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Apocrypha · Chapter 8 of 17

Apocalypse of Peter 8

Vision of Hell

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And again behold [two: corrupt] women: they hang them up by their neck and by their hair; they shall cast them into the pit.

2These are they which plaited their hair, not for good (or, not to make them beautiful) but to turn them to fornication, that they might ensnare the souls of men unto perdition.

3And the men that lay with them in fornication shall be hung by their loins in that place of fire; and they shall say one to another: We knew not that we should come into everlasting punishment.

4And the murderers and them that have made common cause with them shall they cast into the fire, in a place full of venomous beasts, and they shall be tormented without rest, feeling their pains; and their worms shall be as many in number as a dark cloud.

5And the angel Ezraël shall bring forth the souls of them that have been slain, and they shall behold the torment of them that slew them, and say one to another: Righteousness and justice is the judgement of God.

6For we heard, but we believed not, that we should come into this place of eternal judgement.

7And near by this flame shall be a pit, great and very deep, and into it floweth from above all manner of torment, foulness, and issue.

8And women are swallowed up therein up to their necks and tormented with great pain.

9These are they that have caused their children to be born untimely, and have corrupted the work of God that created them.

10Over against them shall be another place where sit their children [both] alive, and they cry unto God.

11And flashes (lightnings) go forth from those children and pierce the eyes of them that for fornication's sake have caused their destruction.

12Other men and women shall stand above them, naked; and their children stand over against them in a place of delight, and sigh and cry unto God because of their parents, saying: These are they that have despised and cursed and transgressed thy commandments and delivered us unto death: they have cursed the angel that formed us, and have hanged us up, and withheld from us (or, begrudged us) the light which thou hast given unto all creatures.

13And the milk of their mothers flowing from their breasts shall congeal, and from it shall come beasts devouring flesh, which shall come forth and turn and torment them for ever with their husbands, because they forsook the commandments of God and slew their children.

14As for their children, they shall be delivered unto the angel Temlākos (i.e. a care-taking angel: see above, in the Fragments).

15And they that slew them shall be tormented eternally, for God willeth it so.

Words in this chapter

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About Apocalypse of Peter

A detailed description of the judgement, with punishments matched to each sin. It appeared in ancient lists of accepted books before being left out. English text: The Apocryphal New Testament, Apocalypse of Peter (Oxford: Clarendon Press), M. R. James, 1924 (public domain). Portuguese and Spanish: Lux Veritas translations from this edition.

Source: The Apocryphal New Testament, Apocalypse of Peter (Oxford: Clarendon Press), M. R. James (1924) · public domain