(7) And they begat sons the Naphidtm, and jthey were all unlikej,* and they devoured one another : and the Giants^lewllieliipiuL and the Naphil slew the Elj6, and the EIj6* mankind, and one man another.

(1) "This then they accomplished continuously before their power was diminished in them and they waned and became exhausted, or powerless. It came to pass then, when they became powerless, that their power began to cease in them, so that they became exhausted in their power, and their light, which was in their region, ceased and their kingdom was destroyed, and the universe became quickly raised up. "It came to pass then, when they had perceived this at the time, and when the number of the cipher of Melchisedec, the Receiver [of the Light], happened, then had he to come out again and enter into the midst of the rulers of all the æons and into the midst of all the rulers of the Fate and of those of the sphere; and he threw them into agitation, and made them quickly abandon their circles. And forthwith they were constrained, and cast forth the power out of themselves, out of the breath of their mouth and the tears of their eyes and the sweat of their bodies. "And Melchisedec, the Receiver of the Light, purifieth them, as he doth continually; he carrieth their light into the Treasury of the Light. And all the rulers of the æons and the rulers of the Fate and those of the sphere turn to the matter of their refuse; they devour it and do not let it go and become souls in the world. They devour then their matter, so that they may not become powerless and exhausted and their power cease in them and their kingdom become destroyed, but in order that they may delay and linger a long time until the completion of the number of the perfect souls who shall be in the Treasury of the Light.

(7) And after this they sinned against the beasts and birds, and all that moveth and walketh on the earth : and much blood was shed on the earth, and every imagination and desire of men imagined vanity , and evil continually.

(5) A thousand days and nights they were without eating, and first water and afterwards herbage (aûrvar) were devoured by them.

(5) And lawless- ness increased on the earth and all flesh corrupted its way,* alike men and cattle and beasts and birds and everything that walketh on the earth — all of them corrupted their ways and their orders, and they began to devour each other, and lawlessness increased on the earth and every imagination of the thoughts . of all men (was) thus evil continually.

(2) So, likewise, in the millennium of Hûshêdar-mâh, the strength of appetite (âz) will thus diminish, when men will remain three days and nights in superabundance (sîrîh) through one taste of consecrated food.

(4) The sorrowful departure of the Gods from men takes place; bad angels only stay, who mingled with humanity will lay their hands on them, and drive the wretched folk to every ill of recklessness,—to wars, and robberies, deceits, and all those things that are opposed to the soul’s nature. Then shall the Earth no longer hold together; the Sea no longer shall be sailed upon; nor shall the Heaven continue with the Courses of the Stars, nor the Star-course in Heaven. The voice of every God shall cease in the [Great] Silence that no one can break; the fruits of Earth shall rot; nay, Earth no longer shall bring forth; and Air itself shall faint in that sad listlessness. XXVI

(12) And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

(5) And He sent His sword into their midst that each should slay his neigh- bour, and they began to slay each other till they all fell by the sword and were destroyed from the earth.