Bible

 

Jeremiah 17

Studie

   

1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the nail of adamant*; it is inscribed* on the tablet of their heart, and upon the horns of your altars;

2 as their sons remember their altars and their groves by the green trees upon the tall hills.

3 O My mountain in the field, I will give thy belongings and all thy treasures for plunder, thy high·​·places are in sin, in all thy borders.

4 And thou shalt release thyself from thine inheritance that I gave to thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not; for you have ignited a fire in My anger, which shall burn even·​·to eternity.

5 Thus says Jehovah: Cursed be the mighty·​·man who trusts in man, and sets flesh as his arm, and turns·​·aside his heart from Jehovah.

6 And he shall be as a naked shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes; but shall inhabit the blazing places in the wilderness, in a salty land and not dwelt·​·in.

7 Blessed is the mighty·​·man who trusts in Jehovah, and Jehovah is his trust.

8 And he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and by the river he shall send·​·out his roots, and shall not see when heat comes, but his leaf shall be green; and in the year of dearth he shall not be·​·anxious, and he shall not withdraw from making fruit.

9 The heart supplants above all, and it is desperate; who can·​·know it*?

10 I, Jehovah, search·​·out the heart, test the kidneys, even to give to each·​·man according·​·to his ways, according·​·to the fruit of his actions.

11 As the partridge gathers·​·together, and does not give·​·birth; so he who makes riches, but not by judgment, shall forsake them in half of his days, and at his latter end shall be a fool.

12 A high throne of glory from the first is the place of our sanctuary.

13 O Jehovah, the hope of Israel, all who forsake Thee shall be·​·ashamed, and they who turn·​·aside away from Me shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken Jehovah, the spring of living waters.

14 Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved; for Thou art my praise.

15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come now.

16 And as for me, I have not hurried to cease from shepherding in following after Thee; and I have not longed·​·for the desperate day; Thou knowest; that which goes·​·out of my lips was before Thee.

17 Be not a dismay unto me; Thou art my protection in the day of evil.

18 Let them be·​·ashamed that persecute me, but let me not be·​·ashamed; let· them ·be·​·dismayed, but let· me not ·be·​·dismayed: bring upon them the day of evil, and break them with double breaking.

19 Thus said Jehovah to me; Go and stand in the gate of the sons of the people, by which the kings of Judah come·​·in, and by which they Go·​·out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem;

20 and say to them, Hear ye the word of Jehovah, ye kings of Judah, and all of Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who come·​·in by these gates.

21 Thus says Jehovah: Take·​·heed for your souls, and lift no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;

22 neither bring·​·out a burden from your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work*, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.

23 But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck be·​·hard, that they might not hear, nor receive discipline.

24 And it shall be, if hearkening you hearken to Me, says Jehovah, not to bring a burden into the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but sanctify the Sabbath day, not to do any work in it;

25 then shall there come into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in the chariots and on the horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall dwell to eternity.

26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from all around Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the mountain, and from the south, bringing burnt·​·offering, and sacrifice, and gift·​·offering, and frankincense, and bringing offerings of thanksgiving, to the house of Jehovah.

27 But if you will not hearken to Me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not lift a burden, also coming·​·in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in her gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be·​·quenched.

   


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

Komentář

 

Rib

  

The most famous rib in the Bible is, of course, the one taken from Man (or Adam) and formed into Woman (or Eve) in the Garden of Eden. This event illustrates a key moment in the spiritual history of humanity, one that still drives our lives today. The first Man formed in Genesis represents the earliest church on earth. The Lord raised early humans to a state in which they lived in love to the Lord and love for each other in communication with heaven, and knew from their affections what was true and good. They were also different from us in a couple of key ways. First, they had no sense that life was their own -- they felt all life, thought and emotion flowing to them from God. Second, they lacked the capacity to separate their hearts and their minds. They could not want one thing and use their minds to choose another; their minds followed their hearts. But in the Garden of Eden, the Man was lonely -- which represents the fact that people started to want their lives to be their own. So God gave them what they wanted by taking a rib from the man and forming it into Woman. The rib and the woman both represent the "proprium," which is sometimes translated as the "own" or the "as of self." It is a complex idea, but in a nutshell it is this: The proprium is the part of us that feels our life as our own, our thoughts as our own, our feelings as our own. This is ultimately false and evil and belongs in hell, because all life in fact comes from the Lord. But the Lord allows it so that we can be happy and can act in freedom. To create it for us, He had to take the lowest, least-alive aspects of us -- represented by a bone -- and build it into a part of us that does not feel the Lord but can still be kept alive. In particular, the rib represents the nearly-dead proprium, with barely any love or thought. The woman represents that proprium clothed with living flesh, or loves from the Lord felt as our own.