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Jeremiah 25

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1 The word that was to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon;

2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah, and to all who dwell·​·in Jerusalem, saying,

3 From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even until this day; this is the three and twentieth year, the word of Jehovah has been to me, and I spoke to you, getting·​·up·​·early and speaking; but you have not hearkened.

4 And Jehovah has sent unto you all His servants the prophets, getting·​·up·​·early and sending them; but you have not heard, nor inclined your ear to hear.

5 They said, Turn· ye ·back now, each·​·man from his evil way, and from the evil of your actions, and dwell on the ground that Jehovah has given to you and to your fathers from eternity and even·​·to eternity:

6 and go not after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke Me not with the works of your hands; and I will do· to you no ·evil.

7 But you have not hearkened unto Me, says Jehovah; because you provoke Me with the deeds of your hands to your own evil.

8 Therefore thus says Jehovah of Armies: Because you have not heard My words,

9 behold I am sending, and I will take all the families of the north, says Jehovah, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and I will bring them against this land, and against those who dwell·​·in her, and against all these nations all around, and will·​·doom them, and set them for a desolation, and for a hissing, and for eternal wastes.

10 And I will make·​·perish from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of the millstones, and the light of the lamp.

11 And all this land shall be for a waste, for a desolation; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.

12 And it shall be, as seventy years are·​·fulfilled, that I will visit on the king of Babylon, and on that nation, says Jehovah, their iniquity, and on the land of the Chaldeans, and will set it for eternal desolations.

13 And I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has prophesied against all the nations.

14 For many nations and great kings, even a crowd, shall make· them ·serve; and I will repay them according·​·to their work, and according·​·to the deed of their own hands.

15 For thus says Jehovah God of Israel to me; Take the wine cup of this fury from My hand, and make· all the nations, to whom I send thee, to ·drink it.

16 And they shall drink, and shall totter, and rave, from the face of the sword that I am sending among them.

17 Then took I the cup from Jehovah’s hand, and made· all the nations to ·drink, unto whom Jehovah had sent me:

18 Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, and her kings, and her princes, to put them for a waste, for an astonishment, for a hissing, and for a reviling, as this day;

19 Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, and his princes, and all his people;

20 and all the commingled people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and Gaza, and Ekron, and what·​·is·​·left of Ashdod,

21 Edom, and Moab and the sons of Ammon,

22 and all the kings of Tyre, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the islands which are across the sea,

23 and Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, and all the edges of the quarters*,

24 and all the kings of Arabia, and all the kings of the commingled people who inhabit the wilderness,

25 and all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

26 and all the kings of the north, far and near, a man with his brother, and all the kingdoms of the earth, which are upon the face of the ground; and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them.

27 And thou shalt say unto them, Thus says Jehovah of Armies, the God of Israel: Drink ye, and be·​·drunken, and vomit, and fall, and rise no more from the face of the sword which I will send among you.

28 And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup from thy hand to drink, then shalt thou say unto them, Thus says Jehovah of Armies; Drinking, you shall drink.

29 For, behold, I begin to do·​·evil in the city which is called by My name*. And being·​·innocent shall you be·​·innocent? You are· not ·innocent; for I will call for a sword on all those who dwell in the land, says Jehovah of Armies.

30 And thou, prophesy to them all these words, and say to them, Jehovah shall roar from on·​·high, and give forth His voice from the abode of His holiness; roaring He shall roar on His home; He shall answer, Hedad*, as when those who tread the grapes, against all those who dwell in the land.

31 An uproar shall come even·​·to the ends of the earth; for Jehovah has a strife with the nations, He will judge as·​·to all flesh; He will give them that are wicked to the sword, says Jehovah.

32 Thus says Jehovah of Armies, Behold, evil shall go·​·forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be stirred·​·up from the flanks of the earth.

33 And the slain of Jehovah shall be on that day from one end of the earth even·​·to the other end of the earth; they shall not be bewailed, and they shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried; they shall be for manure on the faces of the ground.

34 Howl, ye shepherds and cry; and roll·​·yourselves·​·around in the ashes, ye magnificent of the flock; for the days for your butchering and of your scattering are·​·fulfilled; and you shall fall as a vessel of desire.

35 And a place·​·to·​·flee shall perish from the shepherds, and deliverance from the magnificent of the flock.

36 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and a howling of the magnificent of the flock, shall be heard; for Jehovah has devastated their pasture.

37 And the peaceable homes are laid waste* from before the fierce anger of Jehovah.

38 He has forsaken His shelter, as the young·​·lion; for their land is reduced to desolation from the face of the fierceness of the afflicter, and from the face of the fierceness of His anger.

   


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

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Apocalypse Revealed # 3

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3. Which God gave Him to show His servants. This symbolically means, for people who have faith arising from charity, or truths of wisdom arising from the goodness of love.

To show means, symbolically, to make evident, and servants here symbolize people who have faith arising from charity. The following things are made evident to them because they understand and accept.

Servants mean, in the spiritual sense, people who are governed by truths; and because truths spring from goodness, servants mean people who are governed by truths arising from goodness, thus also people governed by wisdom arising from love, because wisdom has to do with truth, and love with goodness. They also are people who have faith arising from charity, because faith, too, has to do with truth, and charity with goodness. And because the spiritual sense in reality is abstracted from person, therefore servants in that sense symbolize truths.

Now because truths, by teaching goodness, serve it, therefore in general, and properly speaking, by a servant in the Word is meant something serving, or someone or something that serves. In this sense not only were prophets called servants of God, but so, too, was the Lord in respect to His humanity.

That prophets were called servants of God is evident from the following passages:

Jehovah has sent to you all His servants the prophets... (Jeremiah 25:4)

...He has revealed His secret to His servants the prophets. (Amos 3:7)

...He has set before us by the hand of His servants the prophets. (Daniel 9:10)

Moses, too, is called a servant of Jehovah (Malachi 4:4). That is because a prophet, in the spiritual sense, means doctrinal truth, as discussed below.

[2] Moreover, because the Lord was the very embodiment of Divine truth, which also is the Word, and for that reason was called the prophet, and because He served in the world and serves all people to eternity by teaching, therefore He, too, is here and there called the servant of Jehovah, as in the following passages:

Of the labor of His soul He shall see; He shall be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many... (Isaiah 53:11)

Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. (Isaiah 52:13)

Behold! My Servant on whom I rest, My Elect. My soul has good pleasure! I have put My Spirit upon Him... (Isaiah 42:1, 19)

These things are said of the Lord. David is spoken of similarly, where by him is meant the Lord, as in the following:

I, Jehovah, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them... (Ezekiel 34:24)

David My servant shall be king over them, so that they all have one shepherd... (Ezekiel 37:24)

I will protect this city to save it, for My sake and for My servant David's sake. (Isaiah 37:35)

So, too, Psalms 78:70-72; 89:3-4, 20. (That by David in these places is meant the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 43, 44.)

The Lord Himself speaks similarly of Himself:

...whoever desires to become great among you must be your attendant, and whoever desires to be first among you must be your servant, even as the Son of Man did not come to be ministered to, but to minister... (Matthew 20:25-28. Cf. Mark 10:42-45, Luke 22:27. So, too, Luke 12:37)

The Lord says this, because by a servant and attendant are meant one who serves and ministers by teaching, and abstractly from person, Divine truth, which He embodied.

[3] Since a servant therefore means someone who teaches Divine truth, it is apparent that servants in this place in the book of Revelation mean people who possess truths arising from goodness, or faith arising from charity, because they are able to teach from the Lord, that is to say, because the Lord is able to teach and minister through them.

It is in this sense that they are called servants in Matthew:

(At the end of the age,) who... is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his lord set over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he comes, will find so doing. (Matthew 24:45-46)

And in Luke:

Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he comes, will find watching. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will (himself) come and attend to them. (Luke 12:37)

In heaven, all people in the Lord's spiritual kingdom are called His servants, while those in His celestial kingdom are called His ministers. That is because people in His spiritual kingdom are governed by wisdom derived from Divine truth, and those in the celestial kingdom by love derived from Divine good. And good ministers, while truth serves.

In an opposite sense, however, by servants are meant people who serve the devil. These are in a real state of servitude, whereas people who serve the Lord are in a state of freedom - as the Lord also teaches in John 8:31-36. 1

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, 'You will be made free'?" Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed. (John 8:31-36)

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.