Chapter 96

1The righteous are confident that sinners will be disgraced, and perish in the day of iniquity. 2You shall yourselves be conscious of it; for the Most High will remember your destruction, and the angels shall rejoice over it. What will you do you sinners? And where will you flee in the day of judgment, when you shall hear the words of the prayer of the righteous? 3You are not like them who in this respect witness against you; you are associates of sinners. 4 In those days shall the prayers of the righteous come up before the Lord. When the day of your judgment shall arrive; and every circumstance of your iniquity be related before the great and the holy One; 5Your faces shall be covered with shame; while every deed, strengthened by crime, shall be rejected. 6Woe unto you, sinners, who in the midst of the sea, and on dry land, are those against whom an evil record exists.Woe to you who squander silver and gold, not obtained in righteousness, and say, We are rich, possess wealth, and have acquired everything which we can desire. 7Now then we will do whatsoever we are disposed to do; for we have amassed silver; our barns are full, and the farmers of our families are like overflowing water.229 8Like water shall your falsehood pass away; for your wealth will not be permanent, but shall suddenly ascend from you, because you have obtained it all iniquitously; to extreme malediction shall you be delivered up. 9And now I swear to you, ye crafty, as well as simple ones; that you, often contemplating the earth, you who are men, clothe yourselves more elegantly than women, and more colorfully than maidens, everywhere arraying yourselves in majesty, in magnificence, in authority, and in silver: but gold, purple, honor, and wealth, like water, flow away. 10Erudition therefore and wisdom are not theirs. Thus shall they perish, together with their riches, with all their glory, and with their honors; 11While with disgrace, with slaughter, and in extreme poverty, shall their spirits be thrust into a furnace of fire. 12I have sworn to you, ye sinners, that as a mountain has not, and will not, become a slave, nor a hill a woman's maid, 13So neither has sin been sent down to us on earth, but rather men of their own heads have invented it; and greatly shall those who give it efficiency be accursed. 14Barrenness has not been predetermined for a woman; but because of the work of her hands she dies childless.  15I have sworn to you, ye sinners, by the holy and Great One, that all your evil deeds are disclosed in the heavens; and that none of your oppressive acts are concealed and secret. 16Think not in your minds, neither say in your hearts, that every sin is not manifested and seen. In heaven it is daily written down before the Most High. From now on shall it be known by you; that every sin which you commit shall be recorded every day, until the period of your condemnation. 17Woe to you, ye foolish ones, for you shall perish in your foolishness. You will not listen to the wise, and that which is good will not find you. 18Now therefore know that you are poised for the day of destruction; do not hope that sinners shall live; but your progress shall be to death; for you are not designated for redemption; 19But are destined for the day of the great judgment, for the day of distress, and great shame for your spirits. 20Woe to you, ye obdurate in heart, who do evil, and eat blood. From where do you feed on good things, drink, and are satisfied? Is it not because our Lord, the Most High, has abundantly supplied every good thing on earth? For you there shall not be peace. 21Woe to you who love the deeds of iniquity. Why do you have hope for a good end for yourselves? Know that you shall be given up into the hands of the righteous; who shall cut off your necks, slay you, and show you no compassion. 22Woe to you who are glad when the righteous have trouble; for a grave shall not be dug for you. 23Woe to you who dismiss the word of the righteous; because for you there shall be no hope of life. 24Woe to you who write down words of falsehood, and the words of the ungodly; for their falsehood they record, so that men may hear and be confirmed in their folly. 25They shall have no peace; but will die a sudden death