Section 972

V. Analysis of Contents. — The book opens with a short account of Enoch as 'a very wise man" whom ' God loved and received, so that he should see the heavenly abodes, the kingdoms of the wise, great, and never-changing God.' In ch. 1 two an!,'tl8 appear to E., and bid him to make ready to ascend with them unto heaven. In ch. 2 E. admonishes his sons ' not to worship vain gods; not to turn aside from God, but to walk before the face of the Lord and keep his judgments,' and directs them not to seek for him till he is brought hack to them. Thereupon (3-8) the angels carry E, aloft through the air to the first heaven, where he sees a verj- great sea, greater than the earthly sea ; likewise the elders and the rulers of the stars, and the treasuries of the snow and ice and the dread angels lliat giiard them, and the treasuries of the clouds and of the dew and their guardian angels. Thence (7) he is carried to the second heaven, where he sees 'the prisoners suspended, reserved for, and awaiting the eternal Ju<igment.' And these angels, who together with their prince had rebelled against Crtxi, besought E. (Just as in Eth. Enoch IS-") to intercede for them. And E. answered, ' Who am I, a mortal man, that I should pray for angels? Who knows whither I go, or what awaits mcY' Next E. is carried up to the third heaven (8), and placed 'in the midst of a garden." And he sees there ' all the trees of beautiful colours, and their fruits ripe and fragrant . . . and the tree of lite ... on which God rest* when he comes into Paradise,' and the four streams which go forth from its root, 'pouring honey and milk, oil and wine. . . . And these go down to the Paradise of Eden, between corruptibility and incorruptibility. . . .' And the angels inform E. that ' this place la prepared as an eternal inheriUnce ' for those ' who turn their eyes from unrighteous- ness and accomplish a righteous Judgment, and give bread to the hungrv, and clothe the naked, and raise the fallen, . . . and walk without blame before the face of the Lord.' E. is then taken to the northern region of this heaven (10), and show-n 'a very terrible place ' of ' savage darkness and impenetrable gloom,' with ' fire on all sides, and on all sides cold and ice.' He u then told that ' this place is prepared as an eternal inheritance | for those * who commit evil deeds on earth, sodomy, witchcraft," . . . who oppress the poor, who are guilty of 'stealing, flying, calumnies, envy, evil thoughts, fornication, murder,' who 'worship gods without life.' Thence E. is conduoted to the fourth heaven, where he is shown the courses of the sun and moon (11), and the phoenixes and the chalkadri (12), 'withtlie feet and tails of fions and the heads of crocodiles; their appearance was of purple colour like the rainbow ; their size nine hundred measures. Their wings were like those of angels, each with twelve, and they attend the chariot of the sun.' And the angels show him also the eastern and western pates of the sun (13-16), and 'an anned host serving the Lord with cymbals and organs' (17). In 18 E. is taken up to the fifth heaven, where he sees the watchers who had rebelled, and whose bretliren were alreadv confined in torment in the second heaven. Then he passes to the sixth heaven (19), where are the angels who regulate all the powers of nature and the courses of the stars, and write down the deeds of men. Finally, E. ia raised to the