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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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Arcana Coelestia # 10331

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10331. 'In wisdom, and in intelligence, and in knowledge, and in all [manner of] work' means in respect of those things which compose the will and those which constitute the understanding within the internal man and within the external man. This is clear from the meaning of 'wisdom' as those things which compose the will within the internal man; from the meaning of 'intelligence' as those things which constitute the understanding, also within the internal man; from the meaning of 'knowledge' as those things which constitute the understanding and consequent speech within the external man; and from the meaning of 'work' as those things which compose the will and consequent practice within the external man. So the words used here mean everything - everything interior and everything exterior residing with a person in whom the good of celestial love exists - that receives the influx of Divine Truth from the Lord and is consequently seen in light. This influx and enlightenment are dealt with immediately above.

[2] But a brief statement needs to be made showing what wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and work are. People who do not know what the internal man is and what the external man is, nor what understanding and will are, cannot see in what ways wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and work are distinct and separate each from the others. They cannot do so because they cannot form any clear idea of one or of another. The people therefore who do not know those things call someone wise when he is merely intelligent or has only knowledge. But someone wise is a person who is moved by love to put truths into practice; someone intelligent is a person who is moved by faith to put them into practice; someone with knowledge is a person who applies his knowledge to doing so; and 'work' is that which is actually done by them. Thus 'work' means those three talents when put to use, within which they all combine.

[3] Nobody therefore can be said to have wisdom, intelligence, or knowledge in the true sense of these words if they are not put to use by him; for wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge have to do with the life a person should lead, and not with doctrine without reference to that life. Life is the end for the sake of which they exist. What the end is like therefore determines what kind of wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge they are. If real good, which is the good of love to the Lord and of charity towards the neighbour, constitutes the end, then they are wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge in the proper sense of these three words; for then these three as they exist with a person have their origin in the Lord. But if acting for the sake of some good desired by self-love and love of the world constitutes the end, they are not wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge, because then those three as they exist in a person have their origin in self. For any good which self-love and love of the world have as their end in view is evil, and when evil is the end in view nothing of wisdom and intelligence, nor even of knowledge, can be attributed in any way at all. For what use is knowledge if it does not hold an intelligent understanding of truth and a wise discernment of good within it? Knowledge devoid of these leads a person to think that evil is good and falsity is truth.

[4] In the case of those in whom the good of love to the Lord is present wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, and work follow in order from inmost to last and lowest. Wisdom there is inmost, since it consists in a will, inspired by love, that desires what is right. Intelligence is second, since it consists in an understanding, governed by a will desiring what is right, that perceives what is right. These two belong to the internal man. Knowledge consists in knowing what is right, and work in doing what is right, each governed by the will desiring what is right. These two belong to the external man. From this it is evident that wisdom must exist within intelligence, this within knowledge, and this within work. The work accordingly contains and embraces all the inner virtues, since it is last and lowest and that in which they terminate.

[5] From all this it becomes clear what should be understood by 'works' and 'deeds', mentioned so many times in the Word, as in the following places: In Matthew,

The Son of Man will repay everyone according to his deeds. Matthew 16:27.

In Jeremiah,

I will requite them according to their work and according to the deed of their hands. Jeremiah 25:14.

In the same prophet,

... O Jehovah, whose eyes have been opened upon all the ways of man, giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his works. Jeremiah 32:19.

In the same prophet,

Turn back each of you from his evil way, and cause your works to be good. Jeremiah 35:15.

In Hosea,

I will punish his ways 1 , and requite him for his works. Hosea 4:9.

In Zechariah,

Jehovah deals with us according to our ways and according to our works. Zechariah 1:6.

In John,

I will give to you each according to his works. Revelation 2:23.

In the same book,

They were judged every one according to their works. Revelation 20:13, 15.

In the same book,

Behold, I am coming, and My reward with Me, to give to everyone according to his works. Revelation 22:12.

By 'works' in these places all that exists within a person should be understood, because all that constitutes what a person wills and understands is present in his works; for the things in his will and understanding are what causes him to do them. From what is within them the works derive their life; for without it works are like a shell without the nut or a body without the soul. What proceeds from a person does so from the things within him; therefore works are manifestations of those inner things, and they are effects through which those inner things reveal themselves.

[6] It is a general rule that as is a person's character, so is every work he performs. For this reason 'the works' according to which there will be reward or retribution must be taken to mean a person's character so far as his love and faith are concerned. For works are the product of the love and faith residing in a person. Nothing other than his love and his faith constitute the person, or what amounts to the same thing, his good and his truth, see 10076, 10177, 10264, 10284, 10298.

[7] Furthermore the actual desires in a person's will are what constitute a work; for what a person desires in his will he also does, provided that nothing insurmountable stands in the way. Consequently being judged according to one's deeds means being judged according to the desires of one's will. In the Word those who do good because it is their will to do it are called 'the righteous', as is evident in Matthew 25:37, 46. Of them it is said that they will shine forth like the sun in heaven, Matthew 13:43; and in Daniel,

Those who have intelligence will shine like the brightness of the expanse, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars. Daniel 12:3.

'Those who have intelligence' are those who are moved by their intelligence to do what is true; and 'those who turn many to righteousness' are those who are stirred by the desires in their will to do what is good.

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. literally, I will visit upon his ways

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