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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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Heaven and Hell # 534

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534. The way that leads to heaven, and the way that leads to hell were once represented to me. There was a broad way tending towards the left or the north, and many spirits were seen going in it; but at a distance a quite large stone was seen where the broad way came to an end. From that stone two ways there branched off, one to the left and one in the opposite direction to the right. The way that went to the left was narrow or restricted, leading through the west to the south, and thus into the light of heaven; the way that went to the right was broad and spacious, leading obliquely downwards towards hell. All at first seemed to be going the same way until they came to the large stone at the place where two ways met. When they reached that point they were separated; the good turned to the left and entered the restricted way that led to heaven; while the evil, not seeing the stone at the fork of the ways, fell upon it and were hurt; and when they rose up they ran on in the broad way to the right which went towards hell.

[2] What all these things signified was afterwards explained to me: namely, that by the first way which was broad, wherein many both good and evil went together and talked with each other as friends, because there was no visible difference between them, were represented those who in externals live alike honestly and justly, and between whom seemingly there is no difference. By the stone where the two ways met or at the corner, upon which the evil fell and from which they then ran along the way leading to hell, was represented the Divine Truth, which is rejected by those who look towards hell; and in the highest sense by this stone was signified the Lord's Divine Human. But those who at the same time acknowledged the Truth and the Divine of the Lord were borne along the way that led to heaven. From these things again it was clear that in externals the evil lead the same kind of life as the good, or go the same way, that is, one as readily as the other; and yet that those who from the heart acknowledge the Divine, especially those within the Church who acknowledge the Divine of the Lord, are led to heaven; while those who do not are borne to hell.

[3] The thoughts of man that proceed from his intention or will are represented in the other life by ways; and ways are visibly presented there in exact accord with those thoughts of intention; and in accord with his thoughts that proceed from intention everyone walks. For this reason the character of spirits and their thoughts are known from their ways. From these things also it is clear what is meant by the Lord's words:

Enter ye in through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many are those who walk along it; for straitened is the way and narrow the gate that leadeth to life, and few be they who find it. Matthew 7:13-14.

The way that leads to life is straitened not because it is difficult but because there are few who find it, as is said here. By the stone seen at the corner where the broad and common way ended, and from which two ways were seen to lead in opposite directions, is illustrated what is signified by these words of the Lord:

Have ye not read what is written? The stone which the builders rejected was made the head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken. Luke 20:17-18.

"Stone" signifies Divine Truth, and "the stone of Israel" the Lord in respect of His Divine Human; the "builders" are those who are of the Church; "the head of the corner" is where the two ways are; "to fall" and "to be broken" is to deny and perish. 1

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] "Stone" signifies truth (Arcana Coelestia 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376).

For this reason the law was inscribed on tables of stone (Arcana Coelestia 10376).

"The stone of Israel" means the Lord in respect of the Divine Truth and His Divine Human (Arcana Coelestia 6426).

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