The Book of Visions

Book of Visions
Chapter 83 to 90

CHAPTER 83 - First Dream Vision on the Deluge

And now, my son Methuselah, I will show you all the visions that I saw, recounting them before you.
Two visions I saw, before I took a wife, and neither one was like the other. For the first time, when I learnt the art of writing, and for the second time, before I took your mother. I saw a terrible vision and concerning this I made supplication to the Lord.
I had lain down in the house of my grandfather, Malalel, when I saw in a vision how Heaven was thrown down, and removed, and it fell upon the Earth.
And when it fell upon the Earth, I saw how the earth was swallowed up in a great abyss, and mountains were suspended on mountains, and hills sank down upon hills, and tall trees were torn up by their roots, and were thrown down, and sank into the abyss.
And then speech fell into my mouth, and I raised my voice to cry out, and said: “The earth is destroyed!”
And my grandfather, Malalel, roused me, since I lay near him, and said to me: “Why did you cry out so, my son, and why do you moan so?”
And I recounted to him the whole vision, which I had seen, and he said to me: “A terrible thing you have seen, my son! Your dream vision concerns the secrets of all the sin of the Earth; it is about to sink into the abyss and be utterly destroyed.
And now, my son, rise and make supplication to the Lord of Glory, for you are faithful, that a remnant may be left on the Earth and that he may not wipe out the whole Earth.
My son, from Heaven all this will come upon the Earth, and upon the Earth there will be great destruction.”
And then I rose and prayed, and made supplication, and wrote my prayer down for the generations of eternity, and I will show everything to you my son Methuselah.
And, when I went out below and saw the sky, and the Sun rising in the east, and the Moon setting in the west, and some stars, and the whole Earth, and everything as He knew it since the beginning. Then I blessed the Lord of Judgment and ascribed Majesty to him, for he makes the Sun come out from the windows of the east, so that it ascends and rises on the face of Heaven, and follows the path which has been shown to it.

CHAPTER 84 - Enoch asks God not to destroy his posterity

And I raised my hands in righteousness and I blessed the Holy and Great One. And I spoke with the breath of my mouth, and with the tongue of flesh, which God has made for men born of flesh so that they might speak with it; and he has given them breath, and a tongue, and a mouth, so that they might speak with them.
“Blessed are you, Oh Lord King, and great and powerful in your majesty, Lord of the whole Creation of Heaven, King of Kings, and God of the whole world! And your kingly authority, and your Sovereignty and your Majesty will last forever, and forever and ever, and your power, for all generations. And all the Heavens are your throne, forever, and the whole Earth your footstool forever, and ever and ever.
For you made, and you rule, everything, and nothing is too hard for you, and no wisdom escapes you; it does not turn away from your throne nor from your presence. And you know, and see, and hear, everything, and nothing is hidden from you, for you see everything.
And now the Angels of your Heaven are doing wrong and your anger rests upon the flesh of men until the day of the great judgment.
And now, Oh God, Lord, and Great King, I entreat and ask that you will fulfill my prayer to leave me a posterity on Earth and not to wipe out all the flesh of men and make the earth empty so that there is destruction forever.
And now, my Lord, wipe out from the earth the flesh that has provoked your anger, but the flesh of righteousness and uprightness establish as a seed bearing plant forever. And do not hide your face from the prayer of your servant, Oh Lord.”

CHAPTER 85 - Second Dream of Enoch - History of the World

And after this I saw another dream, and I will show it all to you, my son.
And Enoch raised his voice and said to his son Methuselah: “To you I speak, my son. Hear my words, and incline your ear to the dream vision of your father.
Before I took your mother, Edna, I saw a vision on my bed: - and behold - a bull came out of the earth, and that bull was white. And, after it, a heifer came out, and with the heifer came two bullocks, and one of them was black and the other red.
And that black bullock struck the red one, and pursued it over the earth, and from then on I could not see that red bullock.
But that black bullock grew, and a heifer went with it; and I saw that many bulls came out from it, which were like it, and followed behind it.
And that cow, that first one, came from the presence of that first bull, seeking that red bullock, but did not find it. And then it moaned bitterly and continued to seek it.
And I looked until that first bull came to it, and calmed it, and from that time it did not cry out.
And after this, she bore another white bull, and after this she bore many black bulls and cows.
And I saw, in my sleep, that white bull, how it likewise grew and became a large white bull. And from it came many white bulls, and they were like it.
And they began to beget many white bulls that were like them - one following another.

CHAPTER 86 - Continuation of the history of the world - The stars and the bulls

And again, I looked with my eyes as I was sleeping, and I saw Heaven above, and behold, a star fell from Heaven, and it arose and ate and pastured amongst those bulls.
And, after this, I saw the large and the black bulls, and behold, all of them changed their pens, and their pastures, and their heifers. And they began to moan, one after another.
And, again, I saw in the vision and looked up at Heaven, and behold, I saw many stars, how they came down, and were thrown down from Heaven to that first star, and fell amongst those heifers and bulls. They were with them pasturing amongst them.
And I looked at them and saw, and behold, all of them let out their private parts, like horses, and began to mount the cows of the bulls. And they all became pregnant and bore elephants, camels, and asses.
And all the bulls were afraid of them, and were terrified in front of them. And they began to bite with their teeth, and to devour, and to gore with their horns.
And so they began to devour those bulls, and behold, all the sons of the Earth began to tremble and shake before them and to flee.

CHAPTER 87 - Appearance of Seven Angels

And again I saw them, how they began to gore one another, and to devour one another, and the Earth began to cry out.
And I raised my eyes again to Heaven, and saw in the vision, and behold, there came from Heaven beings that were like white men. And four came from that place, and three others with them.
And those three, who came out last, took hold of me by my hand and raised me from the generations of the Earth, and lifted me up onto a high place, and showed me a tower high above the earth, and all the hills were lower.
And one said to me: “Remain here until you have seen everything which is coming upon these elephants, and camels, and asses, and upon the stars, and upon all the bulls.”

CHAPTER 88 - The Good Angels Punish the Fallen Angels

And I saw one of those four who had come out first, how he took hold of that first star, which had fallen from Heaven, and bound it by its hands and feet, and threw it into an abyss. And that abyss was narrow, and deep, and horrible, and dark.
And one of them drew his sword, and gave it to those elephants, camels, and asses; and they began to strike one another, and the whole Earth shook because of them.
And as I looked in the vision, behold, one of those four who had come out cast a line from Heaven and gathered and took all the large stars; those whose private parts were like the private parts of horses, and bound them all by their hands and their feet, and threw them into a chasm of the Earth.

CHAPTER 89 - History of the world since Noah - The seventy shepherds of Israel

And one of those four, went to a white bull, and taught him a mystery, trembling as he was. He was born a bull, but became a man, and built for himself a large vessel, and dwelt on it, and three bulls went with him in that vessel, and they were covered over.
And, again, I raised my eyes to Heaven and saw a high roof with seven water channels on it, and those channels discharged much water into an enclosure.
And I looked again, and behold, springs opened on the floor of that large enclosure, and water began to bubble up, and to rise above the floor. And I looked at that enclosure until its whole floor was covered by water.
And water, darkness, and mist increased on it, and I looked at the height of that water, and that water had risen above that enclosure and was pouring out over the enclosure, and it remained on the earth.
And all the bulls of that enclosure were gathered together, until I saw how they sank, and were swallowed up, and destroyed, in that water.
And that vessel floated on the water, but all the bulls, elephants, camels, and asses sank to the bottom, together with all the animals, so that I could not see them. And they were unable to get out, but were destroyed, and sank into the depths.
And, again, I looked at that vision until those water channels were removed from that high roof, and the chasms of the Earth were made level, and other abysses were opened.
And the water began to run down into them, until the earth became visible, and that vessel settled on the earth and the darkness departed, and light appeared.
And that white bull, who became a man, went out from that vessel, and the three bulls with him. And one of the three bulls was white, like that bull, and one of them was red as blood, and one was black. And that white bull passed away from them.
And they began to beget wild animals and birds, so that there arose from them every kind of species: lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild boars, foxes, badgers, pigs, falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and ravens. But amongst them was born a white bull.
And they began to bite one another but that white bull, which was born amongst them, begat a wild ass and a white bull with it, and the wild asses increased.
But that bull, which was born from it, begat a black wild boar and a white sheep, and that wild-boar begat many boars and that sheep begat twelve sheep.
And when those twelve sheep had grown, they handed one of their number over to the asses, and those in turn, handed that sheep over to the wolves; and that sheep grew up amongst the wolves.
And the Lord brought the eleven sheep to dwell with it, and to pasture with it amongst the wolves, and they increased and became many flocks of sheep.
And the wolves began to make them afraid, and they oppressed them until they made away with their young, and then they threw their young into a river with much water; but those sheep began to cry out because of their young, and to complain to their Lord.
But a sheep, which had been saved from the wolves, fled and escaped to the wild asses. And I saw the sheep moaning and crying out, and petitioning the Lord with all their power, until that Lord of the sheep came down at the call of the sheep, from a high room, and came to them, and looked at them.
And he called that sheep, which had fled from the wolves, and spoke to it about the wolves, that it should warn them that they should not touch the sheep.
And the sheep went to the wolves, in accordance with the Word of the Lord, and another sheep met that sheep and went with it. And the two of them together, entered the assembly of those wolves, spoke to them, and warned them that from then on, they should not touch those sheep.
And after this, I saw the wolves, how they acted even more harshly towards the sheep, with all their power, and the sheep called out.
And their Lord came to the sheep and began to beat those wolves; and the wolves began to moan, but the sheep became silent and from then on they did not cry out.
And I looked at the sheep until they escaped from the wolves; but the eyes of the wolves were blinded, and those wolves went out in pursuit of the sheep with all their forces.
And the Lord of the sheep went with them, as he led them, and all his sheep followed him; and his face was glorious, and his appearance terrible and magnificent.
But the wolves began to pursue those sheep until they met them by a stretch of water.
And that stretch of water was divided, and the water stood on one side, and on the other, before them. And their Lord as he led them, stood between them and the wolves.
And while those wolves had not yet seen the sheep, they went into the middle of that stretch of water; but the wolves pursued the sheep, and those wolves ran after them into that stretch of water.
But when they saw the Lord of the sheep they turned to flee in front of him; but that stretch of water flowed together again, and suddenly resumed its natural form, and the water swelled up, and rose until it covered those wolves.
And I looked until all the wolves that had pursued those sheep were destroyed and drowned.
But the sheep escaped that water, and went to a desert, where there was neither water, nor grass. And they began to open their eyes and see, and I saw the Lord of the sheep pasturing them, and giving them water and grass, and that sheep going and leading them.
And that sheep went up to the summit of a high rock and the Lord of the sheep sent it to them.
And after this, I saw the Lord of the sheep standing before them, and his appearance was terrible and majestic, and all those sheep saw him and were afraid of him.
And all of them were afraid and trembled before him; and they cried out to that sheep, with those who were in their midst: “We cannot stand before our Lord nor look at him.”
And that sheep, which led them, again went up to the summit of that rock; and the sheep began to be blinded, and go astray from the path which had been shown to them, but that sheep did not know.
And the Lord of the sheep was extremely angry with them, and that sheep knew, and went down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep, and found the majority of them, with their eyes blinded, and going astray from his path.
And when they saw it they were afraid and trembled before it and wished that they could return to their enclosure.
And that sheep took some other sheep with it, and went to those sheep that had gone astray, and then began to kill them; and the sheep were afraid of it. And that sheep brought back those sheep that had gone astray, and they returned to their enclosures.
And I looked there at the vision, until that sheep became a man, and built a house for the Lord of the sheep, and made all the sheep stand in that house.
And I looked until that sheep, which had met that sheep that led the sheep, fell asleep. And I looked until all the large sheep were destroyed and small ones arose in their place, and they came to a pasture, and drew near a river of water.
And that sheep that led them, which had become a man, separated from them and fell asleep, and all the sheep sought it, and cried out very bitterly over it.
And I looked until they left off crying for that sheep, and crossed that river of water. And there arose all the sheep that led them, in place of those which had fallen asleep; and they led.
And I looked until the sheep came to a good place and a pleasant and glorious land, and I looked until those sheep were satisfied. And that house was in the middle of them in that green and pleasant land.
And sometimes their eyes were opened, and sometimes blinded, until another sheep rose up, led them, and brought them all back. And their eyes were opened.
And the dogs, and the foxes, and the wild boars, began to devour those sheep until the Lord of the sheep raised up a ram from among them, which led them.
And that ram began to butt those dogs, foxes, and wild boars, on one side and on the other until it had destroyed them all.
And the eyes of that sheep were opened, and it saw that ram in the middle of the sheep, how it renounced its glory, and began to butt those sheep, and how it trampled on them and behaved unbecomingly. 89.45 And the Lord of the sheep sent the sheep to another sheep and raised it up to be a ram and to lead the sheep in place of that sheep which had renounced its glory.
And it went to it, and spoke with it alone, and raised up that ram, and made it the prince and leader of the sheep. And, during all this, those dogs oppressed the sheep.
And the first ram pursued that second ram and that second ram rose and fled before it. And I looked until those dogs made the first ram fall.
And that second ram rose up and led the small sheep, and that ram begat many sheep, and fell asleep. And a small sheep became a ram, in place of it, and became the prince and leader of those sheep.
And those sheep grew and increased; but all the dogs, and foxes, and wild boars, were afraid and fled from it.
And that ram butted and killed all the animals, and those animals did not again prevail amongst the sheep, and did not seize anything further from them.
And that house became large and broad, and for those sheep a high tower was built on that house for the Lord of the sheep. And that house was low but the tower was raised up and high. And the Lord of the sheep stood on that tower and they spread a full table before him.
And I saw those sheep again, how they went astray, and walked in many ways, and left that house of theirs; and the Lord of the sheep called some of the sheep, and sent them to the sheep, but the sheep began to kill them.
But one of them was saved, and was not killed, and it sprang away and cried out against the sheep. And they wished to kill it but the Lord of the sheep saved it from the hands of the sheep, brought it up to me, and made it stay.
And he sent many other sheep to those sheep, to testify to them and to lament over them.
And after this, I saw how when they left the house of the Lord of the sheep, and his tower, they went astray in everything, and their eyes were blinded. And I saw how the Lord of the sheep wrought much slaughter among them, in their pastures, until those sheep invited that slaughter, and betrayed his place.
And he gave them into the hands of the lions, and the tigers, and the wolves, and the hyenas, and into the hands of the foxes, and to all the animals. And those wild animals began to tear those sheep in pieces.
And I saw how he left that house of theirs, and their tower, and gave them all into the hands of the lions so that they might tear them in pieces and devour them, and into the hands of all the animals.
And I began to cry out with all my power, to call the Lord of the sheep, and to represent to him concerning the sheep; that all the wild animals were devouring them.
But he remained still, although he saw, and he rejoiced that they were devoured, swallowed up and carried off. And he gave them into the hands of all the animals for food.
And he called seventy shepherds, and cast off those sheep, so that they might pasture them. And he said to the shepherds and to their companions: “Each one of you, from now on, is to pasture the sheep and do whatever I command you.
And I will hand them over to you, duly numbered, and I will tell you which of them are to be destroyed, and destroy them.” And he handed those sheep over to them.
And he called another, and said to him: “Observe and see everything that these shepherds do against these sheep for they will destroy from among them more than I have commanded them.
And write down all the excess and destruction, which is wrought by the shepherds; how many they destroy at my command and how many they destroy of their own volition. Write down against each shepherd, individually, all that he destroys.
And read out in front of me exactly how many they destroy of their own volition and how many are handed over for destruction so that this may be a testimony for me against them. So that I may know all the deeds of the shepherds in order to hand them over for judgment. And I will see what they do, whether they abide by my command with which I have commanded them, or not.
But they must not know this, and you must not show this to them, but only write down against each individual in his time all that the shepherds destroy, and bring it all up to me.”
And I looked until those shepherds pastured at their times, and they began to kill and destroy more than they were commanded, and they gave those sheep into the hands of the lions.
And the lions and the tigers devoured and swallowed up the majority of those sheep, and the wild boars devoured with them; and they burnt down that tower and demolished that house.
And I was extremely sad about that tower because that house of the sheep had been demolished; and after that I was unable to see whether those sheep went into that house.
And the shepherds and their companions handed those sheep over to all the animals so that they might devour them. Each one of them, at his time, received an exact number, and for each of them, one after the other, there was written in a book how many of them were destroyed.
And each one killed and destroyed more than was prescribed and I began to weep and moan very much because of those sheep.
And likewise, in the vision, I saw that one who wrote, how each day, he wrote down each one that was destroyed by those shepherds. And he brought up, and presented, the whole book to the Lord of the sheep, everything they had done and all that each one of them had made away with, and all that they had handed to destruction.
And the book was read out in front of the Lord of the sheep, and he took the book in his hand, read it, sealed it, and put it down.
And after this I saw how the shepherds pastured for twelve hours, and behold three of those sheep returned, and arrived, and came and began to build up all that had fallen down from that house; but the wild boars hindered them so that they could not.
And they again began to build, as before, and they raised up that tower, and it was called the high tower. And they began again to place a table before the tower but all the bread on it was unclean and was not pure.
And, besides all this, the eyes of these sheep were blinded so that they could not see, and their shepherds likewise. And they handed yet more of them over to destruction, and they trampled on the sheep with their feet, and devoured them.
But the Lord of the sheep remained still, until all the sheep were scattered abroad, and had mixed with them, and they did not save them from the hands of the animals.
And that one who wrote the book brought it up, showed it, and read it out in the dwelling of the Lord of the sheep. And he entreated Him on behalf of them, and petitioned Him, as he showed Him all the deeds of their shepherds and testified in front of Him against all the shepherds.
And he took the book, put it down by Him, and went out.

CHAPTER 90 - Continuation of the history of the seventy shepherds and the last days of Israel - The messianic times and the final judgment

And I looked until the time that thirty-five shepherds had pastured the sheep the same way, and, each individually; they all completed their time like the first ones. And others received them into their hands to pasture them, at their time, each shepherd at his own time.
And after this, I saw in the vision, all the birds of the sky coming: - The eagles, the vultures, and the kites, and the ravens. But the eagles led all the birds, and they began to devour those sheep, to peck out their eyes, and to devour their flesh.
And the sheep cried out because the birds devoured their flesh. And I cried out and lamented in my sleep because of that shepherd who pastured the sheep.
And I looked until those sheep were devoured by those dogs, and by the eagles, and by the kites, and they left them neither flesh nor skin, nor sinew, until only their bones remained. And their bones fell upon the ground and the sheep became few.
And I looked until the time that twenty-three shepherds had pastured, and they completed, each in his time, fifty eight times.
And small lambs were born from those white sheep, and they began to open their eyes, to see, and to cry to the sheep.
But the sheep did not cry to them, and did not listen to what they said to them, but were extremely deaf, and their eyes were extremely and excessively blinded.
And I saw in the vision, how the ravens flew upon those lambs, and took one of those lambs, and dashed the sheep in pieces and devoured them.
And I looked until horns came up on those lambs but the ravens cast their horns down. And I looked until a big horn grew on one of those sheep, and their eyes were opened.
And it looked at them and their eyes were opened. And it cried to the sheep, and the rams saw it, and they all ran to it.
And, besides all this, those eagles, and vultures, and ravens, and kites, were still continually tearing the sheep in pieces, and flying upon them and devouring them. And the sheep were silent but the rams lamented and cried out.
And those ravens battled and fought with it, and wished to make away with its horn, but they did not prevail against it.
And I looked at them until the shepherds and the eagles, and those vultures, and kites, came and cried to the ravens that they should dash the horn of that ram in pieces. And they fought and battled with it, and it fought with them and cried out so that its help might come to it.
And I looked until that man, who wrote down the names of the shepherds and brought them up before the Lord of the sheep, came, and he helped that ram and showed it everything; its help was coming down.
And I looked until that Lord of the sheep came to them in anger, all those who saw him fled, and they all fell into the shadow in front of Him.
All the eagles and vultures and ravens and kites, gathered together and brought with them all the wild sheep, and they all came together and helped one another in order to dash that horn of the ram in pieces.
And I looked at that man, who wrote the book at the command of the Lord, until he opened that book of the destruction that those last twelve shepherds had wrought. And he showed, in front of the Lord of the sheep, that they had destroyed even more than those before them had.
And I looked until the Lord of the sheep came to them and took the Staff of His Anger and struck the Earth. And the Earth was split. And all the animals, and the birds of the sky, fell from those sheep and sank in the earth; and it closed over them.
And I looked until a big sword was given to the sheep. And the sheep went out against all the wild animals to kill them. And all the animals, and birds of the sky, fled before them.
And I looked until a throne was set up in a pleasant land and the Lord of the sheep sat on it. And they took all the sealed books and opened the books in front of the Lord of the sheep.
And the Lord called those men, the seven first white ones, and commanded them to bring in front of Him the first star, which went before those stars whose private parts were like horses, and they brought them all in front of Him.
And He said to that man who wrote in front of Him, who was one of the seven white ones, He said to him: “Take those seventy shepherds, to whom I handed over the sheep, and who, on their own authority, took and killed more than I commanded them.”
And behold, I saw them all bound, and they all stood in front of Him.
And the judgment was held, first on the stars, and they were judged and found guilty, and they went to the place of damnation, and were thrown into a deep place full of fire burning, and full of pillars of fire.
And those seventy shepherds were judged, and found guilty, and they also were thrown into that abyss of fire.
And I saw at that time, how a similar abyss was opened in the middle of the Earth which was full of fire, and they brought those blind sheep and they were all judged, and found guilty, and thrown into that abyss of fire and they burned. And that abyss was on the south of that house.
And I saw those sheep burning and their bones were burning.
And I stood up to look until he folded up that old house, and they removed all the pillars, and all the beams and ornaments of that house were folded up with it. And they removed it and put it in a place in the south of the land.
And I looked until the Lord of the sheep brought a new house, larger and higher than the first one, and he set it up on the site of the first one that had been folded up. And all its pillars were new, and its ornaments were new and larger than those of the first one - the old one that had been removed. And the Lord of the sheep was in the middle of it.
And I saw all the sheep that were left, and all the animals of the earth, and all the birds of the sky, falling down and worshipping those sheep, and entreating them and obeying them in every command.
And after this, those three who were dressed in white and had taken hold of my hand, the ones who had brought me up at first. They, with the hand of that ram also holding me, took me up, and put me down in the middle of those sheep before the judgment was held.
And those sheep were all white and their wool thick and pure.
And all those which had been destroyed and scattered, and all the wild animals, and all the birds of the sky, gathered together in that house, and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced very much because they were all good, and had returned to His house.
And I looked until they had laid down that sword, which had been given to the sheep, and they brought it back into his house, and it was sealed in front of the Lord. And all the sheep were enclosed in that house but it did not hold them.
And the eyes of all of them were opened, and they saw well, and there was not one among them that did not see.
And I saw that that house was large, broad, and exceptionally full.
And I saw how a white bull was born, and its horns were big, and all the wild animals, and all the birds of the sky, were afraid of it, and entreated it continually.
And I looked until all their species were transformed and they all became white bulls. And the first among them was a wild-ox. And that wild-ox was a large animal and had big black horns on its head. And the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over them, and over all the bulls.
And I was asleep in the middle of them and I woke up and saw everything.
And this is the vision which I saw while I was asleep, and I woke up, blessed the Lord of Righteousness, and ascribed glory to him
But after this I wept bitterly and my tears did not stop until I could not endure it. When I looked, they ran down, because of what I saw, for everything will come to pass and be fulfilled, and all the deeds of men, in their order, were shown to me.
That night I remembered my first dream, and because of it I wept, and was disturbed, because I had seen that vision.