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Genesis 6

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1 And it was, that man began to multiply himself upon the faces of the ground, and daughters were born to them.

2 And the sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were good; and they took to themselves wives of all that they chose.

3 And Jehovah said, My spirit shall not contend with man to eternity, because he is flesh; and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

4 The Nephilim were in the land in those days; and even more after the sons of God came·​·in to the daughters of man, and they gave·​·birth for them; they are the mighty men, who from an age were men of renown*.

5 And Jehovah saw that the evil of man was multiplied on the earth, and that all that is formed by the thoughts of his heart is only evil all the day.

6 And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart.

7 And Jehovah said, I will wipe·​·away man, whom I have created, from upon the faces of the ground, from man to beast, to creeping thing, and to the fowl of the heavens; for I repent that I have made them.

8 But Noaḥ found grace in the eyes of Jehovah.

9 These are the births of Noaḥ; Noaḥ was a man just and perfect in his generations; Noaḥ walked with God.

10 And Noaḥ begot three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

11 And the earth was corrupt before God; and the earth was·​·filled with violence.

12 And God saw the earth, and behold it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.

13 And God said to Noaḥ, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence from their faces, and behold I am destroying them with the earth.

14 Make for thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms* thou shalt make the ark, and shalt tar* it inside and outside with tar.

15 And this is how thou shalt make it: three hundred cubits the length of the ark, fifty cubits its breadth, and thirty cubits its height.

16 A window* thou shalt make to the ark, and to a cubit thou shalt complete it from above; and the entrance of the ark thou shalt set in its side; with lowest, second, and third stories thou shalt make it.

17 And I, behold I am bringing the flood of waters on the earth, to destroy all flesh wherein is the spirit of lives from under the heavens; everything that is in the earth shall expire.

18 And I will raise·​·up My covenant with thee; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons, with thee.

19 And from all that lives from all flesh, twos from all, thou shalt bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; male and female they shall be.

20 Of the fowl after its kind, and of the beast after its kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of all shall come to thee, to cause them to live.

21 And take thou to thee of all food that is eaten, and gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for them.

22 And Noaḥ did according·​·to all that God commanded him; so did he.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 592

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592. 'Jehovah said, I will wipe out man' means that man would bring about his own end. This is clear from what has been stated already, that is to say, about statements made to the effect that Jehovah or the Lord punishes, tempts, does evil, wipes out or slays, and curses; for example, the statement that Jehovah slew Er, Judah's firstborn, and Onan, Judah's second son, Genesis 38:7, to; or the statement that Jehovah smote all the firstborn of Egypt, Exodus 12:10, 29. Also in

Jeremiah,

Those whom I smote in My anger, and in My fierce anger. Jeremiah 33:5.

In David,

He let loose on them His fierce anger, exceeding anger, and rage, and distress, a mission of evil angels. Psalms 78:49.

In Amos,

Will evil befall a city, and Jehovah has not done it? Amos 3:6.

In John,

Seven golden bowls full of the anger of God who lives for ever and ever. Revelation 15:1, 7; 16:1.

All of these qualities are attributed to Jehovah when in fact He is quite the reverse of them. They are attributed to Him for the reason already given, and also so that people may grasp first of all the very general idea that the Lord rules over and disposes every single thing there is. Then after that they may grasp the idea that the Lord never does evil, let alone slays anyone, but that instead it is man who brings evil upon himself, destroys, and slays himself. In one sense it is not man who does so but the evil spirits who incite him and lead him on. Yet in reality it is the man, for what else does he believe than that he himself does what he does? So then it is here said of Jehovah that He would wipe out man, though in fact it was man who would destroy himself and bring about his own end.

[2] The situation in this matter becomes particularly clear from those in the next life who are living in torment and in hell. They are constantly complaining and ascribing to the Lord all the evil that punishes. And so do evil spirits in the world of evil spirits who take delight, indeed it is their chief delight, in hurting and punishing others. And those who are being hurt and punished assume that it is sent by the Lord. They are told and shown that not a hint of evil comes from the Lord, but that they bring the evil upon themselves. For in the next life all is counterbalanced in such a way that evil recoils on the one who commits it, and becomes evil that punishes. Punishment is therefore inevitable. It is said to be permitted for the sake of correcting evil; yet all the time the Lord is converting all evil that punishes into good, with the result that nothing but good ever comes from the Lord. What permission is however nobody as yet knows. What is permitted is considered to be something done by Him who permits simply because He does permit it. But in reality the situation is altogether different, a subject which in the Lord's Divine mercy will be dealt with later on.

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