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[Chapter 90] 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 2 hands, to pasture them for
their period, each shepherd in his own period. 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 3
devour their flesh. And the sheep cried out because their flesh was being devoured by
the birds, 4 and as for me I looked and lamented in my sleep over that shepherd who pastured
the sheep. 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 5 to the earth and the sheep became few. And I saw until
that twenty-three had undertaken the pasturing and completed in their several periods fifty-eight
times. 6 But behold lambs were borne by those white sheep, and they began to open their
eyes and to see, 7 and to cry to the sheep. Yea, they cried to them, but they did not
hearken to what they said to 8 them, but were exceedingly deaf, and their eyes were very
exceedingly blinded. And I saw in the vision how the ravens flew upon those lambs and took
one of those lambs, and dashed the sheep 9 in pieces and devoured them. 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 10 were opened. And it looked
at them [and their eyes opened], and it cried to the sheep, and the 11 rams saw it and all
ran to it. 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. And those ravens fought and battled with it
and sought to lay low its horn, but they had no power over it. 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. 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.
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. 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 22 were like those of
horses, and they brought them all before Him. 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 23 than
I commanded them.' 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
(Judgment, consumption, destruction, passion, etc.) and flaming, and full 25 of pillars
of fire (Judgment, consumption, destruction, passion, etc.). And those seventy shepherds
were judged and found guilty, and they were cast 26 into that fiery (Judgment, consumption,
destruction, passion, etc.) abyss. And I saw at that time how a like abyss was opened in
the midst of the earth, full of fire (Judgment, consumption, destruction, passion, etc.),
and they brought those blinded sheep, and they were all judged and found guilty and
27 cast into this fiery (Judgment, consumption, destruction, passion, etc.) abyss, and they
burned; now this abyss was to the right of that house. And I saw those sheep burning
and their bones burning. 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 29 it off and laid it in a place in the south
("Hellward;" Sin & Death) of the land. 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 beer 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 31 them in every thing. 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 32 took me up and set me down in the midst of those
sheep before the judgement took place. And those 33 sheep were all white, and their wool
was abundant and clean. 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 34 His house.
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 35 were invited into that house, but it held them not. And the eyes of them
all were opened, and they 36 saw the good, and there was not one among them that did
not see. 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 38
birds of the air feared him and made petition to him all the time. 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 39 rejoiced over it and over all the oxen. 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 41 gave Him glory. 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 42 be fulfilled,
and all the deeds of men in their order were shown to me. On that night I remembered the
first dream, and because of it I wept and was troubled-because I had seen that vision.