The Apocalypse of Zephaniah (or Apocalypse of Sophonias) is an ancient pseudepigraphic text (one whose claimed authorship is unfounded) attributed to the Biblical Zephaniah and so associated with the Old Testament, but not regarded as scripture by Jews or any Christian group. It was rediscovered and published at the end of 19th century. The canonical Book of Zephaniah has much mystical and apocalyptic imagery, and this apocalyptic-style text deals with a similar subject. The existence of the Apocalypse of Zephaniah was known from ancient texts (for example the Stichometry of Nicephorus) but it was considered lost. In 1881 two fragmentary manuscripts, probably coming from the White Monastery in Egypt, were bought by the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris and first published by U. Bouriant in 1885. These fragments, together with others later bought by the Staatliche Museum of Berlin, were published in 1899 by Steindorff who recognized in them fragments of the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, of the Apocalypse of Elijah and of another text he called The Anonymous Apocalypse. Schürer in 1899 showed that the Anonymous Apocalypse is most probably part of the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, but there is not unanimous consensus among scholars. The two manuscripts are written in Coptic dialects: the older (early fourth century CE) in Akhmimic, the other (early fifth century CE) in Sahidic and very limited in extension. The original text was probably written in Greek. To these fragments we could perhaps add a short quotation in a work of Clement of Alexandria (Stromata V, 11:77) of a passage ascribed to Zephaniah that is not in the canonical Book of Zephaniah. Because the Apocalypse of Zephaniah refers to the story of Susanna, it must be later than 100 BCE. It was also probably known to Clement of Alexandria, and so was written before the last quarter of second century CE. Within this range Wintermute suggests a date before 70 CE, because of a reference to a pro-Edomite tradition. The text contains no unequivocally Christian passages, and the few that recall the New Testament can be explained as arising also in a Jewish context. It may therefore be Jewish in origin, but may perhaps have been reworked by a Christian. Egypt is the probable place of origin.
The Apocalypse of Zephaniah
Written Between 100 BC and AD 70
The scene in the fifth heaven
A And a spirit took me and brought me up into the fifth heaven. And I saw angels who are called “lords.” And the diadem was set upon them in the Holy Spirit, and the throne of each of them was seven-fold more brilliant than the light of the rising sun. And they were dwelling in the temples of salvation and singing hymns to the ineffable God.
The seer’s vision of a soul in torment
B I saw a soul which five thousand angels punished and guarded. They took it to the East and they brought it to the West. They beat its back with flaming whips and they gave it a hundred fiery lashes for each one daily. I was afraid and I cast myself upon my face so that my joints dissolved. The angel helped me. He said unto me, “Be strong, O one who will triumph, and prevail so that thou wilt triumph over the accuser and thou wilt come up from Hades.” And after I arose I said, “Who is this whom they are punishing?” He said unto me, “This is a soul which was found in its lawlessness.” And before it attained to repenting it was visited, and taken out of its body. Truly, I, Zephaniah, saw these things in my vision.
The scene in a broad place
C And the angel of the Lord went with me. I saw a great broad place, thousands of thousands surrounded it on its left side and myriads of myriads on its right side. The form of each one was different. Their hair was loose like that belonging to women. Their teeth were like the teeth of lions. I asked [. . .]. The angel said, [. . .].
Fragment dealing with burial
1 [. . .] dead. We will bury him like any man. Whenever he dies, we will carry him out playing the cithera before him and chanting psalms and odes over his body.
Scenes from above the seer’s city
2 Now I went with the angel of the Lord, and he took me up over all my city. There was nothing before my eyes. Then I saw two men walking together on one road. I watched them as they talked. And, moreover, I also saw two women grinding together at a mill. And I watched them as they talked. And I also saw two upon a bed, each one of them acting for their mutual pleasure upon a bed. And I saw the whole inhabited world hanging like a drop of water which is suspended from a bucket when it comes up from a well. I said unto the angel of the Lord. “Then does not darkness or night exist in this place?” He said unto me, “No, because darkness existeth not in that place where the righteous and the saints are, but rather they always exist in the light.”
3 And I saw all the souls of men as they existed in punishment. And I cried out to the Lord Almighty, “O God, if Thou remainest with the saints, Thou certainly hast compassion on behalf of the world and the souls which are in this punishment.”
Recording angels from Mount Seir
4 The angel of the Lord said unto me, “Come, let me show thee the place of righteousness.” And he took me up upon Mount Seir and he showed me three men, as two angels walked with them rejoicing and exulting over them. I said to the angel, “Of what sort are these?” He said to me, “These are the three sons of Joatham, the priest, who neither kept the commandment of their father nor observed the ordinances of the Lord.”
5 Then I saw two other angels weeping over the three sons of Joatham, the priest. I said, “O angel, who are these?” He said, “These are the angels of the Lord Almighty. They write down all the good deeds of the righteous upon their scrolls as they watch at the gate of heaven.” And I take them from their hands and bring them up before the Lord Almighty; He writeth their name in the Book of the Living. Also the angels of the accuser who is upon the earth, they also write down all the sins of men upon their scrolls. They also sit at the gate of heaven. They tell the accuser and he writeth them upon his scroll so that he might accuse them when they come out of the world and go down there.”
Ugly angels carry off the souls of ungodly men
6 Then I walked with the angel of the Lord. I looked before me and I saw a place there. Thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels entered through it. Their faces were like a leopard, their tusks being outside their mouth like wild boars. Their eyes were mixed with blood. Their hair was loose like the hair of women, and fiery scourges were in their hands. When I saw them, I was afraid. I said unto that angel who walked with me, “Of what sort are these?” He said unto me, “These are the servants of all creation who come to the souls of ungodly men and bring them and leave them in this place. They spend three days going around with them in the air before they bring them and cast them into their eternal punishment.”
7 I said, “I beseech thee, O Lord, give them not authority to come to me.” The angel said, “Fear not. I will not permit them to come to thee because thou art pure before the Lord. I will not permit them to come to thee because the Lord Almighty sent me unto thee because thou are pure before him.” Then he beckoned to them, and they withdrew themselves and they ran from me.
The heavenly city
8 But I went with the angel of the Lord, and I looked in front of me and I saw gates. Then when I approached them I discovered that they were bronze gates. The angel touched them and they opened before him. I entered with him and found its whole square like a beautiful city, and I walked in its midst. Then the angel of the Lord transformed himself beside me in that place.
9 Now I looked at them, and I discovered that they were bronze gates and bronze bolts and iron bars. Now my mouth was shut therein. I beheld the bronze gates in front of me as fire was being cast forth for about fifty stadia.
The accuser and the angel Eremiel in Hades
10 Again I turned back and walked, and I saw a great sea. But I thought that it was a sea of water. I discovered that it was entirely a sea of flame like a slime which casteth forth much flame and whose waves burn sulfur and bitumen. They began to approach me.
11 Then I thought that the Lord Almighty had come to visit me. Then when I saw, I fell upon my face before him in order that I might worship him. I was very much afraid, and I entreated him that he might save me from this distress. I cried out, saying, “Eloe, Lord, Adonai, Sabaoth. I beseech Thee to save me from this distress because it hath befallen me.”
12 In that same instant I stood up, and I saw a great angel before me. His hair was spread out like that of lionesses’. His teeth were outside his mouth like a bear. His hair was spread out like women’s. His body was like the serpent’s when he wished to swallow me. And when I saw him, I was afraid of him so that all the parts of my body were loosened and I fell upon my face. I was unable to stand, and I prayed before the Lord Almighty, “Thou wilt save me from this distress. Thou art the one who saved Israel from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. Thou saved Susanna from the hand of the elders of injustice. Thou saved the three holy men, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, from the furnace of burning fire. I beg you to save me from this distress.”
13 Then I arose and stood, and I saw a great angel standing before me with his face shining like the rays of the sun in its glory since his face is like that which is perfected in its glory. And he was girded as if a golden girdle were upon his breast. His feet were like bronze which is melted in a fire. And when I saw him, I rejoiced, for I thought that the Lord Almighty had come to visit me. I fell upon my face, and I worshiped him. He said to me, “Take heed. Worship me not. I am not the Lord Almighty, but am the great angel, Eremiel, who is over the abyss and Hades, the one in which all of the souls are imprisoned from the end of the Flood, which came upon the earth, until this day.”
14 Then I inquired of the angel, “What is the place to which I have come?” He said to me, “It is Hades.” Then I asked him, “Who is the great angel who stands thus, whom I saw?” He said, “This is the one who accuses men in the presence of the Lord.”
The two scrolls
15 Then I looked, and I saw him with a scroll in his hand. He began to unroll it. Now after he had spread it out, I read it in my own language. I found that all my sins which I had done were written in it, those which I had done from my youth until this day. They were all written upon that scroll of mine without there being a false word in them. If I did not go to visit a sick man or a widow, I found it written down as a shortcoming upon my manuscript. If I did not visit an orphan, it was found written down as a shortcoming on my scroll. A day on which I did not fast or pray in the time of prayer I found written down as a failing upon my scroll. And a day when I did not turn to the sons of Israel — since it is a shortcoming — I found written down upon my scroll so that I threw myself upon my face and prayed before the Lord Almighty, “May thy mercy reach me and may thou wipe out my scroll because Thy mercy hath come to be in every place and hath filled every place.”
16 Then I arose and stood, and I saw a great angel before me saying to me, “Triumph, prevail because thou hast prevailed and hast triumphed over the accuser, and thou hast come up from Hades and the abyss. Thou wilt now cross over the crossing place.”
17 Again he brought another scroll which was written by hand. He began to unroll it, and I read it, and found it written in my own language [. . .].
Leaving Hades
18 [. . .] They helped me and set me on that boat. Thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels gave praise before me. I, myself, put on an angelic garment. I saw all of those angels praying. I, myself, prayed together with them. I knew their language, which they spoke with me. Now, moreover, my sons, this is the trial because it is necessary that the good and the evil be weighed in a balance.
The 1st trumpet: triumph & visitation of the righteous
19 Then a great angel came forth having a golden trumpet in his hand, and he blew it three times over my head, saying, “Be courageous! O one who hath triumphed. Prevail! O one who hath prevailed. For thou hast triumphed over the accuser, and thou hast escaped from the abyss and Hades. Thou wilt now cross over the crossing place. For thy name is written in the Book of the Living.” I wanted to embrace him, but I was unable to embrace the great angel because his glory is great.
20 Then he ran to all the righteous ones, namely, Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and Enoch and Elijah and David. He spoke with them as friend to friend speaking one with another.
A 2nd trumpet: opening of heaven & souls in torment
21 Then the great angel came to me with the golden trumpet in his hand, and he blew it up unto heaven. Heaven opened from the place where the sun rises to where it sets, from the north to the south. I saw the sea which I had seen at the bottom of Hades. Its waves came up to the clouds. I saw all the souls sinking in it. I saw some whose hands were bound to their neck, with their hands and feet being fettered. I said, “Who are these?” He said unto me, “These are the ones who were bribed and they were given gold and silver until the souls of men were led astray.” And I saw others covered with mats of fire. I said, “Who are these?” He said unto me, “These are the ones who give money at interest, and they receive interest for interest.” And I also saw some blind ones crying out. And I was amazed when I saw all these works of God. I said, “Who are these?” He said unto me, “These are catechumens who heard the word of God, but they were not perfected in the work which they heard.” And I said unto him, “Then have they not repentance here?” He said, “Yes,” I said, “How long?” He said unto me, “Until the day when the Lord will judge.” And I saw others with their hair on them. I said, “Then there is hair and body in this place?” He said, “Yes, the Lord gives body and hair to them as he desires.”
The intercession of the saints for those in torment
22 And I also saw multitudes. He brought them forth. As they looked at all of the torments they called out, praying before the Lord Almighty, saying, “We pray unto Thee on account of those who are in all these torments so that Thou might have mercy on all of them.” And when I saw them, I said to the angel who spoke with me, “Who are these?” He said, “These who beseech the Lord are Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Then at a certain hour daily they come forth with the great angel. He soundeth a trumpet up unto heaven and another soundeth upon the earth. All the righteous hear the sound. They come running, praying to the Lord Almighty daily on behalf of these who are in all these torments.”
Another trumpet: the coming wrath of God
23 And again the great angel cometh forth with the golden trumpet in his hand blowing over the earth. They hear it from the place of the sunrise to the place of the sunset and from the southern regions to the northern regions. And again he blows it up unto heaven and its sound is heard. I said, “O Lord, why left thou me not until I saw them all?” He said unto me, “I have not authority to show them unto thee until the Lord Almighty riseth up in his wrath to destroy the earth and the heavens. They will see and be disturbed, and they will all cry out, saying, ‘All flesh which is ascribed to Thee we will give unto Thee on the day of the Lord.’ Who will stand in His presence when He riseth in His wrath to destroy the earth and the heavens? Every tree which groweth upon the earth will be plucked up with its roots and fall down. And every high tower and the birds which fly will fall [. . .]. ”
Special thanks to Peter Thompson at http://www.academia.edu/36554509/Apocalypse_of_Zephaniah in helping to fill in some lacunae in the text.
The Armenian Penitence of Adam
This Armenian version of The Life of Adam and Eve is based on three manuscripts. It was most probably translated into Armenian from Greek and takes its place alongside the Greek and Latin versions as a major witness to the Adam book. This version must not be confused with the Armenian Book of Adam, which closely follows the text of the Apocalypse of Moses. The content of the Armenian Penitence of Adam includes both the penances in the rivers, not found in the Greek version, and Eve's recounting of the Fall, not found in the Latin version.
1 It came to pass, when Adam went forth from the Garden with his wife, outside, to the east of the Garden, they made themselves a hut to live in and went inside. Their tears fell ceaselessly and they spent their days in unison of mind, weeping and saddened, and they said to one another, "We are far from life."
2 Then, after seven days, they grew hungry and looked for food. Eve said to Adam. "My lord, I am hungry. Arise, seek food so that we may live and know that God is going to come and bring us to the Garden, to our place."
3 They arose and went about upon the earth, and they did not find food like the food by which they had been nourished in the Garden. Eve said to Adam, "I am dying of this hunger. It would be better if I were dead, my lord; perhaps then they would bring you into the Garden, for because of me God is angry."
4 Adam said, "Great wrath has come upon us, I know not whether because of you or because of me." Eve said, to him, "Kill me if you wish, so that the wrath and anger may abate from before you–for this has come about because of me– and they will bring you into the Garden." Adam said to her. "Eve, do not even mention this matter; lest God bring upon us even greater evils and we become contemptible. How, indeed, can I do you any evil, for you are my body?"
5 Eve said "Arise, so that we may seek vegetable food." They sought and they did not find vegetable food like that which was in the Garden. Eve said "[. . .] because God established this vegetable food as food for the beasts that they might eat on the earth, but our food is that which the angels eat.
6 Arise, let us repent for forty days; perhaps God will pity us and give us food which is better than that of the beasts so that we should not become like them." Adam said to Eve, "In what fashion will you repent? How many days can you endure toils? Perhaps you will begin and be unable to repent, and God will not hearken, so that we will not be able to keep that which we originally received."
7 Eve said, "Set me the number of days which I might think to repent; perhaps the days will be too long, for I brought this penitence upon you." Adam said, "You cannot endure the same number of days as I, but do what I tell you and abide by this instruction." Adam said, "I shall be in penitence for forty days, six days more than you, because you were created on the sixth day of those upon which he accepted his works.
8 Now, therefore, arise, go to the Tigris river and take a stone and place it under your feet and stand in the water up to your neck, in your clothes. Let no word of supplication to God escape your mouth, for we are unworthy of soul and our lips are impure and unclean, because of the transgressions which we committed in the Garden when we ate of the tree.
9 Stand silent there in the middle of the water until you have done penitence for thirty- four days, and I will be in the Jordan river, until we learn that, behold, God has hearkened to us and will give us our food."
10 Then Eve went to the Tigris and did as Adam had instructed her, and Adam went to the Jordan. And the hair of his head was uncovered.
11 He prayed and said, "I say to you, waters of Jordan, be fellow sufferers for me and assemble all the moving things which are in you, and let them surround me and bewail me, not for their own sakes, but for mine. Because God did not withhold their food from them, which God appointed from the beginning, but I have been withheld from my food and from life."
12 When Adam said that, all moving things which were in the Jordan gathered to him and stood around him like a wall. And the waters of the Jordan stopped at that time and became stationary from their flow. Adam cried to God and he set apart six hundred orders of them to call to God in prayers all the days.
13 When eighteen days of their weeping were completed, then Satan took on the form of a cherub with splendid attire, and went to the Tigris river to deceive Eve.
14 Her tears were falling on her attire, down to the ground. Satan said to Eve, "Come forth from the water and rest, for God has hearkened to your penitence, to you and Adam your husband, because we beseeched God.
15 And God sent me to lead you forth from there and to give you your food, on account of which you repented. Since just now I went to Adam and he sent me to you and said, ‘Go, son, summon my wife,’ now come, let us go to Adam and I will lead you to the place where your food is."
16 When Eve came forth from the water, her flesh was like withered grass, for her flesh had been changed from the water, but the form of her glory remained brilliant. When she came forth from the water she fell down and remained upon the ground in great distress for two days, for she was quite unable to move from the spot. Then she arose and Satan also led her to where Adam was.
17 When Adam saw Satan and Eve who was following him, he wept loudly and called out with a great voice and said to Eve, "Where is my command of repentance, which I gave you? How did you go astray, to follow him by whom we were alienated from our dwelling?"
18 When Eve heard this, she knew that he who deceived her was Satan; she fell down before Adam. From that time Adam’s distress increased twofold when he saw the sufferings of his wife, for she was overcome and fell like one dead.
19 He was sad and called out great lamentation and said to Satan, "Why have you engaged in such a great conflict with us? What are our sins against you, that you have brought us out of our place?
20 Did we take your glory from you? Did we reject you from being our possession, that you fight against us unnecessarily?"
21 Satan also wept loudly and said to Adam. "All my arrogance and sorrow came to pass because of you; for, because of you I went forth from my dwelling; and because of you I was alienated from the throne of the cherubs who, having spread out a shelter, used to enclose me; because of you my feet have trodden the earth."
22 Adam replied and said to him, "What are our sins against you, that you did all this to us?" Satan replied and said, "You did nothing to me, but I came to this measure because of you, on the day on which you were created, for I went forth on that day.
23 When God breathed his spirit into you, you received the likeness of his image. Thereupon, Michael came and made you bow down before God. God said to Michael, ‘Behold I have made Adam in the likeness of my image.’
24 Then Michael summoned all the angels, and God said to them, ‘Come, bow down to god whom I made.’ Michael bowed first. He called me and said. ‘You too, bow down to Adam.'
25 I said, ‘Go away, Michael! I shall not bow down to him who is posterior to me, for I am former. Why is it proper for me to bow down to him?’ The other angels, too, who were with me, heard this, and my words seemed pleasing to them and they did not prostrate them-selves to you, Adam.
26 Thereupon, God became angry with me and commanded to expel us from our dwelling and to cast me and my angels, who were in agreement with me, to the earth; and you were at the same time in the Garden.
27 When I realized that because of you I had gone forth from the dwelling of light and was in sorrows and pains, then I prepared a trap for you, so that I might alienate you from your happiness just as I, too, had been alienated because of you.'
28 When Adam heard this, he said to the Lord, "Lord, my soul is in your hand. Make this enemy of mine distant from me, who desires to lead me astray, I who am searching for the light that I have lost." At that time Satan passed away from him.
29 Adam stood from then on in the waters of repentance, and Eve remained fallen upon the ground for three days, like one dead. Then, after three days, she arose from the earth, and she said to Adam, "You are innocent of the first sin and of this second one. Only me alone did Satan overcome, as a result of God’s word and yours." Again Eve said to Adam, "Behold, I shall go to the west and I shall be there and my food will be grass until I die; for henceforth I am unworthy of the foods of life."
30 Eve went to the west and she mourned and was sad; and then she made a hut for herself in the west, and she was advanced in her pregnancy and she had Cain, the lawless one, in her womb.
31 When the times of her parturition came, she began to cry out in a loud voice and said, "Where is Adam, that he might see this pain of mine? Who, indeed, will relate my afflictions to Adam? Is there a wind under the heavens that will go and tell Adam, ‘Come and help Eve?!" And she said, "I implore you, all luminaries, when you come to the east, tell my lord Adam about my pains."
32 Then Adam, in the river Jordan, heard Eve’s cry and her weeping. When God hearkened to the sound of Adam’s penitence, he taught him sowing and reaping and that which was to come upon him and his seed.
33 Then Adam heard the sound of Eve’s entreaty in the west, and Adam said to himself, "That voice and weeping are of my flesh. Let me arise and go to her and see why she is crying out. Perhaps the beast is fighting with her once more!"
34 Adam arose and followed the noise to where Eve was. When Eve saw him, she spoke and said to Adam, "Did you hear the sound of my crying? Did the winds inform you, whom I entreated concerning you? Did the luminaries of heaven inform you, who are in the eastern regions every day, in their courses? Did the birds of the heavens inform you, or the beasts of the earth whom I summoned and dispatched to you, to tell you?
35 Now arise, entreat your Creator to deliver me from these pains." Adam wept and prayed to God on her behalf. And behold, two angels and two powers descended from heaven, came to Eve and stood before her.
36 The powers said to her, "Eve, you are blessed because of Adam, God’s elect one, for his prayers are mighty and through him help from God has come to you. Apart from him, you would not be able to survive this birth." The angel said to Eve, "Prepare yourself, and I will be a midwife for you."
37 Then, when she bore the child, the color of his body was like the color of stars. At the hour when the child fell into the hands of the mid-wife, he leaped up and, with his hands, plucked up the grass of the earth near his mother’s hut; and infertilities became numerous in that place.
38 The angel said to him, "God is just, that he did not make you fall into my hand, for you are Cain, the lawless one, who will be destroyer of the good and [. . .] and living plant and adultery, bitterness and not sweetness." And again the angel said to Adam, "Remain by Eve, so that she will do what I commanded."
39 Thenceforth Adam took Eve and the child and brought them to the eastern region, and he was there with her, and then eighteen years and two months were completed. She became pregnant and bore a son, Gap’at’ whom the midwife named and called Abel; and they dwelt together.
40 Eve said to Adam, "My lord, Adam, I fell asleep and I saw in a night vision that the blood of my son Abel was entering the mouth of our son Cain, his brother, and he drank his blood without mercy. Abel beseeched him to leave a little, and he did not leave any, and did not hearken to him, but drank his blood completely."
41 Adam said to Eve, "Surely Cain is killing Abel. Come, let us separate them from one another. Let us make individual places for them and leave them there, and let us not provide room in us for the evil one."
42 They acted according to this proposal. Adam said to them, "My sons, arise, go each of you to your place." They arose and went according to this proposal. Then, after these proposals God said to the archangel Michael, "Go say to Adam, ‘Do not relate the mystery that you know to Cain, for he is a son of wrath and he is killing Abel, his brother.
43 However, do not be sad because of him; instead of him I shall give you Seth, who is like my first image, and he shall show all memories through me, and not only what you shall say to him.’" God said this to the angel, and he came and spoke to Adam and Adam kept it in his own heart; and he and Eve were sad.
44 After this, Eve became pregnant and bore Seth. Adam said to Eve when they were speaking with each other, "Behold, we have begotten a son in place of Abel, whom Cain killed before us."
45 Then, after that, he had sons and daughters, 30 of each kind, and they grew up. Adam was upon the earth 930 years, and then Adam fell sick with a mortal affliction, and he cried out in a loud voice and said, "Let all my sons come and gather by me, so that I may see them first, before I die."
46 All his sons who were in every part of the world gathered by him. They assembled by him inside the place which Eve had entered, and he prayed to the Lord God. His son Seth said to Adam, "My father, did you remember the fruit of the Garden, of which you used to eat, and have you become sad from that longing?
47 If indeed this is the case, tell me, so that I may go close to the Garden and cast dust upon my head and weep. For, perhaps God will give me of the fruit, that I might bring it to you, and this pain may be driven away from you."
48 Adam said to him, "It is not so, my son, Seth; rather do I have mortal sickness and pain." Seth said to him, "Through whom did this pain come to you?" Adam said to him, "When God made us, me and your mother, he gave us a command not to eat of that tree.
49 Satan deceived us at the hour when the angels who were guardians of the tree ascended to worship God. Then, Satan caused Eve to eat that fruit; Eve gave it to me to eat when I did not know.
50 For, my son Seth, God divided the Garden between me and your mother Eve, that we might watch it. To me he gave the eastern portion and the northern, and to your mother, the western and the southern. We had twelve angels who went around with each of us, because of the guarding of the Garden, until the time of the light.
51 Since, every day they would go forth to worship the Lord, at the time when they went to the heavens, at that time Satan deceived your mother and caused her to eat of the fruit. Satan knew that I was not with her, nor the angels, at that time he caused her to eat.
52 Afterwards, also, she gave it to me. I knew then, when I ate the fruit, that God was angry with us. God said, ‘Because you transgressed my commandment, I shall bring seventy afflictions upon your body, pain of the eyes and ringing of the ears and all the joints.' It will be reckoned for me among the afflictions of sickness which are preserved in the treasuries, so that God might send them in the last times."
53 When Adam said this to his son Seth, he cried out and said, "What shall I do, for I am in great pains and toils." Eve wept and said, "My lord Adam. Arise, give me some of your pain, so that I might receive and bear it, for these pains which have come upon you, came about because of me." Adam said to her, "Arise, go with your son Seth, close to the Garden and there cast dust on your heads and weep before God.
54 Perhaps God will pity me and send his angel to the Garden, and he will go to the place where the olive-tree stands, from which oil comes forth, and give you a little of it, so that you might bring it to me and I might anoint my bones and be separated from pain, and I might teach you this way [. . .] which we were tried formerly."
55 There-after, Seth and Eve went in the direction of the Garden. As they were going, Eve saw that a wild beast was fighting with her son Seth and was biting him. Eve began to weep and she said, "When the day of Judgment comes; all sins will be blamed upon me and men will say, ‘Our mother did not hearken to the commandment of the Lord God!"
56 Eve called out against the wild beast and said, "O wild beast, how do you not fear the image of God, that you dared to fight with the image of God? How was your mouth opened and your fangs bared, and your hair stood on end? How did you not remember the obedience which you formerly displayed, that your mouth was opened against the image of God?"
57 Then the wild beast cried out and said to Eve, "In truth, our insolence is because of you, for the example came from you. How was your mouth opened to dare to eat of the fruit concerning which God commanded you not to eat of it? Until he will change all of our natures, hence-forth you are unable to resist that which I speak to you, or if I begin to rebuke you."
58 Then Seth said to the wild beast, "Close your mouth, O Satan. Get away from the image of God until the day will come on which God will bring you to rebuke."
59 Then he said to Seth, "Behold, I am standing apart from you, the image of God." The beast fled from him. Seth, with Eve, went close to the Garden, and they wept with loud lament and asked God to send an angel to help them.
60 God sent to them the angel Michael, who is prince of souls, and he spoke these words to them, "Seth, man of God. Do not labor to supplicate for the oil which issues forth from the tree–that oil of joy–to anoint your father Adam.
61 This can-not be now: but then, at that time when the years of the end are filled and completed, then the beloved Christ will come to resurrect Adam’s body, because of his sins which took place. He will come to the Jordan and be baptized by him, and when he will come forth from the water, then Michael will come and anoint the new Adam with the oil of joy.
62 Then, after that, it shall happen in the same fashion to all the wild beasts of the earth, who will arise in resurrection and be worthy of entering the Garden. I shall anoint them with that oil. But you, go to Adam your father, for his times will be full in three days and you have to see many wonders in heavens and upon earth and in all luminaries which are in the heavens."
63 When the angel had spoken this, he disappeared behind a tree of the Garden. Thence-forth, Seth and Eve came to the hut where Adam lay sick. Adam remembered about the transgression of the eating of the tree, and he said to Eve, "Oh, what did you do? What sort of pain did you bring upon us and upon our seed?
64 Now, then, tell your children how the sin took place; for, behold, I am weakened unto the exhaustion of my strength. For, perhaps, when we die, toils will come upon the earth and all the generations who will issue from us will labor. And they will curse us and say, ‘Our father and our mother brought these evils upon us.'"
65 Then Eve began to weep and said, "Come near me and I will tell you this way, how our sin took place. At the time when your father was guarding the lot of his portion which had been given to him by God and I was guarding in my lot, at the southern and western side, Satan went to your father’s lot, where the wild beasts were. He summoned the serpent and said to him, ’Arise, come to me!’
66 For God had divided the wild beasts and given them to us–the male ones he gave to your father and the female ones he gave to me. We used to nourish them according to whichever of us it had been allotted.
67 Satan said to the serpent, ‘Arise, come to me and I will tell you something which is of profit to you.' Then the serpent came to him and Satan said to it, ‘I hear that you are wiser than all the wild animals and I have come to see you. I found that there is none like you in your cunning among all the animals. Even as Adam gave nourishment to all the wild beasts, so also you did."
68 And then, when the wild beasts went to worship Adam, Satan went with them and said to the serpent, ‘Why do you worship Adam every morning? You came into being before him: why is it that you, who are the former one, worship the later? Rather should the younger worship the older. Why do you worship Adam or why are you fed by Adam and are not fed by the fruit of the Garden? Come on, rise up, come to me and hear what I say to you. Let us expel Adam from the Garden like us so that we may re-enter the Garden.'
69 The serpent said, ‘In what way or how can we expel him from the Garden?’ Satan said to the serpent, ‘Be you, in your form, a lyre for me and I will pronounce speech through your mouth, so that we may be able to help.' Then the two of them came to me and hung their feet around the wall of the Garden. When the angels ascended to the worship of the Lord, at that time Satan took on the form of an angel and began to praise God with angelic praises. I knelt down by the wall and attended to his praises.
70 I looked and saw him in the likeness of an angel; when I looked again, I did not see him. Then he went and summoned the serpent and said to him, ‘Arise, come to me so that I may enter into you and speak through your mouth as much as I will need to say.'
71 At that time the serpent became a lyre for him, and he came again to the wall of the Garden. He cried out and said, ‘Oh, woman, you who are blind in this Garden of delight, arise come to me and I will say some words to you.'
72 When I went to him, he said to me, ‘Are you Eve?’ I said, ‘Yes, I am.' He replied and said, ‘What do you do in the Garden?’ I said to him, ‘God set us to guard the Garden’, Satan replied and said to me through the mouth of the serpent, ‘This work is good, but come, do you eat of all the trees which are in the Garden?’ I said to him, ‘Yes, we eat of all of them except only of that one tree which is in the very middle of the Garden, concerning which God commanded us, "Do not eat of it, for if you eat you will surely die."’
73 Then the serpent said, ‘As the Lord lives, I am greatly concerned about you for you are like beasts, since God has withheld it from you, but I do not wish you to be ignorant. Come on, come and eat of the tree, and you see what honor will be yours.'
74 I said to him, ‘I fear lest I die as God said to us.' The serpent, together with Satan, replied and said to me, ‘As the Lord lives, you will not die, but when you eat, your eyes will be opened and you will become like God, knowing good and evil. But God knew that you will become like him; he deceived you, that he said, "Do not eat of it."’
75 And he said, ‘Look at the tree and see what glory is around the tree.' When I looked at the tree, I saw that great glory was around it. I said to him, ‘The tree is good and it looks pleasing to me, but I cannot go and take of the fruit: I am afraid. Come here! If you are not afraid, bring me of the fruit and I will eat, so that I may know whether your words are true or not.' Then the serpent called to me and said, ‘Come, open the gate for me and I will enter and I will give you of the fruit.'
76 When he entered, he proceeded a little way into the Garden and stopped. I said, ‘Why did you stop?’ He said to me, ‘Perhaps, when I shall give you to eat and your eyes are opened and you become like God, you will deceive Adam and will not give him to eat of the fruit and he will become like a beast before you.
77 But you, if you wish, swear to me truly that you will give him to eat, and will not deceive your husband Adam.' I said to him, ‘I do not know any oath by which I can swear to you, but I will say to you that which I do know: By the plants of the Garden and by the Cherubs and the Seraphs and by the Father who sits in the heavens to descend to the Garden, if I eat and learn everything, I shall not withhold, but I will give to my husband Adam to eat.'
78 When he had caught me through an oath, he then led me and brought me to the tree and he went forth to the tree. He set the deception in its fruit, that is desire of sins, harlotries, adulteries, greeds. He lowered the branches of the tree to the earth. Then I took some of the fruit and I ate.
79 At that hour I learned with my eyes that I was naked of the glory I with which I had been clothed. Thenceforth, I began to weep and said, ‘What did you do to me?’ But I was no longer mortified about the war which the enemy had made against me; then I learned, thenceforth, that he will lead me to the depths of hell.
80 When Satan did this, he descended from the tree and hid in the Garden. In my parts of the Garden I sought leaves of a tree to cover my nakedness, and I could not find any on all the trees. For, at that hour all the trees of the Garden became leafless, except for the fig-tree alone. I took its leaves and covered my nakedness, and I stood by the tree of which I had eaten. I was afraid, my son Seth, because of the oath I swore that I would give my husband Adam to eat. I cried out to Adam in a loud voice, ‘Arise, come to me and I will show you this way.'
81 Then Adam came to me with his great glory, and I gave him to eat of the fruit, and I made him like me. Subsequently, he, too, came and took a fig leaf and covered his nakedness. After that, we heard the angel Gabriel blowing a trumpet and summoning all the angels and saying to them,
82 ‘Thus says the Lord, "Come to me so that I may descend to the Garden with you, and listen to my judgment with which I will judge Adam."’ When we heard the sound of the angel’s trumpet, we knew that God was about to come to the Garden to judge us.
83 He set forth upon the Cherub chariot and the angels were praising him; consequently, we were afraid and hid. God reached the Garden and all of the plants of the Garden flowered. He set up his throne close to the tree of life.
84 God summoned Adam and said, ‘Adam where are you?’ Do you think that you have hidden and do you say, "He does not know me?" Can the building hide from the Builder, that you hide near that olive-tree?’
85 Adam replied and said, ‘No, Lord, it is not that having hidden, I think that you will not find me, but I was afraid, for I am naked and I am ashamed.’ God said to him, ‘Who showed you to be naked, if you have not abandoned my commandment which I gave you to observe?’
86 Then Adam remembered the injunction which He had spoken to him, to do and observe. Adam said, ‘This woman, whom you gave, deceived me and I ate.' He turned to me and said, ‘Why did you do that?’ I recalled the serpent’s speech and said, ‘The serpent deceived me.' Subsequently God said to Adam, ‘Because you obeyed your wife’s voice and transgressed my commandment, you will be condemned upon the earth.
87 You will toil upon it, and it will not give you its strength; thorns and thistles will sprout forth for you. By the sweat of your brow you shall eat your bread and you shall have no rest; you shall hunger and you shall be sated and you shall be afflicted by bitterness then you shall eat of sweetness; you shall be tormented by heat and afflicted by cold; you shall be pauperized and become great; you shall grow fat and you will be weakened and the beasts which you ruled will rise up against you malignantly, because you transgressed my commandment and did not observe it.'
88 God turned and said to me, ‘Because you obeyed the serpent and transgressed my commandment, you shall suffer torments and pains. You shall bear many children and at the time of birth you shall bring your life to an end and, from your great agonies and pains you shall promise with your mouth and say, "If I survive these agonies, I shall never go back to my husband." And when you emerge from the agonies, you shall return immediately to the earth.
89 For you shall be condemned by your own mouth, since you promised when the pain was acute, "I will never go back to this earth" and then you returned to the same. In pain you shall bear children and in pity you shall return to your husband and he will rule over you.'
90 After he had said all this to me, the Lord became very angry at the serpent and said, ‘Because you did this and became a lyre to lead astray those who were weak of heart, be cursed more than all the animals. Be withheld from your foods which you used to eat. Dust will be your food and you shall go upon your breast and your stomach; your feet and hands will be withheld and your ears will not hear, and none of your limbs. A likeness of the cross will bring my son to the earth, because of him whom you deceived. Be disabled and broken because of the evil of your heart.
91 I have set enmity between you and Adam’s seed. You will lie in wait for his heel and he for your head, until the day upon which you will be punished.' When God had said this, he commanded our expulsion from the Garden, and the angels set about expelling us. Adam beseeched the angels and said, ‘Let me be for a little, so that I may beseech God about my sins. Perhaps he will grant me penitence and not expel me from the Garden.'
92 The angels let him be from expelling him from the Garden, and Adam said, ‘Be gracious to me, Lord God, for I have sinned against you.' Then the Lord said to the angels, ‘Do not let him stand still, but expel him from the Garden. Were the sins mine? Do I pronounce judgment in vain?’ Then the angels worshiped God and said, You are just, O Lord, and your judgments are upright.
93 Adam said again to God, ‘My Lord, I beseech you, give me of the tree of life, so that I may eat before I shall have gone forth from the Garden.' God said to Adam, ‘You cannot take of it in your lifetime, be-cause I have given an order to the Seraphs to guard it round about with weapons because of you, lest you should eat more of it and become immortal and say, "Behold, I shall not die;" and you will be boastful of it and be victorious in the war which the enemy has made with you.
94 Rather, when you go out of the Garden, guard yourself from slander, from harlotry, from adultery, from sorcery, from the love of money, from avarice and from all sins. Then, you shall arise from death, in the resurrection which is going to take place. At that time, I will give you of the tree of life and you will be eternally undying.'
95 When God had said this, he commanded to expel us from the Garden. Adam began to cry before the angels, and the angels said to him, ‘What do you want us to do for you?’ Adam replied and said to the angels, ‘I beseech you, let me be a little, so that I may take sweet incenses with me from the Garden, so that when I go out of here, I may offer sweet incenses to God, and offerings, so that, perhaps, God will hearken to us.'
96 The angels let him be, and he took sweet incenses with him, iris and balsam. We took them and went forth from the Garden to this land. Now, my son, Seth, I have shown you the way, how we sinned. But you, take care to do the good things. Do not abandon God’s command and do not depart from his mercy. Behold, I will show you every sort of recompense, both of good and of evil."
97 At the time when Adam was ill and they were standing around him, because one more day remained of his life and Adam’s soul was going forth from his body, Eve related all this. And again Eve said to Adam, "Why do you die and I live? Tell me, what shall I do for you? How long shall I be on the earth after your death?"
98 Adam said to her, "Do not concern yourself with earthly things, but consider that we will both die as a couple, and they will place you where I will be. But when I die, do not come near me to move me from the place, until God speaks with you about me.
99 For God will not forget me, but he seeks the vessel which he made. Now, arise, pray to God until I give up my soul, which he gave me, into his hands. For I do not know how we shall preserve for the Father of all, whether he will be angry or will be merciful to us."
100 Then Eve arose, beseeched God and said, "I have sinned, God; I have sinned against you, my beloved Lord; I have sinned against your elect angels; I have sinned against the Cherubs; I have sinned against the Seraphs; I have sinned before you, Lord. I beseech all you whom God created in the heavens and on the earth, that you intercede with the Father in heaven."
101 While Eve was praying on bended knee, behold, the archangel Michael came to her, stood her up and said, "Arise, Eve, from your penitence. Behold, the soul of your husband Adam has gone forth from the body." Eve arose, and all the angels assembled before her, each according to his rank. Some of them bore censers in their hands, others bore trumpets and others bore blessings.
102 Behold, the Lord of hosts upon a Cherub chariot and four winds were drawing him, and Cherubs were serving those winds and the angels were proceeding before him: God came to the earth, to the place where Adam’s body lay, and all of the angels were before him with praises.
103 God came to the Garden and all the plants moved, and all the people who were with Adam fell asleep. Only Seth alone, the virtuous one, was awake, according to God’s direction. God came to Adam’s body, where he was lying dead. God mourned greatly and said in a sweet voice, "Oh, Adam. Why did you do that? If you had observed my commandment, those who brought you down to this place would not have rejoiced over you.
104 But I will turn their rejoicing into sorrow, and I will turn your sorrow into rejoicing. I shall make you the beginning of rejoicing and I shall set you on the throne of him who deceived you, and I shall cast them into a place of darkness and death."
105 After this, God spoke to Michael and said, "Go to the Garden of the third heaven and bring me three linen cloths". When he had brought them, God said to Michael and to Ozel and to Gabriel, ‘Bring these linen cloths and cover Adam’s body, and bring sweet oil." They brought them and set them around him and wound him in that garment.
106 When they had finished everything, God ordered them to bring Abel’s body. They brought still other linen cloths and dressed him. For he had remained from that day upon which Cain the lawless one had killed him and had wished to hide him, and had been unable. For, as soon as his body was in the dust, a heavenly voice came and said, "It is not permitted to hide him in the earth before the first creature has returned to the earth from which he came."
107 Thenceforth, they took him into that same cave where he was until Adam died. Then, after this, they brought him and treated him just as they had treated his father Adam. After the dressing, God commanded that both of them be taken to the region of the Garden and be brought to the place from which the dust had been taken and Adam created.
108 God caused them to dig in that place and sent them to bring sweet incenses and iris incense and he caused them to put oils upon the dust and to cover the spices. Then after this, they took the bodies of both of them and put them in the place in which he had fashioned them. They dug and made a sepulcher over them.
109 God called to Adam’s body through the dust and said, "Adam, Adam." Adam’s body said to the dust, "Answer and say, ‘Here I am, Lord.'" The Lord said to him, "Behold, just as I said to you, ‘Adam, you are dust and you return to dust;’ but I will raise you in the resurrection which I promised you." After God had said this, he took a three-fold seal and sealed Adam’s tomb and said, "Let none approach in these days,until their bodies return to it."
110 Then, at that time, the Lord ascended to the heavens with his angels, Seraphs and chariot of light, each to his station. The times of Eve were filled and completed and she was dying. She began to weep and sought to know the place where Adam was buried, because she was ignorant of it. For, at the time when God came for the death of Adam, all the plants of the Garden were moved and, through the Holy Spirit, sleep overcame all those who were upon the earth, until they had dressed Adam, and none upon the earth knew, except Seth alone.
111 Again Eve began to cry out, to beseech God that they should bring her to the place where Adam was buried. When she had completed that prayer, she said, "My God, God of miracles, do not alienate me from Adam’s place, but command to place me in his tomb. Just as we were together in the Garden, and were not separate from one another, just as in life, so in our death. In the place in which Adam was buried let me, too, be buried with him."
112 When, beseeching, she had said this, her soul left her. Michael, the archangel, came and spoke to Seth and taught him how to dress her. Three angels came and took Eve’s body and brought it and placed it where Adam’s and Abel’s bodies were. After this, Michael spoke to Seth and said, ‘Thus shall you dress every human being who dies, until the day of the end, through the resurrection."
113 When the angel had said this to Seth, he ascended to heaven, praising the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever.
THE FOURTEENTH VISION OF DANIEL
There are at least nine texts calling themselves the "Apocalypse of Daniel." This text, written in Coptic, dates from the crusader period, a little after 1187 AD, and is extant in Ms. Paris, BNF copte. 58. It was published by Woide, Appendix ad editionem N. T. graeci e codici Alexandrino, Oxford, 1799, and translated into French by Frédéric Macler in 1896. In the manuscript which transmits the text to us, the book of Daniel appears, divided into thirteen "visions." It is then followed by this text, called the "Fourteenth vision."
Translated by Frédéric Macler
1 In the third year of Cyrus the Persian, who captured Babylon, a word was revealed to Daniel, whose name is Balthasar. This word is true. I, Daniel, fasted for twenty one days until the evening; I had not eaten meat, I had not drunk wine, I had not anointed myself with oil.
2 It happened, as I was on the bank of the Tigris, that this was revealed to me; I looked; and the four winds of heaven were blowing towards the great sea.
3 I saw four very frightening animals rising from the river.
4 The first animal resembled a bear, having wings like an eagle. I saw as I waited that it flew with its wings; a human heart was given to it and it stood on its feet.
5 The second animal resembled human flesh; excessively horrible, it stood to one side. I watched until three quarters of its face were broken and the fourth quarter remained firm. I looked at it until its teeth were torn out of its mouth.
6 The third animal resembled a panther; it had wings, four heads, devouring with speed and scattering what remained.
7 The fourth animal which I saw resembled a lion, an animal much more terrible than all the animals which had been before it. Power and great force were given to it; its hands were of iron, its nails of bronze; devouring, chewing, crushing with its feet what remained. I saw ten horns which came out from its head: I saw also another small horn, which came out beside these ten horns. And great power and a remarkable form were given to it. I saw four different horns which arose on its left, then four others which arose after all these; each of them was different from the others, and, between them all, they made nineteen horns.
8 And I heard a voice which said to me: "Daniel, do you understand what you saw?" But I said: "How can I understand, if nobody guides me?”
9 I looked and I saw an angel of God standing on my right. Its wings were extremely bright. I was afraid and I fell to the ground. The angel seized me, made me stand on my feet and said to me: "Stand on your feet, so that I can proclaim to you what will happen in the last days.
10 The four animals which you saw are four kingdoms. The animal that you saw, similar to a bear, is the king of Persia. He will possess the land for five hundred fifty-five years. Then he will perish with his kingdom; he will not be powerful for always.
11 The second animal that you saw, similar to human flesh, it is the king of the Romans: he will seize the land as if by iron; he will extend himself over it; he will dominate by his armies as far as the land of the Ethiopians, and he will reign over it nine hundred and eleven years. But he will not possess the capital of the kingdom, until many days are completed.
12 The third animal which you saw, who resembled a panther, it is the king of the Greeks. He will reign over it for a thousand years and thirty days; but his reign will not last.
13 The fourth animal which you saw, who resembles a lion, is the king of the sons of Ishmael. He will reign for a long time over the land and will be very powerful during many days. This realm will be of the race of Abraham and of the slave of Sara, the wife of Abraham. All the cities of the Persians, the Romans and the Greeks will be destroyed; nineteen kings of this race among the sons of Ishmael will reign over the land; they will reign until the time of their end.
14 The tenth of their kings will be like a prophet, the number of his name is 399. He will practice justice, will give bread to the famished, clothing to those which are naked. He will free those who are slaves. His mercy will spread over the whole land, and his justice up to heaven.
15 The eleventh of their kings will practice iniquity over all the land; he will ruin the old works. He will persecute those which are on the land, so that nobody is found who lives there or remains there. All men will groan for forty-two months. If the God of heaven treats him with indulgence, his reign will last forty months.
16 The reign of the twelfth of their kings will consequently be strengthened by the judgments of his mouth. He will carry out malicious actions in the land, so much that men will be astonished by what he did. There will be many wars during his reign. At the end of the time, a king will thoroughly disturb the kingdom of Ismaelites for one hundred and forty-seven years. In the hundred and tenth year of his reign, he will have a war with the Ethiopians. The Ismaelites will reign over them, until they have despoiled the city of the kingdom, which is Souban. They will send messengers to ask for peace; they will give them money and gold in great quantity, a tribute will be paid to them in Ethiopia.
17 The thirteenth of them will not live in this kingdom at all, and they will not fear him. His reign will be of a few days.
18 The fourteenth of their kings will receive gold and money in great quantity and he will judge the land with equity. He will engage in war with Lower Egypt, so that Egypt is in sorrow and groaning. The Ethiopians will not be subjected at all to him, they will not pay him tribute. In those days there will be war in the land of the Romans. The Ethiopians will make war with the southernmost regions of Egypt; they will plunder the boroughs and all the cities of lower Egypt, until they arrive at the town of Cleopatra that she built herself in Upper Egypt, which city is Schmoun. After these things, the king of Syria will learn of it, he will fear the end because the war is approaching him. In the end, his reign will be established and he will enjoy a happy existence.
19 Then a child will arise among the Israelites will rise; this is the fifteenth of their kings. In his heart, he will be hard like iron; he will extend his sword to the Romans; his right hand will be on the Ethiopians. His face will be double and his language will be double. During the days of his reign, there will be a great disorder over all the land, and his word will be violent like fire. The Ethiopians will bring gifts of gold to him, of silver, of pearls, and he will impose his work on everyone. He will make several nations captive in order to conscript them; throughout all his reign, there will not be enough bread; there will be no peace as long as he will reign, and in his time carnage will be frequent.
20 As for the sixteenth of their kings, there will be no war in his kingdom, and he himself will not fight with anybody, and he will be granted a long time which he will spend in peace, and his reign will pass in uprightness.
21 As regards the seventeenth of their kings, a war will break out between him and his nation; it is him whose name makes the number 666. He will elevate from his nation a man who will make war for him; he will pursue him as far as Egypt with the riches of its kingdom. He will neglect his nation and its great people and will scatter riches in public places and highways. While moving in lower Egypt with his riches, he will go into Upper Egypt on the side of the North, with the intention to plunder Souban, the city of the Ethiopians, with the remainder of its riches. But a man of his own nation will kill him in the southernmost regions of lower Egypt, and will take what remains to him of his riches.
22 The eighteenth of their kings, at the beginning of his reign, will work great evils, for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days. He will wage war in the western countries, and he will gain the victory until the day of his death.
23 Then among them a child will arise, who is his son. This one is the nineteenth of their kings. He will be the child of a double race, because his father is an Israelite, his mother is Roman. There will be war in Egypt and Syria for twenty one months. Their swords will fall on themselves in this war. This is the king whose name makes the number 666; he will be called by these three names: Mametios, Khalle and Sarapidos. Being a child, he will reign in order to do much evil. He will order all the Jews which are in all places to gather in Jerusalem. All the land will be disturbed during his reign, until any man can be sold for a single dinar. He is without decency and he will forget the fear of God. He will not remember the law of Ishmael his father, nor of his mother, who is Roman; he will be arrogant, continuously drunk; he will make a great number of those who eat at his table die by poisoned beverages, and in these days there will be great devastations. He will free Syria and the territory of Jews, and will torment the East and Egypt. He will establish carriers of letters in Egypt. Two and three times in only one year, the East will be against itself in this reign which will be the nineteeth. He will seek neither justice, nor truth, but he will seek gold all the time. He will establish managers in the regions of Africa, and a great quantity of soldiers. War will break out between him and them; they will destroy the multitude which is with him; he will be established in the regions of Africa, with what will remain of his troops, for several years, and he will not overcome it. Then a foreign nation will rise against him; it is called Pitourgos; it will make war on him. Sarapidos will dominate over many Romans, over Pentapolis, over the Medes; from them all he will take a tribute, will command their cities and will plunder the city which he built, and regions that his father had gathered. The Turk will prepare for war to remove the kingdom from the hands of Sarapidos; hitherto Sarapidos remained at home. He was looking for spoils, because Sarapidos had great riches before his eyes, gold, silver, all kinds of precious stones, and desirable utensils of every kind. But it will be proclaimed to him that the Turk has made himself Master of all Syria and his borders, and he will go out in great disorder with all his troops; he will leave all the water-skins, will not carry anything with him; but he will have a heart of an animal, reflecting and knowing not what to do. Then, when he flees, going up Egypt, the Turk will precede him with his troops. They will both land with their troops, they will fight until blood runs in floods. The Turk is of Roman race. There will be war at Eschmoun the city, until the water of the river is changed into blood because of the great quantity of those wounded to death. No-one will be able to drink the water any more. Many men will die by the sword, uncountable. Those who remain will plunder their own country from where they left. The Turk will make Sarapidos perish, in order to remove his kingdom from him, for fear he will not obtain the kingdom of the Ishmaelites; but this is here the end of their number.
24 Then the king of the Romans will rise up against them, he will destroy them by the edge of the sword in the middle of the Ishmaelites in the territory of their fathers in the desert. The Ishmaelites will be governed always by the Romans; the Romans will dominate over Egypt for forty years.
25 Then two nations will rise, by the name of Gog and Magog; they will shake the ground for several days; their number is as great as the grains of sand.
26 Then Antichrist will appear who will deceive many of them. When he is strengthened, he will seduce even the elect. He will kill the two prophets Enoch and Elias, so that for three and a half days they will be dead in the public places of the great town of Jerusalem.
27 Then the Ancient of Days will bring them back to life. It is He whom I see coming with the clouds from Heaven, similar to a son of man. His power is an eternal power and His reign will have no end. It is he which will put Antichrist to death and all the multitude which is with him. There will be misfortune then in truth to any soul who will live in that time over all the land, because there will be iniquity, a great affliction and groanings; but the salvation of man is between the hands of God in Heaven. This is the end of the speech."
28 The angel said to me: "Daniel, Daniel, conceal these discourses, seal them up until the time when they will be fulfilled, because that is the end of all." I, Daniel, I arose, I put a seal to the discourse, and sealed them. I will glorify God, the father of all things and the lord of the universe, He who knows the dates and times. To him be glory and power forever. Amen.
Translated by Frédéric Macler
1 In the third year of Cyrus the Persian, who captured Babylon, a word was revealed to Daniel, whose name is Balthasar. This word is true. I, Daniel, fasted for twenty one days until the evening; I had not eaten meat, I had not drunk wine, I had not anointed myself with oil.
2 It happened, as I was on the bank of the Tigris, that this was revealed to me; I looked; and the four winds of heaven were blowing towards the great sea.
3 I saw four very frightening animals rising from the river.
4 The first animal resembled a bear, having wings like an eagle. I saw as I waited that it flew with its wings; a human heart was given to it and it stood on its feet.
5 The second animal resembled human flesh; excessively horrible, it stood to one side. I watched until three quarters of its face were broken and the fourth quarter remained firm. I looked at it until its teeth were torn out of its mouth.
6 The third animal resembled a panther; it had wings, four heads, devouring with speed and scattering what remained.
7 The fourth animal which I saw resembled a lion, an animal much more terrible than all the animals which had been before it. Power and great force were given to it; its hands were of iron, its nails of bronze; devouring, chewing, crushing with its feet what remained. I saw ten horns which came out from its head: I saw also another small horn, which came out beside these ten horns. And great power and a remarkable form were given to it. I saw four different horns which arose on its left, then four others which arose after all these; each of them was different from the others, and, between them all, they made nineteen horns.
8 And I heard a voice which said to me: "Daniel, do you understand what you saw?" But I said: "How can I understand, if nobody guides me?”
9 I looked and I saw an angel of God standing on my right. Its wings were extremely bright. I was afraid and I fell to the ground. The angel seized me, made me stand on my feet and said to me: "Stand on your feet, so that I can proclaim to you what will happen in the last days.
10 The four animals which you saw are four kingdoms. The animal that you saw, similar to a bear, is the king of Persia. He will possess the land for five hundred fifty-five years. Then he will perish with his kingdom; he will not be powerful for always.
11 The second animal that you saw, similar to human flesh, it is the king of the Romans: he will seize the land as if by iron; he will extend himself over it; he will dominate by his armies as far as the land of the Ethiopians, and he will reign over it nine hundred and eleven years. But he will not possess the capital of the kingdom, until many days are completed.
12 The third animal which you saw, who resembled a panther, it is the king of the Greeks. He will reign over it for a thousand years and thirty days; but his reign will not last.
13 The fourth animal which you saw, who resembles a lion, is the king of the sons of Ishmael. He will reign for a long time over the land and will be very powerful during many days. This realm will be of the race of Abraham and of the slave of Sara, the wife of Abraham. All the cities of the Persians, the Romans and the Greeks will be destroyed; nineteen kings of this race among the sons of Ishmael will reign over the land; they will reign until the time of their end.
14 The tenth of their kings will be like a prophet, the number of his name is 399. He will practice justice, will give bread to the famished, clothing to those which are naked. He will free those who are slaves. His mercy will spread over the whole land, and his justice up to heaven.
15 The eleventh of their kings will practice iniquity over all the land; he will ruin the old works. He will persecute those which are on the land, so that nobody is found who lives there or remains there. All men will groan for forty-two months. If the God of heaven treats him with indulgence, his reign will last forty months.
16 The reign of the twelfth of their kings will consequently be strengthened by the judgments of his mouth. He will carry out malicious actions in the land, so much that men will be astonished by what he did. There will be many wars during his reign. At the end of the time, a king will thoroughly disturb the kingdom of Ismaelites for one hundred and forty-seven years. In the hundred and tenth year of his reign, he will have a war with the Ethiopians. The Ismaelites will reign over them, until they have despoiled the city of the kingdom, which is Souban. They will send messengers to ask for peace; they will give them money and gold in great quantity, a tribute will be paid to them in Ethiopia.
17 The thirteenth of them will not live in this kingdom at all, and they will not fear him. His reign will be of a few days.
18 The fourteenth of their kings will receive gold and money in great quantity and he will judge the land with equity. He will engage in war with Lower Egypt, so that Egypt is in sorrow and groaning. The Ethiopians will not be subjected at all to him, they will not pay him tribute. In those days there will be war in the land of the Romans. The Ethiopians will make war with the southernmost regions of Egypt; they will plunder the boroughs and all the cities of lower Egypt, until they arrive at the town of Cleopatra that she built herself in Upper Egypt, which city is Schmoun. After these things, the king of Syria will learn of it, he will fear the end because the war is approaching him. In the end, his reign will be established and he will enjoy a happy existence.
19 Then a child will arise among the Israelites will rise; this is the fifteenth of their kings. In his heart, he will be hard like iron; he will extend his sword to the Romans; his right hand will be on the Ethiopians. His face will be double and his language will be double. During the days of his reign, there will be a great disorder over all the land, and his word will be violent like fire. The Ethiopians will bring gifts of gold to him, of silver, of pearls, and he will impose his work on everyone. He will make several nations captive in order to conscript them; throughout all his reign, there will not be enough bread; there will be no peace as long as he will reign, and in his time carnage will be frequent.
20 As for the sixteenth of their kings, there will be no war in his kingdom, and he himself will not fight with anybody, and he will be granted a long time which he will spend in peace, and his reign will pass in uprightness.
21 As regards the seventeenth of their kings, a war will break out between him and his nation; it is him whose name makes the number 666. He will elevate from his nation a man who will make war for him; he will pursue him as far as Egypt with the riches of its kingdom. He will neglect his nation and its great people and will scatter riches in public places and highways. While moving in lower Egypt with his riches, he will go into Upper Egypt on the side of the North, with the intention to plunder Souban, the city of the Ethiopians, with the remainder of its riches. But a man of his own nation will kill him in the southernmost regions of lower Egypt, and will take what remains to him of his riches.
22 The eighteenth of their kings, at the beginning of his reign, will work great evils, for one thousand, two hundred and sixty days. He will wage war in the western countries, and he will gain the victory until the day of his death.
23 Then among them a child will arise, who is his son. This one is the nineteenth of their kings. He will be the child of a double race, because his father is an Israelite, his mother is Roman. There will be war in Egypt and Syria for twenty one months. Their swords will fall on themselves in this war. This is the king whose name makes the number 666; he will be called by these three names: Mametios, Khalle and Sarapidos. Being a child, he will reign in order to do much evil. He will order all the Jews which are in all places to gather in Jerusalem. All the land will be disturbed during his reign, until any man can be sold for a single dinar. He is without decency and he will forget the fear of God. He will not remember the law of Ishmael his father, nor of his mother, who is Roman; he will be arrogant, continuously drunk; he will make a great number of those who eat at his table die by poisoned beverages, and in these days there will be great devastations. He will free Syria and the territory of Jews, and will torment the East and Egypt. He will establish carriers of letters in Egypt. Two and three times in only one year, the East will be against itself in this reign which will be the nineteeth. He will seek neither justice, nor truth, but he will seek gold all the time. He will establish managers in the regions of Africa, and a great quantity of soldiers. War will break out between him and them; they will destroy the multitude which is with him; he will be established in the regions of Africa, with what will remain of his troops, for several years, and he will not overcome it. Then a foreign nation will rise against him; it is called Pitourgos; it will make war on him. Sarapidos will dominate over many Romans, over Pentapolis, over the Medes; from them all he will take a tribute, will command their cities and will plunder the city which he built, and regions that his father had gathered. The Turk will prepare for war to remove the kingdom from the hands of Sarapidos; hitherto Sarapidos remained at home. He was looking for spoils, because Sarapidos had great riches before his eyes, gold, silver, all kinds of precious stones, and desirable utensils of every kind. But it will be proclaimed to him that the Turk has made himself Master of all Syria and his borders, and he will go out in great disorder with all his troops; he will leave all the water-skins, will not carry anything with him; but he will have a heart of an animal, reflecting and knowing not what to do. Then, when he flees, going up Egypt, the Turk will precede him with his troops. They will both land with their troops, they will fight until blood runs in floods. The Turk is of Roman race. There will be war at Eschmoun the city, until the water of the river is changed into blood because of the great quantity of those wounded to death. No-one will be able to drink the water any more. Many men will die by the sword, uncountable. Those who remain will plunder their own country from where they left. The Turk will make Sarapidos perish, in order to remove his kingdom from him, for fear he will not obtain the kingdom of the Ishmaelites; but this is here the end of their number.
24 Then the king of the Romans will rise up against them, he will destroy them by the edge of the sword in the middle of the Ishmaelites in the territory of their fathers in the desert. The Ishmaelites will be governed always by the Romans; the Romans will dominate over Egypt for forty years.
25 Then two nations will rise, by the name of Gog and Magog; they will shake the ground for several days; their number is as great as the grains of sand.
26 Then Antichrist will appear who will deceive many of them. When he is strengthened, he will seduce even the elect. He will kill the two prophets Enoch and Elias, so that for three and a half days they will be dead in the public places of the great town of Jerusalem.
27 Then the Ancient of Days will bring them back to life. It is He whom I see coming with the clouds from Heaven, similar to a son of man. His power is an eternal power and His reign will have no end. It is he which will put Antichrist to death and all the multitude which is with him. There will be misfortune then in truth to any soul who will live in that time over all the land, because there will be iniquity, a great affliction and groanings; but the salvation of man is between the hands of God in Heaven. This is the end of the speech."
28 The angel said to me: "Daniel, Daniel, conceal these discourses, seal them up until the time when they will be fulfilled, because that is the end of all." I, Daniel, I arose, I put a seal to the discourse, and sealed them. I will glorify God, the father of all things and the lord of the universe, He who knows the dates and times. To him be glory and power forever. Amen.