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Genesis 15

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1 After these words*, the word of Jehovah was to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; I am a shield for thee, thy reward is multiplied exceedingly.

2 And Abram said, Lord Jehovih*, what wilt Thou give to me, and I am walking childless, and the son, the steward of my house, he is Eliezer the Damascene?

3 And Abram said, Lo, to me Thou hast not given seed, and behold a son of my house is the heir with me.

4 And behold the word of Jehovah was to him, saying, This one shall not be thine heir; for he that shall go·​·out from thy bowels shall be thine heir.

5 And He brought· him ·forth outside, and said, Look now toward the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be·​·able to number them; and He said to him, Thus shall thy seed be.

6 And he believed in Jehovah, and He reckoned* it to him for justice.

7 And He said to him, I am Jehovah who brought· thee ·out from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give to thee this land, to possess her.

8 And he said, Lord Jehovih, By what shall I know that I shall possess her?

9 And He said to him, Take for me a heifer of·​·three years, and a she-goat of·​·three years, and a ram of·​·three years, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.

10 And he took to him all these and parted them in the midst, and put each part to meet its companion; and the birds he did not part.

11 And the swooping fowls came·​·down upon the corpses, and Abram caused them to fly* away.

12 And it was that the sun set* and a deep·​·sleep fell on Abram; and behold a terror of great darkness falling on him.

13 And He said to Abram, Knowing thou shalt know that thy seed shall be a sojourner in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years.

14 And also upon the nation whom they shall serve will I make·​·judgment; and after thus shall they go·​·out with great acquisition.

15 And thou shalt come to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age*.

16 And in the fourth generation they shall return hither, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not consummated* even·​·until now.

17 And it was that the sun set*, and there was deep·​·darkness; and behold, a smoking oven, and a torch of fire that passed between those pieces that·​·were·​·severed.

18 In that day Jehovah cut a covenant with Abram, saying, To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates;

19 the Kenite, and the Kenezzite, and the Kadmonite;

20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim;

21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.

   


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

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Peace

  
Peace

In ordinary life, we tend to think of "peace" as essentially "a lack of conflict." As a nation, if we're not at war, it's a time of peace. On a spiritual level, though, peace is something much more powerful, and much more active. Rather than looking at it as the "lack of conflict," in fact, you could look at it as "the active effect of non-conflict," a force drawing things together and unifying them. Ultimately, of course, that force is the Lord Himself, and the unity formed by His perfect love and His perfect wisdom. We feel it when we allow ourselves to be drawn to Him, described in the works of Swedenborg this way: "peace in the heavens is the divine nature intimately affecting everything good there with blessedness." We also feel it when what we want in our hearts is aligned with what we know to be right -- a state we achieve ever more fully as we move toward the Lord and toward heaven. These things are meant when the Bible talks about peace: the one-ness of purpose in the Lord, and the harmony we experience when our desires align with His loves and our thoughts align with His wisdom.