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Matthew 6

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1 Take care not to do your good works before men, to be seen by them; or you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 When then you give money to the poor, do not make a noise about it, as the false-hearted men do in the Synagogues and in the streets, so that they may have glory from men. Truly, I say to you, They have their reward.

3 But when you give money, let not your left hand see what your right hand does:

4 So that your giving may be in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.

5 And when you make your prayers, be not like the false-hearted men, who take pleasure in getting up and saying their prayers in the Synagogues and at the street turnings so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

6 But when you make your prayer, go into your private room, and, shutting the door, say a prayer to your Father in secret, and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.

7 And in your prayer do not make use of the same words again and again, as the Gentiles do: for they have the idea that God will give attention to them because of the number of their words.

8 So be not like them; because your Father has knowledge of your needs even before you make your requests to him.

9 Let this then be your prayer: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.

10 Let your kingdom come. Let your pleasure be done, as in heaven, so on earth.

11 Give us this day bread for our needs.

12 And make us free of our debts, as we have made those free who are in debt to us.

13 And let us not be put to the test, but keep us safe from the Evil One.

14 For if you let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will have forgiveness from your Father in heaven.

15 But if you do not let men have forgiveness for their sins, you will not have forgiveness from your Father for your sins.

16 And when you go without food, be not sad-faced as the false-hearted are. For they go about with changed looks, so that men may see that they are going without food. Truly I say to you, They have their reward.

17 But when you go without food, put oil on your head and make your face clean;

18 So that no one may see that you are going without food, but your Father in secret; and your Father, who sees in secret, will give you your reward.

19 Make no store of wealth for yourselves on earth, where it may be turned to dust by worms and weather, and where thieves may come in by force and take it away.

20 But make a store for yourselves in heaven, where it will not be turned to dust and where thieves do not come in to take it away:

21 For where your wealth is, there will your heart be.

22 The light of the body is the eye; if then your eye is true, all your body will be full of light.

23 But if your eye is evil, all your body will be dark. If then the light which is in you is dark, how dark it will be!

24 No man is able to be a servant to two masters: for he will have hate for the one and love for the other, or he will keep to one and have no respect for the other. You may not be servants of God and of wealth.

25 So I say to you, Take no thought for your life, about food or drink, or about clothing for your body. Is not life more than food, and the body more than its clothing?

26 See the birds of heaven; they do not put seeds in the earth, they do not get in grain, or put it in store-houses; and your Father in heaven gives them food. Are you not of much more value than they?

27 And which of you by taking thought is able to make himself a cubit taller?

28 And why are you troubled about clothing? See the flowers of the field, how they come up; they do no work, they make no thread:

29 But I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

30 But if God gives such clothing to the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is put into the oven, will he not much more give you clothing, O you of little faith?

31 Then do not be full of care, saying, What are we to have for food or drink? or, With what may we be clothed?

32 Because the Gentiles go in search of all these things: for your Father in heaven has knowledge that you have need of all these things:

33 But let your first care be for his kingdom and his righteousness; and all these other things will be given to you in addition.

34 Then have no care for tomorrow: tomorrow will take care of itself. Take the trouble of the day as it comes.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 3820

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3820. 'And Leah's eyes were weak' means that the affection for external truth is weak so far as the understanding of it is concerned. This is clear from the representation of 'Leah' as the affection for external truth, dealt with in 3793, and immediately above in 3819; from the meaning of 'the eyes' as the understanding, dealt with in 2701; and from the meaning of 'weak' as its being such in comparison with the affection for internal truth. The fact that affections for external truth are weak so far as the understanding of it is concerned, or what amounts to the same, so far as people governed by those affections are concerned, becomes clear from external - that is, general - ideas which have not yet been filled in with their particular details. They are feeble and shaky ideas, which so to speak allow themselves to be carried along by every puff of wind, that is, to be won over to every opinion. But when those same ideas have been filled in with their particular details they emerge as firm and steadfast ideas, for they then possess the essence and form meant by 'beautiful in form and beautiful in appearance' as Rachel was, who represents the affections for interior truth.

[2] Let the following example show what is meant by external truths and the affections for them, and what by internal truths and the affections for these, and the fact that the former are 'weak eyed' in comparison with the latter, which are 'beautiful in form and appearance': Those governed by external truths know no more than the general truth that good should be done to the poor. They do not know how to tell who are truly the poor, let alone know that in the Word the expression 'the poor' is used to mean those who are so spiritually. Consequently they do good to bad persons and to good ones alike, without realizing that doing good to bad people is doing bad to good, for the bad are then given the opportunity to do bad to those who are good. This is why people possessing this kind of simple zeal are infested so strongly by the crafty and deceitful. But those governed by internal truths know who the poor are, tell one poor person from another, and do good to each according to his individual character.

[3] Take another example. Those governed by external truths know no more than the general truth that the neighbour ought to be loved. They as a consequence believe that every individual is the neighbour in the same degree, and so every individual ought to be embraced with the same love. Believing this, they allow themselves to be misguided. Those however who are governed by internal truths know which degree of the neighbour each person belongs to and that any one person is the neighbour in a different degree from another. Consequently they are aware of countless things which those governed by external truths do not know. They do not therefore allow themselves to be led astray by the mere name of neighbour, or to do what is evil by performing that good which the name alone persuades them to do.

[4] Take yet another example. Those governed by external truths alone imagine that the learned will shine like stars in the next life, and that all who have worked in the Lord's vineyard will have a greater reward than others. But those governed by internal truths know the expressions 'learned', 'wise', and 'intelligent' are used to mean those in whom good is present, whether they possess any human wisdom and intelligence or not, and that it is these who will shine like stars. They also know that those who work in the vineyard receive a reward, each according to the affection for good and truth which motivated him in his work, and that those who work from selfish and worldly motives, that is, from self-aggrandizement and enrichment as motives, have their reward during their lifetime, but in the next life their lot is with the evil there, Matthew 7:22-23.

From these examples it is evident how weak in understanding those people are who are governed by external truths alone, and that internal truths are what give them essence and form, and also what determine the character of the good with them. Nevertheless people governed by external truths, and at the same time when in the world simple good was present in them, receive internal truths and resulting wisdom in the next life, for by virtue of that simple good they are in the right state and have the capacity to receive them.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.