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Numbers 24

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1 And Balaam saw that it was·​·good in the eyes of Jehovah to bless Israel, and he went not, as at earlier times, to meet with foretellings*, but he set his faces toward the wilderness.

2 And Balaam lifted·​·up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding according·​·to his tribes; and the spirit of God was upon him.

3 And he lifted·​·up his enunciation, and said, Balaam the son of Beor has said, and the man whose eyes are·​·opened has said:

4 he has said, who heard the sayings of God, who beheld the vision of Shaddai, falling forward, but having his eyes uncovered;

5 How good·​·are thy tents, O Jacob, thy habitations, O Israel!

6 As the brooks are they stretched*, as gardens by the river, as the aloes which Jehovah has planted, as cedars by the waters.

7 He shall pour the water out·​·of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be made·​·higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be lifted·​·up.

8 God brought· him ·out from Egypt; he has as·​·it·​·were the powers of a unicorn; he shall eat·​·up the nations of his adversaries, and shall fracture their bones, and he shall strike with his arrows.

9 He stooped, he lay·​·down as a lion, and as an old·​·lion; who shall raise· him ·up? Blessed is he who blesses thee, and cursed is he who curses thee.

10 And the anger of Balak was·​·fierce toward Balaam, and he slapped the palms of his hands; and Balak said to Balaam, I called thee to curse my enemies, and, behold, blessing thou hast blessed them these three times.

11 And now for thyself run·​·away to thy place; I said glorifying I would glorify thee, and behold, Jehovah has withheld thee from glory.

12 And Balaam said to Balak, Spoke I not also to thy messengers whom thou didst send to me, saying,

13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go·​·beyond the mouth of Jehovah, to do good or evil of my own heart. What Jehovah speaks, I will speak.

14 And now, behold, I go to my people; go therefore, and I will counsel thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

15 And he lifted·​·up his enunciation, and said, Balaam the son of Beor has said, and the man whose eyes are·​·opened has said:

16 he has said, who heard the sayings of God, and knew the knowledge of the Most·​·High, who beheld the vision of Shaddai, falling forward, but having his eyes uncovered:

17 I shall see Him, but not now; I shall observe Him, but not near; there shall come a star* out·​·of Jacob, and a scepter shall arise out·​·of Israel, and shall strike the corners of Moab, and topple all the sons of Sheth.

18 And Edom shall be a possession, and Seir shall be a possession of his enemies; and Israel shall do valiantly.

19 Out·​·of Jacob shall come He who shall have·​·dominion, and shall make· the survivor of the city ·perish.

20 And he saw Amalek, and he lifted·​·up his enunciation, and said, Amalek was the beginning of the nations; but his last is to perish forever.

21 And he looked on the Kenites, and lifted·​·up his enunciation, and said, Strong is thy dwellingplace, and thou settest thy nest in a rock.

22 But the Kenite shall be swept·​·away, until when Assyria shall take· thee ·captive.

23 And he lifted·​·up his enunciation, and said, Woe! Who shall live when God does this!

24 And boats shall come from the hand of Kittim, and shall afflict Assyria, and shall afflict Eber, and he also shall perish forever.

25 And Balaam rose·​·up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.

   


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

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Arcana Coelestia # 3079

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3079. 'And her pitcher was on her shoulder' means vessels that receive truth, and a total effort to uphold that truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'a pitcher' as factual knowledge, and so a receptacle of truth, dealt with in 3068, and from the meaning of 'shoulder' as all power, and so total effort, dealt with in 1085. 'Pitchers' or water-pots, and also vessels generally, mean in the internal sense things that serve in the place of a receptacle, as facts and cognitions do in relation to truths, and as truths themselves do in relation to good. This becomes clear from many places in the Word. The temple and the altar vessels had no other meaning, and having that meaning they were also sacred. For no other reason were they sacred. That was why - when Belshazzar, along with his nobles and his wives, drank wine out of the vessels of gold and silver which Nebuchadnezzar his father had brought from the Temple in Jerusalem, and they praised the gods of gold, silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone - writing appeared on the wall of his palace, Daniel 5:2 and following verses. 'The vessels of gold and silver' stands for cognitions of good and truth which were rendered profane; for 'the Chaldeans' means those who possess cognitions but have rendered them profane through the falsities within those cognitions, 1368, so that cognitions serve them for worshipping 'the gods of gold and silver' (Belshazzar being called 'king of the Chaldeans' in verse 30 of that same chapter).

[2] That 'vessels' means the external containers of spiritual things is also evident from other places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

Even as the children of Israel bring their gift in a clean vessel to the house of Jehovah. Isaiah 66:20.

This refers to the Lord's kingdom. 'A gift in a clean vessel' is a representative of the external man in relation to the internal. The one who brings the gift is the internal man, 'the clean vessel' a compatible external man, and so the things present in the external man, which are facts, cognitions, and matters of doctrine. In Jeremiah,

The cry of Jerusalem went up, and the nobles sent their inferiors to the waters; they came to the pits, they found no water, they returned with their vessels empty, they were ashamed. Jeremiah 14:2-3.

'Empty vessels' stands for cognitions with no truth in them, and also truths with no good in them. In the same prophet,

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel has devoured me, he has troubled me, he has made me an empty vessel. Jeremiah 51:34.

'An empty vessel' stands in like manner for empty cognitions - 'Babel' being one who lays waste, see 1327 (end). In Moses,

Like valleys that are planted, like gardens beside a river. Waters will flow from buckets, and his seed will be towards many waters. Numbers 24:6-7.

These verses belong to Balaam's oracle concerning Jacob and Israel. 'Waters will flow from buckets' stands for truths flowing from cognitions. In the parable about the ten virgins it is said that five of them took oil in their vessels together with their lamps, but that the foolish did not, Matthew 25:4. 'Virgins' means affections; 'the wise took oil in their vessels' means that they took good within truths, and so charity within faith. 'Oil' is good, see 886; 'lamps' stands for love.

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