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Ezekiel 14

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1 And there came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.

2 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

3 Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them?

4 Therefore speak to them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet, I Jehovah will answer him according to this, according to the multitude of his idols:

5 that I may take the house of Israel by their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols.

6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Return ye, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

7 For every one of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumbling-block of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet to inquire of me by him, I Jehovah will answer him by myself;

8 and I will set my face against that man, and will make him desolate, [so that he shall be] for a sign and for proverbs, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people: and ye shall know that I [am] Jehovah.

9 And if the prophet be enticed and shall speak a word, I Jehovah have enticed that prophet; and I will stretch out my hand against him, and will destroy him from the midst of my people Israel.

10 And they shall bear their iniquity: the iniquity of the prophet shall be even as the iniquity of the inquirer;

11 that the house of Israel may go no more astray from me, neither make themselves any more unclean with all their transgressions; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, saith the Lord Jehovah.

12 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

13 Son of man, when a land sinneth against me by working unfaithfulness, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the staff of the bread thereof, and send famine upon it, and cut off man and beast from it;

14 though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, should be in it, they should deliver [but] their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord Jehovah.

15 If I cause evil beasts to pass through the land, and they bereave it, and it become a desolation, so that no one passeth through because of the beasts;

16 -- though these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters: they only should be delivered, and the land should be a desolation.

17 Or [if] I bring the sword upon that land, and say, sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it,

18 and these three men should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only themselves should be delivered.

19 Or [if] I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast,

20 and Noah, Daniel, and Job should be in it, [as] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, they should deliver neither son nor daughter: they should [but] deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

21 For thus saith the Lord Jehovah: How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the evil beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast!

22 But behold, there shall be left in it those that escape, who shall be brought out of [it], sons and daughters. Behold, they shall come forth unto you, and ye shall see their way and their doings; and ye shall be comforted concerning the evil that I have brought upon Jerusalem, as to all that I have brought upon it.

23 And they shall comfort you, when ye see their way and their doings; and ye shall know that I have not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the Lord Jehovah.

   

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Sons of the stranger

  

'Sons of the stranger' signify counterfeit truths, or falsities. 'Our sons' signify the doctrines of truth, and 'our daughters,' the doctrines of good, as in Psalm 144:11-12.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 489; Psalms 144:11)

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 4215

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4215. 'And kissed his sons and his daughters' means the acknowledgement of those truths and of affections for them. This is clear from the meaning of 'kissing' as a joining together resulting from affection, dealt with in 3573, 3574, and therefore as acknowledgement, for where any joining together through good and truth exists, acknowledgement of them exists also; from the meaning of 'sons' as truths and things that are true, dealt with in 489, 491, 533, 1147, 2623, 3373; and from the meaning of 'daughters', who in this case are Rachel and Leah, as affections for those same truths, dealt with in 3758, 3782, 3793, 3819.

[2] The reason why 'kissing' means a joining together resulting from affection lies in correspondence; for as is being shown at the ends of chapters, a correspondence exists between heaven and every organ and limb of the body. A correspondence exists between man's inner self and every part of his face, so that his general frame of mind (animus) is revealed in his countenance, and more internal aspects of it - his inner mind (mens) - in his eyes. A correspondence also exists between the thoughts and affections of the mind and the actions and gestures of the body; and this is recognized to be so with all voluntary actions and gestures as well as involuntary ones. Humility of heats, for example, brings a person to his knees, an external gesture of the body; and still greater and more interior humility extends him prostrate on the ground. A feeling of gladness and joy of mind leads to singing and jubilation, sadness and inner grief to weeping and wailing. But a joining together resulting from affection leads to kissing.

[3] From this it is evident that because external actions like these correspond to inner virtues they are visible signs of these, and that as visible signs they hold within them something internal from which they receive their specific nature. With people however who wish by means of external actions to give the impression that they possess those inner virtues, their external actions are likewise visible signs; but they are signs of pretence, hypocrisy, and deceit. This is so with kisses, because everyone wishes by means of kisses to express his heartfelt love for another. For one who gives the impression that he possesses inner virtues knows that kisses have their origins in the heart and that they are a sign of a joining together resulting from affection. By means of them he wishes to convince his neighbour that he loves him because of the good he sees in him, but in fact it is all for his own sake and for the sake of personal position and gain, and it is not for good but for evil reasons that he loves him. For anyone who sees himself as the end in view and not as an intermediate end to promote good, and who wishes to be joined to another to succeed in gaining that end, is governed by evil.

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