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Matthew 10

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1 And having called to [him] his twelve disciples, he gave them power over unclean spirits, so that they should cast them out, and heal every disease and every bodily weakness.

2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the [son] of Zebedee, and John his brother;

3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax-gatherer; James the [son] of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, who was surnamed Thaddaeus;

4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas the Iscariote, who also delivered him up.

5 These twelve Jesus sent out when he had charged them, saying, Go not off into [the] way of [the] nations, and into a city of Samaritans enter ye not;

6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of the heavens has drawn nigh.

8 Heal [the] infirm, [raise the dead], cleanse lepers, cast out demons: ye have received gratuitously, give gratuitously.

9 Do not provide yourselves with gold, or silver, or brass, for your belts,

10 nor scrip for the way, nor two body coats, nor sandals, nor a staff: for the workman is worthy of his nourishment.

11 But into whatsoever city or village ye enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and there remain till ye go forth.

12 And as ye enter into a house salute it.

13 And if the house indeed be worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you.

14 And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, as ye go forth out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet.

15 Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in judgment-day than for that city.

16 Behold, *I* send you as sheep in the midst of wolves; be therefore prudent as the serpents, and guileless as the doves.

17 But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to sanhedrims, and scourge you in their synagogues;

18 and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.

19 But when they deliver you up, be not careful how or what ye shall speak; for it shall be given to you in that hour what ye shall speak.

20 For *ye* are not the speakers, but the Spirit of your Father which speaks in you.

21 But brother shall deliver up brother to death, and father child; and children shall rise up against parents and shall put them to death;

22 and ye shall be hated of all on account of my name. But he that has endured to [the] end, *he* shall be saved.

23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee to the other; for verily I say to you, Ye shall not have completed the cities of Israel until the Son of man be come.

24 The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the bondman above his lord.

25 [It is] sufficient for the disciple that he should become as his teacher, and the bondman as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more those of his household?

26 Fear them not therefore; for there is nothing covered which shall not be revealed, and secret which shall not be known.

27 What I say to you in darkness speak in the light, and what ye hear in the ear preach upon the houses.

28 And be not afraid of those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul; but fear rather him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground without your Father;

30 but of you even the hairs of the head are all numbered.

31 Fear not therefore; *ye* are better than many sparrows.

32 Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, *I* also will confess him before my Father who is in [the] heavens.

33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will *I* also deny before my Father who is in [the] heavens.

34 Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I have come to set a man at variance with his father, and the daughter with her mother, and the daughter-in-law with her mother-in-law;

36 and they of his household [shall be] a man's enemies.

37 He who loves father or mother above me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter above me is not worthy of me.

38 And he who does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

39 He that finds his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake shall find it.

40 He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives him that sent me.

41 He that receives a prophet in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward.

42 And whosoever shall give to drink to one of these little ones a cup of cold [water] only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

   

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Arcana Coelestia # 4843

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4843. 'To Tamar his daughter-in-law' means a Church representative of spiritual and celestial things, which is called 'a daughter-in-law' from truth. This is clear from the representation of 'Tamar' as a Church representative of spiritual and celestial things, dealt with above in 4831, and from the meaning of 'a daughter-in-law' as the spiritual element of the Church, which is truth. The reason 'a daughter-in-law' has this meaning in the internal sense is that everything connected with a marriage, and all persons who were the offspring of a marriage, represented the kinds of things that belong to the heavenly marriage, see above in 4837, and consequently the kinds of things that belong to good and truth since these are the two partners in the heavenly marriage. This is why in the Word 'husband' means good and 'wife' truth, and also why 'sons and daughters' means the forms of truth and good which are the offspring of these. Consequently, being the wife of a son who has now become a husband, 'a daughter-in-law' means the truth of the Church which has been joined to good, and so on. But the meaning is different in the case of those who belong to the celestial Church from that of those who belong to the spiritual Church; for in the spiritual Church the husband is called 'the men' and means truth, while the wife is called 'the woman' and means good, see above in 4823.

[2] As regards 'a daughter-in-law' in the internal sense of the Word meaning the truth of the Church linked to its good, and consequently in the contrary sense meaning the falsity of the Church linked to its evil, this may also be seen from places in the Word where the expression 'daughter-in-law' is used, as in Hosea,

They offer sacrifice on mountain-tops and burn incense on hills, under oak. and poplar, and hard oak, because its shade is good. Therefore your daughters commit whoredom, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery. Shall I not punish 1 your daughters, in that they commit whoredom and your daughters-in-law in that they commit adultery? Hosea 4:13-14.

This refers to the worship of evil and falsity, the worship of evil being meant by 'offering sacrifices on mountain-tops' and the worship of falsity by 'burning incense on hills'. A life of evil is meant by 'daughters committing whoredom', and the teaching of what is false from which a life of evil results is meant by 'daughters-in-law committing adultery'. As regards acts of adultery and whoredom in the Word meaning adulterations of what is good and falsifications of what is true, see 2466, 2727, 3399. 'Daughters-in-law' therefore stands here for affections for falsity.

[3] In Micah,

The great man utters the perversity of his soul. and he twists it out of shape. The best of them is like a brier, the upright like a thorn-bush. The son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; a man's enemies are those of his own household. Micah 7:3-4, 6.

This refers to falsity that is the offspring of evil and which exists with the Church in the last times when it has been laid waste, in the proximate sense as it existed with the Jewish Church. 'The daughter rises up against her mother' means that the affection for evil stands opposed to truth, and 'the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law' that the affection for falsity stands opposed to good.

[4] Because the experience of a person undergoing temptations is of a similar nature to this - for in temptations a conflict takes place between evil and truth and between falsity and good, spiritual temptations being nothing else than experiences when the falsity and evil present in a person are laid waste - temptations or spiritual conflicts are described by the Lord in practically the same words,

Jesus said, Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be these of his own household. Matthew 10:34-36, 38.

The words from the Prophet that are similar to these, quoted a little above them, meant the laying waste of the Church. But here the temptations of those who belong to the Church are meant, for, as has been stated, temptations are nothing else than experiences in which falsity and evil are laid waste or taken away. For this reason also temptations as well as vastations are meant and described by deluges and floods of waters, 705, 739, 756, 790. Here also therefore 'daughter against mother' means the affection for evil standing opposed to truth, and 'daughter-in-law against mother-in-law' the affection for falsity standing opposed to good. Now because the evils and falsities present with a person undergoing temptation exist inwardly, or are his own, they are called members of his own household in the words 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household'. The fact that temptations are described in this passage is evident from the Lord's saying that He had not come to bring peace on earth but a sword; for 'a sword' means truth engaged in conflict, and in the contrary sense falsity engaged in conflict, 2799, 4499. (Yet He did come to bring peace, John 14:27; 16:33.) The description of temptations in this passage is also clear from what the Lord goes on to say - 'He who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me'.

[5] Similarly in Luke,

Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division; for from now on there will be in one house five divided, three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Luke 12:51-53.

From these words too it is evident that 'father', 'mother', 'son', 'daughter', 'daughter-in-law', and 'mother-in-law' mean the kinds of things that originate in the heavenly marriage, namely goods and truths in their own order, and also their opposites; as also in Mark,

Jesus said, There is no one who has forsaken house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or fields, for the sake of Me and of the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold, now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29-30.

Anyone unacquainted with the internal sense of the Word will think that 'house', 'brothers', 'sisters', 'father', 'mother', 'wife', 'children', and 'fields' mean house, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, and fields. But the meaning here is this: The kinds of things present in a person which are properly his own must be forsaken by him, and instead of these, spiritual and celestial things which are the Lord's must be received by him. This change is effected by means of temptations, which are meant here by 'persecutions'. Anyone can see that if he forsakes his mother he is not going to receive mothers, nor likewise to receive brothers and sisters by forsaking these.

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