1 Enoch 10
Study resource: not ScriptureR. H. Charles translation (1917) · public domain
1Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him:
2’Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it.
3And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’
4And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein.
5And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.
6And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.
7And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.
8And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.’
9And to Gabriel said the Lord: ‘Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have.
10And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.’
11And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjâzâ and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.
12And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated.
13In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever.
14And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations.
15And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind.
16Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore.
17And then shall all the righteous escape, And shall live till they beget thousands of children, And all the days of their youth and their old age Shall they complete in peace.
18And then shall the whole earth be tilled in righteousness, and shall all be planted with trees and be full of blessing.
19And all desirable trees shall be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand, and each measure of olives shall yield ten presses of oil.
20And cleanse thou the earth from all oppression, and from all unrighteousness, and from all sin, and from all godlessness: and all the uncleanness that is wrought upon the earth destroy from off the earth.
21And all the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall offer adoration and shall praise Me, and all shall worship Me.
22And the earth shall be cleansed from all defilement, and from all sin, and from all punishment, and from all torment, and I will never again send (them) upon it from generation to generation and for ever.
The chapter, studied
The Sentence: Noah Hidden, Azazel Bound, the Earth Healed
God answers the archangels' appeal with a series of commands. Noah is to be warned of the coming flood and hidden. Azazel is to be bound and cast into darkness until the day of judgment. Gabriel is sent against the giants to make them destroy one another, and Michael is sent to bind Semjaza and his companions for seventy generations until the final judgment. The chapter ends with a promise that the earth will be cleansed and restored to peace and fruitfulness.
This is the longest single chapter so far, and it works as a point-by-point sentencing that answers each earlier scene in turn: Noah's rescue (vv. 1-3) answers the flood threat raised by the earth's corruption; Azazel's binding "in the desert... in Dudael" under "rough and jagged rocks" until "the day of the great judgement" (vv. 4-6) answers his teaching in chapter 8; the giants set against each other in battle (v. 9) answers their violence in chapter 7; and Semjaza's group bound "for seventy generations" in the earth's valleys (vv. 11-14) answers the oath-taking of chapter 6.
Verse 9's detail is worth noticing carefully: the giants are not simply destroyed outright but set to "destroy each other in battle," and the text is explicit that "for length of days shall they not have" and that their fathers' hope of an eternal, five-hundred-year life for each offspring (v. 10) will not be granted. The judgment answers the specific presumption named earlier: that this union could produce something lasting.
The chapter's final third (vv. 16-22) turns from sentencing to restoration, in language that reaches past the flood toward something more final: "the plant of righteousness and truth appear," the earth "tilled in righteousness," every measure of seed yielding a thousandfold, and a cleansing so complete that God says He "will never again send (them) upon it from generation to generation and for ever." The scope outgrows Noah's own generation and gestures toward an age still to come.
This chapter is the judicial center of the Watchers narrative: the site's Genesis 6 reading holds that real angelic beings sinned and were bound pending final judgment, a reading the New Testament itself confirms independently in Jude 6 and 2 Peter 2:4 without needing 1 Enoch as its source.
Doors into the 66
- Genesis 6:13 — God's instruction to warn and hide Noah stands directly beside Genesis 6:13-14's command to build the ark ahead of the flood.
- Jude 1:6 — "He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day" describes precisely what this chapter narrates being done to Azazel and Semjaza's company.
- 2 Peter 2:4 — Peter's angels "cast down to hell, and delivered into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment" echoes the same binding-until-judgment sentence given here.
Teachers on this ground
R. H. Charles
The Book of Enoch (1917)
The public-domain translation this shelf reads, with the critical introduction the field still builds on.
Johnny Enlow
The Book of Enoch: Paraphrase and Commentary (2025)
A living teacher's paraphrase of the whole book with his own running commentary, from the prophetic stream.
Michael S. Heiser
A Companion to the Book of Enoch: A Reader's Commentary, Vol. I — The Book of the Watchers (2019)
A verse-by-verse reader's commentary on chapters 1–36: the closest thing in print to a study Bible for this section.
Michael S. Heiser
Reversing Hermon: Enoch, the Watchers, and the Forgotten Mission of Jesus Christ (2017)
How the Watchers story of these chapters stands behind New Testament theology.
Gary Wayne
The Genesis 6 Conspiracy (2014)
A topical case for the Watchers reading these chapters narrate: giants, bloodlines, and the seed war.
Timothy Alberino
Birthright: The Coming Posthuman Apocalypse and the Usurpation of Adam's Dominion on Planet Earth (2020)
Reads the Watchers rebellion of these chapters into the Bible's larger dominion story.
1Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him:
2’Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it.
3And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’
4And again the Lord said to Raphael: ‘Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dûdâêl, and cast him therein.
5And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light.
6And on the day of the great judgement he shall be cast into the fire.
7And heal the earth which the angels have corrupted, and proclaim the healing of the earth, that they may heal the plague, and that all the children of men may not perish through all the secret things that the Watchers have disclosed and have taught their sons.
8And the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azâzêl: to him ascribe all sin.’
9And to Gabriel said the Lord: ‘Proceed against the bastards and the reprobates, and against the children of fornication: and destroy [the children of fornication and] the children of the Watchers from amongst men [and cause them to go forth]: send them one against the other that they may destroy each other in battle: for length of days shall they not have.
10And no request that they (i.e. their fathers) make of thee shall be granted unto their fathers on their behalf; for they hope to live an eternal life, and that each one of them will live five hundred years.’
11And the Lord said unto Michael: ‘Go, bind Semjâzâ and his associates who have united themselves with women so as to have defiled themselves with them in all their uncleanness.
12And when their sons have slain one another, and they have seen the destruction of their beloved ones, bind them fast for seventy generations in the valleys of the earth, till the day of their judgement and of their consummation, till the judgement that is for ever and ever is consummated.
13In those days they shall be led off to the abyss of fire: and to the torment and the prison in which they shall be confined for ever.
14And whosoever shall be condemned and destroyed will from thenceforth be bound together with them to the end of all generations.
15And destroy all the spirits of the reprobate and the children of the Watchers, because they have wronged mankind.
16Destroy all wrong from the face of the earth and let every evil work come to an end: and let the plant of righteousness and truth appear: and it shall prove a blessing; the works of righteousness and truth shall be planted in truth and joy for evermore.
17And then shall all the righteous escape, And shall live till they beget thousands of children, And all the days of their youth and their old age Shall they complete in peace.
18And then shall the whole earth be tilled in righteousness, and shall all be planted with trees and be full of blessing.
19And all desirable trees shall be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand, and each measure of olives shall yield ten presses of oil.
20And cleanse thou the earth from all oppression, and from all unrighteousness, and from all sin, and from all godlessness: and all the uncleanness that is wrought upon the earth destroy from off the earth.
21And all the children of men shall become righteous, and all nations shall offer adoration and shall praise Me, and all shall worship Me.
22And the earth shall be cleansed from all defilement, and from all sin, and from all punishment, and from all torment, and I will never again send (them) upon it from generation to generation and for ever.
The language it was written in
Aramaic (the Qumran fragments' language); parts possibly Hebrew. The Parables (chs. 37–71) have no Qumran witness and their original language is debated.
What survives, and where
Aramaic: Dead Sea Scrolls
Eleven fragmentary manuscripts from Qumran Cave 4 covering every section except the Parables (3rd c. BC – 1st c. AD).
Greek
Substantial portions: chs. 1–32 (Codex Panopolitanus), quotations in Syncellus, and the Chester Beatty papyrus of the Epistle.
Ge’ez (Ethiopic)
The only complete text, preserved by the Ethiopian church, whose canon receives the book; the base of every full translation.
What you are reading here
R. H. Charles's 1917 English translation, made from the Ge’ez against the Greek and Aramaic evidence then known — public domain, quotable in full.
No tagged word floor exists for the Aramaic or Ge’ez text; word-by-word study on this shelf awaits a future ingest. What stands here is the manuscript story itself.