The Story of the 10 HEAVENS . Tree of Life, Fallen Angels, Face of God || 2 Book of Enoch 1-22
At the very beginning of the first day of the month, I found myself alone within my house, resting upon my bed. As I drifted into sleep, there appeared before me two men of exceeding stature, such as I had never beheld upon the Earth. Their faces shone with the brilliance of the sun, and their eyes burned with a piercing, light-like intensity. Fire issued forth from their lips, and they were clothed in garments that appeared to be of a regal purple hue. Their wings were more radiant than polished gold, and their hands were whiter than the purest snow. They stood at the head of my bed and began to call me by my name. I rose from my slumber and saw these two men standing clearly before me. I saluted them, yet I was immediately seized by an overwhelming fear, and the appearance of my face changed from the sheer terror of the encounter.
Those men spoke to me, saying, “Have courage, Enoch; do not fear. The Eternal God has sent us to you. Behold, you shall today ascend with us into heaven. You shall tell your sons and all your household everything they must do in your absence while you are away from your house. Let no one seek you until the Lord returns you to them.” I made haste to obey them, leaving my house and proceeding to the doors as I had been commanded. I summoned my sons—Methuselah, Regim, and Gaidad—and made known to them all the marvels those men had revealed to me.
It came to pass, when Enoch had finished speaking to his sons, that the angels took him upon their wings and bore him upward into the first heaven, placing him upon the clouds. There, I looked, and looking higher still, I saw the ether. They placed me upon the first heaven, where they showed me a very great sea, far larger than any sea found upon the Earth. They brought before my face the elders and the rulers of the stellar orders and revealed to me two hundred angels who rule the stars and oversee their services to the heavens. They fly with their wings and circle all those who sail the cosmic expanse. Here, I looked down and saw the treasure houses of the snow, guarded by the angels who keep those terrible storehouses, as well as the clouds from whence they emerge and into which they return. They showed me the treasure house of the dew, which resembled the oil of the olive, its form appearing as all the flowers of the Earth. Furthermore, I saw many angels guarding these treasure houses, and I observed how they are made to shut and open.
Those men took me then and led me up into the second heaven. They showed me a darkness greater than any earthly darkness, and there I saw prisoners hanging, watched and awaiting the great and boundless judgment. These angels were dark in appearance, more so than the deepest earthly gloom, and they wept incessantly throughout every hour. I asked the men who were with me, “Wherefore are these being incessantly tortured?” They answered me, “These are God’s apostates who obeyed not God’s commands but took counsel with their own will and turned away with their prince, who is himself now fastened in the fifth heaven.”
Those men took me further and led me up into the third heaven, placing me there. I looked downward and saw the produce of these places, such as had never been known for its goodness. I saw all the sweet-flowering trees and beheld their fruits, which were fragrant; all the foods borne by them bubbled with a sweet-smelling exhalation. In the midst of it stood the Tree of Life, a place where the Lord rests when He journeys into Paradise. This tree is of ineffable goodness and fragrance, adorned more than any other existing thing. On all sides, it is gold-looking, vermilion, and fire-like, covering all things. It possesses produce from every fruit. Its root is in the garden at the Earth’s end, and Paradise sits between corruptibility and incorruptibility. Two springs issue forth, sending out honey and milk, while their companion springs send forth oil and wine. They separate into four parts and circle with a quiet course, descending into the Paradise of Eden, between the realms of corruptibility and incorruptibility. Thence, they go forth along the Earth and follow a revolution in their circle, just as other elements do. Here, there is no unfruitful tree, and every place is blessed. There are three hundred angels, exceedingly bright, who keep the garden, serving the Lord throughout all days and hours with incessant, sweet singing and voices that are never silent.
Those two men led me up onto the northern side and showed me there a most terrible place. In that location were all manner of cruel torments, oppressive darkness, and unilluminated gloom. There is no light there, but rather a murky fire constantly flaming aloft. A fiery river emerges, and that whole place is everywhere fire, and everywhere there is frost, ice, thirst, and shivering. The bonds there are very cruel, and the angels are fearful and merciless, bearing angry weapons and performing merciless torture. I cried out, “Woe, woe! How very terrible is this place!” Those men said to me, “This place, O Enoch, is prepared for those who dishonor God, who on Earth practice sin against nature—which is child corruption—after the manner of sodomitical magic, making enchantments and devilish witchcrafts. It is for those who boast of their wicked deeds: stealing, lies, calumnies, envy, rancor, fornication, and murder. It is for those who, accursed, steal the souls of men; who, seeing the poor, take away their goods and wax rich themselves while injuring them for the sake of other men’s goods. It is for those who, being able to satisfy the hungry, leave them to die; who, being able to clothe the naked, strip them instead; and who knew not their Creator, bowing down to soulless and lifeless gods who can neither see nor hear—vain gods who also built hewn images and bowed down to unclean handiwork. For all these, this place is prepared as an eternal inheritance.”
Those men took me and led me up onto the fourth heaven. They showed me all the successive movements and all the rays of the light of the sun and the moon. I measured their paths and compared their light, and I saw that the sun’s light is greater than the moon’s. Its circle and the wheels on which it travels are like a wind passing by with marvelous speed, and it has no rest, day or night. Its passage and return are accompanied by four great stars, and each star has under it a thousand stars to the right of the sun’s wheel, and four to the left, each having a thousand stars under it—in all, eight thousand issuing with the sun continually. By day, fifteen myriads of angels attend it, and by night, a thousand. Six-winged ones issue forth with the angels before the sun’s wheel into the fiery flames, and a hundred angels kindle the sun and set it alight.
The men then took me onto the fifth heaven and placed me there. I saw many and countless soldiers called the Gregori, of human appearance, but their size was greater than that of the greatest giants. Their faces were withered, and the silence of their mouths was perpetual; there was no service performed on the fifth heaven. I said to the men who were with me, “Wherefore are these so withered, their faces melancholy, their mouths silent, and wherefore is there no service on this heaven?” They said to me, “These are the Gregori who, with their prince Satan, rejected the Lord of Light. After them are those who are held in great darkness on the second heaven. Three of them went down onto the Earth from the Lord’s throne to the place of man and broke their vows on the shoulder of the hill Ermon. They saw the daughters of men, how fair they were, and took them as wives, befouling the Earth with their deeds. In all times of their age, they created lawlessness and mixing, and giants were born, alongside marvelous men and great enmity. Therefore, God judged them with a great judgment, and they weep for their brethren, and they will be punished on the Lord’s great day.”
Then those men took me and bore me up onto the sixth heaven. There, I saw seven bands of angels, very bright and glorious, their faces shining more than the sun, glistening, and there was no difference in their faces, behavior, or manner of dress. These beings establish the orders and study the movements of the stars, the alteration of the moon, the revolution of the sun, and the good government of the world. When they see evildoing, they issue commandments and instructions, accompanied by sweet, loud singing and all songs of praise. These are the archangels who are above the angels; they measure all life in heaven and on Earth. There are angels appointed over the seasons and years, angels over the rivers and the sea, angels over the fruits of the Earth, and angels over every grass, giving food to all living things. There are also angels who write down all the souls of men and all their deeds and their lives before the Lord’s face. In their midst are six phoenixes, six cherubim, and six six-winged ones, who continually sing with one voice—and it is not possible to describe their singing—as they rejoice before the Lord at His footstool.
Those two men then lifted me up onto the seventh heaven. I saw there a very great light and fiery troops of great archangels, incorporeal forces, dominions, orders, governments, cherubim, seraphim, thrones, and many-eyed ones—nine regiments of the heavenly stations of light. I became afraid and began to tremble with great terror. Those men took me and led me after them, saying, “Have courage, Enoch; do not fear.” They showed me the Lord from afar, sitting on His very high throne. What is there on the tenth heaven? For the Lord dwells there. On the tenth heaven is God; in the Hebrew tongue, He is called Aravot. The heavenly troops would come and stand on the ten steps according to their rank, bow down to the Lord, and then return to their places in joy and felicity, singing songs in the boundless light with small and tender voices, gloriously serving Him.
I saw the eighth heaven, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Muzaloth, the changer of the seasons, of drought and of wet, and of the twelve constellations of the circle of the firmament which are above the seventh heaven. I saw the ninth heaven, which is called in Hebrew Kukabim, where the heavenly homes of the twelve constellations of the circle of the firmament reside. On the tenth heaven, which is called Aravot, I saw the appearance of the Lord’s face, like iron made to glow in the fire and brought out emitting sparks, and it burns thus. I saw the Lord’s face, but the Lord’s face is ineffable, marvelous, and very awful, and very, very terrible. Who am I to tell of the Lord’s unspeakable being and of His very wonderful face? I cannot tell the quantity of His many instructions and various voices. The Lord’s throne is very great, not made with hands, nor can I describe the quantity of those standing around Him—troops of cherubim and seraphim—nor their incessant singing, nor His immutable beauty. Who shall tell of the ineffable greatness of His glory?
I fell prone and bowed down to the Lord. The Lord, with His lips, said to me, “Have courage, Enoch; do not fear. Arise and stand before My face into eternity.” The Archangel Michael lifted me up and led me to stand before the Lord’s face. The Lord said to His servants, tempting them, “Let Enoch stand before My face into eternity.” The glorious ones bowed down to the Lord and said, “Let Enoch go according to Your word.” The Lord said to Michael, “Go and take Enoch out of his earthly garments, and anoint him with My sweet ointment, and put him into the garments of My glory.” Michael did exactly as the Lord commanded. He anointed me and dressed me, and the appearance of that ointment was greater than the great light; it was like sweet dew, its smell mild, shining like the sun’s ray. I looked at myself, and I was like one of His glorious ones.
