¹ And GodGod spakespake all these wordswords, saying,

² I am the LORDthe LORD thy GodGod, which have brought thee out of the landland of EgyptEgypt, out of the househouse of bondage.

³ Thou shalt have no other godsgods beforebefore me.

⁴ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven imagegraven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heavenheaven above, or that is in the earthearth beneathbeneath, or that is in the waterwater underunder the earthearth:

⁵ Thou shalt not bow downbow down thyself to them, nor serveserve them: for I the LORDthe LORD thy GodGod am a jealous GodGod, visitingvisiting the iniquityiniquity of the fathersfathers upon the childrenchildren unto the thirdthird and fourth generation of them that hatehate me;

⁶ And shewing mercymercy unto thousandsthousands of them that lovelove me, and keepkeep my commandmentscommandments.

At face value, the Ten Commandments can seem intense and unforgiving. But Emanuel Swedenborg’s understanding of the internal sense of the Bible—spiritual meanings that lie beneath the literal words—can give us a new perspective on these familiar rules.

In this episode of their Swedenborg and Life web series, hosts Curtis Childs and Jonathan Rose study the inner meaning of the first commandment.

(References: Apocalypse Revealed 950; Arcana Coelestia 8864, 8865, 8868, 8869, 8875, 8878, 8879, 8880, 8881)