1 Enoch 36

From there I went south to the ends of the earth. There I saw three open gateways in the sky. Dew, rain, and wind come out through them.

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†.

NoteThe book pictures the rim of the world as a wall pierced by gates. Dew, rain and wind are thought of as kept in storehouses outside the ordinary world and released through these openings when they are opened. Chapters 33 to 36 walk the four quarters of the horizon in turn, counting the gates in each. In the words "†and wind†" the translator set daggers around the phrase to mark it as doubtful: the surviving Ethiopic manuscripts do not agree here.

2From there I went east to the ends of the sky. There I saw the three eastern gateways of the sky standing open, with small gateways above them.

2And 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.

Note"The ends of the heaven" means the horizon, where the sky was pictured as coming down to meet the earth. The tour that began in the east now closes in the east. The three large eastern gates are the ones the sun and the moon rise through in the astronomical chapters later in this book; the small gates set above them belong to the stars.

3The stars of the sky pass through each of these small gateways. They travel west along the path that is marked out for them.

3Through 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.

Note"The path which is shown to them" means a course assigned in advance rather than chosen. Elsewhere in this book stars that leave their appointed path are shown bound and imprisoned for it, so a star keeping to its marked track is an act of obedience.

4Every time I saw these things, I praised the Lord of Glory, and I kept on praising the Lord of Glory. He has made great and glorious wonders. He did it to show how great his work is to the angels, to spirits, and to people, so that they would praise his work and everything he has made. He did it so they would see the work of his power, and praise the great work of his hands, and bless him forever.

4And 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.

Note"Blessed" here means praised or spoke well of. When a person blesses God the word never means granting him a favor; it means declaring his worth out loud. "Lord of Glory" is one of the standing titles for God in this book. "Spirits" stands as a third class of beings alongside angels and human beings, without further definition. This verse closes the first section of 1 Enoch, chapters 1 to 36, usually called the Book of the Watchers; ancient books of this kind commonly ended with a short burst of praise like this one.