And again I heard a voice saying to me: Behold, thou hast heard all these things, righteous John; deliver them to faithful men, that they also may teach others, and not think lightly of them, [2610] nor cast our pearls before swine, lest perchance they should trample them with their feet. [2611]
And while I was still hearing this voice, the cloud brought me down, and put me on Mount Thabor. And there came a voice to me, saying: Blessed are those who keep judgment and do righteousness in all time. [2612] And blessed is the house where this description lies, as the Lord said, He that loveth me keepeth my sayings [2613] in Christ Jesus our Lord; to Him be glory for ever. Amen. [2614]
[2557] For the history of the tradition that the transfiguration occurred on Mount Tabor, see Robinson's Researches, ii. 358.
[2558] One ms. has: 700 cubits.
[2559] ms. B adds: And they shall be manifested at the consummation of the age, in the judgment to come. Just as the prophet Daniel saw the judgment, I sat, and the books were opened. Then also shall the twelve apostles sit, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And when I heard this from my Lord, I again asked: Show me, my Lord, when these things shall come to pass, etc. [B is the designation of a Paris manuscript dated 1523. All the manuscripts are comparatively recent; see Tischendorf, pp. xviii., xix.--R.]
[2560] ms. B. here inserts Luke xxi. 11.
[2561] The choenix of corn was a man's daily allowance. It was equal to two points according to some, a pint and a half according to others.
[2562] Or, gloomy.
[2563] ms. B. adds: And he will love most of all the nation of the Hebrews; and the righteous shall hide themselves, and flee to mountains and caves. And he shall take vengeance on many of the righteous; and blessed is he who shall not believe in him.
[2564] Or, dew.
[2565] To the description of Antichrist, ms. E adds: He holds in his hand a cup of death; and all that worship him drink of it. His right eye is like the morning star, and his left like a lion's; because he was taken prisoner by the archangel Michael, and he took his godhead from him. And I was sent from the bosom of my Father, and I drew up the head of the polluted one, and his eye was consumed. And when they worship him, he writes on their right hands, that they may sit with him in the outer fire; and for all who have not been baptized, and have not believed, have been reserved all anger and wrath. And I said: My Lord, and what miracles does he do? Hear, righteous John: He shall remove mountains and hills, and he shall beckon with his polluted hand, Come all to me; and through his displays and deceits they will be brought together to his own place. He will raise the dead, and show in everything like God. [E is one of the Venice manuscripts.--R.]
[2566] Ps. lxxxix. 44, 45.
[2567] Ps. li. 19.
[2568] Ps. xcviii. 6 according to the LXX.
[2569] Lit., from quarters even to quarters of the world.
[2570] Adapted from Eccles. xii. 4.
[2571] To this sectionms. E adds many details: They that have gold and silver shall throw them into the streets, and into every place in the world, and no one will heed them. They shall throw into the streets ivory vessels, and robes adorned with stones and pearls; kings and rulers wasting away with hunger, patriarchs and governors (or abbots), elders and peoples. Where is the fine wine, and the tables, and the pomp of the world? They shall not be found in all the world; and men shall die in the mountains and in the streets, and in every place of the world. And the living shall die from the stink of the dead, etc. Whosoever shall not worship the beast and his pomp shall be called a witness (or martyr) in the kingdom of heaven, and shall inherit eternal life with my holy ones.
[2572] Comp. Matt. xxii. 30, and parallel passages.
[2573] Ps. ciii. 14-16 according to LXX.
[2574] Or, breath.
[2575] Ps. cxlvi. 4 according to LXX.
[2576] Another reading is cross.
[2577] 1 Thess. iv. 17.
[2578] Or, by.
[2579] Two mss. have this number; the other four have 500, 1800, 30, 60-100ths.
[2580] Or, winnow.
[2581] Ps. li. 7.
[2582] ms. D has: Again another prophet has said. [D is another Paris manuscript of the fifteenth century.--R.]
[2583] Isa. xl. 4.
[2584] Comp. Matt. xxiv. 30.
[2585] Rev. xxi. 2.
[2586] Comp. Isa. vi. 3.
[2587] Or, upon.
[2588] Phil. ii. 10.
[2589] Rev. v. 6.
[2590] Ps. cii. 26.
[2591] Or, regions sunk in water.
[2592] Ps. xviii. 11.
[2593] Lit., tongue.
[2594] ms. D inserts, Trinity and.
[2595] Ps. ix. 17.
[2596] Ps. xlix. 14.
[2597] Ps. xviii. 41.
[2598] Rom. ii. 12.
[2599] Lit., heap up.
[2600] Ps. cxxv. 3.
[2601] Matt. xxv. 33.
[2602] Matt. xiii. 43.
[2603] 1 Cor. xv. 41.
[2604] Ps. ix. 18.
[2605] Lit., proportion or analogy.
[2606] Ps. xxxvii. 29.
[2607] Deut. xxxii. 8 according to the LXX.
[2608] Rev. vii. 17, xxi. 4.
[2609] John x. 16. [The correct text of John x. 16 is: "one flock, one shepherd," but it was altered quite early.--R.]
[2610] i.e., the things heard.
[2611] Matt. vii. 6.
[2612] Ps. cvi. 3.
[2613] John xiv. 23.
[2614] As a specimen of the eschatology of these documents, Tischendorf gives the following extracts from the termination of ms. E:-- Hear, righteous John: All these shall be assembled, and they shall be in the pit of lamentation: and I shall set my throne in the place, and shall sit with the twelve apostles and the four and twenty elders, and thou thyself an elder on account of thy blameless life; and to finish three services thou shalt receive a white robe and an unfading crown from the hand of the Lord, and thou shalt sit with the four and twenty elders, etc. And after this the angels shall come forth, having a golden censer and shining lamps; and they shall gather together on the Lord's right hand those who have lived well, and done His will, and He shall make them to dwell for ever and ever in light and joy, and they shall obtain life everlasting. And when He shall separate the sheep from the goats, that is, the righteous from the sinners, the righteous on the right, and the sinners on the left; then shall He send the angel Raguel, saying: Go and sound the trumpet for the angels of cold and snow and ice, and bring together every kind of wrath upon those that stand on the left. Because I will not pardon them when they see the glory of God, the impious and unrepentant, and the priests who did not what was commanded. You who have tears, weep for the sinners. And Temeluch shall call out to Taruch: Open the punishments, thou keeper of the keys; open the judgments; open the worm that dieth not, and the wicked dragon; make ready Hades; open the darkness; let loose the fiery river, and the frightful darkness in the depths of Hades. Then the pitiful sinners, seeing their works, and having no consolation, shall go down weeping into streams as it were of blood. And there is none to pity them, neither father to help, nor mother to compassionate, but rather the angels going against them, and saying: Ye poor wretches, why are you weeping? In the world you had no compassion on the weak, you did not help them. And these go away into everlasting punishment. There you will not be able to bear the sight of Him who was born of the virgin; you lived unrepenting in the world, and you will get no pity, but everlasting punishment. And Temeluch says to Taruch: Rouse up the fat three-headed serpent; sound the trumpet for the frightful wild beasts to gather them together to feed upon them (i.e., the sinners); to open the twelve plagues, that all the creeping things may be brought together against the impious and unrepenting. And Temeluch will gather together the multitude of the sinners, and will kick the earth; and the earth will be split up in diverse places, and the sinners will be melted in frightful punishments. Then shall God send Michael, the leader of His hosts; and having sealed the place, Temeluch shall strike them with the previous cross, and the earth shall be brought together as before. Then their angels lamented exceedingly, then the all-holy Virgin and all the saints wept for them, and they shall do them no good. And John says: Why are the sinners thus punished? And I heard a voice saying to me: They walked in the world each other after his own will, and therefore are they thus punished. Blessed is the man who reads the writing: blessed is he who has transcribed it, and given it to other Catholic churches: blessed are all who fear God. Hear ye priests, and ye readers; hear ye people, etc.
The Book of John Concerning the Falling Asleep of Mary.
------------------------
The Account of St. John the Theologian [2615] of the Falling Asleep of the Holy Mother of God.
As the all-holy glorious mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, as was her wont, was going to the holy tomb of our Lord to burn incense, and bending her holy knees, she was importunate that Christ our God who had been born of her should return to her. And the Jews, seeing her lingering by the divine sepulchre, came to the chief priests, saying: Mary goes every day to the tomb. And the chief priests, having summoned the guards set by them not to allow any one to pray at the holy sepulchre, inquired about her, whether in truth it were so. And the guards answered and said that they had seen no such thing, God having not allowed them to see her when there. And on one of the days, it being the preparation, the holy Mary, as was her wont, came to the sepulchre; and while she was praying, it came to pass that the heavens were opened, and the archangel Gabriel came down to her and said: Hail, thou that didst bring forth Christ our God! Thy prayer having come through to the heavens to Him who was born of thee, has been accepted; and from this time, according to thy request, thou having left the world, shall go to the heavenly places to thy Son, into the true and everlasting life.
And having heard this from the holy archangel, she returned to holy Bethlehem, having along with her three virgins who ministered unto her. And after having rested a short time, she sat up and said to the virgins: Bring me a censer, that I may pray. And they brought it, as they had been commanded. And she prayed, saying: My Lord Jesus Christ, who didst deign through Thy supreme goodness to be born of me, hear my voice, and send me Thy apostle John, in order that, seeing him, I may partake of joy; and send me also the rest of Thy apostles, both those who have already gone to Thee, and those in the world that now is, in whatever country they may be, through Thy holy commandment, in order that, having beheld them, I may bless Thy name much to be praised; for I am confident that Thou hearest Thy servant in everything.
And while she was praying, I John came, the Holy Spirit having snatched me up by a cloud from Ephesus, and set me in the place where the mother of my Lord was lying. And having gone in beside her, and glorified Him who had been born of her, I said: Hail, mother of my Lord, who didst bring forth Christ our God, rejoice that in great glory thou art going out of this life. And the holy mother of God glorified God, because I John had come to her, remembering the voice of the Lord, saying: Behold thy mother, and, Behold thy son. [2616] And the three virgins came and worshipped. And the holy mother of God says to me: Pray, and cast incense. And I prayed thus: Lord Jesus Christ, who hast done wonderful things, now also do wonderful things before her who brought Thee forth; and let Thy mother depart from this life; and let those who crucified Thee, and who have not believed in Thee, be confounded. And after I had ended the prayer, holy Mary said to me: Bring me the censer. And having cast incense, she said, Glory to Thee, my God and my Lord, because there has been fulfilled in me whatsoever Thou didst promise to me before thou didst ascend into the heavens, that when I should depart from this world Thou wouldst come to me, and the multitude of Thine angels, with glory. And I John say to her: Jesus Christ our Lord and our God is coming, and thou seest [2617] Him, as He promised to thee. And the holy mother of God answered and said to me: The Jews have sworn that after I have died they will burn my body. And I answered and said to her: Thy holy and precious body will by no means see corruption. And she answered and said to me: Bring a censer, and cast incense, and pray. And there came a voice out of the heavens saying the Amen. And I John heard this voice; and the Holy Spirit said to me: John, hast thou heard this voice that spoke in the heaven after the prayer was ended? And I answered and said: Yes, I heard. And the Holy Spirit said to me: This voice which thou didst hear denotes that the appearance of thy brethren the apostles is at hand, and of the holy powers that they are coming hither to-day.