1 Enoch 38

Here begins the first parable. It speaks of the time when the gathered company of the righteous will appear, when sinners will be judged for what they have done wrong, and when they will be driven off the face of the earth.

1The First Parable. When the congregation of the righteous shall appear, And sinners shall be judged for their sins, And shall be driven from the face of the earth:

Note"Parable" here renders a word (Ethiopic mesale, behind it the Hebrew mashal) that covers any weighty utterance: a proverb, an oracle, a figurative discourse. It does not mean a short illustrative story of the kind found in the Gospels. Chapters 37 to 71 of this book are known as the Book of Parables and contain three such discourses; this is the opening of the first. "The congregation of the righteous" is a single assembled body, the righteous gathered together as a community rather than scattered individuals.

2It speaks of when the Righteous One will appear where the righteous can see him, the righteous whose chosen works are held up by the Lord of Spirits, and when light will appear to the righteous and the chosen who live on the earth. Where will the sinners live then? Where will those who denied the Lord of Spirits find a place to rest? It would have been better for them if they had never been born.

2And when the Righteous One shall appear before the eyes of the righteous, Whose elect works hang upon the Lord of Spirits, And light shall appear to the righteous and the elect who dwell on the earth, Where then will be the dwelling of the sinners, And where the resting-place of those who have denied the Lord of Spirits? It had been good for them if they had not been born.

Note"The Lord of Spirits" is this book's standard title for God throughout these chapters, roughly answering to "Lord of hosts" in the Hebrew prophets, the spirits being the heavenly beings of his court. "The Righteous One" is a title for the figure called elsewhere in these chapters the Elect One and the Son of Man. The clause "whose elect works hang upon the Lord of Spirits" is obscure in the Ethiopic and translators differ over it: it may mean that their chosen deeds depend on him for their strength, or that their deeds are held up and weighed by him. "The elect" means the chosen, those picked out by God, and functions in these chapters as a name for the righteous rather than as a description of them.

3All this will happen when the hidden things of the righteous are brought out into the open, when the sinners are judged, and when the godless are driven away from where the righteous and the chosen are.

3When the secrets of the righteous shall be revealed and the sinners judged, And the godless driven from the presence of the righteous and elect,

Note"The secrets of the righteous shall be revealed" can be read two ways in the original, and the translation preserves the ambiguity: either the hidden deeds of the righteous are brought into the open, or the hidden things belonging to the righteous, what has been stored up and kept out of sight for them, are now disclosed. "The godless" translates a word for those who live without regard for God, not for people who hold a considered opinion that no God exists.

4From that time on, those who possess the earth will no longer be powerful and lifted high. They will not be able to look at the face of the holy, because the Lord of Spirits has made his light shine on the face of the holy, the righteous, and the chosen.

4From that time those that possess the earth shall no longer be powerful and exalted: And they shall not be able to behold the face of the holy, For the Lord of Spirits has caused His light to appear On the face of the holy, righteous, and elect.

Note"Those that possess the earth" is a fixed phrase in these chapters for the landowning rich and the ruling class, those who hold the earth as property. It does not mean people in general. Being unable to look at the face of the holy echoes the older account of Moses coming down from the mountain with a shining face, so that the people could not look at him.

5Then the kings and the mighty will perish, and they will be handed over to the righteous and holy.

5Then shall the kings and the mighty perish And be given into the hands of the righteous and holy.

Note"Given into the hands of" is the ordinary idiom for handing captives over into someone's power, to be dealt with as that person sees fit. The kings and the mighty are the ones who normally do the handing over; here the direction of the phrase is reversed.

6From then on, no one will ask the Lord of Spirits for mercy for themselves, because their life has come to its end.

6And thenceforward none shall seek for themselves mercy from the Lord of Spirits For their life is at an end.

NoteThe line admits two readings and the translation keeps both open: either no one will ask mercy for himself any longer, or no one will find mercy to be had. "Their life is at an end" means their allotted span has run out, the span during which mercy could still be sought.