The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 21 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles
Chapter V
CHAPTER V. 1. Observe ⌈⌈ ye ⌉⌉ how the trees cover themselves with green leaves and bear fruit: wherefore give ye heed ⌈ and know ⌉ with regard to all ⌈ His works ⌉ , and recognize how He that liveth for ever hath made them so. 2. And ⌈ all ⌉ His works go on ⌈ thus ⌉ from year to year for ever, and all the tasks ⌈ which ⌉ they accomplish for Him, and ⌈ their tasks ⌉ change not, but according as ⌈⌈ God ⌉⌉ hath ordained so is it done. 3. And behold how the sea and the rivers in like manner accomplish and ⌈ change not ⌉ their tasks ⌈ from His commandments ⌉ . 4. But ye--ye have not been steadfast, nor done the commandments of the Lord, But ye have turned away and spoken proud and hard words With your impure mouths against His greatness. Oh, ye hard-hearted, ye shall find no peace. 5. Therefore shall ye execrate your days, And the years of your life shall perish, And ⌈ the years of your destruction ⌉ shall be multiplied in eternal execration, And ye shall find no mercy. 6 a . In those days ye shall make your names an eternal execration unto all the righteous, b . And by you shall ⌈ all ⌉ who curse, curse, And all the sinners ⌈ and godless ⌉ shall imprecate by you, 7 c . And for you the godless there shall be a curse. 6 d . And all the . . . shall rejoice, e . And there shall be forgiveness of sins, f . And every mercy and peace and forbearance: p. 34 g . There shall be salvation unto them, a goodly light. i . And for all of you sinners there shall be no salvation, j But on you all shall abide a curse. 7 a . But for the elect there shall be light and joy and peace, b . And they shall inherit the earth. 8 And then there shall be bestowed upon the elect wisdom, And they shall all live and never again sin, Either through ungodliness or through pride: But they who are wise shall be humble. 9 And they shall not again transgress, Nor shall they sin all the days of their life, Nor shall they die of (the divine) anger or wrath, But they shall complete the number of the days of their life. And their lives shall be increased in peace, And the years of their joy shall be multiplied, In eternal gladness and peace, All the days of their life.
Themes
◆Active Contemplationpraxis
A form of meditation that uses imagery, imagination, or symbolic thought rather than purely empty stillness.
Readers are commanded to observe nature and recognize God's works as a form of spiritual knowledge.
The Hermetic axiom that the structure of the cosmos is reflected at every scale — 'as above, so below; as within, so without' — making each level a legible map of the others.
Observing the natural world is presented as a way to recognize God's eternal works.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
Nature is described as accomplishing tasks according to God's ordination without change.
The Egyptian principle of truth, balance, and right order underlying both the cosmos and human conduct; the parallel to Zoroastrian asha and Greek dike.
The passage emphasizes the unchanging order of creation versus human disorder and disobedience.
Final, collective cosmic judgment as an event in which the wicked are sentenced and the cosmos restored; distinct from psychopomp_journey (individual passage at death) and emphasising verdict where Zoroastrian frashokereti emphasises restoration.
[auto] The passage centrally contrasts the eternal destruction of sinners with the salvation and inheritance of the elect.