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Jeremiah 17

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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.

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Heaven and Hell # 365

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365. We may gather from this that rich people arrive in heaven just as much as poor people do, one as easily as the other. The reason people believe that it is easy for the poor and hard for the rich is that the Word is misunderstood when it talks about the rich and the poor. In the spiritual meaning of the Word, "the rich" means people who are amply supplied with understandings of what is true and good, that is, people in the church where the Word is. "The poor" means people who lack these understandings but who long for them, or people outside the church, where the Word is not found.

[2] The rich person dressed in purple and fine linen who was cast into hell means the Jewish nation. Because they had the Word and were therefore amply supplied with understandings of what is good and true, they are called "rich." The garments of purple actually mean understandings of what is good, and the fine linen means understandings of what is true. 1 The poor person who was lying in the gateway and who longed to feast on the crumbs that were falling from the rich person's table, who was carried up into heaven by angels, means the non-Jews who did not have understandings of what is good and true but who still longed for them (Luke 16:19, 31).

The rich who were invited to the great feast but who excused themselves also mean the Jewish nation, and the poor who were brought in to replace them mean the non-Jews who were outside the church (Luke 12:16-24, 14:16-24).

[3] We need also to explain who are meant by the rich of whom the Lord said, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God" (Matthew 19:24). "The rich person" here means the rich in both senses, natural and spiritual. Rich people in the natural sense are people who have abundant wealth and set their hearts on it, while in a spiritual sense they are people who are amply supplied with insights and knowledge (for these are spiritual wealth) and who want to use them to get themselves into heavenly and ecclesiastical circles by their own intellect. Since this is contrary to the divine design, it says that it is easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle. On this level of meaning, a camel means our cognitive and informational level in general, and the eye of a needle means spiritual truth. 2

Nowadays people do not know that this is the meaning of the camel and the eye of a needle because there has not yet been any access to the knowledge that teaches what is meant spiritually by the things that the Word says literally. There is spiritual meaning in the details of the Word, and natural meaning as well; because the Word was written in pure correspondences of natural realities with spiritual ones in order to effect a union of heaven and the world, or of angels with us, once the direct union had ceased. We can see from this exactly who are meant by the rich in the Word.

[4] We may gather from a number of passages that on the spiritual level "the rich" in the Word refers to people who enjoy insights into what is good and true and that wealth means those insights themselves, which are spiritual riches: see Isaiah 10:12-14; 30:6-7; 45:3, Jeremiah 17:3; 47:7 [Jeremiah 48:7?], Jeremiah 50:36-37; 51:13, Daniel 5:2-4, Ezekiel 26:7, 12; 27:1-36; Zechariah 9:3-4; Psalms 45:12; Hosea 12:9; Revelation 3:17-18, Luke 14:33, and elsewhere. On the poor in the spiritual sense as people who do not have insights into what is good and true but who long for them, see Matthew 11:5; Luke 6:20-21; 14:21; Isaiah 14:30; 29:19; 41:17-18; Zephaniah 3:12, 18 [13]. An explanation of the spiritual meaning of all these passages may be found in 10227 of Secrets of Heaven.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] Garments mean things that are true, and therefore insights: 1033 [1073?], 2576, 5319, 5954, 9212, 9216, 9952, 10536. Purple means heavenly good: 9467. Linen means truth of a heavenly origin: 5319, 9469, 9744.

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] A camel in the Word means our cognitive and informational level in general: 3048, 3071, 3143, 3145. What embroidery, embroidering, and therefore needles Arcana Coelestia 9688. To start from outward facts in order to gain access to truths of faith is contrary to the divine design: 10236. People who do this become insane in matters of heaven and the church: 128-130, 232-233, 6047; and in the other life, when they think about spiritual things, they become virtually drunk: 1072. More about their nature: 196. Examples to illustrate the fact that spiritual things cannot be grasped if they are approached on this basis: 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209. It is all right to go from spiritual truth into the knowledge appropriate to our natural level, but not the other way around, because there is an inflow of the spiritual into the natural but not an inflow of the natural into the spiritual: 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427-5428, 5478, 6322, 9110-9111 [10199?]. We need first to acknowledge the truths of the Word and the church, and then it is all right to take our secular learning into account; but not the other way around: 6047.

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