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創世記 44

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1 約瑟吩咐家宰說:『把糧食裝滿這些袋,儘著他們的驢所能馱的,又把各子放在各袋裡,

2 並將我的杯和那少年人糴糧的子一同裝在他的袋裡。』家宰就照約瑟所行了;

3 天一亮就打發那些人帶著走了。

4 他們出城走了不遠,約瑟對家宰:『起來,追那些人去,追上了就對他們:「你們為甚麼以惡報善呢?

5 這不是我人飲酒的杯嗎?豈不是他占卜用的嗎?你們這樣行是作惡了。」』

6 家宰追上他們,將這些對他們了。

7 他們回答:『我為甚麼這樣的呢?你僕人斷不能作這樣的事。

8 你看,我們從前在袋裡所見的子,尚且從迦南帶來還你,我們怎能從你人家裡呢?

9 僕人中無論在誰那裡搜出來,就叫他,我們也作我的奴僕。』

10 家宰:『現在就照你們的行吧!在誰那裡搜出來,誰就作我的奴僕;其餘的都沒有罪。』

11 於是他們各急忙把口袋卸在,各打開口袋。

12 家宰就搜查,從年長的起到年幼的為止,那杯竟在便雅憫的口袋裡搜出來。

13 他們就撕裂衣服,各把馱子抬在上,回城去了。

14 猶大和他弟兄們到約瑟的中,約瑟還在那裡,他們就在他面前俯伏於

15 約瑟對他們:『你們作的是甚麼事呢?你們豈不知像我這樣的必能占卜嗎?』

16 猶大:『我們甚麼呢?還有甚麼話可呢?我們怎能自己表白出來呢?已經查出僕人的罪孽了。我們與那在他中搜出杯來的都是我的奴僕。

17 約瑟:『我斷不能這樣行!在誰的中搜出杯來,誰就作我的奴僕;至於你們,可以平平安安地上你們父親那裡去。』

18 猶大他,:『我啊,求你容僕人一句給我聽,不要向僕人發烈怒,因為你如同法老一樣。

19 曾問僕人:「你們有父親兄弟沒有?」

20 我們對我:「我們有父親,已經年老,還有他老年所生的一個小孩子。他哥哥死了,他母親只撇下他一人,他父親他。」

21 你對僕人:「把他帶到我這裡來,叫我親眼看看他。」

22 我們對我:童子不能離開他父親,若是離開,他父親

23 你對僕人:你們的小兄弟若不與你們一同來,你們就不得再見我的面。

24 我們上到你僕人─我們父親那裡,就把我告訴了他。

25 我們父親:你們再去給我糴些糧來。

26 我們我們不能去。我們的小兄弟若和我們同往,我們就可以去。因為,小兄弟若不與我們同往,我們必不得見那的面。

27 僕人─我父親我們:你們知道我的妻子給我生了兩個兒子。

28 個離開我出去了;我他必是被撕碎了,直到如今我也沒有見他。

29 現在你們又要把這個帶去離開我,倘若他遭害,那便是你們使我白髮蒼蒼、悲悲慘慘地陰間去了。

30 父親的命與這童子的命相連。如今我回到你僕人─我父親那裡,若沒有童子與我們同在,

31 我們父親見沒有童子,他就必。這便是我們使你僕人我們父親白髮蒼蒼、悲悲慘慘地陰間去了。

32 因為僕人曾向我父親為這童子作保,說:我若不他回來交給父親,我便在父親面前永遠擔罪。

33 現在求你容僕人住下,替這童子作我的奴僕,叫童子和他哥哥們一同上去。

34 若童子不和我同去,我怎能上去見我父親呢?恐怕我見災禍臨到我父親身上。

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 5786

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5786. 'behold, we are my lord's slaves' means that they are to be deprived for ever of their own freedom. This is clear from the meaning of slaves' as being without any freedom of their own, dealt with in 5760, 5763. What is meant by being deprived of the freedom of one's own has also been stated in the paragraphs that have just been mentioned; however, since it is an extremely important matter, let it be restated. A person has both an external man and an internal man. The external man is the means through which the internal man acts; for the external man is merely the organ or instrument of the internal. This being so, the external man must be made wholly subservient and subject to the internal; and when the external man is subject to the internal, heaven acts on the external man by means of the internal man and makes the external man conform to things such as are of heaven.

[2] The opposite occurs when the external man is not the servant but the master. The external man is the master when a person has the pleasure of the body and the senses as his end in view, especially when the objects of his selfish and worldly love and not the things of heaven are his end - to have as his end in view being to love one and not the other. For when a person has those objects as his end he no longer believes that there is any such thing as an internal man or that within himself there is anything that will be living when his body dies. In his case the internal, since it does not hold the position of the master, is merely the servant of the external, employed to enable thought and reasoning against what is good and true to take place; for in this person's case no other kind of influx by way of the internal is available. This is also the reason why people like this utterly despise, indeed recoil from the things of heaven. From all this it is plain that the external man, which is the same as the natural man, ought to be wholly subject to the internal or spiritual man, and consequently should exist without any freedom of its own.

[3] Freedom of one's own consists in giving oneself up to every kind of base pleasure, despising others in comparison with oneself, and making them subject like slaves to oneself. Or else it consists in persecuting others, hating them, being delighted when bad things happen to them - especially things done to them by one's own designs or by the use of deceit - and wishing to see them dead. These are the kinds of things that come from indulging one's own freedom. From this one may see what a person is like when he exercises this type of freedom, namely a devil in human form. But when he loses this freedom he receives a heavenly freedom from the Lord, the nature of which is completely unknown to those exercising the freedom of their own. They imagine that if the freedom of their own were taken away from them no life at all would remain. But in actual fact this is when true life has its beginning and when true delight, blessing, happiness, and wisdom arrive, because this freedom comes from the Lord.

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