1After some time my son Mathusala took a wife for his son Lamech.
2She became pregnant by him, and brought forth a child, whose flesh was white as snow, and red as a rose, and the hair of his head white like wool to its top, and his eyes were beautiful, and when he opened them he enlightened all the house like the sun, the whole house was light.
3And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife, he opened his mouth and spoke to the Lord of righteousness. Then his father Lamech was afraid of him, and fled away, and came to his own father Mathusala, and said to him, I have begotten a son of a different appearance, he is not like men, but like the angels the children of heaven; for his nature is different, and he is not as we are.
4His eyes are as the rays of the sun, his countenance glorious, and he appears as if he were not from me, but is like the angels.
5I am afraid that something wonderful will in his day be done on earth.
6And now my father, I entreat and request of you to go to our father Enoch, and to hear from him the truth, for his dwelling is with the angels.
7When Mathusala heard the words of his son, he came to me at the ends of the earth, for he had heard that I was there, and he cried out.
8I heard his voice, and went to him, saying, Behold, I am here, my son, since thou art come to me.
9He answered me, and said, On account of a great concern, I am come to thee, and by reason of a difficult sight, I have come near to thee.
10And now my father hear me, for to my son Lamech a child has been born, whose resemblance is not like him, and whose nature is not like the nature of men. His colour is whiter than snow, and redder than the rose, the hairs of his head are whiter than white wool, his eyes like the rays of the sun, and when he opened them, he enlightened the whole house.
11And when he was taken from the hand of the midwife, he opened his mouth, and praised the Lord of heaven.
12His father Lamech feared, and fled to me, and believed the child not to be from him, but he thought he was like the angels of heaven, and behold, I am come to thee, that thou mightest shew the truth.
13Then I, Enoch, answered, and said, The Lord will perform a new work upon the earth, and this I have explained, and seen in a vision: I have declared to thee, that in the time of the companions of my father Jared, those who were from the height of heaven transgressed the commandment of the Lord; behold, they committed sins, and laid aside their order, and mingled with women, with them they transgressed, married with them, and begot children.
14Therefore there shall be a great destruction upon all the earth, a flood, great destruction shall be in one year.
15This child who is born to you shall remain upon the earth, and his three sons shall be saved with him, for when all mankind who are upon the earth shall die, he shall be secure.
16And his posterity upon the earth shall beget giants, not spiritual, but carnal, and there shall be a great punishment upon the earth, and it shall be washed from all corruption. And now inform thy son Lamech, that he who is born is his child in truth, and he shall call his name Noah, for he shall be to you a survivor, and he and his children shall be secure from the corruption which shall come upon the earth, from all the sin and from all the wickedness, which shall be accomplished on the earth in his days. After that there shall be greater wickedness, than that which was first accomplished, on the earth, for I know the secrets of the holy One, because the Lord him self has revealed and declared them to me, and of them I have read in the tablets of heaven.
17And upon them I saw it written, that generation after generation shall offend, until a righteous race shall arise, until offences and crime shall perish, and pass away, from off the earth, and all goodness shall come upon it.
18And now my son, inform thy son Lamech,
19That the child who is born is his child in truth, and that there is no deceit.
20When Mathusala heard the words of his father Enoch, who had shewn him every thing which was concealed, he departed with seeing, and called the name of that child Noah, because he was to restore the earth after its total destruction.
21Another book which Enoch wrote for his son Mathusala, and for those who should come after him, and preserve their state of life in the latter days. You who have laboured shall wait in those days until the workers of wickedness be destroyed, and the power of the guilty pass away. Wait until sin shall vanish away, for their names shall be blotted out of the books of the holy One, their seed shall be destroyed for ever, and their spirits slain, they shall cry out, and lament in the place of misery, where they cannot see, and they shall burn in the fire where there is no earth. There I saw as it were a cloud which could not be seen through, for by reason of the depth of it I was not able to behold its height. I saw a flame of fire burning brightly, and as it were splendid mountains whirled around and shaken hither and thither.
22And I asked one of the holy angels who was with me, and said, What is this splendid object, for it is not heaven but a flame of fire which burns, and there is the voice of the cries of weeping, of lamentation, and of great torment.
23And he said to me, In that place which thou seest, there the spirits of sinners and blasphemers shall be thrust, of those who shall do evil, and of those who shall pervert all which the Almighty has spoken by the mouth of the prophets, all which they ought to do; for concerning these things there shall be writings and books above in heaven, that the angels may read them, and know what shall be done both to sinners, and to the spirits of the humble, to those who have suffered in their flesh, but been rewarded by God, and of those who have been insulted by wicked men, who have loved God, who have been attached neither to gold, or silver, or to any good thing in the world, but have given their bodies to affliction,
24To those who from the time of their birth have not desired the riches of the earth, but have regarded themselves as a breath which passes away.
25And this they have observed, and much the Lord has proved them, and their spirits have been found in purity, that they might praise his name. I have related all their blessings in a book, and the mighty One has rewarded them, for they have been found to love heaven with an aspiration for ever. God has said, While they have been trodden down by wicked men, they have heard from them invectives and blasphemies, and they have been insulted while they were praising me, and now I will call the spirits of the good from the generation of light, and will change those who have been born in darkness, who in their bodies have not received the honour which their faith deserved.
26I will bring them into the splendid light of those who love my holy, and I will place each of them on a throne of glory, of glory his own, and they shall be exalted for times without number. For the judgment of God is righteousness.
27For he will give faith to the faithful in the habitations of upright ways, and they shall see that those who are born in darkness shall be cast into darkness, while the righteous shall be exalted, sinners when they behold them shall cry out, while they exist in splendour, and proceed on to the days and times which before for them had been written. Here ends the vision of Enoch the prophet. May the benediction of his prayer, and the gift of his appointed time, be with his beloved. Amen. © Faith of God THE BOOK OF ENOCH THE PROPHET TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN OF ANDREW GOTTLIEB HOFFHANN, AND CORRECTED OF ITS FORMER MISTAKES, BY JOHN BATY, OF ROWELTON IN STAPLETON, CUMBERLAND. 1839