Text from J. Rendel Harris, ed. & trans., The Gospel of the Twelve Apostles together with the Apocalypses of Each One of Them (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1900), 34-39.
REVELATION OF JOHN THE LITTLE THE BROTHER OF JAMES,
AND THEY TWO ARE THE SONS OF ZABDAI.
And there was suddenly a great earthquake, and John the brother of James, and the initiate of our Lord, fell on his face on the earth, and with a great trembling he worshipped God the Lord of all; and our Lord sent to him a man in white raiment, and mounted on a horse of fire, and his appearance was like the flashing of fire; and he touched him, and set him up and said to him, 'John, behold thou hast been set by our Lord to preach the Gospel of Salvation, along with the three that perform the truth; but ye also shall not be deprived of this gift; [p.35] for there hath been given unto thee the Spirit, that thou shouldst receive it in double measure: because more than thy first companions thou hast known the mysteries of our Saviour': and John was moved by the Holy Spirit and was made fervent and said, 'Lo! I see heaven opened and holy ones who are in the lofty heights in appearance like lightning, and glorifying God the maker of all.' And I beheld and an angel approached me, one of those that are near to him; and he brought me scrolls written with the finger of truth, and inscribed in them times and generations, and the iniquities and sins of men; -and the miseries that are to come on the earth; and I arose as it were stupefied. And there was a voice exceeding dread, which said, 'Let the mysteries be revealed that are hidden from the beginning, in soul and in spirit.' And the angel of God who was sent to me touched me and said to me, 'Open thy mouth and receive'; and I opened my mouth and I beheld and he put therein something like beryls and white like snow: and its taste was very sweet and I ate it. And he said to me, 'Behold, it is the day of salvation, and the hour of deliverance! Speak, for the Lord hath pleasure in thee! Speak, O man, to whom has been given power over the mysteries of God! Speak without fear, for it is the will of God, that the secret things should be expounded to thee.' And I beheld that there was written on the scrolls what men are to suffer in the last times: and when I saw all these things that are past, I was not willing to speak concerning them, but only that I should expound those things that are to come; and there was a voice which spake in me, Woe, woe to the sons of men who are left to the generations [and] to the times that are to come! For there shall rise up the kings of the north and they shall become strong and shall shake the whole world, and there shall be amongst them a man who subdues all the peoples by the marvellous sign which appeared to him in heaven, and he shall be prosperous and it shall go well with him; and after him shall rise up kings of the Romans; insolent, evil, idol-worshipping, godless; accusers and plotters and accepters of persons; and all the people of the Romans shall fall into fornication and adultery, and they shall love bribery and lasciviousness through the abundance of wine that they drink; and while their power is over all the world, because of their evil sins and blasphemies against God, the Lord shall send wrath upon them from heaven, and Persia [p. 36] shall become strong against them and shall drive away and expel this kingdom from the world, because it hath done evil exceedingly, and kings shall rise up among them great and renowned, and lovers of money, and they shall take away government from the earth : and there shall be one of them who because of his love of money shall destroy many men, until commerce and trade shall perish from off the whole earth, and by the son of his own body he shall die; and all the silver and gold that he has collected shall not save him; and after this Persia shall rule for a little time, and it also shall be delivered over to Media; because of their evil sins the God of heaven shall abolish their rule, and shall destroy their kingdom; and they shall perish and cease to be.
But there will be deniers of the truth, and men that know not God, and that do corruptly in their, lasciviousness, those who provoke God, and then suddenly shall be fulfilled the prophecy of Daniel the pure and the desired, which he spake, that God shall send forth a mighty wind, the Southern one; and there shall come forth from it a people of deformed aspect, and their appearance and manners like those of women; and there shall rise up from among them a warrior, and one whom they call a prophet, and they shall be brought into his hands...... those like to whom there has not been any in the world neither do there exist their like; and every one that hears shall shake his head and shall deride him and say, 'Why doth he speak thus? And God seeth it and regardeth it not.'
And the South shall do prosperously, and by the hoofs of the horses of his armies they shall trample down Persia and subdue it and devastate Rome; and there shall not be found any that stands before them, because it has been ordained for them by the Holy One of Heaven; and it shall come to pass that every kingdom or people or place that hears the report of them shall be afraid and shall tremble and shall be terrified at the report of this people, until it shall subdue and bring under its bands the whole earth; and twelve renowned kings shall rise up from that people according as it is written in the law when God talked with Abraham and said to him, 'Lo! Concerning Ishmael the son I have heard thee, and twelve [p. 37] princes shall he beget along with many other princesses'; and he, even he, is the people of the land of the South. He shall lead captive a great captivity amongst all the peoples of the earth and they shall spoil a great spoil, and all the ends of the earth shall do service and there shall be made subject to him many lordships; and his hand shall be over all, and also those that are under his hand he shall oppress with much tribute: and he shall oppress and kill and destroy the [rulers of the] ends [of the earth]. And he shall impose a tribute on [the earth], such as was never heard of; until a man shall come out from his house, and shall find [there] four collectors who collect tribute; and men shall sell their sons and daughters because of their need: and they shall hate their lives and shall wail and weep, and there is no voice nor discourse except Woe, Woe i and they shall be covetous with a hateful cupidity: and they will be converted like bridegrooms and like brides, but will dread some requital from them; because he that has shall be reckoned in their days as though he had not, and he that builds and he that sells as one that gets no gain ; and t here shall prosper with them all those who take
refuge with them, and they shall enslave to them men renowned in race, and there shall be among them hypocrites and men who know not God, and regard not men, except prodigals, fornicators and men wicked and revengeful.
But woe! woe! to the children of men in that time; and they shall rule [over the world] for one great week and the half of a great week; and every king who shall arise from amongst them shall strengthen and be made strong, and shall be more vigorous than his fellow; and they shall gather together the gold of the earth: and they shall descend and lay them up in the earth treasures which came forth therefrom; because their kingdom and authority is from God ... and it shall come to pass after the week and the half of a week the earth shall be moved concerning them, and God shall require the sins of creation at their bands; and the South wind shall subside, and God shall bring to nought their covenant with them; and they shall tremble and be affrighted at every report that is brought to them; and the hands of all flesh shall be upon them; according as it was said by the band of Moses the servant of the Lord; and in the end of their times [p. 38] they shall do evil to all flesh that is under their power, and they shall oppress and enslave and ravage, and men shall see necessity and great affliction: and three and four of them shall be associated in pollution. And there is none that speaks and none that hears, except only one that says, Woe! woe! what is come to pass in our generation! And they shall felicitate the dead of ancient time, and shall ask for death for themselves, and there is none that redeems and none that replies: but so much the more will they afflict all of those who confess our Lord Christ; because they shall hate to the very end the name of the Lord, and shall bring to nought his covenant; and truth shall not be found amongst them, but only villainy shall they love and sin shall they have an affection for. And whatever is hateful in the eyes of the Lord that will they do: and they shall be called a corrupt people; and after these things the Lord shall be angered against them, as he was against Rome, and against Media and Persia; and straightway there will come upon them the end, and suddenly the time [comes]; and at last in the completion of the week and a half God shall stir up against them desolation; and an angel of wrath shall descend, and shall kindle evil amongst them; and in their midst; and they shall be lifted up one against the other, and they shall make and become two parties, and each party shall seek to call himself king, and there shall be war between them, and there shall be many murders by them and among them, and much blood shall be shed
among them at the fountain of waters which is in the place which was spoken of beforetime in the book of the Sibyl (?). And when the man of the North shall hear this report, he shall not be affrighted, and he shall say, By my might and by my arm have I overcome. Then shall he associate with himall the peoples of the earth, and he will go forth against him, and they shall destroy and devastate his armies and lead captive their sons and their
daughters and their wives, and there shall fall upon them a bitter wedlock and misery; And the' Lord shall cause the spirit of the South, to return to his place from whence he came forth, and shall bring to nought his name and his fame; and it shall come to pass that when they shall enter again the place from whence they came out, the enemy shall not pursue them thither, and they shall not fear hunger and they shall not tremble and it shall
come to pass in that day that their reliance [shall be] upon silver which they have gotten by wrong and by plunder which they have [p. 39] hidden in the place named Diglath, and they shall return and settle in the land from whence they came out; and God shall stir up for them there evil times and times of plagues, and without war they shall be laid waste, and unto all generations of the world there shall not be among them any that holds a weapon and stands up in battle ......
...... which the Father commanded concerning them from Heaven [and when] John had spoken these words and visions and revelations in truth, the angel that spake (?) to him departed from him, and a voice said, Suffer thy companions, that they may talk with thee.
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