Chapter XCVII
1. Woe to them who act impiously, who laud and honour the word of falsehood. You have been lost in perdition ; and have never led a virtuous life.
2. Woe to you who change the words of integrity. They transgress against the everlasting decree;
3. And cause the heads of those who are not sinners to be trodden down upon the earth.
4. In those days you, ye righteous, shall have been deemed worthy of having your prayers rise up in remembrance ; and shall have deposited them in testimony before the angels, that they might record the sins of sinners in the presence of the Most High.
5. In those days the nations shall he overthrown but the families of the nations shall rise again in the day of perdition.
6. In those days they who become pregnant shall go forth, carry off their children, and forsake them. Their offspring shall slip from them, and while suckling them shall they forsake them ; they shall never return to them, and never instruct their beloved.
7. Again I swear to you, ye sinners, that crime has been prepared for the day of blood, which never ceases.
8. They shall worship stones, and engrave golden, silver, and wooden images. They shall worship impure spirits, demons, and every idol, in temples but no help shall be obtained for them. Their hearts shall become impious through their folly, and their eyes be blinded with mental superstition. In their visionary dreams shall they be impious and superstitious, lying in all their actions, and worshipping a stone. Altogether shall they perish.
9. But in those days blessed shall they be, to whom the word of wisdom is delivered ; who point out and pursue the path of the Most High ; who walk in the way of righteousness, and who act not impiously with the impious.
10. They shall be saved.
11. Woe to you who expand the crime of your neighbour ; for in hell shall you be slain.
12. Woe to you who lay the foundation of sin and deceit, and who are bitter on earth ; for on it shall you be consumed.
13. Woe to you who build your houses by the labour of others, every part of which is constructed with brick, and with the stone of crime; I tell you, that you shall not obtain peace.
14. Woe to you who despise the extent of the everlasting inheritance of your fathers, while your souls follow after idols ; for to you there shall be no tranquillity.
15. Woe to them who commit iniquity, and give aid to blasphemy, who slay their neighbour until the day of the great judgment ; for your glory shall fall ; malevolence shall He put into your hearts, and the spirit of his wrath shall stir you up, that every one of you may perish by the sword.
16. Then shall all the righteous and the holy remember your crimes.
Chapter XCVIII
1. In those days shall fathers be struck down with their children in the presence of each other; and brethren with their brethren shall fall dead until a river shall flow from their blood.
2. For a man shall not restrain his hand from his children, nor from his children's children ; his mercy will be to kill them.
3. Nor shall the sinner restrain his hand from his honoured brother. From the dawn of day to the setting sun shall the slaughter continue. The horse shall wade up to his breast, and the chariot shall sink to its axle, in the blood of sinners.
Chapter XCIX
1. In those days the angels shall descend into places of concealment, and gather together in one spot all who have assisted in crime.
2. In that day shall the Most High rise up to execute the great judgment upon all sinners, and to commit the guardianship of all the righteous and holy to the holy angels, that they may protect them as the apple of an eye, until every evil and every crime be annihilated.
3. Whether or not the righteous sleep securely, wise men shall then truly perceive.
4. And the sons of the earth shall understand every word of that book, knowing that their riches cannot save them in the ruin of their crimes.
5. Woe to you, ye sinners, when you shall be afflicted on account of the righteous in the day of the great trouble ; shall be burnt in the fire ; and be recompensed according to your deeds.
6. Woe to you, ye perverted in heart, who are watchful to obtain an accurate knowledge of evil, and to discover terrors. No one shall assist you.
7. Woe to you, ye sinners ; for with the words of your mouths, and with the work of your hands, have you acted impiously; in the flame of a blazing fire shall you be burnt.
8. And now know ye, that the angels shall inquire into your conduct in heaven ; of the sun, the moon, and the stars, shall they inquire respecting your sins; for upon earth you exercise jurisdiction over the righteous.
9. Every cloud shall bear witness against you, the snow, the dew, and the rain : for all of them shall be withholden from you, that they may not descend upon you, nor become subservient to your crimes.
10. Now then bring gifts of salutation to the rain ; that, not being withholden, it may descend upon you; and to the dew, if it has received from you gold and silver. But when the frost, snow, cold, every snowy wind, and every suffering belonging to them, fall upon you, in those days you will be utterly incapable of standing before them.
Chapter C
1. Attentively consider heaven, all ye progeny of heaven, and all ye works of the Most High fear him, nor conduct yourselves criminally before him.
2. If He shut up the windows of heaven, restraining the rain and dew, that it may not descend upon earth on your account, what will you do ?
3. And if He send his wrath upon you, and upon all your deeds, you are not they who can supplicate him; you who utter against his righteousness, language proud and powerful. To you there shall be no peace.
4. Do you not see the commanders of ships, how their vessels are tossed about by the waves, torn to pieces by the winds, and exposed to the greatest peril ?
5. That they therefore fear, because their whole
property is embarked with them on the ocean and that they forbode evil in their hearts, because it may swallow them up, and they may perish in it ?
6. Is not the whole sea, all its waters, and all its commotion, the work of him, the Most High; of him who has sealed up all its exertions, and girded it on every side with sand ?
7. Is it not at his rebuke dried up, and alarmed while all its fish with everything contained in it die? And will not you, ye sinners, who are on earth, fear him ? Is not He the maker of heaven and earth, and of all things which are in them ?
8. And who has given erudition and wisdom to all that move progressive upon the earth, and over the sea ?
9. Are not the commanders of ships terrified at the ocean? And shall not sinners be terrified at the Most High ?
Chapter CII
1. In those days, when He shall cast the calamity of fire upon you, whither will you fly, and where will you be safe ?
2. And when He sends forth his word against you, are you not spared, and terrified ?
3. All the luminaries are agitated with great fear ; and all the earth is spared, while it trembles, and suffers anxiety.
4. All the angels fulfil the commands received by them, and are desirous of being concealed from the presence of the great Glory ; while the children of the earth are alarmed and troubled.
5. But you, ye sinners, are for ever accursed ; to you there shall be no peace.
6. Fear not, ye souls of the righteous ; but wait with patient hope for the day of your death in righteousness. Grieve not, because your souls descend in great trouble, with groaning, lamentation, and sorrow, to the receptacle of the dead. In your lifetime your bodies have not received a recompense in proportion to your goodness, but in the period of your existence have sinners existed ; in the period of execration and of punishment.
7. And when you die, sinners say concerning you, " As we die, the righteous die. What profit have they in their works? Behold, like us, they expire in sorrow and in darkness. What advantage have they over us? Henceforward are we equal. What will be within their grasp, and what before their eyes for ever ? For behold they are dead and never will they again perceive the light." I say unto you, ye sinners. You have been satiated with meat and drink, with human plunder and rapine, with sin, with the acquisition of wealth and with the sight of good days. Have you not marked the righteous, how their end is in peace? for no oppression is found in them even to the day of their death. They perish, and are as if they were not, while their souls descend in trouble to the receptacle of the dead.
Chapter CIII
1. But now I swear to you, ye righteous, by the greatness of his splendour and his glory; by his illustrious kingdom and by his majesty, to you I swear, that I comprehend this mystery ; that I have read the tablet of heaven, have seen the writing of the holy Ones, and have discovered what is written and impressed on it concerning you.
2. I have seen that all goodness, joy, and glory has been prepared for you, and been written down for the spirits of them who die eminently righteous and good. To you it shall be given in return for your troubles ; and your portion of happiness shall far exceed the portion of the living.
3. The spirits of you who die in righteousness shall exist and rejoice. Their spirits shall exult; and their remembrance shall be before the face of the mighty One from generation to generation. Nor shall they now fear disgrace.
4. Woe to you, sinners, when you die in your sins ; and they, who are like you, say respecting you. Blessed are these sinners. They have lived out their whole period and now they die in happiness and in wealth. Distress and slaughter they knew not while alive ; in honour they die ; nor ever in their lifetime did judgment overtake them.
5. But has it not been shown to them, that, when to the receptacle of the dead their souls shall be made to descend, their evil deeds shall become their greatest torment? Into darkness, into the snare, and into the flame, which shall burn to the great judgment, shall their spirits enter ; and the great judgment shall take effect for ever and for ever.
6. Woe to you ; for to you there shall be no peace. Neither can you say to the righteous, and to the good who are alive, " In the days of our trouble have we been afflicted ; every species of trouble have we seen, and many evil things have suffered.
7. Our spirits have been consumed, lessened, and diminished.
8. We have perished ; nor has there been a possibility of help for us in word or in deed : we have found none, but have been tormented and destroyed.
9. We have not expected to live day after day.
10. We hoped indeed to have been the head;
11. But we have become the tail. We have been afflicted, when we have exerted ourselves ; but we have been devoured by sinners and the ungodly their yoke has been heavy upon us.
12. Those have exercised dominion over us who detest and who goad us ; and to those who hate us have we humbled our neck ; but they have shown no compassion towards us.
13. We have been desirous of escaping from them, that we might fly away and be at rest ; but we have found no place to which we could fly, and be secure from them. We have sought an asylum with princes in our distress, and have cried out to those who were devouring us ; but our cry has not been regarded, nor have they been disposed to hear our voice;
14. But rather to assist those who plunder and devour us ; those who diminish us, and hide their oppression ; who remove not their yoke from us, but devour, enervate, and slay us ; who conceal our slaughter, nor remember that they have lifted up their hands against us."
Chapter CIV
1. I swear to you, ye righteous, that in heaven the angels record your goodness before the glory of the mighty One.
2. Wait with patient hope ; for formerly you have been disgraced with evil and with affliction ; but now shall you shine like the luminaries of heaven. You shall be seen, and the gates of heaven shall be opened to you. Your cries have cried for judgment ; and it has appeared to you : for an account of all your sufferings shall be required from the princes, and from every one who has assisted your plunderers.
3. Wait with patient hope ; nor relinquish your confidence ; for great joy shall be yours, like that of the angels in heaven. Conduct yourselves as you may, still you shall not be concealed in the day of the great judgment. You shall not be found like sinners ; and eternal condemnation shall be far from you, so long as the world exists.
4. And now fear not, ye righteous, when you see sinners flourishing and prosperous in their ways.
5. Be not associates with them ; but keep yourselves at a distance from their oppression ; be you associated with the host of heaven. You, ye sinners, say, All our transgressions shall not be taken account of, and be recorded. But all your transgressions shall be recorded daily.
6. And be assured by me that light and darkness, day and night, behold all your transgressions. Be not impious in your thoughts ; lie not ; surrender not the word of uprightness ; lie not against the word of the holy and the mighty One glorify not; your idols ; for all your lying and all your impiety is not for righteousness, but for great crime.
7. Now will I point out a mystery : Many sinners shall turn and transgress against the word of uprightness.
8. They shall speak evil things ; they shall utter falsehood ; execute great undertakings ; and compose books in their own words. But when they shall write all my words correctly in their own languages,
9. They shall neither change or diminish them but shall write them all correctly ; all which from the first I have uttered concerning them.
10. Another mystery also I point out. To the righteous and the wise shall be given books of joy, of integrity, and of great wisdom. To them shall books be given, in which they shall believe;
11. And in which they shall rejoice. And all the righteous shall be rewarded, who from these shall acquire the knowledge of every upright path.
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