[Chapter 73]
2 And in the days of the sinners the years shall be shortened,
And
their seed shall be tardy on their lands and fields,
And all things on
the earth shall alter,
And shall not appear in their time:
And the
rain shall be kept back
And the heaven shall withhold (it).
3 And in
those times the fruits of the earth shall be backward,
And shall not
grow in their time,
And the fruits of the trees shall be withheld in
their time.
4 And the moon shall alter her order,
And not appear at
her time.
5 [And in those days the sun shall be seen and he shall
journey in the evening on the extremity of the great chariot in the west]
And shall shine more brightly than accords with the order of light.
6 And many chiefs of the stars shall transgress the order (prescribed).
And these shall alter their orbits and tasks,
And not appear at the
seasons prescribed to them.
7 And the whole order of the stars shall be
concealed from the sinners,
And the thoughts of those on the earth shall
err concerning them,
[And they shall be altered from all their ways],
Yea, they shall err and take them to be gods.
8 And evil shall be
multiplied upon them,
And punishment shall come upon them So as to
destroy all.'
2 And I observed the heavenly tablets, and read everything which was written (thereon) and understood everything, and read the book of all the deeds of mankind, and of all the children of flesh 3 that shall be upon the earth to the remotest generations. And forthwith I blessed the great Lord the King of glory for ever, in that He has made all the works of the world,
And I extolled the Lord because of His patience,
And blessed Him
because of the children of men.
4 And after that I said:
' Blessed is the man who dies in
righteousness and goodness,
Concerning whom there is no book of
unrighteousness written,
And against whom no day of judgement shall be
found.'
5 And those seven holy ones brought me and placed me on the earth before the door of my house, and said to me: ' Declare everything to thy son Methuselah, and show to all thy children that no 6 flesh is righteous in the sight of the Lord, for He is their Creator. One year we will leave thee with thy son, till thou givest thy (last) commands, that thou mayest teach thy children and record (it) for them, and testify to all thy children; and in the second year they shall take thee from their midst.
7 Let thy heart be strong,
For the good shall announce righteousness
to the good;
The righteous with the righteous shall rejoice,
And shall offer
congratulation to one another.
8 But the sinners shall die with the sinners,
And the apostate go
down with the apostate.
9 And those who practice righteousness shall die on account of the deeds
of men,
And be taken away on account of the doings of the godless.'
10 And in those days they ceased to speak to me, and I came to my people, blessing the Lord of the world.
2 I have given Wisdom to thee and to thy children,
[And thy children
that shall be to thee],
That they may give it to their children for
generations,
This wisdom (namely) that passeth their thought.
3 And those who understand it shall not sleep,
But shall listen with
the ear that they may learn this wisdom,
And it shall please those that
eat thereof better than good food.
4 Blessed are all the righteous, blessed are all those who walk In the way of righteousness and sin not as the sinners, in the reckoning of all their days in which the sun traverses the heaven, entering into and departing from the portals for thirty days with the heads of thousands of the order of the stars, together with the four which are intercalated which divide the four portions of the year, which 5 lead them and enter with them four days. Owing to them men shall be at fault and not reckon them in the whole reckoning of the year: yea, men shall be at fault, and not recognize them 6 accurately. For they belong to the reckoning of the year and are truly recorded (thereon) for ever, one in the first portal and one in the third, and one in the fourth and one in the sixth, and the year is completed in three hundred and sixty-four days. 7 And the account thereof is accurate and the recorded reckoning thereof exact; for the luminaries, and months and festivals, and years and days, has Uriel shown and revealed to me, to whom the 8 Lord of the whole creation of the world hath subjected the host of heaven. And he has power over night and day in the heaven to cause the light to give light to men -sun, moon, and stars, 9 and all the powers of the heaven which revolve in their circular chariots. And these are the orders of the stars, which set in their places, and in their seasons and festivals and months. 10 And these are the names of those who lead them, who watch that they enter at their times, in their orders, in their seasons, in their months, in their periods of dominion, and in their positions. Their four leaders who divide the four parts of the year enter first; and after them the twelve leaders of the orders who divide the months; and for the three hundred and sixty (days) there are heads over thousands who divide the days; and for the four intercalary days there are the leaders which sunder 12 the four parts of the year. And these heads over thousands are intercalated between 13 leader and leader, each behind a station, but their leaders make the division. And these are the names of the leaders who divide the four parts of the year which are ordained: Milki'el, Hel'emmelek, and Mel'ejal, 14 and Narel. And the names of those who lead them: Adnar'el, and Ijasusa'el, and 'Elome'el- these three follow the leaders of the orders, and there is one that follows the three leaders of the orders which follow those leaders of stations that divide the four parts of the year. In the beginning of the year Melkejal rises first and rules, who is named Tam'aini and sun, and 16 all the days of his dominion whilst he bears rule are ninety-one days. And these are the signs of the days which are to be seen on earth in the days of his dominion: sweat, and heat, and calms; and all the trees bear fruit, and leaves are produced on all the trees, and the harvest of wheat, and the rose-flowers, and all the flowers which come forth in the field, but the trees of the winter season become withered. And these are the names of the leaders which are under them: Berka'el, Zelebs'el, and another who is added a head of a thousand, called Hilujaseph: and the days of the dominion of this (leader) are at an end. 18 The next leader after him is Hel'emmelek, whom one names the shining sun, and all the days 19 of his light are ninety-one days. And these are the signs of (his) days on the earth: glowing heat and dryness, and the trees ripen their fruits and produce all their fruits ripe and ready, and the sheep pair and become pregnant, and all the fruits of the earth are gathered in, and everything that is 20 in the fields, and the winepress: these things take place in the days of his dominion. These are the names, and the orders, and the leaders of those heads of thousands: Gida'ljal, Ke'el, and He'el, and the name of the head of a thousand which is added to them, Asfa'el: and the days of his dominion are at an end.