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Deuteronomy 4

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1 And now hearken, O Israel, to the statutes and to the judgments, which I teach you to do, so·​·that you may·​·live, and go·​·in and possess the land which Jehovah God of your fathers gives you.

2 You shall not add to the word which I command you, and you shall not diminish from it, that you may keep the commandments of Jehovah your God which I command you.

3 Your eyes have seen what Jehovah did because of Baal-peor; for every man that walked after Baal-peor, Jehovah thy God has blotted· him ·out from among thee.

4 But you who stuck to Jehovah your God, all of you are living today.

5 See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Jehovah my God commanded me, that you should do so in the midst of the land whither you go·​·in to possess it.

6 And you shall keep and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the eyes of the peoples, who shall hear all these statutes, and say, Only this great nation is a wise and understanding people.

7 For what nation is there so great, who has God so near to them, as Jehovah our God is in all things that we call upon Him for?

8 And what nation is there so great, that it has statutes and judgments so just as all this law, that I put before you today?

9 Only take·​·heed to thyself, and keep thy soul exceedingly, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they turn·​·aside from thy heart all the days of thy life; and make· them ·known to thy sons, and to the sons of thy sons;

10 the day that thou stoodest before Jehovah thy God in Horeb, when Jehovah said to me, Assemble to Me the people, and I will make them hear My words, that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they shall live on the ground, and that they may teach their sons.

11 And you came·​·near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the heavens, with darkness, cloud, and dense·​·darkness.

12 And Jehovah spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you heard a voice of words, but saw no figure; except you heard a voice.

13 And He told to you His covenant, which He commanded you to do, the Ten Words*; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.

14 And Jehovah commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that you might do them in the land whither you go·​·over to possess it.

15 And take·​·heed exceedingly for your soul; for you saw not any figure in the day that Jehovah spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of the fire;

16 lest you corrupt yourselves, and make for yourselves a graven image, the figure of any similitude, the shape of a male or female,

17 the shape of any beast that is on the earth, the shape of any winged bird that flies in the heavens,

18 the shape of any thing that creeps on the ground, the shape of any fish that is in the waters under the earth;

19 and lest thou lift thine eyes to the heavens, and thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the army of the heavens, and be impelled to worship them, and serve them, which Jehovah thy God has imparted to all the peoples under all the heavens.

20 But Jehovah has taken you, and brought· you ·out from the iron furnace, even out·​·of Egypt, to be to Him for a people of inheritance, as you are today.

21 And Jehovah was·​·angry with me on account of your words, and promised that I should not cross·​·over the Jordan, and that I should not go·​·in to that good land, which Jehovah thy God gives thee for an inheritance;

22 but I must die in this land, I must not cross·​·over Jordan; but you shall go over, and possess that good land.

23 Take·​·heed for yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God, which He cut with you, and make for yourselves a graven image, the figure of anything concerning which Jehovah thy God has commanded thee.

24 For Jehovah thy God is a devouring fire, even a jealous God.

25 When thou shalt beget sons, and sons of sons, and you shall have slept* in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, the figure of any thing, and shall do evil in the eyes of Jehovah thy God, to provoke Him;

26 I call· the heavens and the earth ·to·​·testify against you today, for perishing you shall hastily perish from on the land whither you cross·​·over Jordan to possess; you shall not prolong your days upon her, but blotting·​·out you shall be blotted·​·out.

27 And Jehovah shall scatter you among the peoples, and you shall be left as mortals in number among the nations, whither Jehovah shall lead you.

28 And there you shall serve gods, the work of men’s hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

29 But from·​·thence thou shalt seek Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt find Him, if thou inquirest after Him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

30 When thou hast distress, and all these things have found thee in the latter days, then thou shalt return, even·​·to Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey His voice.

31 For Jehovah thy God is a compassionate God; He will not let·​·go of thee, nor destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He promised to them.

32 For ask now of the former days, which were before thee, from the day that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of the heavens, and even·​·to the other end of the heavens, Has there been any such thing as this great thing, or has there been heard anything like it?

33 Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking from the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?

34 Or has God attempted to go·​·in to take for Himself a nation from among another nation, by proofs, by signs, and by miracles, and by war, and by a firm hand, and by a stretched·​·out arm, and by great fears, according·​·to all that Jehovah your God has done for you in Egypt before thine eyes?

35 To thee it was shown in order to know that Jehovah He is God; there is none else apart from Him.

36 From the heavens He caused thee to hear His voice, to instruct thee; and on the earth He showed thee His great fire; and thou didst hear His words from the midst of the fire.

37 And because He loved thy fathers, therefore He chose his seed after him, and brought· thee ·out before His face with His great power from Egypt;

38 to dispossess nations from before thee greater and more numerous than thou, to bring· thee ·in, to give thee their land for an inheritance, as it is this day.

39 And know today, and return to thy heart, that Jehovah He is God in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath; there is none else.

40 And thou shalt keep His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee today, and it will be·​·well for thee, and for thy sons after thee, and thou shalt prolong thy days upon the ground, which Jehovah thy God gives thee all the days.

41 Then Moses distinguished three cities across Jordan toward the rising of the sun;

42 that the manslayer might flee thither, who should murder his companion without knowing, and hated him not yesterday and the day before*; and that fleeing to one of these cities he might live;

43 Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the land of the plateau, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

44 And this is the law which Moses set before the sons of Israel;

45 these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which Moses spoke to the sons of Israel, after they came forth out of Egypt,

46 across Jordan, in the ravine next·​·to Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt at Heshbon, whom Moses and the sons of Israel smote, after they were come forth out of Egypt;

47 and they possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Bashan, two kings of the Amorites, which were across Jordan toward the rising of the sun;

48 from Aroer, which is by the lip of the brook Arnon, even to Mount Zion, which is Hermon,

49 and all the desert across the Jordan toward the sunrise, even·​·to the sea of the desert, under the watercourses of Pisgah.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Arcana Coelestia # 666

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666. 'A covenant' means nothing other than regeneration and the things that constitute regeneration. This becomes clear from many places in the Word where the Lord Himself is called 'the Covenant', for it is He alone who regenerates, to whom a regenerated person looks, and who is the All in all of love and faith. That the Lord is the Covenant itself is clear in Isaiah,

I Jehovah have called You in righteousness, taking You by the hand and keeping You, and I will give You for a Covenant of the people, a light of the nations. Isaiah 42:6.

Here 'a Covenant' stands for the Lord, and 'the light of the nations' is faith. Similarly in Isaiah 49:6, 8. In Malachi,

Behold, I am sending My angel, and suddenly there will come to His temple the Lord whom you are seeking, and the Angel of the Covenant in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming. Who will endure the day of His coming? Malachi 3:1-2.

Here the Lord is called 'the Angel of the Covenant'. In Exodus 31:16 the Sabbath is called an eternal covenant because it means the Lord Himself. It also means the celestial man who has been regenerated by Him.

[2] The Lord being the Covenant itself, it is clear that what constitutes the covenant is everything that joins a person to the Lord, that is to say, love and faith and the things that belong to love and faith. In fact these are the Lord's and the Lord is within them, and so the Covenant itself exists within these, where they are received. These things do not exist except with someone who has been regenerated, with whom anything at all that is the Regenerator's, or the Lord's, constitutes the covenant, or is the covenant. As in Isaiah,

My mercy will not depart from you, and the covenant of My peace will not be removed. Isaiah 54:10.

Here 'mercy and covenant of peace' means the Lord and things that are the Lord's. In the same prophet,

Incline your ear and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live, and I will make with you an eternal covenant, even the sure mercies of David. Lo, I have given Him as a witness to the peoples, a leader and lawgiver to the peoples. Isaiah 55:3-4.

Here 'David' stands for the Lord. 'The eternal covenant' exists in and acts through those qualities that are the Lord's, which are meant by 'coming to Him' and 'hearing so that your soul may live'.

[3] In Jeremiah,

I will give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all their days, for their own good and that of their sons after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them, and I will put My fear into their heart. Jeremiah 31:39, 40.

This stands for those who are to be regenerated, and also for those things with someone regenerate which are 'one heart and one way', namely charity and faith, which belong to the Lord and so to the covenant. In the same prophet,

Behold, the days are coming, said Jehovah, when I will make with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah a new covenant, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers, for they rendered My covenant invalid. But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days: I will put My law in the midst of them, and will write it on their heart, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Jeremiah 31:31-33.

This is an explicit statement of what constitutes the covenant - love and faith in the Lord, which will be present with him who is to be regenerated.

[4] In the same prophet love is called the covenant far the day, and faith the covenant for the night, Jeremiah 33:20. In Ezekiel,

I Jehovah will be their God, and my servant David will be prince in the midst of them; and I will make with them a covenant of peace, and I will banish the evil wild animal from the land, and they will dwell securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. Ezekiel 34:24-25.

This clearly refers to regeneration. 'David' stands for the Lord. In the same prophet,

David will be their prince for ever. I will make with them a covenant of peace, it will be an eternal covenant with them. I will set My sanctuary in their midst for evermore. Ezekiel 37:25-26.

This similarly refers to regeneration. 'David' and 'the sanctuary' stand for the Lord. In the same prophet,

I entered into a covenant with you, and you were Mine. And I washed you with water and washed away your blood from upon you, and anointed you with oil. Ezekiel 16:8-9, 11.

This clearly stands for regeneration. In Hosea,

I will make for them a covenant on that day, with the wild animals of the field, and with the birds of the air, 1 and with the creeping things of the earth. Hosea 2:18.

This stands for regeneration. 'Wild animals of the field' stands for things of the will, 'birds of the air' 1 for those of the understanding. In David,

He sent redemption to His people, He commanded His covenant for ever. Psalms 111:9.

This stands for regeneration. This is called 'a covenant' because it is something given and received.

[5] People however who have not been regenerated - or what amounts to the same, who focus worship on things that are external and who set up and worship as gods both themselves and everything they desire and think - are referred to, because they separate themselves from the Lord, as 'rendering the covenant invalid', as in Jeremiah,

They forsook the covenant of Jehovah their God, and bowed down to other gods and served them. Jeremiah 22:9.

In Moses,

He who transgressed the covenant by serving other gods, the sun, the moon, and the host of heaven, was to be stoned. Deuteronomy 17:2 and following verses.

'The sun' stands for self-love, 'the moon' for false assumptions, 'the host of heaven' for falsities themselves. From this it is now clear what 'the Ark of the covenant' is, containing the testimony or covenant, namely the Lord Himself; what 'the Book of the covenant' is, namely the Lord Himself, Exodus 24:4-7, 34:27; Deuteronomy 4:13, 23; what 'the Blood of the covenant' is, namely the Lord Himself, Exodus 24:6, 8; who alone is the Regenerator. Hence 'a covenant' is regeneration itself.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

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