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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 # 8871

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8871. 'Which are in the heavens above, and which are on the earth beneath' means which exist in spiritual light' and which exist in natural light. This is clear from the meaning of 'a likeness of those things which are in the heavens above' as the things which are visible to the eye in spiritual light, all of which are connected with goodness and truth, and so are aspects of faith, charity towards the neighbour, and love to the Lord (feigning and simulating these virtues is meant by 'making a likeness of those things which are in the heavens above'); and from the meaning of 'a likeness of those things which are on the earth beneath' as the things which are visible to the eye in natural light, which are the kind that belong to goodness and truth on the level of people's public life and on that of their private life. Feigning and simulating these virtues is 'making a likeness of those things which are on the earth beneath'. The sense of the letter implies objects seen in the sky, such as the sun, moon, and stars, and objects seen on earth, such as various kinds of living creatures, both flying ones and those that walk or creep. But the internal sense implies the kinds of things that are meant spiritually by those objects, all of which are connected with goodness and truth, as stated above.

[2] Further description of these matters is contained in the following words in Moses,

... lest you make for yourselves a graven image in the form of any likeness, the figure of a male or a female, the figure of any beast which is on the earth, the figure of any winged bird which flies under heaven, the figure of any creeping thing on the earth, of a fish which is in the waters under the earth; and lest perhaps you lift your eyes to heaven and you look at the sun and moon and stars, all the host of heaven, and you are drawn away and bow down to them and serve them. Take care, lest you forget the covenant of Jehovah your God which He has made with you, and you make for yourselves a graven image of any figure. For Jehovah your God is a devouring fire, a jealous God. When you beget children and children's children, and grow old in the land, and corrupt yourselves and make a graven image of any figure, I call heaven and earth today as witnesses against you, that you will altogether perish quickly from upon the land. Jehovah will scatter you among the peoples, where you will serve gods, the work of man 's hands - wood and stone. Deuteronomy 4:16-19, 23-28.

[3] The chief reason why making a likeness of anything in the heavens or on the earth was so strictly forbidden was that this people descended from Jacob were most prone to worshipping external objects. The reason for that proneness was that they had no wish to know anything whatever about the internal aspects of the Church, which are those of faith and love to the Lord, and of charity towards the neighbour. If therefore they had been allowed to make likenesses of things they would have bowed down to them and worshipped them as gods. This is plainly evident from the golden calf which they made for themselves in the midst of so many miracles, and also from their frequent apostasy, when they forsook the worship of God for idolatrous worship. Nevertheless such actions by them are not meant in the internal sense but the things which have been explained above.

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