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Esodo 20

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1 Allora Iddio pronunziò tutte queste parole, dicendo:

2 "Io sono l’Eterno, l’Iddio tuo, che ti ho tratto dal paese d’Egitto, dalla casa di servitù.

3 Non avere altri dii nel mio cospetto.

4 Non ti fare scultura alcuna né immagine alcuna delle cose che sono lassù ne’ cieli o quaggiù sulla terra o nelle acque sotto la terra;

5 non ti prostrare dinanzi a tali cose e non servir loro, perché io, l’Eterno, l’Iddio tuo, sono un Dio geloso che punisco l’iniquità dei padri sui figliuoli fino alla terza e alla quarta generazione di quelli che mi odiano,

6 e uso benignità, fino alla millesima generazione, verso quelli che m’amano e osservano i miei comandamenti.

7 Non usare il nome dell’Eterno, ch’è l’Iddio tuo, in vano; perché l’Eterno non terra per innocente chi avrà usato il suo nome in vano.

8 Ricordati del giorno del riposo per santificarlo.

9 Lavora sei giorni e fa’ in essi ogni opera tua;

10 ma il settimo è giorno di riposo, sacro all’Eterno, ch’è l’Iddio tuo; non fare in esso lavoro alcuno, né tu, né il tuo figliuolo, né la tua figliuola, né il tuo servo, né la tua serva, né il tuo bestiame, né il forestiero ch’è dentro alle tue porte;

11 poiché in sei giorni l’Eterno fece i cieli, la terra, il mare e tutto ciò ch’è in essi, e si riposò il settimo giorno; perciò l’Eterno ha benedetto il giorno del riposo e l’ha santificato.

12 Onora tuo padre e tua madre, affinché i tuoi giorni siano prolungati sulla terra che l’Eterno, l’Iddio tuo, ti .

13 Non uccidere.

14 Non commettere adulterio.

15 Non rubare.

16 Non attestare il falso contro il tuo prossimo.

17 Non concupire la casa del tuo prossimo; non concupire la moglie del tuo prossimo, né il suo servo, né la sua serva, né il suo bue, né il suo asino, né cosa alcuna che sia dei tuo prossimo".

18 Or tutto il popolo udiva i tuoni, il suon della tromba e vedeva i lampi e il monte fumante. A tal vista, tremava e se ne stava da lungi.

19 E disse a Mosè: "Parla tu con noi, e noi t’ascolteremo; ma non ci parli Iddio, che non abbiamo a morire".

20 E Mosè disse al popolo: "Non temete, poiché Dio è venuto per mettervi alla prova, e affinché il suo timore vi stia dinanzi, e così non pecchiate".

21 Il popolo dunque se ne stava da lungi; ma Mosè s’avvicinò alla caligine dov’era Dio.

22 E l’Eterno disse a Mosè: "Di’ così ai figliuoli d’Israele: Voi stessi avete visto ch’io v’ho parlato dai cieli.

23 Non fate altri dii accanto a me; non vi fate dii d’argento, né dii d’oro.

24 Fammi un altare di terra; e su questo offri i tuoi olocausti, i tuoi sacrifizi di azioni di grazie, le tue pecore e i tuoi buoi; in qualunque luogo dove farò che il mio nome sia ricordato, io verrò a te e ti benedirò.

25 E se mi fai un altare di pietra, non lo costruire di pietre tagliate; perché, se tu alzassi su di esse lo scalpello, tu le contamineresti.

26 E non salire al mio altare per gradini, affinché la tua nudità non si scopra sovr’esso.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 78

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78. As dead, signifies failure of self-life. This is evident from the signification of "as dead," in reference to the Divine presence with man, as meaning the failure of self-life; for man's self-life is that into which he is born, which is in itself nothing but evil, for it is altogether inverted, for it has regard to itself and the world only, and therefore turns itself back away from God and from heaven. The life that is not man's self-life is that into which he is led when he is being regenerated by the Lord; and when he comes into that life he regards God and heaven in the first place, and self and the world in the second. That life flows in with man when the Lord is present; consequently so far as that life flows in, so far there is effected a turning of the life. This turning, when effected suddenly, causes man to appear to himself as dead; thence it is that by "as dead" is here signified the failure of self-life. But these two states of life cannot be so described as to be apprehended. Moreover, they are not the same with a man and with a spirit, and they are wholly different with the evil and with the good. Man cannot live with the body in the presence of the Divine; those who do live are encompassed by an angelic column, which moderates the Divine influx; for the body of every man is nonreceptive of the Divine, consequently it dies and is cast off. That man cannot live with the body in the presence of the Divine can be seen from the words of the Lord to Moses:

Thou canst not see My faces; for man shall not see Me and live (Exodus 33:20);

Moses, therefore, because he desired to see, was placed in a cleft of a rock and was covered until the Lord had passed by. Furthermore, it was known to the ancients that man cannot see God and live, as is evident from the book of Judges:

Manoah said unto his wife, Dying we shall die, because we have seen God (Judges 13:22);

and this was also attested to the sons of Israel, when the Lord was seen from Mount Sinai, of which it is thus written in Moses:

Be ready against the third day; for the third day Jehovah will come down in the eyes of all the people, upon Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the extremity of it; whosoever toucheth the mount dying he shall die. And because terror seized upon them, they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us lest perchance we die (Exodus 19:11-12; 20:19).

(That by "Mount Sinai" is signified heaven, where the Lord is, and that by "touching" is signified to communicate, to transfer, and to receive, and for this reason it was forbidden to touch the extremity of that mountain, see in the (Arcana Coelestia 8785, 8797, 8818) explanation of those chapters in the Arcana Coelestia.) Jehovah has been seen by many, as recorded in the Word, but this was because they were encompassed at the time by a column of spirits, and thus were preserved, as was said above. In this way the Lord has also been seen at different times by me. But the state of spirits in the Divine presence is different from the state of men; spirits cannot die, consequently if they are evil they die a spiritual death in the Divine presence, the nature of which will be spoken of presently; but those who are good are conveyed into societies, where the sphere of the Divine presence is tempered and accommodated to reception. On account of this there are three heavens, and in each heaven many societies, and those who are in the higher heavens are nearer to the Lord, and those who are in the lower are more remote from Him (See the work on Heaven and Hell 20-28, 29-40, 41-50, 206-209). What the spiritual death is that evil spirits die in the Divine presence, shall be briefly stated. Spiritual death is a turning away and removal from the Lord. When evil spirits, however, who have not yet been vastated, that is, have not yet become fixed in their ruling love, enter any angelic society, then because the Divine of the Lord is there present they are direfully tormented, and not only turn away but even cast themselves down into the depths, where no light from heaven enters; some into dark caverns of rocks; in a word, into the hells (See what is shown in the work on Heaven and Hell 54, 400, 410, 510, 525, 527). This turning away and removal from the Lord is what is called spiritual death; and with such the spiritual of heaven is dead.

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