1 Enoch 58
What Happens in This Chapter
The speaker begins the third of his long discourses, this one about the righteous and the chosen. He calls them blessed, says their portion will be glorious, and says their days will have no end and their lives will be lived in light and peace. He then says the holy in heaven will be told to search out the secrets of righteousness, because the darkness is gone and a light that never ends is set up before the Lord of Spirits.
Then I began to speak the third discourse, about the people who do what is right and the people God has chosen.
1And I began to speak the third Parable concerning the righteous and elect.
"Parable" here does not mean a short story with a lesson. It means one of the three long speeches that make up this section of the book.
2You are blessed, you who do what is right and are chosen, because what you receive will be glorious.
2Blessed are ye, ye righteous and elect, For glorious shall be your lot.
"Lord of Spirits" is the title this part of the book uses for God. It is repeated throughout these chapters.
3Those who do what is right will live in the light of the sun, and the chosen will live in the light of life that never ends. The days of their life will have no end, and the days of the holy ones cannot be counted.
3And the righteous shall be in the light of the sun, And the elect in the light of eternal life: The days of their life shall be unending, And the days of the holy without number.
4They will look for the light, and they will find righteousness with the Lord of Spirits. There will be peace for those who do what is right, in the name of the Everlasting Lord.
4And they shall seek the light and find righteousness with the Lord of Spirits: There shall be peace to the righteous in the name of the Eternal Lord.
5After this, the holy ones in heaven will be told to search out the secrets of righteousness, which is what faith receives as its inheritance. For it has become as bright as the sun over the earth, and the darkness is gone.
5And after this it shall be said to the holy in heaven That they should seek out the secrets of righteousness, the heritage of faith: For it has become bright as the sun upon earth, And the darkness is past.
6There will be a light that never ends, and their days will never reach a set number. For the darkness will first have been destroyed, and the light will be set up firmly before the Lord of Spirits, and the light of what is right will be set up firmly forever before the Lord of Spirits.
6And there shall be a light that never endeth, And to a limit (lit. ‘number’) of days they shall not come, For the darkness shall first have been destroyed, And the light established before the Lord of Spirits And the light of uprightness established for ever before the Lord of Spirits.
The text literally says they will not come to a "number" of days. The point is that no fixed count of days is set for their lives.
← → to turn the page · P for plain English · click a verse to select it