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Genesis 13

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1 And Abram went·​·up out·​·of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, toward the south*.

2 And Abram was· very ·heavy in livestock, in silver, and in gold.

3 And he went according·​·to his journeys from the south and even·​·to Bethel, even·​·to the place where his tent was in the beginning, between Bethel and Ai,

4 to the place of the altar which he had made there in the beginning; and there Abram called on the name of Jehovah.

5 And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flock and herd, and tents.

6 And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, for their acquisition was great, and they were· not ·able to dwell together.

7 And there was strife between the shepherds of the livestock of Abram and the shepherds of the livestock of Lot; and the Canaanite and the Perizzite were then dwelling in the land.

8 And Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray, between me and thee, and between my shepherds and thy shepherds, for we men are brothers.

9 Is not all the land before thee? Separate, I pray, from me; if to the left, then I will go·​·to·​·the·​·right; and if to the right, then I will go·​·to·​·the·​·left.

10 And Lot lifted his eyes, and saw all the plain of the Jordan, that all of it was well watered, before Jehovah destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt coming·​·into Zoar.

11 And Lot chose for himself all the plain of the Jordan; and Lot journeyed from* the east; and they were separated, a man from his brother.

12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched· his ·tent even·​·to Sodom.

13 And the men of Sodom were evil and sinners against Jehovah exceedingly.

14 And Jehovah said to Abram, after that Lot was separated from with him, Lift·​·up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.

15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed, even·​·to eternity.

16 And I will set thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man is·​·able to count the dust of the earth, also shall thy seed be counted.

17 Arise, walk through the land, to the length of her and to the breadth of her; for to thee will I give her.

18 And Abram pitched· his ·tent, and came, and dwelt in the oak·​·groves of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar to Jehovah.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 1712

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1712. That 'he divided himself against them by night' means the shade which the apparent goods and truths were in is clear from the meaning of 'night' as a state of shade. It is called a state of shade when a person does not know whether good and truth are apparent or genuine. While a person is limited to apparent good and truth he imagines that these are genuine good and truth. It is the evil and falsity present in apparent good and truth that produce the shade and cause them to be seen as genuine. What else can people who are in ignorance know than that the good they do is their own, and that the truth they think is their own? The same applies to people who ascribe the good deeds they do to themselves and place merit in them, unaware of the fact that in this case those deeds are not good though they appear to be so, and that the proprium and the self-merit they place in them are evils and falsities that cause obscurity and darkness. And the same applies in many other instances.

[2] What evil and falsity are like, and how much evil and falsity lie concealed in such deeds, cannot possibly be seen so clearly in the life of the body as in the next life, where these are presented to view altogether as in broad daylight. But it is different if a person acts out of ignorance that has not been confirmed, for in that case those evils and falsities are easily dispersed. But if people confirm themselves in the notion that they are able to do good and to withstand evil by their own powers, and that thus they merit salvation, such a notion remains attached, and causes the good to be evil, and the truth to be falsity. Yet for all this, order requires that a person should do good as though from himself, and ought not therefore to stay his hand and think to himself, 'If I am unable to do anything good at all from myself I must wait for immediate influx' and so remain inactive. This is also contrary to order. Man ought to do good as though from himself; but when he stops to reflect on the good he is doing or has done, let him think, acknowledge, and believe that the Lord present with him has accomplished it.

[3] If by thinking as described he gives up acting as of himself he is not a subject into whom the Lord can operate. The Lord cannot flow into anyone who deprives himself of everything into which power has to be introduced. He is like someone who is not willing to learn anything except through a revelation made to him; or like someone who is not willing to teach anything unless the words are put into his mouth; or like someone who is unwilling to attempt anything unless he is directed as one without a will. But if this were done he would be more indignant still at being like an inanimate object. In fact however that which is animated by the Lord in a person is the very thing which makes it seem as though it were from himself. That man does not live from himself is an eternal truth; yet if he did not appear to do so he could not possibly live at all.

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