The Gospel of Barnabas · Chapter 135 The seven regions of hell and their punishments. The supposed parallel with Dante's circles, tested:
The Seven Regions of Hell and Their Punishments
Then said Peter: 'O Master, tell us how the lost shall be tormented, and how long they shall be in hell, in order that man may flee from sin.'
Jesus answered: 'O Peter, it is a great thing that thou hast asked, nevertheless, if God please, I will answer thee. Know ye, therefore, that hell is one, yet hath seven centres one below another. Hence, even as sin is of seven kinds, for as seven gates of hell hath Satan generated it: so are there seven punishments therein.'
'For the proud, that is the loftiest in heart, shall be plunged into the lowest centre, passing through all the centres above it, and suffering in them all the pains that are therein. And as here he seeketh to be higher than God, in wishing to do after his own manner, contrary to that which God commandeth, and not wishing to recognize anyone above him: even so there shall he be put under the feet of Satan and his devils, who shall trample him down as the grapes are trampled when wine is made, and he shall be ever derided and scorned of devils.'
'The envious, who here chafeth at the good of his neighbor and rejoiceth at his misfortune, shall go down to the sixth centre, and there shall be chafed by the fangs of a great number of infernal serpents.'
'And it shall seem to him that all things in hell rejoice at his torment, and mourn that he be not gone down to the seventh centre. For although the damned are incapable of any joy, yet the justice of God shall cause that it shall so seem to the wretched envious man, as when one seemeth in a dream to be spurned by some one and feeleth torment thereby—even so shall be the object set before the wretched envious man. For where there is no gladness at all it shall seem to him that every one rejoiceth at his misfortune, and mourneth that he hath no worse.'
'The covetous shall go down to the fifth centre, where he shall suffer extreme poverty, as the rich feaster suffered. And the demons, for greater torment, shall offer him that which he desireth, and when he shall have it in his hands other devils with violence shall snatch it from his hands with these words: "Remember that thou wouldest not give for love of God; so God willeth not that thou now receive."'
'Oh unhappy man! Now shall he find himself in that condition when he shall remember past abundance and behold the penury of the present; and that with the goods that then he may not have he could have acquired eternal delights!'
'To the fourth centre shall go the lustful, where they that have transformed the way given them by God shall be as corn that is cooked in the burning dung of the devil. And there shall they be embraced by horrible infernal serpents. And they that shall have sinned with harlots, all these acts of impurity shall be transformed for them into union with the infernal furies; which are demons like women, whose hair is serpents, whose eyes are flaming sulphur, whose mouth is poisonous, whose tongue is gall, whose body is all girt with barbed hooks like those wherewith they catch the silly fish, whose claws are those of gryphons, whose nails are razors, the nature of whose generative organs is fire. Now with these shall all the lustful enjoy the infernal embers which shall be their bed.'
'To the third centre shall go down the slothful who will not work now. Here are built cities and immense palaces, which as soon as they are finished must needs be pulled down straightway, because a single stone is not placed aright. And these enormous stones are laid upon the shoulders of the slothful, who hath not his hands free to cool his body as he walketh and to ease the burden, seeing that sloth hath taken away the power of his arms, and his legs are fettered with infernal serpents.'
'And, what is worse, behind him are the demons, who push him, and make him fall to earth many times beneath the weight; nor doth any help him to lift it up; nay, it being too much to lift, a double amount is laid upon him.'
'To the second centre shall go down the gluttonous. Now here there is dearth of food, to such a degree that there shall be nought to eat but live scorpions and live serpents, which give such torment that it would be better never to have been born than to eat such food. There are offered to them indeed by the demons, in appearance, delicate meats; but for that they have their hands and feet bound with fetters of fire, they cannot put out a hand on the occasion when the meat appeareth to them. But what is worse, those very scorpions which he eateth that they may devour his belly, not being able to come forth speedily, rend the secret parts of the glutton. And when they are come forth foul and unclean, filthy as they are, they are eaten over again.'
'The wrathful goeth down to the first centre, where he is insulted by all the devils and by as many of the damned as go down lower than he. They spurn him and smite him, making him lie down upon the road where they pass, planting their feet upon his throat. Yet is he not able to defend himself, for that he hath his hands and feet bound. And what is worse, he is not able to give vent to his wrath by insulting others, seeing that his tongue is fastened by a hook, like that which he useth who selleth flesh.'
'In this accursed place shall there be a general punishment, common to all the centres, like the mixture of various grains to make a loaf. For fire, ice, thunderstorms, lightning, sulphur, heat, cold, wind, frenzy, terror, shall all be united by the justice of God, and in such wise that the cold shall not temper the heat nor the fire the ice, but each shall give torment to the wretched sinner.'
Then Peter said: 'O Master, tell us how the lost will be tormented, and how long they will be in hell, so that man may flee from sin.'
Jesus answered: 'O Peter, you have asked a great question. Nevertheless, God willing, I will answer you. Know, therefore, that hell is one, but it has seven levels, one below another. Just as sin has seven forms—for Satan has given it seven gates—so there are seven punishments in hell.'
'The proud, those most exalted in heart, will be plunged into the lowest region, passing through all the regions above it and suffering every torment found in them. Just as here the proud person seeks to rise above God by following his own way contrary to God's commands and refusing to acknowledge anyone above him, so there he will be placed beneath the feet of Satan and his demons. They will trample him as grapes are trampled to make wine, and he will continually be mocked and scorned by demons.'
'The envious person, who here is irritated by his neighbor's good and rejoices in his misfortune, will descend to the sixth region, where he will be tormented by the fangs of a great number of infernal serpents.'
'It will seem to him that everything in hell rejoices in his torment and regrets that he has not descended to the seventh region. Although the damned are incapable of joy, God's justice will make it appear this way to the wretched envious person, just as someone in a dream may seem to be rejected by another and feel tormented by it. This is what will be set before him: where there is no gladness at all, it will seem that everyone rejoices in his misfortune and mourns that his suffering is not worse.'
'The greedy person will descend to the fifth region, where he will suffer extreme poverty, as the rich feaster did. To increase his torment, the demons will offer him what he desires; but when he has it in his hands, other demons will violently snatch it away, saying, "Remember that you refused to give for love of God; therefore God does not will that you should receive now."'
'O unhappy man! Then he will remember his former abundance while seeing his present poverty, and will realize that with the goods he can no longer possess he could have acquired eternal delights.'
'The lustful will descend to the fourth region. There, those who have perverted the way God gave them will be like grain cooked in the devil's burning dung, and dreadful infernal serpents will embrace them. And those who have sinned with prostitutes — all those acts of impurity will be turned for them into union with the infernal furies: demons in the form of women, whose hair is serpents, whose eyes are blazing sulphur, whose mouths are poison, whose tongues are gall, whose bodies are covered with barbed hooks like those used to catch unwary fish, whose claws are a griffin's, whose nails are razors, and the nature of whose organs of generation is fire. With these shall all the lustful lie on the embers of hell, which will be their bed.'
'The idle, who refuse to work now, will descend to the third region. There immense cities and palaces are built, but as soon as they are finished they must be pulled down because a single stone has not been set correctly. These enormous stones are laid upon the shoulders of the idle person, whose hands are not free to cool his body as he walks or to ease his burden, for idleness has taken away the strength of his arms and infernal serpents bind his legs.'
'What is worse, demons follow behind him, pushing him and repeatedly making him fall to the ground beneath the weight. No one helps him lift it; instead, though the load is already too heavy, twice as much is laid upon him.'
'The gluttonous will descend to the second region. There food is so scarce that nothing is available to eat except living scorpions and serpents, which cause such torment that it would be better never to have been born than to eat such food. The demons do offer them delicious-looking food, but because their hands and feet are bound with fetters of fire, they cannot reach out when the food appears before them. And what is worse, the very scorpions the glutton eats to devour his belly, unable to come out quickly, tear at his private parts; and when they come out, foul and filthy as they are, they are eaten all over again.'
'The wrathful person descends to the first region, where all the demons and all the damned who descend below him insult him. They kick and strike him, force him to lie on the road over which they pass, and plant their feet upon his throat. Yet he cannot defend himself, for his hands and feet are bound. And what is worse, he cannot even vent his anger by insulting others, because his tongue is fastened with a hook, like the one a meat-seller uses.'
'In this accursed place there will also be a general punishment common to every region, like various grains mixed together to make one loaf. Fire, ice, thunderstorms, lightning, sulfur, heat, cold, wind, frenzy, and terror will all be united by God's justice in such a way that the cold will not temper the heat, nor the fire the ice; instead, each will torment the wretched sinner.'
Then said Peter: 'O Master, tell us how the lost shall be tormented, and how long they shall be in hell, in order that man may flee from sin.'
Jesus answered: 'O Peter, it is a great thing that thou hast asked, nevertheless, if God please, I will answer thee. Know ye, therefore, that hell is one, yet hath seven centres one below another. Hence, even as sin is of seven kinds, for as seven gates of hell hath Satan generated it: so are there seven punishments therein.'
'For the proud, that is the loftiest in heart, shall be plunged into the lowest centre, passing through all the centres above it, and suffering in them all the pains that are therein. And as here he seeketh to be higher than God, in wishing to do after his own manner, contrary to that which God commandeth, and not wishing to recognize anyone above him: even so there shall he be put under the feet of Satan and his devils, who shall trample him down as the grapes are trampled when wine is made, and he shall be ever derided and scorned of devils.'
'The envious, who here chafeth at the good of his neighbor and rejoiceth at his misfortune, shall go down to the sixth centre, and there shall be chafed by the fangs of a great number of infernal serpents.'
'And it shall seem to him that all things in hell rejoice at his torment, and mourn that he be not gone down to the seventh centre. For although the damned are incapable of any joy, yet the justice of God shall cause that it shall so seem to the wretched envious man, as when one seemeth in a dream to be spurned by some one and feeleth torment thereby—even so shall be the object set before the wretched envious man. For where there is no gladness at all it shall seem to him that every one rejoiceth at his misfortune, and mourneth that he hath no worse.'
'The covetous shall go down to the fifth centre, where he shall suffer extreme poverty, as the rich feaster suffered. And the demons, for greater torment, shall offer him that which he desireth, and when he shall have it in his hands other devils with violence shall snatch it from his hands with these words: "Remember that thou wouldest not give for love of God; so God willeth not that thou now receive."'
'Oh unhappy man! Now shall he find himself in that condition when he shall remember past abundance and behold the penury of the present; and that with the goods that then he may not have he could have acquired eternal delights!'
'To the fourth centre shall go the lustful, where they that have transformed the way given them by God shall be as corn that is cooked in the burning dung of the devil. And there shall they be embraced by horrible infernal serpents. And they that shall have sinned with harlots, all these acts of impurity shall be transformed for them into union with the infernal furies; which are demons like women, whose hair is serpents, whose eyes are flaming sulphur, whose mouth is poisonous, whose tongue is gall, whose body is all girt with barbed hooks like those wherewith they catch the silly fish, whose claws are those of gryphons, whose nails are razors, the nature of whose generative organs is fire. Now with these shall all the lustful enjoy the infernal embers which shall be their bed.'
'To the third centre shall go down the slothful who will not work now. Here are built cities and immense palaces, which as soon as they are finished must needs be pulled down straightway, because a single stone is not placed aright. And these enormous stones are laid upon the shoulders of the slothful, who hath not his hands free to cool his body as he walketh and to ease the burden, seeing that sloth hath taken away the power of his arms, and his legs are fettered with infernal serpents.'
'And, what is worse, behind him are the demons, who push him, and make him fall to earth many times beneath the weight; nor doth any help him to lift it up; nay, it being too much to lift, a double amount is laid upon him.'
'To the second centre shall go down the gluttonous. Now here there is dearth of food, to such a degree that there shall be nought to eat but live scorpions and live serpents, which give such torment that it would be better never to have been born than to eat such food. There are offered to them indeed by the demons, in appearance, delicate meats; but for that they have their hands and feet bound with fetters of fire, they cannot put out a hand on the occasion when the meat appeareth to them. But what is worse, those very scorpions which he eateth that they may devour his belly, not being able to come forth speedily, rend the secret parts of the glutton. And when they are come forth foul and unclean, filthy as they are, they are eaten over again.'
'The wrathful goeth down to the first centre, where he is insulted by all the devils and by as many of the damned as go down lower than he. They spurn him and smite him, making him lie down upon the road where they pass, planting their feet upon his throat. Yet is he not able to defend himself, for that he hath his hands and feet bound. And what is worse, he is not able to give vent to his wrath by insulting others, seeing that his tongue is fastened by a hook, like that which he useth who selleth flesh.'
'In this accursed place shall there be a general punishment, common to all the centres, like the mixture of various grains to make a loaf. For fire, ice, thunderstorms, lightning, sulphur, heat, cold, wind, frenzy, terror, shall all be united by the justice of God, and in such wise that the cold shall not temper the heat nor the fire the ice, but each shall give torment to the wretched sinner.'