worshiped a stone: Therefore in an instant shall they perish.
10 But 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.
11 Woe to you who spread evil to your neighbours; For you shall be slain in Sheol.
12 Woe to you who make deceitful and false measures, And (to them) who cause bitterness on the earth; For they shall thereby be utterly consumed.
13 Woe 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.
14 Woe to them who reject the measure and eternal heritage of their fathers And whose souls follow after idols; For they shall have no rest.
15 Woe to them who work unrighteousness and help oppression, And slay their neighbours until the day of the great judgement.
16 For 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.

Chapter 100]

1 And in those days in one place the fathers together with their sons shall be smitten And brothers one with another shall fall in death Till the streams flow with their blood.
2 For a man shall not withhold his hand from slaying his sons and his sons' sons, And the sinner shall not withhold his hand from his honoured brother: From dawn till sunset they shall slay one another.
3 And the horse shall walk up to the breast in the blood of sinners, And the chariot shall be submerged to its height.
4 In those days the angels shall descend into the secret places And gather together into one place all those who brought down sin And the Most High will arise on that day of judgement To execute great judgement amongst sinners.
5 And over all the righteous and holy He will appoint guardians from amongst the holy angels To guard them as the apple of an eye, Until He makes an end of all wickedness and all sin, And though the righteous sleep a long sleep, they have nought to fear.
6 And (then) the children of the earth shall see the wise in security, And shall understand all the words of this book, And recognize that their riches shall not be able to save them In the overthrow of their sins.
7 Woe to you, Sinners, on the day of strong anguish, Ye who afflict the righteous and burn them with fire: Ye shall be requited according to your works.
8 Woe to you, ye obstinate of heart, Who watch in order to devise wickedness: Therefore shall fear come upon you And there shall be none to help you.
9 Woe to you, ye sinners, on account of the words of your mouth, And on account of the deeds of your hands which your godlessness as wrought, In blazing flames burning worse than fire shall ye burn.
10 And now, know ye that from the angels He will inquire as to your deeds in heaven, from the sun and from the moon and from the stars in reference to your sins because upon the earth ye execute 11 judgement on the righteous. And He will summon to testify against you every cloud and mist and dew and rain; for they shall all be withheld because of you from descending upon you, and they 12 shall be mindful of your sins. And now give presents to the rain that it be not withheld from descending upon you, nor yet the dew, when it has received gold and silver from you that it may descend. When the hoar-frost and snow with their chilliness, and all the snow-storms with all their plagues fall upon you, in those days ye shall not be able to stand before them.

[Chapter 101]

1 Observe the heaven, ye children of heaven, and every work of the Most High, and fear ye Him 2 and work no evil in His presence. If He closes the windows of heaven, and withholds the rain and 3 the dew from descending on the earth on your account, what will ye do then? And if He sends His anger upon you because of your deeds, ye cannot petition Him; for ye spake proud and insolent 4 words against His righteousness: therefore ye shall have no peace. And see ye not the sailors of the ships, how their ships are tossed to and fro by the waves, and are shaken by the winds, and are 5 in sore trouble ? And therefore do they fear because all their goodly possessions go upon the sea with them, and they have evil forebodings of heart that the sea will swallow them and they will 6 perish therein. Are not the entire sea and all its waters, and all its movements, the work of the Most 7 High, and has He not set limits to its doings, and confined it throughout by the sand ? And at His reproof it is afraid and dries up, and all its fish die and all that is in it; But ye sinners that are 8 on the earth fear Him not. Has He not made the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein ? Who has given understanding and wisdom to everything that moves on the earth and in the sea. 9 Do not the sailors of the ships fear the sea ? Yet sinners fear not the Most High.

[Chapter 102]

1 In those days when He hath brought a grievous fire upon you, Whither will ye flee, and where will ye find deliverance ? And when He launches forth His Word against you Will you not be affrighted and fear ?
2 And all the luminaries shall be affrighted with great fear, And all the earth shall be affrighted and tremble and be alarmed.
3 And all the angels shall execute their commandst And shall seek to hide themselves from the presence of the Great Glory, And the children of earth shall tremble and quake; And ye sinners shall be cursed for ever, And ye shall have no peace.
4 Fear ye not, ye souls of the righteous, And be hopeful ye that have died in righteousness.
5 And grieve not if your soul into Sheol has descended in grief, And that in your life your body fared not according to your goodness, But wait for the day of the judgement of sinners And for the day of cursing and chastisement.
6 And yet when ye die the sinners speak over you: " As we die, so die the righteous, And what benefit do they reap for their deeds ?
7 Behold, even as we, so do they die in grief and darkness, And what have they more than we ? From henceforth we are equal.
8 And what will they receive and what will they see for ever ? Behold, they too have died, And henceforth for ever shall they see no light."
9 I tell you, ye sinners, ye are content to eat and drink, and rob and sin, and strip men naked, and 10 acquire wealth and see good days. Have ye seen the righteous how their end falls out, that no manner 11 of violence is found in them till their death ? " Nevertheless they perished and became as though they had not been, and their spirits descended into Sheol in tribulation."

[Chapter 103]

1 Now, therefore, I swear to you, the righteous, by the glory of the Great and Honoured and 2 Mighty One in dominion, and by His greatness I swear to you. I know a mystery And have read the heavenly tablets, And have seen the holy books, And have found written therein and inscribed regarding them:
3 That all goodness and joy and glory are prepared for them, And written down for the spirits of those who have died in righteousness, And that manifold good shall be given to you in recompense for your labours, And that your lot is abundantly beyond the lot of the living.
4 And the spirits of you who have died in righteousness shall live and rejoice, And their spirits shall not perish, nor their memorial from before the face of the Great One Unto all the generations of the world: wherefore no longer fear their contumely.
5 Woe to you, ye sinners, when ye have died, If ye die in the wealth of your sins, And those who are like you say regarding you: ' Blessed are the sinners: they have seen all their days.
6 And how they have died in prosperity and in wealth, And have not seen tribulation or murder in their life; And they have died in honour, And judgement has not been executed on them during their life."
7 Know ye, that their souls will be made to descend into Sheol And they shall be wretched in their great tribulation.
8 And into darkness and chains and a burning flame where there is grievous judgement shall your spirits enter; And the great judgement shall be for all the generations of the world. Woe to you, for ye shall have no peace.
9 Say not in regard to the righteous and good who are in life: " In our troubled days we have toiled laboriously and experienced every trouble, And met with much evil and been consumed, And have become few and our spirit small.
10 And we have been destroyed and have not found any to help us even with a word: We have been tortured [and destroyed], and not hoped to see life from day to day.
11 We hoped to be the head and have become the tail: We have toiled laboriously and had no satisfaction in our toil; And we have become the food of the sinners and the unrighteous, And they have laid their yoke heavily upon us.
12 They have had dominion over us that hated us and smote us; And to those that hated us we have bowed our necks But they pitied us not.
13 We desired to get away from them that we might escape and be at rest,But found no place whereunto we should flee and be safe from them.
14 And are complained to the rulers in our tribulation, And cried out against those who devoured us, But they did not attend to our cries And would not hearken to our voice.
15 And they helped those who robbed us and devoured us and those who made us few; and they concealed their oppression, and they did not remove from us the yoke of those that devoured us and dispersed us and murdered us, and they concealed their murder, and remembered not that they had lifted up their hands against us.

[Chapter 104]

1 I swear unto you, that in heaven the angels remember you for good before the glory of the Great 2 One: and your names are written before the glory of the Great One. Be hopeful; for aforetime ye were put to shame through ill and affliction; but now ye shall shine as the lights of heaven, 3 ye shall shine and ye shall be seen, and the portals of heaven shall be opened to you. And in your cry, cry for judgement, and it shall appear to you; for all your tribulation shall be visited on the 4 rulers, and on all who helped those who plundered you. Be hopeful, and cast not away your hopes for ye shall have great joy as the angels of heaven. What shall ye be obliged to do ? Ye shall not have to hide on the day of the great judgement and ye shall not be found as sinners, and the eternal 6 judgement shall be far from you for all the generations of the world. And now fear not, ye righteous, when ye see the sinners growing strong and prospering in their ways: be not companions with them, 7 but keep afar from their violence; for ye shall become companions of the hosts of heaven. And, although ye sinners say: " All our sins shall not be searched out and be written down," nevertheless 8 they shall write down all your sins every day. And now I show unto you that light and darkness, 9 day and night, see all your sins. Be not godless in your hearts, and lie not and alter not the words of uprightness, nor charge with lying the words of the Holy Great One, nor take account of your 10 idols; for all your lying and all your godlessness issue not in righteousness but in great sin. And now I know this mystery, that sinners will alter and pervert the words of righteousness in many ways, and will speak wicked words, and lie, and practice great deceits, and write books concerning 11 their words. But when they write down truthfully all my words in their languages, and do not change or minish ought from my words but write them all down truthfully -all that I first testified 12 concerning them. Then, I know another mystery, that books will be given to the righteous and the 13 wise to become a cause of joy and uprightness and much wisdom. And to them shall the books be given, and they shall believe in them and rejoice over them, and then shall all the righteous who have learnt therefrom all the paths of uprightness be recompensed.'

[Chapter 105]

1 In those days the Lord bade (them) to summon and testify to the children of earth concerning their wisdom: Show (it) unto them; for ye are their guides, and a recompense over the whole earth. 2 For I and My son will be united with them for ever in the paths of uprightness in their lives; and ye shall have peace: rejoice, ye children of uprightness. Amen.