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Exodus 9

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1 And Jehovah said to Moses, Come to Pharaoh, and speak to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

2 For if thou refuse to send· them ·away, and thou still hold· them ·firmly,

3 behold, the hand of Jehovah shall be on thy livestock which is in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herd, and on the flock; a very heavy pestilence.

4 And Jehovah shall set·​·apart the livestock of Israel from the livestock of the Egyptians, and there shall· nothing ·die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel.

5 And Jehovah set an appointed·​·time, saying, Tomorrow Jehovah shall do this word in the land.

6 And Jehovah did this word on the morrow, and all the livestock of the Egyptians died; and of the livestock of the sons of Israel not one died.

7 And Pharaoh sent, and behold there was not so much as one of the livestock of Israel dead; and Pharaoh’s heart was made heavy, and he did not let the people go.

8 And Jehovah said to Moses and to Aaron, Take to you fistfuls of the soot of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heavens to the eyes of Pharaoh.

9 And it shall become powdery dust over all the land of Egypt, and it shall be upon man, and upon the beast, an ulcer flourishing with boils in all the land of Egypt.

10 And they took the soot of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it toward the heavens; and it became an ulcer with boils flourishing on man and on beast.

11 And the magicians were· not ·able to stand before Moses because of the ulcer; for the ulcer was on the magicians and on all Egypt.

12 And Jehovah made· the heart of Pharaoh ·firm, and he hearkened not to them, as Jehovah had spoken to Moses.

13 And Jehovah said to Moses, Get·​·up·​·early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus said Jehovah the God of the Hebrews, Let My people go, that they may serve Me.

14 For this time I will send all My plagues to thy heart, and against thy servants, and against thy people; so·​·that thou mayest know that there is no·​·one like Me in all the earth.

15 For now I would put·​·forth My hand, and smite thee and thy people with pestilence, and thou wouldst be cut·​·off from the earth.

16 Nevertheless for the sake of this have I made thee to stand, so·​·that thou mayest see My power, and so·​·that My name may be recounted in all the earth.

17 As yet thou buildest· thyself ·up against My people, in thy not letting them go.

18 Behold, tomorrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very heavy hail, as has not been in Egypt from the day it was founded even until now.

19 And now send, muster·​·together thy livestock, and all that thou hast in the field; every man and beast, that shall·​·be·​·found in the field, and shall not be gathered to the house, and the hail shall come·​·down on them, and they shall·​·die.

20 He that feared the word of Jehovah of the servants of Pharaoh, made his servants and his livestock flee to the houses.

21 And he that did not set his heart to the word of Jehovah, left his servants and his livestock in the field.

22 And Jehovah said to Moses, Stretch·​·out thy hand to* the heavens, and there shall be hail in all the land of Egypt, on man, and on beast, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.

23 And Moses stretched·​·out his rod to the heavens; and Jehovah gave voices and hail, and fire walked toward the land, and Jehovah made hail rain on the land of Egypt.

24 And there was hail, and fire taking itself in the midst of the hail, very heavy, such as had not been like it in all the land of Egypt since’ it became a nation.

25 And the hail smote in all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, from man and even·​·to beast, and the hail smote every herb of the field, and broke every tree of the field.

26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the sons of Israel were, was there no hail.

27 And Pharaoh sent, and called Moses and Aaron, and said to them, I have sinned this time; Jehovah is just, and I and my people are wicked.

28 Supplicate ye to Jehovah, there has been more than enough voices of God and hail; and I will send· you ·away, and you shall not still stand.

29 And Moses said to him, As I go out of the city, I will spread my palms to Jehovah; and the voices shall stop, and there shall be no more hail; that thou mayest·​·know that the earth is Jehovah’s.

30 And thou and thy servants, I know that you will not yet fear the face of Jehovah God.

31 And the flax and the barley were smitten; for the barley was a maturing·​·ear, and the flax was a stalk.

32 And the wheat and the spelt were not smitten, for they were hidden.

33 And Moses went·​·out of the city from with Pharaoh, and spread his palms to Jehovah; and the voices and the hail stopped and the rain poured· not ·out toward the earth.

34 And Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the voices had stopped, and he sinned yet more, and made heavy his heart, he and his servants.

35 And the heart of Pharaoh was made·​·firm, and he did not send· the sons of Israel ·away; as Jehovah had spoken by the hand of Moses.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 7506

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7506. 'And Jehovah will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of the Egyptians' means the difference between the forms of the truth and good of faith of those who belong to the spiritual Church and forms of the truth and good of faith [acquired from the Church] which reside with those engaged in molestation. This is clear from the meaning of 'making a distinction' as a difference; from the meaning of 'the livestock' as forms of the truth and good of faith, as above in 7502; from the representation of 'the children of Israel' as those who belong to the spiritual Church, also dealt with above, in 7500; and from the meaning of 'the livestock of the Egyptians' as forms of good and truth belonging to the Church which reside with those who engage in molestation. Regarding 'the Egyptians', that they are those who belonged to the Church and therefore had a knowledge of the truth and good of faith, but led an evil life, and are those who engage in molestation in the next life, see 7097, 7127, 7317, 7501.

[2] Let the difference between forms of the truth and good of faith with those belonging to the Church who are saved and forms of the truth and good of faith which reside with those belonging to the Church who are damned be stated briefly. Forms of the truth and good of faith which reside with those who belong to the Church and are saved are rooted in the good of charity; and since the affection characteristic of charity constitutes the truly spiritual level of things, those forms of truth and good are spiritual, flowing in from the Lord by way of heaven. For those people's interiors, which are receptive, are open to heaven. But forms of truth and good possessed by those who belong to the Church and are damned are not rooted in the good of charity, and so they are not spiritual. They do, it is true, flow in by way of heaven, but they are given a very cold and dark reception, very cold because the good of charity is lacking, and very dark because the light in which they receive them resembles the light of winter, a light which, compared with the light of heaven, is as thick darkness. These people's interiors are not open to heaven but to the world; they turn the truth and good that flow in from heaven in a worldly direction. As a consequence, too, the ideas they have about the good and truth of faith are wholly natural, indeed material ones, which when represented in the spiritual world are ugly and bear no kind of resemblance to a human being. But the ideas about the truth and good of faith of those who belong to the Church and are saved are spiritual, and although they are embodied in material images of worldly things, yet they are separate from those images, for they can be raised above them. When the ideas of these people are represented in the spiritual world they are beautiful, and take on a resemblance to a human being. Such is the difference, no matter how much alike they seem to be to outward appearances, that is, when people speak and preach about them.

[3] What causes such a difference is the kind of life a person leads. For when good reigns in a person's life, that is, good which springs from charity, it has an effect on his understanding, which is the receptacle of truth. It creates beautiful ideas about forms of the good and truth of faith. But when evil reigns in a person's life, that is, the opposite of charity, that too has an effect on his understanding. It produces ugly ideas about forms of the good and truth of faith; and such ideas find no acceptance in heaven.

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