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Exodus 23

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1 Thou shalt not take·​·up a vain rumor. Put not thy hand with the wicked to be a witness of violence.

2 Thou shalt not follow after many to do evils; and thou shalt not answer upon a dispute to turn·​·aside* after many to cause others to turn·​·aside.

3 And thou shalt not honor a poor man in his plea.

4 When thou shalt come·​·upon thine enemy’s ox, or his donkey, going·​·astray, returning thou shalt return it to him.

5 When thou shalt see the donkey of him who hates thee couching under his burden, and wouldest desist from removing it for him, removing thou shalt remove it with him.

6 Thou shalt not distort the judgment of thy needy in his plea.

7 Keep thee far from a false word; and the innocent and the just, kill thou not; for I will not justify the wicked.

8 And thou shalt not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who have their eyes open, and perverts the words of the just.

9 And a sojourner shalt thou not oppress; and you know the soul of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

10 And six years thou shalt sow thy land, and shalt gather her increase.

11 And in the seventh thou shalt release it*, and shalt abandon it; and the needy of thy people shall eat; and what remains of them the wild·​·animal of the field shall eat. So shalt thou do to thy vineyard, and to thine olive trees.

12 Six days thou shalt do thy deeds, and on the seventh day thou shalt cease; so·​·that thine ox and thine ass may rest; and the son of thy maidservant, and the sojourner, may refresh· their ·soul.

13 And all that I have said to you, you shall keep; and you shall not make·​·mention of the name of other gods; it shall not be heard upon thy mouth.

14 Three times* thou shalt celebrate to Me in the year.

15 The festival of unleavened things shalt thou keep; seven days thou shalt eat unleavened things, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed of the month Abib; for in it thou wentest·​·out from Egypt; and My faces shall not be seen empty.

16 And the festival of the harvest, of the firstfruits of thy works, which thou sowedst in the field; and the festival of ingathering, in the going·​·out of the year, when thou gatherest in thy works from the field.

17 Three times in the year shall every male of thine be seen before the faces of the Lord Jehovah.

18 Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of My sacrifice on what is leavened; and the fat of My festival shall not pass·​·the·​·night until the morning.

19 The first of the firstfruits of thy ground thou shalt bring·​·into the house of Jehovah thy God. Thou shalt not cook a kid in the milk of its mother.

20 Behold I send an angel before thee, to guard thee in the way, and to bring thee to the place which I have prepared.

21 Take·​·heed of his face, and obey his voice, lest thou make· him ·bitter; for he will not bear your transgression; for My name is in his midst.

22 For if hearing thou shalt hear his voice, and do all that I speak, I will be·​·an·​·enemy against thine enemies, and I will be·​·an·​·adversary against thine adversaries.

23 When My angel shall go before thee, and shall bring thee to the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite; and I shall cut· him ·off.

24 Thou shalt not bow·​·down thyself to their gods, and shalt not serve them, and shalt not do according·​·to their deeds; for breaking·​·down thou shalt break· them ·down, and breaking thou shalt break their statues.

25 And you shall serve Jehovah your God, and He shall bless thy bread, and thy waters; and I will remove sickness from among thee.

26 There shall not be one miscarrying, or barren, in thy land; the number of thy days I will·​·fulfill.

27 I will send My terror before thee, and I will rout all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will give to thee the neck of all thine enemies.

28 And I will send the hornet before thee, and it shall drive·​·out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee.

29 I will not drive· him ·out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the wild·​·animal of the field become many against thee.

30 By a·​·little and a·​·little I will drive· him ·out from before thee, until thou be·​·fruitful, and inherit the land.

31 And I will put thy border from the Suph sea*, and even·​·to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness even·​·to the river; for I will give into your hand those who dwell·​·in the land; and I will drive· them ·out from before thee.

32 Thou shalt not cut a covenant with them, and with their gods.

33 They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me, that thou serve their gods; for it will be for a snare to thee.

   


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

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In Genesis 19:37; 21:26; 30:32; 40:7; Matthew 6:30; Luke 12:28, this signifies the perpetuity and eternity of a state. (Arcana Coelestia 2838)

In Psalm 2:7, this signifies in time; for with Jehovah the future is present. (True Christian Religion 101)

The expression 'even to this day' or 'today' sometimes appears in the Word, as in Genesis 19:37-38, 22:14, 26:33, 32:32, 35:20, and 47:26. In a historical sense, these expressions have respect to the time when Moses lived, but in an internal sense, 'this day' and 'today' signify the perpetuity and eternity of a state. 'Day' denotes state, and likewise 'today,' which is the current time. Anything related to time in the world is eternal in heaven, and to represent this, 'today' or 'to this day' is added. Although, in the historical sense, this appears as if the expressions only have a literal meaning, just like it says in other parts of the Word, such as Joshua 4:9, 6:25, 7:20, Judges 1:21, 26, etc. 'Today' means something perpetual and eternal in Psalms 2:7, 119:89-91, Jeremiah 1:5, 10, 18, Deuteronomy 29:9-14, Numbers 28:3, 23, Daniel 8:13, 11:31, 12:11, Exodus 16:4, 19, 20, 23, John 6:31, 32, 49, 50, 58, Matthew 6:11, and Luke 11:3.

(Odkazy: Arcana Coelestia 2838 [1-4], Genesis 47:26)

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Arcana Coelestia # 2838

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2838. 'As it is said today' means that which is perpetual. This is clear from the meaning of 'today' in the Word, dealt with below. One frequently reads in the Word the phrase 'even to this day (or today)', as in what has gone before,

He is the father of Moab even to this day, and the father of Ammon even to this day. Genesis 19:37-38; and in what appears later on,

The name of the city is Beersheba even to this day. Genesis 26:33; also,

The children of Israel do not eat the sinew of that which was displaced, which is on the hollow of the thigh, even to this day. Genesis 32:32; as well as,

This is the pillar of Rachel's grave even to [this] day. Genesis 35:20.

Joseph made it a statute even to this day. Genesis 47:26.

In the historical sense 'to this day' and 'today' refer to the time when Moses was alive, but in the internal sense these expressions mean perpetuity and eternity of state. 'Day' means state, see 23, 487, 488, 493, 893, and so therefore does 'today', which is the present time. That which in the world is temporal is in heaven eternal. To give the meaning of that which is eternal, the expression today or else to this day has been added, though to those who are aware only of the historical sense it does not appear to embody anything further. Similar usages of these expressions occur elsewhere in the Word, such as Joshua 4:9; 6:25; 7:26; Judges 1:21, 26; and in other places.

[2] That 'today' means that which is perpetual and eternal may be seen in David,

I will tell of the statute: Jehovah has said to me, You are My Son; today I have begotten You. Psalms 2:7.

Here 'today' plainly stands for that which is eternal. In the same author,

For ever, O Jehovah, Your Word is fixed in the heavens, Your truth to generation after generation. You have established the earth and it stands. As for Your judgements they stand [even] today. Psalms 119:89-91.

Here also 'today' plainly stands for that which is eternal. In Jeremiah,

Before I formed you in the belly, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. I have set you this day (today) over nations and over kingdoms; and I have made you today into a fortified city, and into a pillar of iron, and into walls of bronze. Jeremiah 1:5, 10, 18.

This refers in the sense of the letter to Jeremiah, but in the internal sense the Lord is meant. 'I have set you this day (or today) over nations and over kingdoms, and I have made you today into a fortified city' means from eternity. In regard to the Lord one can only speak of that which is eternal.

[3] In Moses,

You are standing today, all of you, before Jehovah your God, so that you may enter into the covenant of Jehovah your God, and into His oath, which Jehovah your God is making with you today, that He may establish you today as a people for Himself, and that He will be God to you. Not indeed with you alone [do I make it], but with those who stand with us here today before Jehovah our God, and with those who are not with us today. Deuteronomy 29:10, 12-15.

Here in the sense of the letter 'today' means that present time when

Moses addressed the people. Yet it is clear that it nevertheless implies subsequent times and what is perpetual; for making a covenant with anyone, and with those who were there and with those who were not, implies that which is perpetual. Perpetuity itself is what is meant in the internal sense.

[4] That 'daily' and 'today' mean that which is perpetual is clear also from the sacrifice that was offered each day. This sacrifice, because of what is meant by day, daily, and today, was called the continual, or perpetual, sacrifice, Numbers 28:3, 23; Daniel 8:13; 11:31; 12:11. This may be even more plainly evident from the manna which rained from heaven, spoken of in Moses as follows,

Behold, I am causing bread to rain from heaven, and the people shall go out and gather a portion day by day. And they shall not leave any of it until the morning. That which they did leave until the morning bred worms and went rotten, except that gathered on the day before the Sabbath. Exodus 16:4, 19-20, 23.

This happened because 'the manna' meant the Lord's Divine Human, John 6:31-32, 49-50, 58, and because the Lord's Divine Human meant heavenly food, which is nothing other than love and charity, together with the goods and truths of faith. In heaven the Lord imparts this food to angels moment by moment, thus perpetually and eternally, see 2193. This is also what is meant in the Lord's Prayer by the petition, Give us today our daily bread, Matthew 6:11; Luke 11:3, that is, in every moment for evermore.

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