Bible

 

Matthew 5

Studie

   

1 Men da han så Skarerne, steg han op på Bjerget; og da han havde sat sig, gik hans Disciple hen til ham,

2 og han oplod sin Mund, lærte dem og sagde:

3 "Salige ere de fattige i Ånden, thi Himmeriges ige er deres.

4 Salige ere de, som sørge, thi de skulle husvales.

5 Salige ere de sagtmodige, thi de skulle arve Jorden.

6 Salige ere de, som hungre og tørste efter etfærdigheden, thi de skulle mættes.

7 Salige ere de barmhjertige, thi dem skal vises Barmhjertighed.

8 Salige ere de rene af Hjertet, thi de skulle se Gud.

9 Salige ere de, som stifte Fred, thi de skulle kaldes Guds Børn.

10 Salige ere de, som ere forfulgte for etfærdigheds Skyld, thi Himmeriges ige er deres.

11 Salige ere I, når man håner og forfølger eder og lyver eder alle Hånde ondt på for min Skyld.

12 Glæder og fryder eder, thi eders Løn skal være stor i Himlene; thi således have de forfulgt Profeterne, som vare før eder.

13 I ere Jordens Salt; men dersom Saltet mister sin Kraft, hvormed skal det da saltes? Det duer ikke til andet end at kastes ud og nedtrædes af Menneskene.

14 I ere Verdens Lys; en Stad, som ligger på et Bjerg, kan ikke skjules.

15 Man tænder heller ikke et Lys og sætter det under Skæppen, men Lysestagen; så skinner det for alle dem, som ere i Huset.

16 Lader således eders Lys skinne for Menneskene, at de må se eders gode Gerninger og ære eders Fader, som er i Himlene.

17 Mener ikke, at jeg er kommen for at nedbryde Loven eller Profeterne;jeg er ikke kommen for at nedbryde, men for at fuldkomme.

18 Thi sandelig, siger jeg eder, indtil Himmelen og Jorden forgår, skal end ikke det mindste Bogstav eller en Tøddel forgå af Loven, indtil det er sket alt sammen.

19 Derfor, den, som bryder et at de mindste af disse Bud og lærer Menneskene således, han skal kaldes den mindste i Himmeriges ige; men den, som gør dem og lærer dem, han skal kaldes stor i Himmeriges ige.

20 Thi jeg siger eder: Uden eders etfærdighed overgår de skriftkloges og Farisæernes, komme I ingenlunde ind i Himmeriges ige.

21 I have hørt, at der er sagt til de gamle: Du må ikke slå ihjel, men den, som slår ihjel, skal være skyldig for Dommen.

22 Men jeg siger eder, at hver den, som bliver vred på sin Broder uden Årsag, skal være skyldig for Dommen; og den, som siger til sin Broder: aka! skal være skyldig for ådet; og den, som siger: Du Dåre! skal være skyldig til Helvedes Ild.

23 Derfor, når du ofrer din Gave Alteret og der kommer i Hu, at din Broder har noget imod dig,

24 så lad din Gave blive der foran Alteret, og gå hen, forlig dig først med din Broder, og kom da og offer din Gave!

25 Vær velvillig mod din Modpart uden Tøven, medens du er med ham på Vejen, for at Modparten ikke skal overgive dig til Dommeren, og Dommeren til Tjeneren, og du skal kastes i Fængsel.

26 Sandelig, siger jeg dig, du skal ingenlunde komme ud derfra, førend du får betalt den sidste Hvid.

27 I have hørt, at der er sagt: Du må ikke bedrive Hor.

28 Men jeg siger eder, at hver den, som ser på en Kvinde for at begære hende, har allerede bedrevet Hor med hende i sit Hjerte.

29 Men dersom dit højre Øje forarger dig, så riv det ud, og kast det fra dig; thi det er bedre for dig, at eet af dine Lemmer fordærves, end at hele dit Legeme bliver kastet i Helvede.

30 Og om din højre Hånd forarger dig, så hug den af og kast den fra dig; thi det er bedre for dig, at eet af dine Lemmer fordærves, end at hele dit Legeme kommer i Helvede.

31 Og der er sagt: Den, som skiller sig fra sin Hustru, skal give hende et Skilsmissebrev.

32 Men jeg siger eder, at enhver, som skiller sig fra sin Hustru, uden for Hors Skyld, gør, at hun bedriver Hor, og den, som tager en fraskilt Kvinde til Ægte, bedriver Hor.

33 I have fremdeles hørt, at der er sagt til de gamle: Du må ikke gøre nogen falsk Ed, men du skal holde Herren dine Eder.

34 Men jeg siger eder, at I må aldeles ikke sværge, hverken ved Himmelen, thi den er Guds Trone,

35 ej heller ved Jorden, thi den er hans Fodskammel, ej heller ved Jerusalem, thi det er den store Konges Stad.

36 Du må heller ikke sværge ved dit Hoved, thi du kan ikke gøre et eneste Hår hvidt eller sort.

37 Men eders Tale skal være ja, ja, nej, nej; hvad der er ud over dette, er af det onde.

38 I have hørt, at der er sagt: Øje for Øje, og Tand for Tand.

39 Men jeg siger eder, at I må ikke sætte eder imod det onde; men dersom nogen giver dig et Slag på din højre Kind, da vend ham også den anden til!

40 Og dersom nogen vil gå i ette med dig og tage din Kjortel, lad ham da også få Kappen!

41 Og dersom nogen tvinger dig til at gå een Mil,da gå to med ham!

42 Giv den, som beder dig, og vend dig ikke fra den, som vil låne af dig.

43 I have hørt, at der er sagt: Du skal elske din Næste og hade din Fjende.

44 Men jeg siger eder: Elsker eders Fjender, velsigner dem, som forbande eder, gører dem godt, som hade eder, og beder for dem, som krænke eder og forfølge eder,

45 for at I må vorde eders Faders Børn, han, som er i Himlene; thi han lader sin Sol opgå over onde og gode og lader det regne over retfærdige og uretfærdige.

46 Thi dersom I elske dem, som elske eder, hvad Løn have I da? Gøre ikke også Tolderne det samme?

47 Og dersom I hilse eders Brødre alene, hvad stort gøre I da? Gøre ikke også Hedningerne det samme?

48 Værer da I fuldkomne, ligesom eders himmelske Fader er fuldkommen.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Conjugial Love # 316

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 535  
  

316. The second account:

Walking once with tranquil heart in a pleasantly peaceful state of mind, I saw in the distance a wood, which had in the midst of it an enclosed path leading to a little palace; and I saw young women and men and husbands and wives going in. I, too, in the spirit went over there, and I asked one of the keepers standing at the entrance of the path whether I might go in as well. He stared at me; and so I asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

"I am examining you," he replied, "to see whether the pleasant state of peace reflected in your face draws any of its character from a pleasant delight in conjugial love. After this path there is a little garden, and in the middle of it a house with a newly married couple in it. Their friends are coming here today to wish them happiness and joy. I do not know the people I am allowing to enter, but I was told I would recognize them from their faces. If I saw in them a delight in conjugial love, I was to let them in, and no one else."

Every angel can see from others' faces what the delights of their heart are; and because I was thinking about conjugial love, it was a delight in that love that he saw in my face. This contemplation of mine shone from my eyes and lent an inner glow to my face, so that he told me I might go in.

[2] The enclosed path through which I went was lined with fruit trees joined together by interlocking branches, thus forming an unbroken wall of trees on either side. Through this pathway I entered the little garden, which exhaled a pleasant fragrance from its bushes and flowers. The bushes and flowers grew in pairs; and I learned that gardens of this sort appear around houses where weddings are being or have been celebrated, on which account they are called wedding gardens.

After that I went into the house, and there I saw the married couple holding each other by the hand and speaking to each other out of truly conjugial love. Moreover, from their faces I was given to see then an image of conjugial love, and from their conversation, its vibrancy.

Later, when I among many others had expressed my prayers for them and wished them happiness and joy, I went out into the wedding garden; and I saw on the right side of it a group of young men, to which all who left the house went hurrying over. They all hurried over there because they were having a conversation about conjugial love, and this conversation drew the hearts of all with a kind of hidden force to it. I listened then to a wise person in the group speaking about that love, and what I heard was in summary the following:

[3] "The Lord's Divine providence is most specific and therefore most universal in connection with marriages and in its operation in marriages in heaven, because all blessings of heaven flow from the delights of conjugial love, like sweet waters from a sweetly gushing spring. It is therefore provided by the Lord that conjugial pairs be born, and they are raised and continually prepared for their marriages, neither the boy nor the girl being aware of the fact. Then, after a period of time, the girl - now a marriageable young woman - and the boy - now a young man able to marry - meet somewhere, as though by fate, and notice each other. And they immediately recognize, as if by a kind of instinct, that they are a match, thinking to themselves from a kind of inner dictate, the young man, 'she is mine,' and the young woman, 'he is mine.' Later, after this thought has for some time become settled in the minds of each, they deliberately talk about it together and pledge themselves to each other in marriage.

"We say as though by fate and as if by instinct, when we mean by Divine providence, because when one is unaware that it is Divine providence, that is how it appears."

With respect to his statement that conjugial pairs are born, raised and prepared for their marriages without their knowing, the speaker supported it by the conjugial similarity visible in the faces of a couple, also by the innermost and eternal union of their hearts and minds, neither of which would be possible the way they are in heaven unless foreseen and provided by the Lord.

[4] Having said this - to which the group responded with applause - the wise person speaking went on to say that there is a conjugial element in the smallest particulars in every person, both male and female; only that the conjugial element in the male and the conjugial element in the female are not the same, but the conjugial element of the male possesses a capacity for conjunction with the conjugial element of the female, and vice versa, even in the least particulars.

This he showed by the marriage of will and understanding in every individual, the two of which operate together in the least constituents of the mind and in the least constituents of the body; from which it can be seen that there is a conjugial element in each component, even the least. "This is also made evident," he said, "from the composite organs of the body which are formed from its elemental constituents. We find, for example, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two cheeks, two lips, two arms and hands, two legs, two feet; and inside the body, two hemispheres of the brain, two ventricles of the heart, two lungs, two kidneys, two testicles. Even when an organ is not paired, still it exhibits a division into two parts. The reason there are these sets of two is that one is connected with the will and the other with the intellect, which operate in conjunction with each other so marvelously that they give the appearance of being one. Thus the two eyes produce one power of sight, the two ears one power of hearing, the two nostrils one sense of smell, the two lips one speech, the two hands one labor, the two feet one gait, the two hemispheres of the brain one habitation of the mind, the two chambers of the heart one life of the body through the blood, the two lungs one respiration, and so on. Only that in the case of a married couple, the masculine element and feminine element united by truly conjugial love produce one life that is fully human."

[5] As he was saying this, a shaft of lightning appeared in the sky to our right having a red color, and another shaft of lightning to our left that was white, neither of them very intense. These entered through our eyes into our minds and illumined them as well. Then, following these, we heard the sound of thunder - in actuality a low murmur coming from the angelic heaven and growing louder in its descent.

Hearing it, and having seen the lightning, the wise person speaking said, "These are meant for me as a signal and admonition to add to my discussion something further, that in the twinned pairs of organs I have mentioned, the one on the right symbolizes the good connected with the two, and the one on the left the truth connected with them; and that this is owing to the marriage of good and truth engraved on each person in his whole being and in his every least part, good having relation to the will and truth to the understanding, and the two together to a union of these. For this reason, in heaven 'the right eye' means the good connected with sight, and 'the left eye' the truth connected with it. So, too, 'the right ear' means the good connected with hearing, and 'the left ear' the truth connected with it. Similarly, 'the right hand' means the good connected with a person's strength, and 'the left hand' the truth connected with it. And so on with the rest of these twinned pairs.

"Moreover, because 'right' and 'left' have these symbolic associations, the Lord said:

If your right eye causes you to slip, pluck it out.... And if your right hand causes you to slip, cut it off.... 1

"He meant by this that if something good is turned to evil, it should be cast away.

"For the same reason He also told His disciples to cast their net on the right side of the boat, and when they did so, they caught a great number of fish. 2 And by this He meant they should teach the good of charity, and by doing so would gather in people."

[6] Following these remarks, the two shafts of lightning appeared again, still less intense than before. And we saw then that the lightning on the left drew the whiteness of its light from the reddish fire of the lightning on the right.

Seeing this, the speaker said, "It is a sign from heaven confirming what I have said, because something fiery in heaven means something good, and something white there means something true. As for our having seen that the lightning on the left drew the whiteness of its light from the reddish fire of the lightning on the right, this is visible evidence that the whiteness of light or light itself is nothing other than the luminance of fire."

At the end of this discourse, all in the group were fired with a joyful state of goodness and truth inspired by the shafts of lightning and what they had been told concerning them, and in this state they departed for home.

Poznámky pod čarou:

  
/ 535  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.