The
Apocalypse of Peter.
————————————
1. …many of them will be false
prophets,3877
| 3877 False
prophets. Cf. Matt. vii. 15; xxiv. 5, 11. Cf. Pastor of
Hermas, Mand. xi. |
and will teach
divers ways and doctrines of perdition: but these will become
sons of perdition.3878
| 3878 Sons of
perdition. Cf. 2 Peter ii. 1–3; iii. 7, 16; 2
Thess. ii. 3, and Ep.
of Lyons and Vienne, Euseb. H. E. v. 1. |
3. And
then God will come unto my faithful ones who hunger and thirst and are
afflicted and purify their souls in this life; and he will judge the
sons of lawlessness.3879
4. And furthermore the Lord said: Let us go
into the mountain:3880
Let us
pray. 5. And going with him, we, the twelve disciples,
begged that he would show us one of our brethren, the righteous who are
gone forth out of the world, in order that we might see of what manner
of form they are, and having taken courage, might also
encourage3881
the men who hear
us.
6. And as we prayed, suddenly there appeared two
men standing before the Lord towards the East, on whom we were not able
to look;3882
7, for there came
forth from their countenance a ray as of the sun, and their raiment was
shining, such as eye of man3883
never saw; for no
mouth is able to express or heart to conceive the glory with which they
were endued, and the beauty of their appearance. 8. And as
we looked upon them, we were astounded; for their bodies were whiter
than any snow and ruddier than any rose;3884
9,
and the red thereof was mingled with the white, and I am utterly unable
to express their beauty; 10, for their hair was curly and bright and
seemly both on their face and shoulders, as it were a wreath3885
| 3885 Wreath.
Cf. Ep. of Lyons and Vienne, ap. Euseb. H. E. v. 1,
36. |
woven of spikenard and divers-coloured
flowers, or like a rainbow in the sky, such was their seemliness.
11. Seeing therefore their beauty we became
astounded at them, since they appeared suddenly. 12. And I
approached the Lord and said: Who are these? 13. He
saith to me: These are your brethren the righteous, whose forms
ye desired to see. 14. And I said to him: And where
are all the righteous ones and what is the æon in which they are
and have this glory?
15. And the Lord showed me3886
a
very great country outside of this world, exceeding bright with light,
and the air there lighted with the rays of the sun, and the earth
itself blooming with unfading flowers and full of spices and plants,
fair-flowering and incorruptible and bearing blessed fruit.
16. And so great was the perfume that it3887
| 3887 Odour.
Cf. Ep. of Lyons and Vienne, l. c., and Passion of S. Perpetua,
ch. xiii. |
was borne thence even unto us. 17. And the dwellers in that
place were clad in the raiment of shining angels and their raiment was
like unto their country; and angels hovered about them there.
18. And the glory of the dwellers there was equal, and with one
voice they sang praises alternately to the Lord God, rejoicing in that
place. 19. The Lord saith to us: This is the place of
your high-priests,3888
| 3888 High
priests. Cf. Didache 13, 3. |
the righteous
men.
20. And over against that place I saw another,
squalid, and it was the place of punishment; and those who were
punished there and the punishing angels had their raiment dark3889
like the air of the place.
21. And there were certain there hanging by the
tongue: and these were the blasphemers of the way of
righteousness; and under them lay fire,3890
burning and punishing them.
22. And there was a great lake, full of
flaming mire, in which were certain
men that pervert righteousness,3891
and tormenting
angels afflicted them.
23. And there were also others, women, hanged by
their hair over that mire that bubbled up: and these were they
who adorned themselves for adultery; and the men who mingled with them
in the defilement3892
| 3892 Cf.
Jude 7. Defilement.
Cf. Bible:Jude.1.8">2 Peter ii.
10, 14, 17, 20; Jude 8. Cf. Pastor Herm.
Sim. vi. 5. |
of adultery, were
hanging by the feet and their heads in that mire. And I
said: I did not believe that I should come into this place.
24. And I saw the murderers and those who
conspired with them, cast into a certain strait place, full of evil
snakes, and smitten by those beasts, and thus turning to and fro in
that punishment; and worms,3893
as it were clouds
of darkness, afflicted them. And the souls of the murdered stood
and looked upon the punishment of those murderers and said: O
God, thy judgment is just.
25. And near that place I saw another strait place
into which the gore and the filth of those who were being punished ran
down and became there as it were a lake: and there sat women
having the gore up to their necks, and over against them sat many
children who were born to them out of due time, crying; and there came
forth from them sparks of fire and smote the women in the eyes:
and these were the accursed who conceived and caused abortion.
26. And other men and women were burning up to the
middle and were cast into a dark place and were beaten by evil spirits,
and their inwards were eaten by restless worms:3894
and these were they who persecuted the
righteous and delivered them up.
27. And near those there were again women and men
gnawing their own lips, and being punished and receiving a red-hot iron
in their eyes: and these were they who blasphemed and
slandered3895
| 3895 Slandered.
Cf. 2 Peter ii.
2; Jude 8, 10. |
the way of
righteousness.
28. And over against these again other men and
women gnawing their tongues and having flaming fire in their
mouths: and these were the false witnesses.3896
| 3896 False
witnesses. Cf. Hermas. Mand. viii. 5. |
29. And in a certain other place there were
pebbles sharper than swords or any spit, red-hot, and women and men in
tattered and filthy raiment rolled about on them in punishment:
and these were the rich who trusted in their riches and had no pity for
orphans and widows, and despised the commandment3897
of God.
30. And in another great lake, full of pitch and
blood and mire bubbling up, there stood men and women up to their
knees: and these were the usurers and those who take interest on
interest.
31. And other men and women were being hurled down
from a great cliff and reached the bottom, and again were driven by
those who were set over them to climb up upon the cliff, and thence
were hurled down again, and had no rest from this punishment: and
these were they who defiled3898
their bodies acting
as women; and the women who were with them were those who lay with one
another as a man with a woman.
32. And alongside of that cliff there was a place
full of much fire, and there stood men who with their own hands had
made for themselves carven images instead of God. And alongside
of these were other men and women, having rods and striking each other
and never ceasing from such punishment.
33. And others again near them, women and men,
burning and turning themselves and roasting: and these were they
that leaving the way of God3899
| 3899 Way of God.
2 Peter ii. 2. Pastor Herm. Vis.
iii. 7; viii. 6; ix. 19, 22. |
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