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Matthew 11

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1 And it came·​·to·​·pass when Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He passed·​·on thence to teach and to preach in their cities.

2 And John, hearing in the prison the works of the Christ and sending two of his disciples,

3 says to Him, Art Thou He who comest, or should we expect another?

4 And Jesus answering, said to them, Go, report to John what you hear and see:

5 the blind receive· their ·sight and the lame walk, the lepers are·​·cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised·​·up and the poor have·​·the·​·gospel·​·announced to them.

6 And happy is he, whoever shall not be offended in Me.

7 And as they went, Jesus began to say to the crowds concerning John, What did you come·​·out into the wilderness to observe? A reed shaken with the wind?

8 But what did you come·​·out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, they who wear soft things are in kings’ houses.

9 But what did you come·​·out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to·​·you, and more·​·than a prophet.

10 For this is he about whom it is written, Behold, I send My messenger before Thy face, who shall make·​·ready Thy way before Thee.*

11 Amen I say to you, There has not arisen among those who are born of women a greater than John the Baptist; but the least in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than he.

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of the heavens presses, and they who·​·press seize upon it.

13 For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John,

14 and if you will to accept it, he is Elijah who was·​·going to come.

15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

16 But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like little·​·boys sitting in the markets, and summoning their fellows,

17 and saying, We have piped to you, and you have not danced; we have lamented to you, and you have not wailed.

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon.

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold, a man, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! And wisdom has been justified by her children.

20 Then He began to reproach the cities in which most of His works of power were·​·done, because they did not repent.

21 Woe to thee, Chorazin! Woe to thee, Bethsaida! Because if the works of power had been·​·done in Tyre and Sidon that were·​·done in you, they would have repented long·​·ago in sackcloth and ashes.

22 But I say unto you, It shall be more·​·tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment, than for you.

23 And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted up·​·to heaven, shalt be thrust·​·down even·​·to hell; for if the works of power which have been·​·done in thee had been·​·done in Sodom, it would have remained even·​·to this·​·day.

24 But I say to·​·you that it shall be more·​·tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for·​·thee.

25 At that time Jesus answering said, I profess Thee, Father, Lord of the heaven and of the earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and intelligent, and hast revealed them to infants.

26 Yes, Father; for so it was for good·​·pleasure before Thee.

27 All things are delivered·​·up to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; neither knows anyone the Father, except the Son, and he to whomever the Son intends to reveal Him.

28 Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and·​·I will give· you ·rest.

29 Take My yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am meek and humble in heart; and you shall find rest for your souls.

30 For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.

   


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

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Heaven and Hell # 353

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353. By false intelligence and wisdom we mean any intelligence and wisdom that is devoid of acknowledgment of the Divine. In fact, people who do not acknowledge the Divine Being but put nature in place of the Divine all think on the basis of their physical bodies. They are merely sense-centered, no matter how scholarly and learned they are considered in this world. 1 Their learning, though, does not rise any higher than the things in front of their eyes in this world, things that they keep in their memory and inspect almost physically. This is the case even though the very same branches of knowledge serve truly intelligent people as a means of forming their understanding. By "branches of knowledge" we mean the various experimental disciplines such as physics, astronomy, chemistry, mechanics, geometry, anatomy, psychology, philosophy, and political history, as well as the realms of literature and criticism and language study.

[2] There are church dignitaries who deny the Divine. They do not raise their thoughts any higher than the sensory concerns of the outer person. They look on the contents of the Word as no different from knowledge about anything else; they do not treat those contents as subjects of thought or of any thorough consideration by an enlightened rational mind. This is because their own deeper levels are closed off, and along with them, the more outward levels that are next to these deeper ones. The reason they are closed is that they have turned their backs on heaven and reversed the things that they could see there, things that are proper to the deeper levels of the human mind, as we have noted before. This is why they cannot see what is true and good - because these matters are in darkness for them, while what is false and evil is in the light.

[3] Nevertheless, sense-centered people can think logically, some of them actually with more skill and penetration than other people. However, they rely on deceptive sensory appearances bolstered by their own learning, and since they can think logically in this fashion, they think they are wiser than other people. 2 The fire that fuels their reasoning is the fire of love for themselves and the world.

These are the people who are devoted to false intelligence and wisdom, the ones meant by the Lord in Matthew: "Seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand" (Matthew 13:13-15); and again, "Things are hidden from the intelligent and wise and revealed to children" (Matthew 11:25-26).

Poznámky pod čarou:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The sensory level is the outmost level of our life, attached to and embedded in our bodies: 5077, 5767, 9212, 9216, 9331, 9730. We call people sense-centered if they evaluate and decide about everything on the basis of their physical senses and do not believe anything unless they see it with their eyes and touch it with their hands: 5094, 7693. People like this do their thinking in their most external minds, and not more inwardly within themselves: 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693. Their deeper levels are closed, so that they can see nothing of divine truth: 6564, 6844-6845. In short, they are in a crude natural illumination and can see nothing that comes from heaven's light: 6201, 6310, 6564, 6844-6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624. So they are profoundly opposed to whatever involves heaven and the church: 6201, 6316 [6310?], 6844-6845, 6948-6949. Scholars who have convinced themselves in opposition to the truths of the church are sense-centered: 6316. A description of the nature of sense-centered people: 10236.

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] The logical thinking of sense-centered people is both keen and skillful because they place all intelligence in talking from their physical memory: 195-196, 5700, 10236. However, all this relies on deceptive sensory appearances: 5084, 6948-6949, 7693. Sense-centered people are more canny and vicious than others: 7693, 10236. The ancients called people like this "serpents of the tree of knowledge": 195-197, 6398, 6949, 10313.

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