10. And they began to bring forth beasts of the field and birds, so that
there arose different genera: lions, tigers, wolves, dogs, hyenas, wild
boars, foxes, squirrels, swine, falcons, vultures, kites, eagles, and
ravens; and among them was born a white bull. 11. And they began to bite
one another; but that white bull which was born amongst them begat a
wild ass and a white bull with it, and the wild asses multiplied. 12.
But that bull which was born from him begat a black wild boar and a
white sheep; and the former begat many boars, but that sheep begat
twelve sheep. 13. And when those twelve sheep had grown, they gave up
one of them to the asses, and those asses again gave up that sheep to
the wolves, and that sheep grew up among the wolves. 14. And the Lord
brought the eleven sheep to live with it and to pasture with it among
the wolves: and they multiplied and became many flocks of sheep. 15. And
the wolves began to fear them, and they oppressed them until they
destroyed their little ones, and they cast their young into a river of
much water: but those sheep began to cry aloud on account of their
little ones, and to complain unto their Lord. 16. And a sheep which had
been saved from the wolves fled and escaped to the wild asses; and I saw
the sheep how they lamented and cried, and besought their Lord with all
their might, till that Lord of the sheep descended at the voice of the
sheep from a lofty abode, and came to them and pastured them. 17. And He
called that sheep which had escaped the wolves, and spake with it
concerning the wolves that it should admonish them not to touch the
sheep. 18. And the sheep went to the wolves according to the word of the
Lord, and another sheep met it and went with it, and the two went and
entered together into the assembly of those wolves, and spake with them
and admonished them not to touch the sheep from henceforth. 19. And
thereupon I saw the wolves, and how they oppressed the sheep exceedingly
with all their power; and the sheep cried aloud. 20. And the Lord came
to the sheep and they began to smite those wolves: and the wolves began
to make lamentation; but the sheep became quiet and forthwith ceased to
cry out. 21. And I saw the sheep till they departed from amongst the
wolves; but the eyes of the wolves were blinded, and those wolves
departed in pursuit of the sheep with all their power. 22. And the Lord
of the sheep went with them, as their leader, and all His sheep followed
Him: and His face was dazzling and glorious and terrible to behold. 23.
But the wolves began to pursue those sheep till they reached a sea of
water. 24. And that sea was divided, and the water stood on this side
and on that before their face, and their Lord led them and placed
Himself between them and the wolves. 25. And as those wolves did not yet
see the sheep, they proceeded into the midst of that sea, and the wolves
followed the sheep, and [those wolves] ran after them into that sea. 26.
And when they saw the Lord of the sheep, they turned to flee before His
face, but that sea gathered itself together, and became as it had been
created, and the water swelled and rose till it covered those wolves.
27. And I saw till all the wolves who pursued those sheep perished and
were drowned.
LXXXIX. 28-40. _Israel in the Desert, the Giving of the Law, the
Entrance into Palestine._
28. But the sheep escaped from that water and went forth into a
wilderness, where there was no water and no grass; and they began to
open their eyes and to see; and I saw the Lord of the sheep pasturing
them and giving them water and grass, and that sheep going and leading
them. 29. And that sheep ascended to the summit of that lofty rock, and
the Lord of the sheep sent it to them. 30. And after that I saw the Lord
of the sheep who stood before them, and His appearance was great and
terrible and majestic, and all those sheep saw Him and were afraid
before His face. 31. And they all feared and trembled because of Him,
and they cried to that sheep with them [which was amongst them]: “We are
not able to stand before our Lord or to behold Him.” 32. And that sheep
which led them again ascended to the summit of that rock, but the sheep
began to be blinded and to wander from the way which he had showed them,
but that sheep wot not thereof. 33. And the Lord of the sheep was
wrathful exceedingly against them, and that sheep discovered it, and
went down from the summit of the rock, and came to the sheep, and found
the greatest part of them blinded and fallen away. 34. And when they saw
it they feared and trembled at its presence, and desired to return to
their folds. 35. And that sheep took other sheep with it, and came to
those sheep which had fallen away, and began to slay them; and the sheep
feared its presence, and thus that sheep brought back those sheep that
had fallen away, and they returned to their folds. 36. And I saw in this
vision till that sheep became a man and built a house for the Lord of
the sheep, and placed all the sheep in that house. 37. And I saw till
this sheep which had met that sheep which led them fell asleep: and I
saw till all the great sheep perished and little ones arose in their
place, and they came to a pasture, and approached a stream of water. 38.
Then that sheep, their leader which had become a man, withdrew from them
and fell asleep, and all the sheep sought it and cried over it with a
great crying. 39. And I saw till they left off crying for that sheep and
crossed that stream of water, and there arose the =two= sheep as leaders
in the place of those which had led them and fallen asleep (lit. “had
fallen asleep and led them”). 40. And I saw till the sheep came to a
goodly place, and a pleasant and glorious land, and I saw till those
sheep were satisfied; and that house stood amongst them in the pleasant
land.
LXXXIX. 41-50. _From the Time of the Judges till the Building of the
Temple._
41. And sometimes their eyes were opened, and sometimes blinded, till
another sheep arose and led them and brought them all back, and their
eyes were opened.
42. And the dogs and the foxes and the wild boars began to devour those
sheep till the Lord of the sheep raised up [another sheep] a ram from
their midst, which led them. 43. And that ram began to butt on either
side those dogs, foxes, and wild boars till he had destroyed them †all†.
44. And that sheep whose eyes were opened saw that ram, which was
amongst the sheep, =till= it †forsook its glory† and began to butt those
sheep, and trampled upon them, and behaved itself unseemly. 45. And the
Lord of the sheep sent the =lamb= to another =lamb= and raised it to
being a ram and leader of the sheep instead of that ram which had
†forsaken its glory†. 46. And it went to it and spake to it alone, and
raised it to being a ram, and made it the prince and leader of the
sheep; but during all these things those dogs oppressed the sheep. 47.
And the first ram pursued that second ram, and that second ram arose and
fled before it; and I saw till those dogs pulled down the firsts ram.
48. And that second ram arose and led the [little] sheep. 49. And those
sheep grew and multiplied; but all the dogs, and foxes, and wild boars
feared and fled before it, and that ram butted and killed the wild
beasts, and those wild beasts had no longer any power among the sheep
and robbed them no more of aught. 48^b. And that ram begat many sheep
and fell asleep; and a little sheep became ram in its stead, and became
prince and leader of those sheep.
50. And that house became great and broad, and it was built for those
sheep: ‹and› a tower lofty and great was built on the house for the Lord
of the sheep, and that house was low, but the tower was elevated and
lofty, and the Lord of the sheep stood on that tower and they offered a
full table before Him.
LXXXIX. 51-67. _The Two Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, to the Destruction
of Jerusalem._
51. And again I saw those sheep that they again erred and went many
ways, and forsook that their house, and the Lord of the sheep called
some from amongst the sheep and sent them to the sheep, but the sheep
began to slay them. 52. And one of them was saved and was not slain, and
it sped away and cried aloud over the sheep; and they sought to slay it,
but the Lord of the sheep saved it from the sheep, and brought it up to
me, and caused it to dwell there. 53. And many other sheep He sent to
those sheep to testify unto them and lament over them. 54. And after
that I saw that when they forsook the house of the Lord and His tower
they fell away entirely, and their eyes were blinded; and I saw the Lord
of the sheep how He wrought much slaughter amongst them in their herds
until those sheep invited that slaughter and betrayed His place. 55. And
He gave them over into the hands of the lions and tigers, and wolves and
hyenas, and into the hand of the foxes, and to all the wild beasts, and
those wild beasts began to tear in pieces those sheep. 56. And I saw
that He forsook that their house and their tower and gave them all into
the hand of the lions, to tear and devour them, into the hand of all the
wild beasts. 57. And I began to cry aloud with all my power, and to
appeal to the Lord of the sheep, and to represent to Him in regard to
the sheep that they were devoured by all the wild beasts. 58. But He
remained unmoved, though He saw it, and rejoiced that they were devoured
and swallowed and robbed, and left them to be devoured in the hand of
all the beasts. 59. And He called seventy shepherds, and cast those
sheep to them that they might pasture them, and He spake to the
shepherds and their companions: “Let each individual of you pasture the
sheep henceforward, and everything that I shall command you that do ye.
60. And I will deliver them over unto you duly numbered, and tell you
which of them are to be destroyed—and them destroy ye.” And He gave over
unto them those sheep. 61. And He called another and spake unto him:
“Observe and mark everything that the shepherds will do to those sheep;
for they will destroy more of them than I have commanded them. 62. And
every excess and the destruction which will be wrought through the
shepherds, record (namely) how many they destroy according to my
command, and how many according to their own caprice: record against
every individual shepherd all the destruction he effects. 63. And read
out before me by number how many they destroy, and how many they deliver
over for destruction, that I may have this as a testimony against them,
and know every deed of the shepherds, that I may =comprehend= and see
what they do, whether or not they abide by my command which I have
commanded them. 64. But they shall not know it, and thou shalt not
declare it to them, nor admonish them, but only record against each
individual all the destruction which the shepherds effect each in his
time, and lay it all before me.” 65. And I saw till those shepherds
pastured in their season, and they began to slay and to destroy more
than they were bidden, and they delivered those sheep into the hand of
the lions. 66. And the lions and tigers ate and devoured the greater
part of those sheep, and the wild boars ate along with them; and they
burnt that tower and demolished that house. 67. And I became exceedingly
sorrowful over that tower because that house of the sheep was
demolished, and afterwards I was unable to see if those sheep entered
that house.
LXXXIX. 68-71. _First Period of the Angelic Rulers—from the Destruction
of Jerusalem to the Return from the Captivity._
68. And the shepherds and their associates delivered over those sheep to
all the wild beasts, to devour them, and each one of them received in
his time a definite number: it was written by the other in a book how
many each one of them destroyed of them. 69. And each one slew and
destroyed many more than was prescribed; and I began to weep and lament
on account of those sheep. 70. And thus in the vision I saw that one who
wrote how he wrote down every one that was destroyed by those shepherds,
day by day, and carried up and laid down and showed actually the whole
book to the Lord of the sheep—(even) everything that they had done, and
all that each one of them had made away with, and all that they had
given over to destruction. 71. And the book was read before the Lord of
the sheep, and He took the book from his hand and read it and sealed it
and laid it down.
LXXXIX. 72-77. _Second Period—from the time of Cyrus to that of
Alexander the Great._
72. And forthwith I saw how the shepherds pastured for twelve hours, and
behold three of those sheep turned back and came and entered and began
to build up all that had fallen down of that house; but the wild boars
tried to hinder them, but they were not able. 73. And they began again
to build as before, and they reared up that tower, and it was named the
high tower; and they began again to place a table before the tower, but
all the bread on it was polluted and not pure. 74. And as touching all
this the eyes of those sheep were blinded so that they saw not, and (the
eyes of) their shepherds likewise; and they delivered them in large
numbers to their shepherds for destruction, and they trampled the sheep
with their feet and devoured them. 75. And the Lord of the sheep
remained unmoved till all the sheep were dispersed over the field and
mingled with them (_i. e._ the beasts), and they (_i. e._ the shepherds)
did not save them out of the hand of the beasts. 76. And this one who
wrote the book carried it up, and showed it and read it before the Lord
of the sheep, and implored Him on their account, and besought Him on
their account as he showed Him all the doings of the shepherds, and gave
testimony before Him against all the shepherds. 77. And he took the
actual book and laid it down beside Him and departed.
XC. 1-5. _Third Period—from Alexander the Great to the Graeco-Syrian
Domination._
XC. 1. And I saw till that in this manner =thirty-five= shepherds
undertook the pasturing (of the sheep), and they severally completed
their periods as did the first; and others received them into their
hands to pasture them for their period, each shepherd in his own period.
2. And after that I saw in my vision all the birds of heaven coming, the
eagles, the vultures, the kites, the ravens; but the eagles led all the
birds; and they began to devour those sheep, and to pick out their eyes
and to devour their flesh. 3. And the sheep cried out because their
flesh was being devoured by the birds, and as for me I looked and
lamented in my sleep over that shepherd who pastured the sheep. 4. And I
saw until those sheep were devoured by the dogs and eagles and kites,
and they left neither flesh nor skin nor sinew remaining on them till
only their bones stood there: and their bones too fell to the earth and
the sheep became few. 5. And I saw until that twenty-three had
undertaken the pasturing and completed in their several periods
fifty-eight times.
XC. 6-12. _Fourth Period—from the Graeco-Syrian Domination to the
Maccabæan Revolt._
6. But behold lambs were borne by those white sheep, and they began to
open their eyes and to see, and to cry to the sheep. 7. Yea, they cried
to them, but they did not hearken to what they said to them, but were
exceedingly deaf, and their eyes were very exceedingly blinded. 8. And I
saw in the vision how the ravens flew upon those lambs, and took one of
those lambs, and dashed the sheep in pieces and devoured them. 9. And I
saw till horns grew upon those lambs, and the ravens cast down their
horns; and I saw till there sprouted a great horn of one of those sheep,
and their eyes were opened. 10. And it †looked at† them [and their eyes
opened], and it cried to the sheep, and the rams saw it and all ran to
it. 11. And notwithstanding all this those eagles and vultures and
ravens and kites still kept tearing the sheep and swooping down upon
them and devouring them: still the sheep remained silent, but the rams
lamented and cried out. 12. And those ravens fought and battled with it
and sought to lay low its horn, but they had no power over it.
XC. 13-19. _The last Assault of the Gentiles on the Jews_(where vv.
13-15 and 16-18 are doublets).
13. And I saw till the †shepherds and† eagles and those
vultures and kites came, and †they cried to the ravens†
that they should break the horn of that ram, and they
battled and fought with it, and it battled with them and
cried that its help might come.
16. All the eagles and vultures and ravens and kites
were gathered together, and there came with them all
the sheep of the field, yea, they all came together,
and helped each other to break that horn of the ram.
19. And I saw till a great sword was given to the sheep, and the sheep
proceeded against all the beasts of the field to slay them, and all the
beasts and the birds of the heaven fled before their face.
14. And I saw till that man, who wrote down the names of
the shepherds [and] carried up into the presence of the
Lord of the sheep [came and helped it and showed it
everything: he had come down for the help of that ram].
15. And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto
them in wrath, and all who saw Him fled, and they
all fell †into His shadow† from before His face.
17. And I saw that man, who wrote the book according
to the command of the Lord, till he opened that book
concerning the destruction which those twelve last
shepherds had wrought, and showed that they had destroyed
much more than their predecessors, before the Lord of the
sheep.
18. And I saw till the Lord of the sheep came unto
them and took in His hand the staff of his wrath,
and smote the earth, and the earth clave asunder,
and all the beasts and all the birds of the heaven
fell from among those sheep, and were swallowed up
in the earth and it covered them.
XC. 20-27. _Judgement of the Fallen Angels, the Shepherds, and the
Apostates._
20. And I saw till a throne was erected in the pleasant land, and the
Lord of the sheep sat Himself thereon, and =the other= took the sealed
books and opened those books before the Lord of the sheep. 21. And the
Lord called those men the seven first white ones, and commanded that
they should bring before Him, beginning with the first star which led
the way, =all the= stars whose privy members were like those of horses,
and they brought them all before Him. 22. And He said to that man who
wrote before Him, being one of those seven white ones, and said unto
him: “Take those seventy shepherds to whom I delivered the sheep, and
who taking them on their own authority slew more than I commanded them.”
23. And behold, they were all bound, I saw, and they all stood before
Him. 24. And the judgement was held first over the stars, and they were
judged and found guilty, and went to the place of condemnation, and they
were cast into an abyss, full of fire and flaming, and full of pillars
of fire. 25. And those seventy shepherds were judged and found guilty,
and they were cast into that fiery abyss. 26. And I saw at that time how
a like abyss was opened in the midst of the earth, full of fire, and
they brought those blinded sheep, and they were all judged and found
guilty and cast into this fiery abyss, and they burned; now this abyss
was to the right of that house. 27. And I saw those sheep burning †and
their bones burning†.
XC. 28-38. _The New Jerusalem, the Conversion of the surviving Gentiles,
the Resurrection of the Righteous, the Messiah._
28. And I stood up to see till they folded up that old house; and
carried off all the pillars, and all the beams and ornaments of the
house were at the same time folded up with it, and they carried it off
and laid it in a place in the south of the land. 29. And I saw till the
Lord of the sheep brought a new house greater and loftier than that
first, and set it up in the place of the first which had been folded up:
all its pillars were new, and its ornaments were new and larger than
those of the first, the old one which He had taken away, and all the
sheep were within it.
30. And I saw all the sheep which had been left, and all the beasts on
the earth, and all the birds of the heaven, falling down and doing
homage to those sheep and making petition to and obeying them in every
=thing=. 31. And thereafter those three who were clothed in white and
had seized me by my hand [who had taken me up before], and the hand of
that ram also seizing hold of me, they took me up and set me down in the
midst of those sheep †before the judgement took place†. 32. And those
sheep were all white, and their wool was abundant and clean. 33. And all
that had been destroyed and dispersed, and all the beasts of the field,
and all the birds of the heaven, assembled in that house, and the Lord
of the sheep rejoiced with great joy because they were all good and had
returned to His house. 34. And I saw till they laid down that sword,
which had been given to the sheep, and they brought it back into the
house, and it was sealed before the presence of the Lord, and all the
sheep were invited into that house, but it held them not. 35. And the
eyes of them all were opened, and they saw the good, and there was not
one among them that did not see. 36. And I saw that that house was large
and broad and very full.
37. And I saw that a white bull was born, with large horns, and all the
beasts of the field and all the birds of the air feared him and made
petition to him all the time. 38. And I saw till all their generations
were transformed, and they all became white bulls; and the first among
them became a =lamb=, and that =lamb= became a great animal and had
great black horns on its head; and the Lord of the sheep rejoiced over
=it= and over all the oxen. 39. And I slept in their midst: and I awoke
and saw everything. 40. This is the vision which I saw while I slept,
and I awoke and blessed the Lord of righteousness and gave Him glory.
41. Then I wept with a great weeping, and my tears stayed not till I
could no longer endure it: when I saw, they flowed on account of what I
had seen; for everything shall come and be fulfilled; and all the deeds
of men in their order were shown to me. 42. On that night I remembered
the first dream, and because of it I wept and was troubled—because I had
seen that vision.’