I 1.The word
of YHWH came to me saying, "Son of man, say to his people, 'why do
you add sin to your sins and anger the Lord God who created you ?'
" 2.Don't
love the world or the things which are in the world, for the boasting of
the world and its destruction belong to the devil.
3.Remember that the
Lord of glory, Who created everything, had mercy upon you so that He might
save us from the captivity of this age. 4.For
many times the devil desired not to let the sun rise above the earth
and not to let the earth yield fruit, since he desires to consume men like
a fire which rages in stubble, and he desires to swallow them like
water. 5.Therefore,
on account of this, the God of glory had mercy upon us, and He sent His
Son to the world so that He might save us from the
captivity. 6.He
did not inform an angel or an archangel or any principality when He was
about to come to us, but ?He changed Himself to be like a man when He was
about to come to us so that He might save use [from
flesh]. 7.Therefore
become sons to Him since He is a father to you.
8.Remember that He
has prepared thrones and crowns for you in heaven, saying, "Everyone
who will obey Me will receive thrones and crowns among those who are
Mine." 9.The
Lord said, "I will write My name upon their forehead and I will seal
their right hand, and they will not hunger or thirst. 10.Neither
will the son of lawlessness prevail over them, nor will the thrones hinder
them, but they will walk with the angels up to My
city." 11.Now
as for the sinners, they will be shamed and they will not pass by the
thrones, but the thrones of death will seize them and rule over them
because the angels will not agree with them. 12.They
have alienated themselves from His dwellings.
13.Hear, O wise men
of the land, concerning the deceivers who will multiply in the last times
so that they will set down for themselves doctrines which do not belong to
God, setting aside the Law of God, those who have made their belly their
God, saying, "The fast does not exist, nor did God create it,"
making themselves strangers to the covenant of God and robbing themselves
of the glorious promises. 14.Now
these are not ever correctly established in the firm faith. Therefore
don't let those people lead you astray.
15.
Remember that from the time when He created the heavens, the Lord created
the fast for a benefit to men on account of the passions and desires which
fight against you so that the evil will not inflame you.
16."But it is a pure
fast which I have created," said the Lord. 17.The
one who fasts continually will not sin although jealousy and strife are
within him. 18.Let
the pure one fast, but whenever the one who fasts is not pure he has
angered the Lord and also the angels. 19.And
he has grieved his soul, gathering up wrath for himself for the day of
wrath.
20. But a pure fast
is what I created, with a pure heart and pure hands. 21.It
releases sin. It heals diseases. It casts out
demons. 22.It
is effective up to the throne of God for an ointment and for a release
from sin by means of a pure prayer.
23.Who
among you , if he is honored in his craft, will go forth to the field
without a tool in his hand? Or who will go forth to the battle to
fight without a breastplate on? 24.If
he is found, will he not be killed because he despised the service of the
king? 25.Likewise
no one is able to enter the holy place if he is double
minded. 26.The
one who is double minded in his prayer is darkness to himself. And
even the angels do not trust him. 27.Therefore
be single-minded in the Lord at all times so that you might know every
moment.
II 1.Furthermore,
concerning the kings of Assyria and the dissolution of the heaven and the
earth and the things beneath the earth.
2."now
therefore <those who are Mine> will not be overcome" says the
Lord, "nor will they fear in the battle." 3.When
they see [a king] who rises in the north, [who will be called] "the
king of [Assyria" and] "the king of injustice," [he will
increase] his battles and his disturbances against
Egypt. 4.The
land will groan together because your children will be
seized. 5.Many
will desire death in those days, but death will flee from them.
6.And a
king who will be called "the king of peace" will rise up in the
west. 7.He
will run upon the sea like a roaring lion. 8.He
will kill the king of injustice, and he will take vengeance on Egypt with
battles and much bloodshed.
9.It
will come to pass in those days that he will command a p[eace] and a
[vain] gift in Egypt. 10.[He
will give] peace to these who are holy, [saying], "The name of [God]
is one." 11.[He
will] give honors to the s[aints and] an exalting to the places of the
saints. 12.He
will give vain gifts to the house of God. 13.He
will wander around in the cities of Egypt with guile, without their
knowing. 14.He
will take count of the holy places. He will weigh the idols of the
heathen. He will take count of their wealth. He will establish
priests for them. 15.He
will command that the wise men and the great ones of the people be seized,
and they will be brought to the metropolis which is by the sea, saying,
"There is but one language." 16.But
when you hear, "Peace and joy exist," I will...
17.Now
I will tell you his signs so that you might know him. 18.For
he has two sons: one on his right and one on his
left. 19.The
one on his right will receive a demonic face, (and) he will fight against
the name of God. 20.Now
four kings will descend from that king. 21.In
his thirtieth year he will come up to Memphis, (and) he will build a
temple in Memphis. 22.On
that day his own son will rise up against him and kill
him. 23.The
whole land will be disturbed.
24.On
that day he will issue an order over the whole land so that the priests of
the land and all of the saints will be seized, saying, "You will
repay doubly every gift and all of the good things which my father gave to
you." 25.He
will shut up the holy places. He will take their houses. He
will take their sons prisoner. 26.He
will order and sacrifices and abominations and bitter evils will be done
in the land. 27.He
will appear before the sun and the moon. 28.On
that day the priests of the land will tear their clothes.
29.Woe
to you , O rulers of Egypt, in those days because your day has
passed. 30.The
violence (being done to) the poor will turn against you, and your children
will be seized as plunder. 31.In
those days the cities of Egypt will groan for the voice of the one who
sells and the one who buys will not be heard. The markets of the
cities of Egypt will become dusty. 32.Those
who are in Egypt will weep together. They will desire death, (but)
death will flee and leave them.
33.In
those days, they will run up to the rocks and leap off, saying, "Fall
upon us." And still they will not die. 34.A
double affliction will multiply upon the whole land.
35.In
those days, the king will command, and all the nursing women will be
seized and brought to him bound. They will suckle serpents.
And their blood will be drawn from their breasts, and it will be applied
as poison to the arrows. 36.On
account of their distress of the cities, he will command again, and all
the young lads from twelve years and under will be seized and presented in
order to teach them to shoot arrows. 37.The
midwife who is upon the earth will grieve. The woman who has given
birth will lift her eyes to heaven, saying, "Why did I sit upon the
birthstool, to bring forth a son to the earth?" 38.The
barren woman and the virgin will rejoice, saying, "It is our time to
rejoice, because we have no child upon the earth, but our children are in
heaven."
39.In
those days, three kings will arise among the Persians, and they will take
captive the Jews who are in Egypt. They will bring them to
Jerusalem, and the will inhabit it and dwell there.
40.Then
when you hear that there is security in Jerusalem, tear you garments, O
priests of the land, because the son of perdition will soon come.
41.In
those days, the lawless one will appear in the holy places ---
42.In
(those) days the kings of the Persians will hasten and they will stand to
fight with the kings of Assyria. Four kings will fight with
three. 43.They
will spend three years in that place until they carry off the wealth of
the temple which is in that place.
44.In
those days, blood will flow from Kos to Memphis. The river of Egypt
will become blood, and they will not be able to drink from it for three
days.
45.Woe
to Egypt and those who are in it.
46.In
those days, a king will arise in the city which is called "the city
of the sun," and the whole land will be disturbed. <He will>
flee to Memphis (with the Persians).
47.In
the sixth year, the Persian kings will plot an ambush in Memphis.
They will kill the Assyrian king. 48.The
Persians will take vengeance on the land, and they will command to kill
all the heathen and the lawless ones. They will command to build the
temples of the saints. 49.They
will give double gifts to the house of God. They will say, "The
name of God is one." 50.The
whole land will hail the Persians.
51.Even
the remnant, who did not die under the afflictions, will say, "The
Lord has sent us a righteous king so that the land will not become a
desert" 52.He
will command that no royal matter be presented for three years and six
months. The land will be full of good in an abundant well-being.
53.Those who are alive will go to those who are dead,
saying, "Rise up and be with us in this rest."
III 1.In the fourth year of that king, the son
of lawlessness will appear, saying, "I am the Christ," although
he is not. Don't believe him!
2.When the Christ comes, He will come in the manner of a covey of
doves with the crown of doves surrounding Him. He will walk upon the
heaven's vaults with the sign of the cross leading Him.
3.The whole world will behold Him like the sun which shines from
the eastern horizon to the western.
4.This is how He will come, with all his angels surrounding Him.
5.But the son of lawlessness will begin to stand again in the holy
places.
6.He will say to the sun, "Fall," and it will fall.
He will say, "Shine," and it will do it.
He will say, "Darken," and it will do it.
7.He will say to the moon, "Become bloody," and it will do it.
8.He will go forth with them
from the sky.
He will walk upon the sea and the rivers as upon dry land.
9.He will cause the lame to
walk.
He will cause the deaf to hear.
He will cause the dumb to speak.
He will cause the blind to see.
10.The lepers he will
cleanse.
The ill he will heal.
The demons he will cast out.
11.He will multiply
his signs and his wonders in the presence of everyone.
12.He will do the
works which the Christ did, except for raising the dead alone.
13.In this you will
know that he is the son of lawlessness, because he is unable to give life.
14.For behold I will
tell you his signs so that you might know him.
15.He is a ...of a
skinny-legged young lad, having a tuft of gray hair at the front of his
bald head. His eyebrows will reach to his ears. There is a leprous
bare spot on the front of his hands.
16.He will transform
himself in the presence of those who see him. He will become a young
child. He will become old.
17.He will transform
himself in every sign. But the signs of his head will not be able to
change.
18.Therin you will
know that he is the son of lawlessness.
IV
1.The virgin, whose name is Tabitha, will hear that the shameless
one has revealed himself in the holy places. And she will put on her
garment of fine linen.
2.And she will pursue
him up to Judea, scolding him up to Jerusalem, saying, "O shameless
one, O son of lawlessness, O you who have been hostile to all the saints.
3.Then the shameless
one will be angry at the virgin. He will pursue her up to the
regions of the sunset. He will suck her blood in the evening.
4.And he
will cast her upon the temple, and she will become a healing for the
people.
5.She will
rise up at dawn. And she will live and scold him, saying, "o
shameless one, you have no power against my soul or my body, because I
live in the Lord always.
6.And also
my blood which you have cast upon the temple has become a healing for the
people."
7.Then
when Elijah and Enoch hear that the shameless one has revealed himself in
the holy place, they will come down and fight with him saying,
8.Are you indeed not ashamed? When you attach yourself to the
saints, because you are always estranged.
9.you have been hostile to
those who belong to heaven. you have acted against those belonging
to the earth.
10.You have been hostile to
the thrones. you have acted against the angels. you are always
a stranger.
11.you have fallen from
heaven like the morning stars. you were changed, and your tribe
became dark for you.
12.But you are not ashamed,
when you stand firmly against God you are a devil.
13.The
shameless one will hear and he will be angry, and he will fight with them
in the market place of the great city. And he will spend seven days
fighting with them.
14.And
they will spend three and one half days in the market place dead, while
all the people see them
15.But on
the fourth day they will rise up and they will scold him saying.
"O shameless one, O son of lawlessness. Are you indeed not
ashamed of yourself since you are leading astray the people of God for
whom you did not suffer? Do you not know that we live in the
Lord?"
16.As the
words were spoken, they prevailed over him, saying, "Furthermore, we
will lay down before the flesh for the spirit, and we will kill you since
you are unable to speak on that day because we are always strong in the
Lord. But you are always hostile to God.
17.The
shameless one will hear, and he will be angry and fight them.
18.And the
whole city will surround them.
19.On that
day they will shout up to heaven as they shine while all the people and
all the world see them.
20.The son
of lawlessness will not prevail over them. He will be angry at the
land, and he will seek to sin against the people.
21.He will
pursue all of the saints. They and the priests of the land will be
brought back bound.
22.He will
kill them and destroy them...them. And their eyes will be removed
with iron spikes.
23.He will
remove their skin from their heads. He will remove their nails one
by one. He will command that vinegar and lime be put in their nose.
24.
Now those who are unable to bear up under the tortures of that king will
take gold and flee over the fords to the desert places. They will
lie down as one who sleeps.
25.The
Lord will receive their spirits and their souls to Himself.
26.Their
flesh will petrify. No wild animals will eat them until the last day
of the great judgment.
27.And
they will rise up and find a place of rest. but they will not be in
the kingdom of the Christ as those who have endured because the Lord said,
"I will grant to them that they sit on my right hand."
28.They
will receive favor over others, and they will triumph over the son of
lawlessness. And they will witness the dissolution of heaven and
earth.
29.They
will receive the thrones of glory and the crowns.
30.The
sixty righteous ones who are prepared for this hour will hear.
31.And
they will gird on the breastplate of YHWH, and they will run to Jerusalem
and fight with the shameless one, saying, "All powers which the
prophets have done from the beginning you have done. But you were
unable to raise the dead because you have no power to give life.
Therein we have known that you are the son of lawlessness."
32.He will
hear, and he will be angry and command to kindle altars
33.And the
righteous ones will be bound. They will be lifted up and burned.
V 1.And
on that day the heart of many will harden and they will flee from him,
saying, "This is not the Christ. The Christ does not kill the
righteous. He does not pursue men so that he might seek them, but He
persuades them with signs and wonders."
2.On that
day the Christ will pity those who are His own. And He will send
from heaven his sixty-four thousand angels, each of whom has six wings.
3.The
sound will move heaven and earth when they give praise and glorify.
4.Now
those upon whose forehead the name of Christ is written and upon whose
hand is the seal both the small and the great, will be taken up upon their
wings and lifted up before his wrath.
5.Then
Gabriel and Uriel will become a pillar of light leading them into the holy
land.
6.It will
be granted to them to eat from the tree of life. They will wear
white garments...and angels will watch over them. They will not
thirst, nor will the son of lawlessness be able to prevail over them.
7.And on
that day the earth will be disturbed, and the sun will darken, and peace
will be removed from the earth.
8.The
birds will fall on the earth, dead.
9.The
earth will be dry. The waters of the sea will dry up.
10.The
sinners will groan upon the earth saying, "What have you done to us,
O son of lawlessness, saying I am the Christ, when you are the devil?
11.You are
unable to save yourself so that you might save us. You produced
signs in our presence until you alienated us from the Christ who created
us. Woe to us because we listened to you.
12.Lo now
we will die in a famine. Where indeed is now the trace of a
righteous one and we will worship him, or where indeed is the one who will
teach us and we will appeal to him.
13.Now
indeed we will be wrathfully destroyed because we disobeyed YHWH.
14.We went
to the deep places of the sea, and we did not find water. We dug in
the rivers and papyrus reeds, and we did not find water."
15.Then on
that day, the shameless one will speak, saying, "Woe to me because my
time has passed by for me while I was saying that my time would not pass
by for me.
16.My
years became months and my days have passed away as dust passes
away. Now therefore I will perish together with you.
17.Now
therefore run forth to the desert. Seize the robbers and kill them.
18.Bring
up the saints. For because of them, the earth yields fruit.
for because of them the sun shines upon the earth. For because of
them the dew will come upon the earth."
19.The
sinners will weep saying, "You made us hostile to YHWH. If you
are able, rise up and pursue them."
20.Then he
will take his fiery wings and fly out after the saints. He will
fight with them again.
21.The
angels will hear and come down. They will fight with him a battle of
many swords.
22.It will
come to pass on that day that the Lord will hear and command the heaven
and the earth with great wrath. And they will send for fire.
23.And the
fire will prevail over the earth seventy-two cubits. It will consume
the sinners and the devils like stubble.
24.A true
judgment will occur.
25.On that
day, the mountains and the earth will utter speech. The byways will
speak with one another, saying, "Have you heard today the voice of a
man who walks who has not come to the judgment of the Son of YHWH."
26.The
sins of each one will stand against him in the place where they were
committed, whether those of the day or of the night.
27.Those
who belong to the righteous and ... will see the sinners and those who
persecuted them and those who handed them over to death in their torments.
28.Then
the sinners [ in torment ] will see the place of the righteous.
29.And
thus grace will occur. In those days, that which the righteous will
ask for many times will be given to them.
30.On that day, YHWH will
judge the heaven and the earth. He will judge those who transgressed
in heaven, and those who did so on earth.
31.He will judge the
shepherds of the people. He will ask about the flock of sheep, and
they will be given to Him, without any deadly guile existing in them.
32.After
these things, Elijah and Enoch will come down. They will lay down
the flesh of the world, and they will receive their spiritual flesh.
They will pursue the son of lawlessness and kill him since he is not able
to speak.
33.On that
day, he will dissolve in their presence like ice which was dissolved by a
fire. He will perish like a serpent which has no breath in it.
34.They
will say to him, "Your time has passed by for you. Now
therefore you wand those who believe you will perish."
35.They
will be cast into the bottom of the abyss and it will be closed for them.
36.On that
day, the Christ, the King and all His saints will come forth from heaven.
37.He will
burn the earth. He will spend a thousand years upon it.
38.Because
the sinners prevailed over it, He will create a new heaven and a new
earth. No deadly devil will exist in them.
39.He will
rule with His saints, ascending and descending, while they are always with
the angels and they are with the Christ for a thousand years.