Chapter 97

 

 

1Woe to those who act impiously, who laud and honor the word of falsehood. You have been lost in perdition; and have never led a virtuous life. 2Woe to you who change the words of truth. They transgress against the everlasting decree; 3And count themselves not sinners; they will be trodden down upon the earth. 4 In those days you, O ye righteous, shall have been deemed worthy of having your prayers rise up in remembrance; and shall have deposited them in testimony before the angels, that they might record the sins of the sinners in the presence of the Most High. 5 In those days the nations shall be thrown into confusion; and the races of the nations shall rise again in the day of destruction. 6 In those days those who are in need shall go forth, carry off their children, and forsake them. Their offspring shall slip from them, and while sucklings they shall they forsake them; they shall never return to them, and never instruct their loved ones. 7Again I swear to you, ye sinners, that sin has been prepared for the day of blood which never ceases. 8They shall worship stones, and some carve gold, silver, and wooden images. They shall worship impure spirits, demons, and every idol, in temples; but no help shall be obtained from them. Their hearts shall become impious through their folly, and their eyes be blinded with the fear of their heart. In their visionary dreams shall they be impious and fearful, doing all their deeds based on lies, and worshipping a stone. Altogether shall they perish. 9But in those days blessed shall they be, to whom the word of wisdom is delivered; who point out and pursue the path of the Most High; who walk in the way of righteousness, and who do not act impiously with the impious. 10They shall be saved. 11Woe to you who extend evil toward your neighbor; for you shall be slain in hell. 12Woe to you who lay foundations for sin and deceit, and cause bitterness on earth; for this you shall be consumed. 13Woe to those who build their houses from the toil of others; all their building materials are become planks and stones of sin; I am telling you: you will not have peace. 14Woe to you who despise the extent of the everlasting inheritance of your fathers, while your souls follow after idols; for to you there shall be no tranquillity. 15Woe to them who commit iniquity, and give aid to blasphemy, who slay their neighbor until the day of the great judgment; for your glory shall fall; malevolence shall He put into your hearts, and the spirit of his wrath shall stir you up, that every one of you may perish by the sword. 16Then shall all the righteous and the holy remember your crimes.