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The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch, Charles translation) · 128 of 141 · tr. R.H. Charles

Chapter XCVIII

XCVIII. Self-indulgence of Sinners: Sin originated by Man: all Sin recorded in Heaven: Woes for the Sinners . CHAPTER XCVIII. 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, p. 140 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 that every sin is every day recorded in heaven in the presence of the Most High. 8. 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, and so good hap shall not be your portion. 10. 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? [paragraph continues] 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 off your necks and slay you, and have no mercy upon you. 13. Woe to you who rejoice in the p. 141 tribulation of the righteous; for no grave shall be dug for you. 14. Woe to you who set at nought the words of the righteous; for ye shall have no hope of life. 15. 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) neighbour. 16. Therefore they shall have no peace but die a sudden death.
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Themes
Correspondencecosmology

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.

The passage describes earthly deeds being mirrored and recorded in the heavens, reflecting a vertical correspondence between human action and divine record.

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Divine Providencetheology

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.

The text asserts that all evil deeds are revealed and recorded in heaven by the Most High, indicating divine oversight and ordering of human affairs.

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Eschatological Judgmentsoteriology

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 repeatedly emphasizes the 'day of judgement,' 'day of destruction,' and the final sentencing of sinners into the furnace of fire.

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Evil As Privationtheology

Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness.

The passage explicitly states that sin was not sent by heaven but created by man himself, denying an external divine or demonic source for evil.

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Living Godtheology

The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality.

God is depicted as an active, personal reality who swears oaths, records deeds, and executes judgment rather than an abstract principle.

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Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

The condemnation of those who act godlessly towards their neighbour implies the existence of a moral obligation to treat others well.

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Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics

Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.

The passage condemns those who write down lying and godless words to lead others astray, critiquing false teaching.

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Renunciation Of Wealthethics

The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle.

Material adornments, gold, and silver are explicitly linked to a lack of wisdom and the eventual perishing of the sinners' possessions.

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Self Examinationpraxis

Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice.

The text admonishes sinners not to think they do not know or see their sins, implying a need for awareness of one's spiritual state.

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Related passages · 10 parallels
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 85 (part 1)
“Section 10 10. But if Matter is devoid of quality how can it be evil? It is described as being devoid of quality in the sense only that it does not essentially possess any of the qualities which it admits and which enter into it as into a…”
Shared concept: Evil As Privation — Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1i
“364 The ultimate Godhead is reached only by the Negative Path, and known only by Unknowing. The Affirmative Path of philosophical knowledge leads only to the differentiated manifestations of the Godhead: e.g. the Trinity, in Its creative…”
Shared concept: Evil As Privation — Augustinian and Plotinian doctrine that evil has no positive being of its own but is a lack, distortion, or absence of the good — denying ontological dualism while preserving moral seriousness. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1k
“and all things are moved by a longing for the Beautiful and Good, to accomplish every outward work and form every act of will. And true reasoning will also dare to affirm that even the Creator of all things Himself yearneth after all thing…”
Shared concept: Living God — The divine conceived as active, present, and dynamic—not an abstract principle but a personal responsive reality. (derived)
neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 161
“Section 5 5. Still more unreasonably: There are men, bound to human bodies and subject to desire, grief, anger, who think so generously of their own faculty that they declare themselves in contact with the Intelligible World, but deny that…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — 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. (derived)
neoplatonism|Iamblichus: On the Mysteries|Chapter XXVII-a
“Moreover, neither is it sufficient to assert, “ that nature, art, and the sympathy of things in the universe, as if they were the parts of one animal, contain premanifestations of certain 188 things with reference to each other; nor that bo…”
Shared concept: Divine Providence — 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. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 10 (part 9)
“"All sacrificing without faith and divine desire is an p. 219 abomination before God, and does not reach the gate of divine glory; but if man enters therein with the power of faith, he surrenders to it his free will, and desires by that me…”
Shared concept: Rejection Of Hypocrisy — Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance. (derived)
native_american|The Soul of the Indian|Chapter I-b
“Sometimes an old man, standing upon the brink of eternity, might reveal to a chosen few the oracle of his long-past youth. The native American has been generally despised by his white conquerors for his poverty and simplicity. They forget…”
Shared concept: Renunciation Of Wealth — The spiritual danger of attachment to material possessions; wealth as a spiritual obstacle. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book I|Sutra 39
“Or meditative brooding on what is dearest to the heart. Here is a thought which our own day is beginning to grasp: that love is a form of knowledge; that we truly know any thing or any person, by becoming one therewith, in love. Thus love h…”
Shared concept: Love Of Neighbour — Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Meister Eckhart's Sermons (Field translation)|VI-e
“Therefore sanctification is the best of all things, for it cleanses the soul, and illuminates the conscience, and kindles the heart, and wakens the spirit, and girds up the loins, and glorifies virtue and separates us from creatures, and un…”
Shared concept: Self Examination — Daily review of thought and action as spiritual practice. (derived)
native_american|The Soul of the Indian|Chapter II-a
“THE FAMILY ALTAR Pre-natal Influence. Early Religious Teaching. The Function of the Aged. Woman, Marriage and the Family. Loyalty, Hospitality, Friendship. The American Indian was an individualist in religion as in war. He had neither…”
Shared concept: Love Of Neighbour — Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love. (derived)
Contrasts · where traditions diverge
christian_mysticism|Revelations of Divine Love|Chapter XXXVIII
“In Heaven "the token of sin is turned to worship."— Examples thereof Also God shewed that sin shall be no shame to man, but worship. For right as to every sin is answering a pain by truth, right so for every sin, to the same soul is given a…”
Both passages deal with sin and its consequences, but they take opposite positions. Passage A emphasizes that sin can be transformed into worship and that even sinners can find redemption and joy in Heaven. Passage B, on the other hand, focuses on the punishment and woes that await sinners, with no mention of redemption or transformation of sin.
christian_mysticism|Revelations of Divine Love|Chapter LXXIX
“"I was taught that I should see mine own sin, and not other men's sin except it may be for comfort and help of my fellow-Christians" ( lxxvi. ) Also I had of this [Revelation] more understanding. In that He shewed me that I should sin, I to…”
Both passages deal with sin and divine judgment, but they take opposite positions. Passage A emphasizes divine love and the importance of self-reflection and humility, while Passage B focuses on divine wrath and the inevitable punishment for sinners.