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Exodus 20

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1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 I am Jehovah thy God, who brought· thee ·out of the land of Egypt, out·​·of the house of servitude*.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before My faces.

4 Thou shalt not make to thee a graven image, nor any figure of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the waters beneath the earth.

5 Thou shalt not bow· thyself ·down to them, nor serve them; for I, Jehovah, thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, on the third and on the fourth generation* of those who hate Me;

6 and doing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

7 Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold· him ·innocent who takes His name in vain.

8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep· it ·holy.

9 Six days shalt thou serve, and do all thy work*;

10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God; thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor thy sojourner who is in thy gates;

11 for in six days Jehovah made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the Sabbath day, and made· it ·holy.

12 Honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be prolonged upon the ground that Jehovah thy God is giving to thee.

13 Thou shalt not murder.

14 Thou shalt not commit·​·adultery.

15 Thou shalt not steal.

16 Thou shalt not answer against thy neighbor as a false witness*.

17 14 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor’s.

18 15 And all the people saw the voices, and the torches, and the voice of the shophar*, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw, and they quaked, and stood far·​·off.

19 16 And they said to Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; and let not God Speak with us, lest perchance we die.

20 17 And Moses said to the people, Fear not; for God has come for the sake of tempting you, and so·​·that the fear of Him may be before your faces, that you sin not.

21 18 And the people stood far·​·off, and Moses approached the dense·​·darkness where God was.

22 19 And Jehovah said to Moses, Thus shalt thou say to the sons of Israel, You have seen that I have spoken with you from the heavens.

23 20 You shall not make with Me gods of silver and gods of gold; you shall not make them to you.

24 21 An altar of ground thou shalt make to Me, and shalt sacrifice on it thy burnt·​·offerings, and thy peace·​·offerings, thy flocks, and thy herds; in every place where I shall cause My name to be remembered, I will come to thee, and I will bless thee.

25 22 And if thou make for Me an altar of stones, thou shalt not build it of hewn stones; for if thou move thy chisel on it, then thou wilt profane it.

26 23 And thou shalt not go·​·up on stairs on My altar, that thy nakedness be not revealed upon it.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 8106

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8106. 'During the daytime in a pillar of cloud' means that when there was a state of enlightenment, this was moderated by a dimming of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'during the daytime' or 'in the day' as in a state of enlightenment, for the times of day - morning, midday, evening, and night - correspond to degrees of enlightenment in the next life, that is, of intelligence and wisdom, 5672, 5962, 6110, so that 'the day' is a state of enlightenment or clear perception, and 'the night' a state of unenlightenment or dimmed perception, 7680; and from the meaning of 'cloud' as a dimming of truth, since a cloud takes away the brilliance of the light from the sun and also moderates it.

[2] Various places in the Word say that Jehovah appeared in a cloud, that He was clothed with a cloud, or that 'clouds were under His feet'. In those places 'cloud' is used to mean a dimming of truth; in particular the literal sense of the Word is meant, for in comparison with the internal sense the literal sense is a dimmed presentation of truth, see the Preface to Genesis 18, and also 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752. This was meant by 'the cloud' when the Lord appeared in glory to Peter, James, and John, Luke 9:34; when He appeared to the people from Mount Sinai, and to Moses when he went in to Him there, Exodus 19:9; 20:21; 24:15-18; 34:5. The same was also meant by what the Lord declared so many times, that He would come in the clouds of heaven, Matthew 24:30; 26:63-64; Mark 13:26; 14:61-62; Luke 21:27.

[3] The literal sense of the Word is called 'a cloud' because the internal sense, which is called 'the glory', cannot be understood by anyone unless he has been regenerated and therefore enlightened. If the internal sense of the Word, or God's truth in its glory, were to appear in front of someone who has not been regenerated it would be like thick darkness in which he would see absolutely nothing, and also would leave him blind, that is, with no belief at all.

From all this one may see what the description 'a cloud during the daytime' means, namely a dimming of truth and, when it has reference to the Word, the literal sense.

[4] The expressions 'in a pillar of cloud' and 'in a pillar of fire' are used because 'a pillar' means a load-bearing support, as in Jeremiah 1:18; Psalms 75:3; Revelation 3:12; Job 9:6; and it is used to refer to the natural level, since the natural level is a kind of support or pedestal for the spiritual level. For the spiritual level terminates at the natural level and rests on it. This explains why the feet of an angel coming down from heaven looked like pillars of fire, Revelation 10:1; for the natural level is meant by 'feet', 2162, 3147, 3761, 3986, 4280, 4938-4952, 5327, 5328.

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