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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 # 7573

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7573. 'And Jehovah gave forth voices' means the departure and severance of communication with those governed by good and guided by truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'voices', which are claps of thunder, as God's truths which enlighten and perfect those in heaven, but frighten those in hell and subject them to vastation; and since they devastate the latter they mean the departure and severance of communication with those governed by good and guided by truth, this being the way in which they are devastated. The situation in all this is evident from what has been stated already in 7502, 7541, 7542, 7545, 7554. In these places it was shown that those who have belonged to the Church and consequently absorbed cognitions of truth and good from the Word, yet have led an evil life, have a line of communication with heaven through the truths and forms of good which they have brought with them from their time in the world, where they were in the Church. (A person brings with him into the next life whatever he knew in the world, indeed whatever he saw, heard, thought, spoke, willed, or did, see 2474, 2475, 2481-2486, 7398). This communication is what is taken away when they undergo vastation; and when communication has been taken away, so are truths and forms of good, and cognitions of them, removed. For whatever spirits, and indeed angels know flows in from the Lord by way of heaven, thus through communications that are made, see 6053-6058, 6180, 6215, 6307-6717, 6466-6495, 6613-6626. All this shows what is meant by a departure and severance of communication with those who are guided by truth and governed by good. The situation with God's truth in heaven and in hell - the truth that is meant by 'voices' - is like that with claps of thunder on earth. On high mountains claps of thunder are heard as no more than a gentle, quiet sound; but on the land lying below they are heard as a frightening crash. In the same way God's truth in heaven is gentle and mild, whereas in hell it is frightening.

[2] The meaning of 'voices', which are claps of thunder, as God's truths that enlighten and perfect those in heaven, and that frighten those in hell and subject them to vastation, is evident from the following places: In Isaiah,

You will have joy of heart, as when one marches with a pipe to come to the mountain of Jehovah, to the Rock of Israel. Then Jehovah will cause His glorious voice 1 to be heard, and will cause His arm to see repose, in the indignation of [His] anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, [in] scattering, and deluging, and hailstones. For by the voice of Jehovah Asshur will be dismayed. Isaiah 30:29-31.

Here 'the voice of Jehovah' stands for God's truth which enlightens and perfects those who are governed by good but frightens those under the influence of evil and subjects them to vastation. In Joel,

The earth quaked before Him, the sun and moon were darkened, and the stars withdrew their shining; and Jehovah uttered His voice before His army, His camp is exceedingly great; for that which executes His word is uncountable. For great is the day of Jehovah, and extremely frightening. Joel 3:16.

Here the meaning is similar.

[3] In the same prophet,

Jehovah will roar from Zion, and from Jerusalem will give forth His voice; and the heavens and the earth will be shaken. But Jehovah will be a shelter for His people, and a fortification for the children of Israel. Joel 3:16.

'The voice of Jehovah' likewise stands for God's truth. It is given forth 'from Jerusalem' because that city means the Lord's spiritual kingdom, inhabited by those who are moved by truth to be governed by good and moved by good to be guided by truth.

[4] In David,

Jehovah thundered in the heavens, and the Most High gave forth His voice, hail, and coals of fire, so that He sent His arrows and scattered them, and many thunder-bolts, and threw them into confusion. Psalms 18:13-14.

'Giving forth voice, hail, and coals of fire' stands for the devastation of truth and good by means of falsities and evil desires. In the same author,

The clouds dropped water, the skies gave voice, also Your arrows went out, the voice of Your thunder into the earth; the lightnings lit up the earth. Psalms 77:16-18.

'A voice' stands for God's truth which enlightens those who belong to the Church.

[5] In the same author,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters, the God of glory causes it to thunder, Jehovah is over great waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah is majestic; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars, Jehovah breaks to pieces the cedars of Lebanon; the voice of Jehovah strikes as flames of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah causes the hinds to calve, and strips the forests bare. Psalms 29:3-11.

Here 'the voice of Jehovah' stands for God's truth and the power it has. Thus it also stands for the Word since this is God's truth.

[6] In John,

A mighty angel coming down called out with a loud voice; and when he called out, seven thunders uttered their voices. I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them. Revelation 10:3-4.

'Voices' stands for God's truth, 'thunders' for those who convey it, bringing it from heaven to earth. No one can fail to see that 'thunders and 'voices' mean things that are Divine, not thunders and crashes. And since they mean Divine things and are called Jehovah's voices it is evident that they are Divine Truth. This was why, when Jehovah came down on Mount Sinai and proclaimed Divine Truth, there were voices, lightnings, and thunders, Exodus 19:16; 20:18, and why He spoke out of the midst of the fire, Deuteronomy 4:11-12; 5:22-24.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, the voice of His glory

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