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Daniel 7

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1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream; he told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens broke forth upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, different one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

5 And behold, another beast, a second, like unto a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; and [it had] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and they said thus unto it: Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another, a little horn, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, [and] its wheels burning fire.

10 A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld therefore, because of the voice of the great words that the horn spoke; I beheld till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given up to be burned with fire.

12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven [one] like a son of man, and he came up even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

15 As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the certainty of all this. And he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things:

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, [that] shall arise out of the earth.

18 But the saints of the most high [places] shall receive the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom for ever, even to the ages of ages.

19 Then I desired to know the certainty concerning the fourth beast, which was different from them all, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet;

20 and concerning the ten horns that were in its head, and the other that came up, and before which three fell: even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose look was more imposing than its fellows.

21 I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them;

22 until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high [places]; and the appointed time arrived, and the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 He said thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And as to the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall arise ten kings; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High [places], and think to change seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half time.

26 And the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27 But the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high [places]. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28 So far is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.

   

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Sacred Scripture # 86

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86. We can see more clearly from passages where it says nations and peoples that there are in the Word repetitions of what seems to be the same thing for the sake of the marriage of goodness and truth. See, for example, the following passages:

Woe to a sinful nation, to a people weighed down with iniquity. (Isaiah 1:4)

The peoples walking in darkness have seen a great light; you have multiplied the nation. (Isaiah 9:2-3)

Assyria is the rod of my anger. I will send him against a hypocritical nation; I will appoint him against the people of my rage. (Isaiah 10:5-6)

It will happen on that day that the nations will seek the root of Jesse, the one who stands as a sign for the peoples. (Isaiah 11:10)

Jehovah is striking the peoples with a plague that cannot be healed and ruling the nations in anger. (Isaiah 14:6)

On that day a gift will be brought to Jehovah Sabaoth - a people scattered and shaven and a nation measured and trampled. (Isaiah 18:7)

A strong people will honor you; a city of powerful nations will fear you. (Isaiah 25:3)

Jehovah will swallow up the covering that is over all peoples and the veil that is over all nations. (Isaiah 25:7)

Come near, O nations, and listen, O peoples. (Isaiah 34:1)

I have called you to be a covenant for the people, a light for the nations. (Isaiah 42:6)

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples convene. (Isaiah 43:9)

Behold, I will lift up my hand toward the nations, and my sign toward the peoples. (Isaiah 49:22)

I have made him a witness to the peoples, a prince and a lawgiver to the nations. (Isaiah 55:4-5)

Behold, a people is coming from the land of the north and a great nation from the farthest parts of the earth. (Jeremiah 6:22)

I will no longer let you hear the slander of the nations, and you will not bear the reproach of the peoples anymore. (Ezekiel 36:15)

All peoples and nations will worship him. (Daniel 7:14)

Do not allow the nations to turn [your heritage] into a joke or to say among the peoples, “Where is their God?” (Joel 2:17)

The remnant of my people will plunder them and the remainder of my nation will possess them. (Zephaniah 2:9)

Many peoples and vast nations will come to seek Jehovah Sabaoth in Jerusalem. (Zechariah 8:22)

My eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples, a light to bring revelation to the nations. (Luke 2:30-32)

You have redeemed us by your blood out of every people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

You must prophesy again about peoples and nations. (Revelation 10:11)

You will make me the head of the nations; people I have not known will serve me. (Psalms 18:43)

Jehovah makes the counsel of the nations ineffective; he overturns the thoughts of the peoples. (Psalms 33:10)

You are making us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples. (Psalms 44:14)

Jehovah will subdue peoples under us and nations under our feet. Jehovah has ruled over the nations; those who are willing among the peoples have gathered. (Psalms 47:3, 8-9)

The peoples will praise you, the nations will be glad and rejoice, because you are going to judge the peoples with righteousness and lead the nations in the land. (Psalms 67:3-4)

Remember me, Jehovah, in the good pleasure of your people, so that I may be glad in the joy of your nations. (Psalms 106:4-5)

There are other passages as well.

The reason it says both nations and peoples is that “nations” means people who are focused on what is good (and in an opposite sense, on what is evil) and “peoples” means those who are focused on what is true (and in an opposite sense, on what is false). That is why those who are in the Lord’s spiritual kingdom are called peoples, while those in the Lord’s heavenly kingdom are called nations. The underlying reason is that everyone in the spiritual kingdom is focused on what is true and therefore on wisdom, while everyone in the heavenly kingdom is focused on what is good and therefore on love.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

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Apocalypse Revealed # 507

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507. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad. (11:10) This symbolizes the delight of the heart and soul's affection on that account among those people in the church who were caught up in faith alone as regards their doctrine and life.

Those who dwell on the earth mean people in the church, here people in the church where the faith is faith alone. The earth symbolizes the church in which they are (no. 285). To rejoice and be glad symbolizes a delight of the heart and soul's affection. A delight of the heart's affection is a delight of the will, and a delight of the soul's affection is a delight of the intellect, for in the Word the heart and soul mean a person's will and intellect. Thus the people are said to rejoice and be glad, even though joy and gladness seem to be the same thing. Present in the two, however, is a marriage of the will and intellect, which is also a marriage of goodness and truth, a marriage that exists in each and every particular of the Word, as we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.

That is why both terms, to rejoice and be glad, or joy and gladness, are frequently mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:

Lo, joy and gladness, the slaying of oxen... (Isaiah 22:13)

They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10; 51:11)

...cut off has been... joy and gladness from the house of our God. (Joel 1:16)

(Caused to cease will be) the sound of joy and the sound of gladness... (Jeremiah 7:34, cf. 25:10)

...the fast of the tenth shall be for joy and gladness... (Zechariah 8:19)

Be glad in Jerusalem, rejoice in her... (Isaiah 66:10)

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom... (Lamentations 4:21)

The heavens shall rejoice; be glad you lands. (Psalms 96:11)

You will make me hear joy and gladness... (Psalms 51:8)

Joy and gladness will be found in (Zion).... (Isaiah 51:3)

You will have gladness... many will rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:14)

I will cause to cease... the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride. (Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9, cf. 25:10; 33:10-11)

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad... (Psalms 40:16; 70:4)

Let the righteous be glad..., and let them rejoice in their gladness. (Psalms 68:3)

Be glad in Jerusalem...; rejoice for joy with her... (Isaiah 66:10)

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