Apocalypse of Zephaniah

Apocalypse of Zephaniah

[The surviving witness is fragmentary. The original beginning is not preserved as a continuous text. The following presents the surviving fragments in restored form without inventing the lost portions.]

The Fifth Heaven

A spirit took me up and carried me into the fifth heaven. There I saw the angels who are called lords. Their crowns were set upon them in the Set-Apart Spirit, and the throne of each one shone seven times brighter than the light of the rising sun.

They dwelt in the temples of salvation and sang praises to the Most High God, the One whose name is beyond speech.

[Fragment preserved through later quotation. Surrounding context is not preserved.]

The Soul Taken Before Repentance

I saw a soul being guarded and punished by five thousand angels. They carried it from the east to the west, and they struck it continually with blows appointed against it.

When I saw this, fear came over me. I fell on my face, and the strength of my joints failed within me. Then the angel who was with me lifted me up and said, “Be strong, you who will overcome. Stand firm, for you will overcome the accuser and rise up from the lower place.”

I said, “Who is this one whom they are punishing?”

He answered me, “This is a soul found in lawlessness. Before it reached repentance, it was visited, and it was taken out from its body.”

Truly, I, Zephaniah, saw these things in my vision.

[Sahidic fragment. Some lines are damaged.]

The Broad Place and the Terrible Beings

The angel of the Lord went with me, and I saw a great broad place. Thousands upon thousands stood at its left side, and myriads upon myriads stood at its right side. Each one had a different form.

Their hair hung loose, and their teeth were terrible to behold.

[Line damaged. Description breaks off.]

A Burial Scene

[Fragment begins in the middle of speech.]

“He is dead. We will bury him like any man. When he dies, we will carry him out with music before him, with psalms and songs chanted over his body.”

[Context before and after is damaged.]

Above the City

I went with the angel of the Lord, and he lifted me above my city. Nothing stood before my eyes as a barrier. I saw two men walking together on one road, and I watched them as they spoke. I saw two women grinding together at a mill, and I watched them as they spoke. I saw two lying upon one bed.

Then I saw the whole inhabited world hanging like a drop of water suspended from a bucket as it rises from a well.

I said to the angel of the Lord, “Is there no darkness or night in this place?”

He said to me, “There is no darkness there. Darkness does not dwell in the place where the righteous and the holy ones are. They dwell always in light.”

Then I saw the souls of human beings existing in punishment, and I cried out to the Lord Almighty, “God, if You remain with the holy ones, have compassion also for the world and for the souls in this punishment.”

Mount Seir and the Recording Angels

The angel of the Lord said to me, “Come, and I will show you the place of righteousness.”

He brought me up upon Mount Seir, and I saw three men. Two angels walked with them, rejoicing and exulting over them.

I said to the angel, “Who are these?”

He said to me, “These are the three sons of Joatham the priest. They did not keep the commandment of their father, and they did not guard the ordinances of the Lord.”

Then I saw two other angels weeping over the three sons of Joatham the priest.

I said, “Who are these?”

He said, “These are angels of the Lord Almighty. They write down all the good deeds of the righteous on their scrolls while they watch at the gate of heaven. I take the scrolls from their hands and bring them up before the Lord Almighty, and He writes their names in the Book of the Living.”

“The angels of the accuser who is upon the earth also write down all the sins of human beings upon their scrolls. They sit at the gate of heaven. They report to the accuser, and he writes them upon his scroll, so that he may accuse them when they go out from the world and descend below.”

The Terrible Angels Who Take the Ungodly

I walked with the angel of the Lord, and I looked before me. I saw a place into which thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of angels entered.

Their faces were like the faces of leopards. Their tusks stood outside their mouths like the tusks of wild boars. Their eyes were mingled with blood. Their hair hung loose like the hair of women, and fiery whips were in their hands.

When I saw them, I was afraid.

I said to the angel who walked with me, “Who are these?”

He said to me, “These are servants who come to the souls of ungodly people. They seize them, bring them, and leave them in this place. They circle with them in the air for three days before casting them into their punishment.”

I said, “I beg You, Lord, do not give them authority to come to me.”

The angel said, “Do not fear. I will not permit them to come to you, for you are pure before the Lord. The Lord Almighty sent me to you because you are pure before Him.”

Then he motioned to them, and they drew back and fled from me.

The Bronze Gates

I went with the angel of the Lord, and I saw gates before me. When I came near, I saw that they were gates of bronze. The angel touched them, and they opened before him.

I entered with him and found the place spread out like a beautiful city, and I walked in its midst. There the angel of the Lord was transformed beside me.

I looked and saw bronze gates, bronze bolts, and bars of iron. My mouth was closed within that place. Before me the bronze gates cast forth fire for a great distance.

The Sea of Flame and the Accuser

Again I turned and walked, and I saw a great sea. I thought it was a sea of water, but I found that it was all a sea of flame, like a burning substance whose waves cast out sulfur and bitumen. The waves began to approach me.

Then I thought the Lord Almighty had come to visit me, and I fell upon my face to worship. Great fear came over me, and I begged to be saved from this distress.

I cried out, saying, “Eloe, Lord, Adonai, Sabaoth, I beg You, save me from this distress that has come upon me.”

At that moment I stood up, and I saw a great angel before me. His hair was spread out like the mane of lionesses. His teeth stood outside his mouth like the teeth of a bear. His body was like that of a serpent when it desires to swallow.

When I saw him, I was afraid, so that all the parts of my body loosened and I fell upon my face. I could not stand.

I prayed before the Lord Almighty, “You are the One who saved Israel from Pharaoh king of Egypt. You saved Susanna from the elders of injustice. You saved the three holy men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, from the burning furnace. I beg You, save me from this distress.”

Eremiel, Angel Over the Abyss

Then I rose and stood, and I saw another great angel before me. His face shone like the rays of the sun in its glory, as a face made perfect in glory. He was girded as though a golden belt were upon his breast, and his feet were like bronze melted in fire.

When I saw him, I rejoiced, for I thought the Lord Almighty had come to visit me. I fell upon my face and worshiped him.

He said to me, “Take heed. Do not worship me. I am not the Lord Almighty. I am the great angel Eremiel, set over the abyss and Hades, where the souls have been imprisoned from the end of the Flood that came upon the earth until this day.”

I asked the angel, “What is this place to which I have come?”

He said to me, “It is Hades.”

Then I asked him, “Who is that great angel whom I saw?”

He said, “That is the one who accuses human beings before the Lord.”

The Scroll of Accusation

Then I looked and saw him with a scroll in his hand. He began to unroll it. When he spread it out, I read it in my own language. I found that all my sins, from my youth until that day, were written in it. They were written upon my scroll, and there was no false word among them.

If I had failed to visit a sick man or a widow, I found it written as a shortcoming upon my record. If I had failed to visit an orphan, it was written as a shortcoming upon my scroll.

A day on which I had not fasted or prayed at the time of prayer was written as a failure upon my scroll. A day on which I had not turned toward the sons of Israel was also written there as a shortcoming.

I threw myself upon my face and prayed before the Lord Almighty, “Let Your mercy reach me. Wipe away my scroll, for Your mercy has come to be in every place and has filled every place.”

Then I rose and stood, and I saw a great angel before me. He said, “Overcome. Prevail. You have prevailed over the accuser, and you have risen up from Hades and the abyss. Now you will cross the crossing place.”

The Second Scroll

Again he brought another scroll, written by hand. He began to unroll it, and I read it. It was written in my own language.

[Text breaks. The contents of the second scroll are not preserved in the surviving sequence.]

[Two pages missing.]

Leaving Hades

[Text resumes after missing pages. A boat has appeared in the lost portion.]

They helped me and set me upon the boat. Thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of angels gave praise before me. I put on an angelic garment, and I saw all those angels praying. I prayed together with them.

I understood the language in which they spoke with me.

And now, my sons, this is the trial: the good and the evil must be weighed in a balance.

The First Trumpet

Then a great angel came forth with a golden trumpet in his hand. He blew it three times over my head and said, “Be courageous, you who have overcome. Prevail, you who have prevailed. You have overcome the accuser, and you have escaped from the abyss and Hades.”

“Now you will cross the crossing place, for your name is written in the Book of the Living.”

I wished to embrace him, but I could not embrace the great angel because his glory was great.

Then he ran to all the righteous ones: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Enoch, Elijah, and David. He spoke with them as friend speaks with friend.

The Second Trumpet

Then the great angel came to me with the golden trumpet in his hand and blew it upward toward heaven. Heaven opened from the place where the sun rises to the place where it sets, from the north to the south.

I saw the sea that I had seen in the depth of Hades. Its waves rose up toward the clouds. I saw souls sinking in it. Some had their hands bound to their necks, and their hands and feet were fettered.

I said, “Who are these?”

He said to me, “These are the ones who took bribes and received gold and silver until the souls of human beings were led astray.”

I saw others covered with mats of fire.

I said, “Who are these?”

He said to me, “These are the ones who gave money at interest and received interest upon interest.”

I saw others who were blind and crying out, and I was amazed when I saw all these works of God.

I said, “Who are these?”

He said to me, “These are those who heard the word of God but were not made complete in the work they heard.”

I said to him, “Is there repentance here?”

He said, “Yes.”

I said, “How long?”

He said to me, “Until the day when the Lord judges.”

I saw others with hair upon them.

I said, “Is there hair and body in this place?”

He said, “Yes. The Lord gives body and hair to them as He wills.”

The Intercession of the Righteous

I saw multitudes brought forth. When they looked upon all the punishments, they cried out and prayed before the Lord Almighty, saying, “We pray to You for those who are in all these punishments, that You may have mercy on them.”

When I saw them, I said to the angel who spoke with me, “Who are these?”

He said, “These are the ones who plead with the Lord: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At an appointed hour each day they come forth with the great angel. He sounds a trumpet toward heaven, and another sounds upon the earth. All the righteous hear the sound and come running. They pray daily to the Lord Almighty for those who are in all these punishments.”

Another Trumpet and the Coming Wrath

Again the great angel came forth with the golden trumpet in his hand and blew over the earth. Its sound was heard from the place of sunrise to the place of sunset, and from the southern regions to the northern regions.

Again he blew upward toward heaven, and its sound was heard.

I said, “Lord, why did You not leave me until I had seen them all?”

He said to me, “I have no authority to show them to you until the Lord Almighty rises in His wrath to destroy the earth and the heavens.”

“They will see and be troubled, and all will cry out, saying, ‘All flesh that is assigned to You we will give to You on the day of the Lord.’ Who will stand in His presence when He rises in wrath to destroy the earth and the heavens?”

Every tree growing upon the earth will be uprooted and fall. Every high tower will fall. The birds that fly will fall.

[Line damaged. Four pages missing. The surviving witness breaks off.]