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Exodus 20

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1 And God said all these words:

2 I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the prison-house.

3 You are to have no other gods but me.

4 You are not to make an image or picture of anything in heaven or on the earth or in the waters under the earth:

5 You may not go down on your faces before them or give them worship: for I, the Lord your God, am a God who will not give his honour to another; and I will send punishment on the children for the wrongdoing of their fathers, to the third and fourth generation of my haters;

6 And I will have mercy through a thousand generations on those who have love for me and keep my laws.

7 You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged a sinner by the Lord

8 Keep in memory the Sabbath and let it be a holy day.

9 On six days do all your work:

10 But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; on that day you are to do no work, you or your son or your daughter, your man-servant or your woman-servant, your cattle or the man from a strange country who is living among you:

11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and everything in them, and he took his rest on the seventh day: for this reason the Lord has given his blessing to the seventh day and made it holy.

12 Give honour to your father and to your mother, so that your life may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

13 Do not put anyone to death without cause.

14 Do not be false to the married relation.

15 Do not take the property of another.

16 Do not give false witness against your neighbour.

17 Let not your desire be turned to your neighbour's house, or his wife or his man-servant or his woman-servant or his ox or his ass or anything which is his.

18 And all the people were watching the thunderings and the flames and the sound of the horn and the mountain smoking; and when they saw it, they kept far off, shaking with fear.

19 And they said to Moses, To your words we will give ear, but let not the voice of God come to our ears, for fear death may come on us.

20 And Moses said to the people, Have no fear: for God has come to put you to the test, so that fearing him you may be kept from sin.

21 And the people kept their places far off, but Moses went near to the dark cloud where God was.

22 And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You yourselves have seen that my voice has come to you from heaven

23 Gods of silver and Gods of gold you are not to make for yourselves.

24 Make for me an altar of earth, offering on it your burned offerings and your peace-offerings, your sheep and your oxen: in every place where I have put the memory of my name, I will come to you and give you my blessing.

25 And if you make me an altar of stone do not make it of cut stones: for the touch of an instrument will make it unclean.

26 And do not go up by steps to my altar, for fear that your bodies may be seen uncovered.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 979

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979. Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judgments. That this signifies that these things take place, because from Divine Good and Divine truth are all essence, life, and power, is evident from the signification of Lord God, as denoting the Lord as to Divine Good and as to Divine truth. For the Lord is called Lord from Divine good, and God from Divine truth; and from the signification of Almighty, as denoting to be, to live, and to be able from Himself (see n. 43, 689, 939); hence also denoting that He is the Esse, the Life, and the power of all; for these things are the Lord from Himself, but are man from the Lord; and from the signification of Thy judgments, as denoting things accomplished, namely, those that are mentioned above in verse 6. That this is meant by judgments, is evident from verse 5, where it is said, Thou art just, O Lord, and holy, because Thou hast judged these things. These judgments are called true from the Divine truth, and are called just from the Divine Good; from these two all things are effected. That just is said of the Divine Good may be seen above (n. 972).

These words, "Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and just are thy judgments," involve the same as the words in verse 5, namely, "Thou art just, O Lord, who is, and who was, and art holy, because thou hast judged these things." The only difference is, that the latter were spoken from the Lord's spiritual kingdom, but the former, from His celestial kingdom. "Even so," is an expression confirmative of the statements from the spiritual kingdom; that they involve the same things, see above (n. 972, 973, 974).

Continuation concerning the Fifth Precept:-

[2] From what has been said above, it is now evident what is meant in the Word by good works, that is, all works that are done by man while evils are being removed as sins. For the works afterwards done are not done by man otherwise than as of himself, for they are done from the Lord. And the works done from the Lord are all good, and are called the goods of life, the goods of charity, and good works. For example: all the judgments of a judge who regards justice as the end, and venerates and loves it as Divine, and who also detests, as infamous, judgments given for the sake of rewards, friendship, or favour. In acting in this way he consults the good of his country by causing justice and judgment to reign therein as in heaven; and thus he consults the peace of all harmless citizens, and guards them from the violence of evil-doers; all these are good works. Also the various offices of administrators, and the dealings of merchants are all good works, when they shun unlawful gains as sins against the Divine laws.

When a man shuns evils as sins, he then daily learns what a good work is, and the love of doing good and the love of knowing truths for the sake of good grow with him. For so far as he knows truths, so far he can perform works more fully and more wisely, whence his works become more truly good.

Cease therefore to inquire in thyself, "What are the good works that I shall do, or what good shall I do that I may receive life eternal?" Only abstain from evils as sins, and look to the Lord, and the Lord will teach and lead thee.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.