Egyptian-Hebrew stream·The Book of Enoch (1 Enoch)·Book V — Epistle of Enoch (with Appendix)·Chapter XCVII — Woes to the Wicked
Their works shall pursue them
Woe to you sinners who say 'Our days are full and prolonged' — for verily you shall be slain in Sheol. Their prayer shall not be heard; their oppression of the righteous shall be remembered.
Source context
- Theme
- woe-oracle against the prosperous wicked: accumulation of wealth through injustice and the certainty of divine retribution
- Soul-faculty
- Consciousness Soul
Steiner
not engaged in the GA corpus
Cross-tradition
- Hebrew prophetic literature (Amos, Isaiah)Cross-tradition congruence is found in the classical prophetic woe-form — denunciation of the wealthy who oppress the poor combined with announcement of eschatological reversal — as articulated in Amos 6 and Isaiah 5.
- Zoroastrian ethical dualismThe structural opposition in Chapter XCVII between the unjust prosperous and the righteous poor shows cross-tradition congruence with Zoroastrian druj (falsehood/greed) versus asha (righteousness), in which material excess obtained through deceit belongs to the Ahrimanic sphere subject to cosmic judgment.
Chapter XCVII
XCVII. The Evils in Store for Sinners and the Possessors of unrighteous Wealth.
CHAPTER XCVII.
1Believe, ye righteous, that the sinners will become a shame
And perish in the day of unrighteousness.
2Be it known unto you (ye sinners) that the Most High is mindful of your destruction,
And the angels of heaven rejoice over your destruction.
3What will ye do, ye sinners,
And whither will ye flee on that day of judgement, When ye hear the voice of the prayer of the righteous?
4Yea, ye shall fare like unto them,
Against whom this word shall be a testimony: "Ye have been companions of sinners."
5And in those days the prayer of the righteous shall reach unto the Lord,
And for you the days of your judgement shall come.
6And all the words of your unrighteousness shall be read out before the Great Holy One,
And your faces shall be covered with shame, And He will reject every work which is grounded on unrighteousness.
7Woe to you, ye sinners, who live on the mid ocean and on the dry land,
Whose remembrance is evil against you.
8Woe to you who acquire silver and gold in unrighteousness and say:
"We have become rich with riches and have possessions; And have acquired everything we have desired.p. 139
9And now let us do what we purposed:
For we have gathered silver,
9d And many are the husbandmen in our houses."
9e And our granaries are (brim) full as with water,
10Yea and like water your lies shall flow away;
For your riches shall not abide But speedily ascend from you; For ye have acquired it all in unrighteousness, And ye shall be given over to a great curse.
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