1. At the sixth hour of the day a man appeared unto me over against Mount Lebanon, and his appearance was like unto flaming fire, and he said unto me: Hear, man, what I now relate unto thee, which I heard from the Lord of Hosts.
2. And I stood all the night over against the mountain, on the east side, and my face was turned toward the sea, to the west, before the cherubim.
3. And behold, above the sea there was an eagle, haughty, and flying above it, and he had eight wings and three heads; and he stood above the waters of the sea, and looked towards the south. And the sea was stirred by the south wind, and lifted up its waves to drown the eagle; and the waves beat upon his wings, and their noise resembled that of horses running towards the northeast.
4. And lo, the head of a dragon appeared, with nine eyes, and his feet were like the claws of a lion, and his running like that of a leopard. And he overtook the eagle between the wind and the waves, and opened his mouth to swallow him; and the eagle cried unto the Most High, but his cries were not heard on account of his violence. Then the eagle turned his face and fled to the ends of the north, but there he found no rest. And the dragon devoured all the peoples and burnt them as with fire, but in his belly remained nothing; and he held the dominion of the earth sixteen times six, that is ninety-six years.
5. And at the end of that time, the eagle, driven on by the south wind, returned, with mighty power, to the same place, to resist the dragon. And the head of the dragon lay upon an ash-heap; and the eagle stood on a chariot with white horses, and he caught the dragon on the top of the ash-heap, and beat him violently; and the dragon had no more his former strength, and his head was scattered throughout all nations.
6. Then the white horses descended upon the ash-heap and scattered it, and its dust was thrown up and scattered towards heaven, and there was no more light upon the earth, but darkness and horrible mist.
7. And six men sat each on a throne; three of them were ill favored to look upon and black, and two were white and fine to look on, and the sixth was oppressed and afflicted, nd was mourning for his wives and children; and all of them distrusted the dragon that was lying; upon the ash-heap, and they said: A fire shall come out of that dragon and shall consume the earth.
8. And afterwards the cherubim cried out and said unto me: man! didst thou understand that vision?
9. And 1 said: No.
10. And he said unto me: Stand up and hear, and I will tell thee the meaning of it all.
11. The swift-flying eagle that thou sawest, which had eight wings and , three heads, is the king of the Romans and the Greeks; and whereas he stood above the sea, he shall be a king strong as iron. And forasmuch as the eagle pursues all birds, and strikes and throws them down, in like manner the king of the Romans shall consume all the kingdoms of the earth, and through the power of the Most High he shall entrap them as it were birds of heaven in a snare, and there shall be none able to resist him. And whereas he looked toward the south, he shall prevail against the people of the south. And whereas the sea on account of the violence of the wind was agitated, and the waves beat the wings of the eagle to drown him; in the last times, during the days of those kings after the hundred and eighth Jubilee, the last people of the south, the children of Ishmael, that dwell on the sea-shore of Arabia, shall stand up. They shall rise against the earth and they shall conquer it; and they shall fight on the sea-shore to destroy the power of the Romans, but they shall not be able, because this kingdom is the guardian of the seat of the great king; and although there should rise against it wars and storms of evils, they shall not be able to drown it, but it shall be superseded and followed by an eternal kingdom, but it is diminished for the reproving of its sins, and that the sins of the southern people may be full.
12. And the noise of the waves, which was like the noise of horses, galloping from the countries of the east to the north and to the west, signifies that the greatness of the nations shall be conquered by the children of Ishmael, and laid waste like the dust of the earth, and there shall be no rejoicing upon the earth, but clamor of weeping, and crying, and tumult.
13. And whereas the waves beat upon the wings of the eagle, the people of Ishmael shall smite and defeat the troops of the Romans and of the North, but they shall not be able to exterminate them.
14. And whereas the head of the dragon lay on the ash-heap, between the waves and the wind, and he had nine eyes, and his feet were like the claws of a lion, and his running like that of a leopard, he is the first prince of the people of Ishmael, and his strength is like the waves of the sea rising upon the land.
15. And whereas he had nine eyes, and his feet were like those of a lion, after him shall arise nine kings, and they shall conquer the earth, and they shall break it in pieces like a lion's prey. And whereas he overtook the eagle between the wind and the waves, and opened his mouth to swallow him, he shall rise against the king of the Romans, and shall harass him, and shall take away his power. And whereas the eagle cried out to the Most High and was not heard, signifies that God forsook him on account of his iniquity, he shall not be able to resist the dragon; but fear and terror shall dishearten and crush him; and his servant, whose name is The Beast, shall take his sovereignty, and shall destroy his strength; and he shall escape and flee to the ends of the North, and there shall he make on alliance with the prince of the north, and the name of that king is Bergia.
16. And whereas the dragon devoured all the peoples, and burned them as with fire, and in his belly there remained nothing, in that time the rage of the southern people shall be much more kindled against the earth; and like as the fire consumes and destroys everything, burning all to ashes, and is never satiated, so shall the dragon be tormented by the desire of riches and shall not be satisfied. He shall devastate the earth by the sword, and fire, and captivity; and until his sins are accomplished, and his iniquity full, there shall be ninety-six years. And whereas the eagle returned from the north with great strength against the dragon to take possession of the same place, through the command of the Most High; so those who rose against him shall perish before his presence.
17. And whereas the head of the dragon lay upon the ash-heap, signifies that his strength is vain and his dominion is despised, because he put his trust in the abundance of his treasures and not in God.
18. And whereas the eagle stood on the white horses and overtook the dragon; he shall march against the prince of the South with great strength, at the head of the northern nation and of all the remnant of the peoples. And he shall strike him with great slaughter, nd there shall remain no more strength in the dragon as before, but he shall be abandoned and discomfited by the king of the North, like a reed by the fire, and like the ash of a furnace by the wind of the North.
19. And whereas the head of the dragon was scattered throughout all nations; he shall destroy them with the sword, fire and captivity, and shall have no pity on their wives and their children until they are cut off and consumed, and the Lord's wrath is accomplished on them.
20. And because he destroyed without compassion the people of God, his iniquity shall return upon him two-fold; and he shall suffer hunger, thirst, and nakedness, and shall not find comfort. His body shall be burnt by the sun, and in his last poverty he shall not find clothing for his nakedness, but he shall cover him with a sheep-skin.
21. And whereas the white horses descended upon the ash-heap and scattered it, and the dust was thrown up and was scattered towards heaven; they, are the troops of the Romans, whose fury is like that of horses harnessed to chariots, which shall scatter the greatness of the people of the South throughout all the remnant of the nations, like the ashes of a furnace they shall be spread all over the earth.
22. And whereas the dust went up and was scattered towards heaven; this, is the smoke of the impious wrath of the people of the South; through the vengeance of whom the end of all the earth shall come.
23. And whereas there was no light upon the earth, but darkness; their ungodly bleeds keep back from created beings God's mercy which enlightens and comforts those whose hearts are crushed, like the light and the dew of morning that fall upon the earth and make the plants to rejoice.
24. And whereas six men sat each on a throne, the three being ill favored to look upon and black, this shows the time of the people of the South; three chiefs of tribes, that is three times thirty, which makes ninety years; and six more years of their dominion, in which the tribulations shall be increased. The fields shall lose their fertility, the springs shall decrease, the earth shall become arid, the plants shall be unfruitful, the woods shall be dried up, the cedars shall fall, the flowers shall fade. There shall be flaming and consuming fire, the air shall be turned to smoke, the birds shall die, the fishes shall diminish, the animals and the beasts of the field shall be destroyed, the rain shall produce no fertility, and frost and hail shall cause ravages. Mankind shall not beget children, they shall be sterile and they shall be of short life; so there shall be want of everything. For the earth, on account of the evil doings of men, shall grow old, and shall cease to bear; and as they that dwell upon her shall give, no fruit of life, so the earth also shall not conceive through the virtue of her seeds, and her womb shall not put out the flower of the fruit; but there shall be found in her putrefaction and filthiness, and from heaven shall come down fire and destruction upon sea and land.
25. But after the suppression of the dominion of the South, when the anger and the wrath of the Lord shall be fulfilled against them; afterwards, whereas thou sawest two men sitting, white and well favored and ruddy and graceful; so when the Romans shall destroy the Southern people, they shall smite them first upon the sea, and the Lord shall cause a storm to rise and drown them, and the king shall trust in God, and shall ascribe the victory unto Him. And again he shall smite them six times upon the land, and the remnant of them shall he drive away to their own land; and shall carry away captive their wives and their children to Greece and to Sicily, and through the command of the Most High he shall make peace. And he shall live twelve years more, and then peacefully pass to another life.
26. And afterwards shall arise another peaceful king, and his name is ' Phouvive,' which being translated is ' Tiber, ' and he shall rule thirty-three years. These are the two chiefs of tribes white and fine to look on. And in their days shall be peace and abundance, and men shall forget all the former evils and tribulations; there shall be fertile fields, and abundance of products for the barn and for the wine-press. Then the earth shall give forth her produce as before, to the joy of men; the fields shall abound with corn and wine, and heaven shall pour down fruitful rains; and there shall be no more hail, neither shall fire come down from heaven, nor shall there be thunderstorms. One grain of corn shall give one hundred ears of corn, and one branch of the vine one thousand bunches of grapes. And upon the mountains shall be vine plants, fine-branched and laden with fruit, and the olive-trees shall produce sevenfold to the joy of men; and men shall rest and shall forget their former tribulations.
27. Then shall appear a certain star, having a tail toward the east, which means that there shall be more peace in those parts. And the people of the Jews shall gather together in Mesopotamia and toward the country of Palestine; the town of Damascus shall be abandoned by its inhabitants and shall become an abode of the beasts of the field and of the wild beasts.
28. And concerning the sixth man who was mourning for his wives and children; he represents the end of the time of the life of the world, for, after the death of the peaceful king, whose name is Tiber, a king of low birth shall arise, whose name is Hertzik, and his dominion shall be despised, and he shall rule three years. In that year the kingdom shall be in perturbation, and it shall be divided into ten kingdoms, for when the king of the North shall strike the people of the South and shall carry them away captive, he shall carry away captive with them the ungodly prince, young in age, born in the town of Bishana, whose name is Oumd, and his mother with him. He shall go to Byzantium, and there he shall dwell thirty years, and learn among the Greeks the science of philosophy. And he shall distinguish himself in it more than all the others, and he shall be honored by the kings. He shall become a general, and shall perform acts of valor in war, and shall receive honor from the king.
29. Afterwards the kingdom shall be divided into ten, and thenceforth the universe shall not cease from being agitated by wars. And during five years there shall be famine upon the earth, and the heavens shall keep back their rain, and the earth shall not give her produce. The rivers shall dwindle, and the sea shall stink, and the wild beasts and the animals shall perish. In the towns men shall fall down and die, and there shall be no one to bury them. Gold and silver shall be despised, and there shall be no one to gather them; even the beauty of women shall be disdained. This is the time of the sixth chief, who was mourning for his wives and sons.
30. And whereas thou sawest those who were afraid and said: A fire shall come out of the dragon and shall burn all the earth: this means that after the death of the king, whose name is Hertzik, the kingdom shall be in confusion, and in one month shall be divided into ten; and after the 1st Fiftieth the Rebel shall reign and shall prevail against the ten kings. He shall strike two of them, and shall undo and overthrow the dominion of the ten; and seizing upon the kingdom, he shall march against Palestina and against the dominion of the children of Ishmael. He shall return victorious, and with many auxiliaries of the people of the South, and shall go against Palestina and strike it. His anger shall be kindled, like that of the Serpent, throughout all the earth, and he shall call himself a God, and shall speak proudly before the Most High, and all the ungodly shall worship him. That is the fire that came out of the dragon and burnt the earth; for in that time there shall be found no righteousness in men, but they shall all be like thorns to be burnt with their own iniquities. With the same fire shall be kindled among men vengeance, as well us famines, plagues and conflagrations, false signs and wonders, and by these he shall frighten his worshipers, and shall persecute and kill the saints of the Most High, who do not consent to worship him as a God. And the mercy of the Most High shall be upon them that fear Him; and the more they are tortured, so much the more they shall be made glorious; like gardens that through living waters become bright, and blossom, some white, some red, some purple; so they shall be glorified through divers sufferings and torments. And the days of the dominion of the Rebel shall be one thousand, two hundred and sixty-five.
31. After this a pious king shall arise in Rome, and all the remnant of the faithful shall gather together unto him; and he shall rise and take the field against the Rebel and his soldiers, and the Lord Himself shall take vengeance on him. For a fire shall come down from the Lord, and shall destroy the Rebel and his troops, and shall devour all the sinners. The fire shall not approach nor destroy the servants of the Most High; but they shall walk in the midst of the fire as if in a storm of rain; and in seven days it shall consume all the earth, which is corrupted by the evil doings of men. It shall burn the mountains and the hills, and shall melt the stones, and shall dry up the springs and the rivers, and shall entirely consume everything. And after the seven days, the sign of the cross shall appear in the east, luminous like the light, on Friday, at the third hour, and there it shall remain two days. And on the third day, in the morning at day-break, the Lord shall come with His holy angels, to reward His saints, and to reprove the ungodly of the earth. The archangel shall blow the trumpet three times, and all the nations shall arise to present themselves before the Lord.
32. Then they shall bind the Rebel and his troops, and those who worshiped him and the idols, and they shall carry them as fuel to the unquenchable fire, and to the sleepless worm, unto the hell of Ephestus, to the south-west of the Ocean; and with burning sulphur and pitch, which never may be quenched, they shall burn all the sinners. Then all the saints, together with the angels, shall abide alway before God the Most High, reigning and rejoicing, and glorifying God, for ever and ever.
2. And I stood all the night over against the mountain, on the east side, and my face was turned toward the sea, to the west, before the cherubim.
3. And behold, above the sea there was an eagle, haughty, and flying above it, and he had eight wings and three heads; and he stood above the waters of the sea, and looked towards the south. And the sea was stirred by the south wind, and lifted up its waves to drown the eagle; and the waves beat upon his wings, and their noise resembled that of horses running towards the northeast.
4. And lo, the head of a dragon appeared, with nine eyes, and his feet were like the claws of a lion, and his running like that of a leopard. And he overtook the eagle between the wind and the waves, and opened his mouth to swallow him; and the eagle cried unto the Most High, but his cries were not heard on account of his violence. Then the eagle turned his face and fled to the ends of the north, but there he found no rest. And the dragon devoured all the peoples and burnt them as with fire, but in his belly remained nothing; and he held the dominion of the earth sixteen times six, that is ninety-six years.
5. And at the end of that time, the eagle, driven on by the south wind, returned, with mighty power, to the same place, to resist the dragon. And the head of the dragon lay upon an ash-heap; and the eagle stood on a chariot with white horses, and he caught the dragon on the top of the ash-heap, and beat him violently; and the dragon had no more his former strength, and his head was scattered throughout all nations.
6. Then the white horses descended upon the ash-heap and scattered it, and its dust was thrown up and scattered towards heaven, and there was no more light upon the earth, but darkness and horrible mist.
7. And six men sat each on a throne; three of them were ill favored to look upon and black, and two were white and fine to look on, and the sixth was oppressed and afflicted, nd was mourning for his wives and children; and all of them distrusted the dragon that was lying; upon the ash-heap, and they said: A fire shall come out of that dragon and shall consume the earth.
8. And afterwards the cherubim cried out and said unto me: man! didst thou understand that vision?
9. And 1 said: No.
10. And he said unto me: Stand up and hear, and I will tell thee the meaning of it all.
11. The swift-flying eagle that thou sawest, which had eight wings and , three heads, is the king of the Romans and the Greeks; and whereas he stood above the sea, he shall be a king strong as iron. And forasmuch as the eagle pursues all birds, and strikes and throws them down, in like manner the king of the Romans shall consume all the kingdoms of the earth, and through the power of the Most High he shall entrap them as it were birds of heaven in a snare, and there shall be none able to resist him. And whereas he looked toward the south, he shall prevail against the people of the south. And whereas the sea on account of the violence of the wind was agitated, and the waves beat the wings of the eagle to drown him; in the last times, during the days of those kings after the hundred and eighth Jubilee, the last people of the south, the children of Ishmael, that dwell on the sea-shore of Arabia, shall stand up. They shall rise against the earth and they shall conquer it; and they shall fight on the sea-shore to destroy the power of the Romans, but they shall not be able, because this kingdom is the guardian of the seat of the great king; and although there should rise against it wars and storms of evils, they shall not be able to drown it, but it shall be superseded and followed by an eternal kingdom, but it is diminished for the reproving of its sins, and that the sins of the southern people may be full.
12. And the noise of the waves, which was like the noise of horses, galloping from the countries of the east to the north and to the west, signifies that the greatness of the nations shall be conquered by the children of Ishmael, and laid waste like the dust of the earth, and there shall be no rejoicing upon the earth, but clamor of weeping, and crying, and tumult.
13. And whereas the waves beat upon the wings of the eagle, the people of Ishmael shall smite and defeat the troops of the Romans and of the North, but they shall not be able to exterminate them.
14. And whereas the head of the dragon lay on the ash-heap, between the waves and the wind, and he had nine eyes, and his feet were like the claws of a lion, and his running like that of a leopard, he is the first prince of the people of Ishmael, and his strength is like the waves of the sea rising upon the land.
15. And whereas he had nine eyes, and his feet were like those of a lion, after him shall arise nine kings, and they shall conquer the earth, and they shall break it in pieces like a lion's prey. And whereas he overtook the eagle between the wind and the waves, and opened his mouth to swallow him, he shall rise against the king of the Romans, and shall harass him, and shall take away his power. And whereas the eagle cried out to the Most High and was not heard, signifies that God forsook him on account of his iniquity, he shall not be able to resist the dragon; but fear and terror shall dishearten and crush him; and his servant, whose name is The Beast, shall take his sovereignty, and shall destroy his strength; and he shall escape and flee to the ends of the North, and there shall he make on alliance with the prince of the north, and the name of that king is Bergia.
16. And whereas the dragon devoured all the peoples, and burned them as with fire, and in his belly there remained nothing, in that time the rage of the southern people shall be much more kindled against the earth; and like as the fire consumes and destroys everything, burning all to ashes, and is never satiated, so shall the dragon be tormented by the desire of riches and shall not be satisfied. He shall devastate the earth by the sword, and fire, and captivity; and until his sins are accomplished, and his iniquity full, there shall be ninety-six years. And whereas the eagle returned from the north with great strength against the dragon to take possession of the same place, through the command of the Most High; so those who rose against him shall perish before his presence.
17. And whereas the head of the dragon lay upon the ash-heap, signifies that his strength is vain and his dominion is despised, because he put his trust in the abundance of his treasures and not in God.
18. And whereas the eagle stood on the white horses and overtook the dragon; he shall march against the prince of the South with great strength, at the head of the northern nation and of all the remnant of the peoples. And he shall strike him with great slaughter, nd there shall remain no more strength in the dragon as before, but he shall be abandoned and discomfited by the king of the North, like a reed by the fire, and like the ash of a furnace by the wind of the North.
19. And whereas the head of the dragon was scattered throughout all nations; he shall destroy them with the sword, fire and captivity, and shall have no pity on their wives and their children until they are cut off and consumed, and the Lord's wrath is accomplished on them.
20. And because he destroyed without compassion the people of God, his iniquity shall return upon him two-fold; and he shall suffer hunger, thirst, and nakedness, and shall not find comfort. His body shall be burnt by the sun, and in his last poverty he shall not find clothing for his nakedness, but he shall cover him with a sheep-skin.
21. And whereas the white horses descended upon the ash-heap and scattered it, and the dust was thrown up and was scattered towards heaven; they, are the troops of the Romans, whose fury is like that of horses harnessed to chariots, which shall scatter the greatness of the people of the South throughout all the remnant of the nations, like the ashes of a furnace they shall be spread all over the earth.
22. And whereas the dust went up and was scattered towards heaven; this, is the smoke of the impious wrath of the people of the South; through the vengeance of whom the end of all the earth shall come.
23. And whereas there was no light upon the earth, but darkness; their ungodly bleeds keep back from created beings God's mercy which enlightens and comforts those whose hearts are crushed, like the light and the dew of morning that fall upon the earth and make the plants to rejoice.
24. And whereas six men sat each on a throne, the three being ill favored to look upon and black, this shows the time of the people of the South; three chiefs of tribes, that is three times thirty, which makes ninety years; and six more years of their dominion, in which the tribulations shall be increased. The fields shall lose their fertility, the springs shall decrease, the earth shall become arid, the plants shall be unfruitful, the woods shall be dried up, the cedars shall fall, the flowers shall fade. There shall be flaming and consuming fire, the air shall be turned to smoke, the birds shall die, the fishes shall diminish, the animals and the beasts of the field shall be destroyed, the rain shall produce no fertility, and frost and hail shall cause ravages. Mankind shall not beget children, they shall be sterile and they shall be of short life; so there shall be want of everything. For the earth, on account of the evil doings of men, shall grow old, and shall cease to bear; and as they that dwell upon her shall give, no fruit of life, so the earth also shall not conceive through the virtue of her seeds, and her womb shall not put out the flower of the fruit; but there shall be found in her putrefaction and filthiness, and from heaven shall come down fire and destruction upon sea and land.
25. But after the suppression of the dominion of the South, when the anger and the wrath of the Lord shall be fulfilled against them; afterwards, whereas thou sawest two men sitting, white and well favored and ruddy and graceful; so when the Romans shall destroy the Southern people, they shall smite them first upon the sea, and the Lord shall cause a storm to rise and drown them, and the king shall trust in God, and shall ascribe the victory unto Him. And again he shall smite them six times upon the land, and the remnant of them shall he drive away to their own land; and shall carry away captive their wives and their children to Greece and to Sicily, and through the command of the Most High he shall make peace. And he shall live twelve years more, and then peacefully pass to another life.
26. And afterwards shall arise another peaceful king, and his name is ' Phouvive,' which being translated is ' Tiber, ' and he shall rule thirty-three years. These are the two chiefs of tribes white and fine to look on. And in their days shall be peace and abundance, and men shall forget all the former evils and tribulations; there shall be fertile fields, and abundance of products for the barn and for the wine-press. Then the earth shall give forth her produce as before, to the joy of men; the fields shall abound with corn and wine, and heaven shall pour down fruitful rains; and there shall be no more hail, neither shall fire come down from heaven, nor shall there be thunderstorms. One grain of corn shall give one hundred ears of corn, and one branch of the vine one thousand bunches of grapes. And upon the mountains shall be vine plants, fine-branched and laden with fruit, and the olive-trees shall produce sevenfold to the joy of men; and men shall rest and shall forget their former tribulations.
27. Then shall appear a certain star, having a tail toward the east, which means that there shall be more peace in those parts. And the people of the Jews shall gather together in Mesopotamia and toward the country of Palestine; the town of Damascus shall be abandoned by its inhabitants and shall become an abode of the beasts of the field and of the wild beasts.
28. And concerning the sixth man who was mourning for his wives and children; he represents the end of the time of the life of the world, for, after the death of the peaceful king, whose name is Tiber, a king of low birth shall arise, whose name is Hertzik, and his dominion shall be despised, and he shall rule three years. In that year the kingdom shall be in perturbation, and it shall be divided into ten kingdoms, for when the king of the North shall strike the people of the South and shall carry them away captive, he shall carry away captive with them the ungodly prince, young in age, born in the town of Bishana, whose name is Oumd, and his mother with him. He shall go to Byzantium, and there he shall dwell thirty years, and learn among the Greeks the science of philosophy. And he shall distinguish himself in it more than all the others, and he shall be honored by the kings. He shall become a general, and shall perform acts of valor in war, and shall receive honor from the king.
29. Afterwards the kingdom shall be divided into ten, and thenceforth the universe shall not cease from being agitated by wars. And during five years there shall be famine upon the earth, and the heavens shall keep back their rain, and the earth shall not give her produce. The rivers shall dwindle, and the sea shall stink, and the wild beasts and the animals shall perish. In the towns men shall fall down and die, and there shall be no one to bury them. Gold and silver shall be despised, and there shall be no one to gather them; even the beauty of women shall be disdained. This is the time of the sixth chief, who was mourning for his wives and sons.
30. And whereas thou sawest those who were afraid and said: A fire shall come out of the dragon and shall burn all the earth: this means that after the death of the king, whose name is Hertzik, the kingdom shall be in confusion, and in one month shall be divided into ten; and after the 1st Fiftieth the Rebel shall reign and shall prevail against the ten kings. He shall strike two of them, and shall undo and overthrow the dominion of the ten; and seizing upon the kingdom, he shall march against Palestina and against the dominion of the children of Ishmael. He shall return victorious, and with many auxiliaries of the people of the South, and shall go against Palestina and strike it. His anger shall be kindled, like that of the Serpent, throughout all the earth, and he shall call himself a God, and shall speak proudly before the Most High, and all the ungodly shall worship him. That is the fire that came out of the dragon and burnt the earth; for in that time there shall be found no righteousness in men, but they shall all be like thorns to be burnt with their own iniquities. With the same fire shall be kindled among men vengeance, as well us famines, plagues and conflagrations, false signs and wonders, and by these he shall frighten his worshipers, and shall persecute and kill the saints of the Most High, who do not consent to worship him as a God. And the mercy of the Most High shall be upon them that fear Him; and the more they are tortured, so much the more they shall be made glorious; like gardens that through living waters become bright, and blossom, some white, some red, some purple; so they shall be glorified through divers sufferings and torments. And the days of the dominion of the Rebel shall be one thousand, two hundred and sixty-five.
31. After this a pious king shall arise in Rome, and all the remnant of the faithful shall gather together unto him; and he shall rise and take the field against the Rebel and his soldiers, and the Lord Himself shall take vengeance on him. For a fire shall come down from the Lord, and shall destroy the Rebel and his troops, and shall devour all the sinners. The fire shall not approach nor destroy the servants of the Most High; but they shall walk in the midst of the fire as if in a storm of rain; and in seven days it shall consume all the earth, which is corrupted by the evil doings of men. It shall burn the mountains and the hills, and shall melt the stones, and shall dry up the springs and the rivers, and shall entirely consume everything. And after the seven days, the sign of the cross shall appear in the east, luminous like the light, on Friday, at the third hour, and there it shall remain two days. And on the third day, in the morning at day-break, the Lord shall come with His holy angels, to reward His saints, and to reprove the ungodly of the earth. The archangel shall blow the trumpet three times, and all the nations shall arise to present themselves before the Lord.
32. Then they shall bind the Rebel and his troops, and those who worshiped him and the idols, and they shall carry them as fuel to the unquenchable fire, and to the sleepless worm, unto the hell of Ephestus, to the south-west of the Ocean; and with burning sulphur and pitch, which never may be quenched, they shall burn all the sinners. Then all the saints, together with the angels, shall abide alway before God the Most High, reigning and rejoicing, and glorifying God, for ever and ever.
Armenian Seventh Vision of Daniel
Armenian Vision of Enoch the Just
Of The Seventh Vision of Daniel there are two MSS. preserved in the Armenian Library of St, Lazarus. The one is numbered 1635, and is a copy taken from an Armenian MS., preserved in the Library of the Archbishop of Canterbury, in London, which seems to have been written in the fifteenth century, or a little before that date. The second MS. in which this apocryphal writing is found, is a Bible, numbered 936 — 7 X 9 V, inches, — written in the year 1341, on paper, in double columns, of 41 lines each. In this last Bible the Seventh Vision of Daniel is placed Just after the Sixth Vision of the same prophet. The first of these two Apocrypha, i. e. the Vision of Enoch, is a piece akin to the second, i. e., to Daniel's Seventh Vision; and the subject of both is an allegory which concerns the Byzantine Empire and its historical and religious revolutions and vicissitudes. Therefore it is supposed that the author of both must have been a Greek, and consequently the original text from which the Armenian version was made, must have been written in the Greek language. As to the antiquity of the original texts, it seems that their date cannot go back to the first centuries; however one may suppose in the beginning the existence of an ancient and short text, which in later centuries successively received many additions by different people. Although the The Vision of Enoch the Just is found only in the Armenian text, it need not be thought that it is an Armenian composition. Therefore it probably has another origin, and it may be it is a small portion of a larger work which is lost. In any case this apocryphal writing is worthy of attention. As regards the age of the Armenian version, it is supposed to have been made at the end of the seventh or during the eighth century.
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