1 Enoch 2

Watch everything that happens in the sky, and see how those things never change the paths they travel. Watch the lights in the sky, and see how they all rise and set in order, each one in its own season, and never break the order set for them.

1Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, and the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and transgress not against their appointed order.

Note"Transgress not against their appointed order" uses the vocabulary of law-breaking, the same kind of word used of a person who disobeys a command or breaks a rule. The sun, moon and stars are being described as subjects who keep the orders given to them. Charles's word "orbits" translates a term that means courses or tracks; the picture is of fixed paths across the sky, not orbits in the modern astronomical sense.

2Look at the earth, and pay attention to the things that happen on it, from the first to the last. See how steady they are, how none of the things on earth change, and how all the works of God are there for you to see.

2Behold ye the earth, and give heed to the things which take place upon it from first to last, how steadfast they are, how none of the things upon earth change, but all the works of God appear to you.

Note"From first to last" means across the whole span, beginning to end, with nothing left out. The claim that none of the things on earth "change" is not a claim that nothing on earth moves; the word is the same kind used in verse 1 of the stars not leaving their course, so it means that nothing swerves from the pattern set for it.

3Look at the summer and the winter, and see how the whole earth is filled with water, and how clouds and dew and rain lie on it.

3Behold the summer and the winter, how the whole earth is filled with water, and clouds and dew and rain lie upon it.

NoteIn the climate this book comes from the year has two seasons rather than four: a dry summer with virtually no rainfall, and a wet winter when the rains come. "Summer and winter" is therefore a way of saying the dry half and the wet half of the year, which is why the next clause moves straight to water. Dew is listed alongside rain because in a dry country the heavy night dew was a real source of moisture, not just a damp morning.