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Leviticus 18

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am Jehovah your God.

3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do; and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring you, shall ye not do; neither shall ye walk in their customs.

4 Mine ordinances shall ye do and my statutes shall ye observe to walk therein: I am Jehovah your God.

5 And ye shall observe my statutes and my judgments, by which the man that doeth them shall live: I am Jehovah.

6 No one shall approach to any that is his near relation, to uncover his nakedness: I am Jehovah.

7 The nakedness of thy father, and the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother: thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

8 The nakedness of thy father's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father's nakedness.

9 The nakedness of thy sister, the daughter of thy father, or daughter of thy mother, born at home, or born abroad -- their nakedness shalt thou not uncover.

10 The nakedness of thy son's daughter, or of thy daughter's daughter -- their nakedness shalt thou not uncover; for theirs is thy nakedness.

11 The nakedness of thy father's wife's daughter, begotten of thy father: she is thy sister: thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

12 The nakedness of thy father's sister shalt thou not uncover: she is thy father's near relation.

13 The nakedness of thy mother's sister shalt thou not uncover; for she is thy mother's near relation.

14 The nakedness of thy father's brother shalt thou not uncover; thou shalt not approach his wife: she is thine aunt.

15 The nakedness of thy daughter-in-law shalt thou not uncover: she is thy son's wife; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness.

16 The nakedness of thy brother's wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy brother's nakedness.

17 The nakedness of a woman and her daughter shalt thou not uncover; thou shalt not take her son's daughter, nor her daughter's daughter, to uncover her nakedness: they are her near relations: it is wickedness.

18 And thou shalt not take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness beside her, during her life.

19 And thou shalt not approach a woman in the separation of her uncleanness to uncover her nakedness.

20 And thou shalt not lie carnally with thy neighbour's wife, to become unclean with her.

21 And thou shalt not give of thy seed to let them pass through [the fire] to Molech, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.

22 And thou shalt not lie with mankind as one lieth with a woman: it is an abomination.

23 And thou shalt lie with no beast to become unclean therewith; and a woman shall not stand before a beast to lie down with it: it is confusion.

24 Make not yourselves unclean in any of these things; for in all these have the nations which I am casting out before you made themselves unclean.

25 And the land hath become unclean; and I visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land vomiteth out its inhabitants.

26 But *ye* shall observe my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of all these abominations: the home-born, and the stranger that sojourneth among you;

27 (for all these abominations have the men of the land done, who were before you, and the land hath been made unclean);

28 that the land vomit you not out, when ye make it unclean, as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

29 For whoever committeth any of these abominations, ... the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.

30 And ye shall observe my charge, that ye commit not [any] of the abominable customs which were committed before you; and ye shall not make yourselves unclean therein: I am Jehovah your God.

   

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Life # 39

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39. We can illustrate the fact that goodness loves what is true by taking priests, soldiers, merchants, and artisans as examples. With respect to priests, if they are focused on the good that a priest can do, which is looking out for the salvation of souls, teaching the way to heaven, and leading the people they teach, then because they are focused on this goodness, because they love and long for it, they acquire the truths that they teach and that enable them to lead.

On the other hand, priests who are not focused on the good that priests can do but rather on the gratifications of the office - and who are this way because of love for themselves and for the world, which is all they regard as good - then because of that love and longing they too acquire as much truth as the gratification that is their "goodness" inspires them to acquire.

As for soldiers, if they have a love for military service and see some good in it, whether in providing protection or in seeking their own glory, then because of the goodness they seek and in keeping with it they acquire the necessary knowledge and, if they are officers, understanding. These are the truths by which the pleasure of their love, which is their "goodness, " is nourished and given form.

As for merchants, if they commit themselves to being in business because they love it, they gladly take in everything that serves as a means of putting together and building what they love. These means, too, are like truths, when doing business is the goodness these people love.

As for artisans, if they apply themselves to their work diligently and love it as what makes their life worthwhile, they buy their tools and improve themselves by learning what they need to know. This is what makes their work good.

We can see from all this that truths are the means by which the good that we do out of love becomes manifest, becomes something; so goodness loves what is true in order to become manifest.

So in the Word, "doing the truth" means acting in such a way that some good will be done. This is the meaning of "doing the truth" in John 3:21, "doing what the Lord says" in Luke 6:46, "doing his commandments" in John 14:21, "doing his words" in Matthew 7:24, "doing the Word of God" in Luke 8:21, and "doing the statutes and judgments" in Leviticus 18:5.

This is also the meaning of "doing good" and "bearing fruit, " because what is done is something "good, " some "fruit."

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