1551 verses about Heaven

and the help given in the land of Babylon, even the battle that was fought against the Gauls, how that they came to the engagement eight thousand in all, with four thousand Macedonians, and how that, the Macedonians being hard pressed, the six thousand destroyed the hundred and twenty thousand, because of the succour which they had from heaven, and took great booty.

And the man that a little before supposed himself to touch the stars of heaven, no one could endure to carry for his intolerable stench.

May you⌃ and your children fare well; and your affairs shall be to your mind. Having my hope in heaven,

But when the battle waxed strong, there appeared out of heaven to their adversaries five men on horses with bridles of gold, in splendid array; and two of them, leading on the Jews,

they advanced in array, having him that is in heaven to fight on their side, for the Lord had mercy on them.

(And if he did it looking to an honorable memorial of gratitude laid up for those who die in godliness, holy and godly was the thought.) Wherefore he made the atoning sacrifice for those who had died, that they might be released from their sin.

And having said this, he departed. But the priests, stretching forth their hands toward heaven, called upon him that ever fights for our nation, in these words:

You, O Lord of the universe, who in yourself have need of nothing, was well pleased that a sanctuary of your habitation should be set among us;

then the thrice-accursed wretch asked if there were a Sovereign in heaven that had commanded to keep the Sabbath day.

And when they declared, There is the Lord, living himself a Sovereign in heaven, who bade us observe the seventh day;

And he exhorted his company not to be fearful at the inroad of the heathen, but, keeping in mind the help which of old they had oftentimes received from heaven, so now also to look for the victory which would come to them from the Almighty;

And the vision of that dream was this: He saw Onias, him that was high priest, a noble and good man, reverend in bearing, yet gentle in manner and well-spoken, and exercised from a child in all points of virtue, with outstretched hands invoking blessings on the whole body of the Jews:

thereupon he saw a man appear, of venerable age and exceeding glory, and wonderful and most majestic was the dignity around him:

and Onias answered and said, This is the lover of the kindred, he who prays much for the people and the holy city, Jeremiah the prophet of God:

so now also, O Sovereign of the heavens, send a good angel before us to bring terror and trembling:

And they all looking up to heaven blessed the Lord who had manifested himself, saying, Blessed be he that has preserved his own place undefiled.

O sirs, are not women strong? great is the earth, high is the heaven, swift is the sun in his course, for he encircles the heavens round about, and fetches his course again to his own place in one day.

All the earth calls upon truth, and the heaven blesses her: all works shake and tremble, but with her is no unrighteous thing.

Now when this young man was gone forth, he lifted up his face to heaven toward Jerusalem, and praised the King of heaven,

So they gave us this answer, We are the servants of the Lord which made heaven and earth.

But when our fathers sinned against the Lord of Israel which is in heaven, and provoked him to wrath, he gave them over into the hands of Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon, king of the Chaldeans;

for our sins are multiplied above our heads, and our errors have reached up to heaven,

O LORD Almighty, that are in heaven, you God of our fathers, of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed;

who have made heaven and earth, with all the ornament thereof;

for I have sinned above the number of the sands of the sea. My transgressions are multiplied, O Lord: my transgressions are multiplied, and I am not worthy to behold and see the height of heaven for the multitude of my iniquities.

And I will praise the forever all the days of my life: for all the army of heaven does sing your praise, and your is the glory forever and ever. Amen.

O Lord, Lord, King of the heavens, and Ruler of the whole creation, Holy among the holy, sole Governor, Almighty, give ear to us who are oppressed by a wicked and profane one, who exults in his confidence and strength.

Your dwelling place, the heaven of heavens, is indeed unapproachable to men.

Now this was an active interference of the unconquerable Providence which assisted the Jews from heaven.

Their litany so earnest went up to heaven.

Nevertheless, when they reflected upon the succour before granted them from heaven, they prostrated themselves with one accord; removed even the sucking children from the breasts, and

When the Jews saw this, they uttered a loud cry to heaven, so that the adjacent valleys resounded, and caused an irrepressible lamentation throughout the army.

Then the all-glorious, all-powerful, and true God, displayed his holy countenance, and opened the gates of heaven, from which two angels, dreadful of form, came down and were visible to all but the Jews.

Release the sons of the almighty living God of heaven, who from our ancestors’ times until now has granted a glorious and uninterrupted prosperity to our affairs.

For this cause we severely threatened them; yet, with the clemency which we are wont to extend to all men, we at length permitted them to live. Finding that the God of heaven cast a shield of protection over the Jews so as to preserve them, and that he fought for them as a father always fights for his sons;

And now, O father, behold with glory; and see the people that come from the east:

Their glory also will I take to me, and give these the everlasting tabernacles, which I had prepared for them.

They shall have the tree of life for an ointment of sweet savor; they shall neither labor, nor be weary.

Ask, and you⌃ shall receive: pray for few days to you, that they may be shortened: the kingdom is already prepared for you: watch.

Take heaven and earth to witness, take them to witness; for I have given up the evil, and created the good: for I live, says the Lord.

And those that be dead will I raise up again from their places, and bring them out from their tombs: for I have known my name in them.

For your help will I send my servants Esaias and Jeremy, after whose counsel I have sanctified and prepared for you twelve trees laden with various fruits,

and as many springs flowing with milk and honey, and seven mighty mountains, whereupon there grow roses and lilies, whereby I will fill your children with joy.

Flee the shadow of this world, receive the joyfulness of your glory: I call to witness my savior openly.

O receive that which is given you of the Lord, and be joyful, giving thanks to him that has called you to heavenly kingdoms.

Arise up and stand, and behold the number of those that be sealed in the feast of the Lord;

those who withdrew them from the shadow of the world have received glorious garments of the Lord.

Look upon your number, O Sion, and make up the reckoning of those of your that are clothed in white, which have fulfilled the law of the Lord.

I Esdras saw upon the mount Sion a great multitude, whom I could not number, and they all praised the Lord with songs.

And in the midst of them there was a young man of a high stature, taller than all the rest, and upon every one of their heads he set crowns, and was more exalted; whereat I marveled greatly.

He answered and said to me, These be those who have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God: now are they crowned, and receive palms.

Then said I to the angel, What young man is he that sets crowns upon them, and gives them palms in their hands?

So he answered and said to me, It is the Son of God, whom they have confessed in the world. Then began I greatly to commend those who stood so stiffly for the name of the Lord.

And you led him into paradise, which your right hand did plant, before ever the earth came forward.

You bowed the heavens also, and did shake the earth, and movedst the whole world, and made the depths to tremble, and troubled the course of that age.

And he said to me, If I had asked you, saying, How many dwellings are there in the heart of the sea? or how many springs are there at the fountain head of the deep? or how many ways are above the firmament? or which are the outgoings of hell? or which are the paths of paradise?

perhaps you would say to me, I never went down into the deep, nor as yet into hell, neither did I ever climb up into heaven.

For like as the ground is given to the wood, and the sea to his waves, even so those who dwell upon the earth may understand nothing but that which is upon the earth: and he only that dwells above the heavens may understand the things that are above the height of the heavens.

Did not the souls of the righteous ask question of these things in their chambers, saying, How long are we here? when comes the fruit of the threshing time of our reward?

Then said I, no, Lord, that can it not. And he said to me, in the grave the chambers of souls are like the womb:

and of all the depths of the sea you have filled you one river: and of all built cities you have hallowed Sion to yourself:

before the voices of the thunder sounded and before the flashes of the lightning shone, or ever the foundations of paradise were laid,

and when the seal shall be set upon the world that is to pass away, then will I show these tokens: the books shall be opened before the firmament, and all shall see together:

And I said, O Lord, of a truth you spoke at the beginning of the creation, upon the first day, and said thus; Let heaven and earth be made; and your word perfected the work.

whoso then should desire to go into the sea to look upon it, or to rule it, if he went not through the narrow, how could he come into the broad?

Another thing also: There is a city built and set in a plain country, and full of all good things;

If this city now be given to a man for an inheritance, if the heir pass not the danger before him, how shall he receive his inheritance?

For the entrances of the greater world are wide and sure, and bring forth fruit of immortality.

If then those who live enter not these strait and vain things, they can never receive those that are laid up for them.

and why have you not considered in your mind that which is to come, rather than that which is present?

Then answered I and said, O Lord that bear rule, behold, you have ordained in your law, that the righteous should inherit these things, but that the ungodly should perish.

For behold, the time shall come, and it shall be, when these tokens, of which I told you before, shall come to pass, that the bride shall appear, even the city coming forth, and she shall be seen, that now is withdrawn from the earth.

And the earth shall restore those that are asleep in her, and so shall the dust those that dwell therein in silence, and the secret places shall deliver those souls that were committed to them.

and the work shall follow, and the reward shall be showed, and good deeds shall awake, and wicked deeds shall not sleep.

And the pit of torment shall appear, and near it shall be the place of rest: and the furnace of shall be showed, and near it the paradise of delight.

neither noon, nor night, nor dawn, neither shining, nor brightness, nor light, save only the splendor of the glory of the Most High, whereby all shall see the things that are set before them:

for it shall endure as it were a week of years.

And now I see, that the world to come shall bring delight to few, but torments to many.

for this cause the Most High has not made one world, but two.

So also is the judgement which I have promised: for I will rejoice over the few that shall be saved, inasmuch as these are those who have made my glory now to prevail, and of whom my name is now named.

And I answered and said, if I have found grace in your sight, O Lord, show this also to your servant, whether after death, even now when every one of us gives up his soul, we shall be kept in rest until those times come, in which you shall renew the creation, or whether we shall be tormented forthwith.

For you have a treasure of good works laid up with the Most High, but it shall not be showed you until the last times.

For concerning death the teaching is: When the determinate sentence has gone forth from the Most High that a man should die, as the spirit leaves the body to return again to him who gave it, it adores the glory of the Most High first of all.

The third way, they shall see the reward laid up for those who have believed the covenants of the Most High.

The fifth way, they shall see the dwelling places of the others guarded by angels, with great quietness.

Now this is the order of those who have kept the ways of the Most High, when they shall be separated from the corruptible vessel.

First of all they shall see with great joy the glory of him who takes them up, for they shall have rest in seven orders.

The fourth order, they understand the rest which, being gathered in their chambers, they now enjoy with great quietness, guarded by angels, and the glory that awaits them in the last days.

The fifth order, they rejoice, seeing how they have now escaped from that which is corruptible, and how they shall inherit that which is to come, while they see moreover the straitness and the painfulness from which they have been delivered, and the large room which they shall receive with joy and immortality.

The sixth order, when it is showed to them how their face shall shine as the sun, and how they shall be made like to the light of the stars, being henceforth incorruptible.

The seventh order, which is greater than all the aforesaid orders, because they shall rejoice with confidence, and because they shall be bold without confusion, and shall be glad without fear, for they hasten to behold the face of him whom in their lifetine they served, and from whom they shall receive their reward in glory.

This is the order of the souls of the just, as from henceforth is announcer to them, and aforesaid are the ways of torture which those who would not give heed shall suffer from henceforth.

And I answered and said, shall time therefore be given to the souls after they are separated from the bodies, that they may see that whereof you have spoken to me?

And he said, Their freedom shall be for seven days, that for seven days they may see the things whereof you have been told, and afterwards they shall be gathered together in their habitations.

He answered me, and said, This present world is not the end; the full glory remains not therein: therefore have they who were able prayed for the weak.

And that the glory of the Most High shall defend them which have led a pure life, whereas we have walked in the most wicked ways of all?

And that there shall be showed a paradise, whose fruit endures without decay, wherein is abundance and healing, but we shall not enter into it,

And he answered me, and said, The Most High has made this world for many, but the world to come for few.

O Lord, you that abidest forever, whose eyes are exalted, and whose chambers are in the air;

whose throne is inestimable; whose glory may not be comprehended; before whom the army of angels stand with trembling,