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Zechariah 12

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1 The burden of the word of Jehovah against Israel, says Jehovah, who stretches·​·out the heavens, and founds the earth, and forms the spirit of man in his midst.

2 Behold, I will set Jerusalem as a bowl of trepidation to all the people all around, and also they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.

3 And it will be in that day that I will set Jerusalem as a stone, a load for all the peoples to bear; all who bear·​·the·​·load lacerating shall be lacerated, and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered·​·together to her.

4 In that day, says Jehovah, I will smite every horse with amazement, and his rider with madness; and I will open My eyes on the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness.

5 And the leaders of Judah shall say in their heart, They who dwell in Jerusalem shall be an encouragement to me, in Jehovah of Armies their God.

6 In that day I will set the leaders of Judah like a laver* of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people all around, on the right and on the left; and Jerusalem shall still dwell in her own place* in Jerusalem.

7 And Jehovah shall save the tents of Judah first, so·​·that the splendor of the house of David and the splendor of those who dwell in Jerusalem may not magnify themselves against Judah.

8 In that day shall Jehovah defend those who dwell in Jerusalem; and he who stumbles among them in that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them.

9 And it shall be in that day, that I will seek to blot·​·out all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

10 And I will spill·​·out on the house of David, and on those who dwell in Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look to Me whom they have thrust·​·through, and they shall wail over Him, as one wailing over an only child, and shall be·​·bitter over Him, as one is·​·bitter over his firstborn.

11 In that day there shall be a great wailing in Jerusalem, as the wailing of Hadadrimmon in the vale of Megiddo.

12 And the land shall wail, families, families apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart;

13 the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Simeon apart, and their wives apart;

14 all the families that are left, families, families apart, and their wives apart.

   


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

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Seek

  

The meaning of "to seek" in the Bible is pretty straightforward, but there is a bit of nuance. In most cases "seek" or "look for" is connected with truth and knowledge, where "desire" is connected with love and affection. This makes sense; the idea of "seeking" is connected to sight, and sight corresponds to our intellect and capacity to understand truth.

(Odkazy: Apocalypse Explained 550; Apocalypse Revealed 429; Arcana Coelestia 4719, 6770, 6771, 7021, 8298)

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Arcana Coelestia # 7021

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7021. 'For all the men seeking your soul are dead' means the removal of falsities endeavouring to destroy the life of truth and good. This is clear from the meaning of 'being dead' as the fact that they have been removed, since those who are dead have also been removed; from the meaning of the Egyptians, to whom 'the men' refers here, as those who are under the influence of falsities, dealt with in 6692; and from the meaning of 'those seeking the soul' as those who endeavour to destroy life. And since spiritual life is the life of truth which belongs to faith and of good which belongs to charity, it is called the life of truth and good. From all this it is evident that 'all the men seeking your soul are dead' means the removal of falsities endeavouring to destroy the life of truth and good. In the Word 'soul' (anima) is used to mean every living thing and is also attributed to living creatures (animalia). But the proper use of the word 'soul' is in reference to a human being; and when used in this way it can vary in meaning. A person himself is called a soul, because the life in general within him is called the soul; more specifically the life or activity of his understanding is called such, and so too is the life or activity of his will.

[2] But in the spiritual sense 'soul' is used to mean the life of truth belonging to faith and the life of good belonging to charity, or in general to mean a person himself in respect of his spirit that lives after death, which is the meaning that 'soul' has in Matthew,

Do not fear those who can kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Matthew 10:28.

In the same gospel,

What does it profit a person if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul? Or what will a person give as a price sufficient for the redemption of his soul? Matthew 16:26.

In Luke,

The Son of Man did not come to destroy people's souls but to save them. Luke 9:56.

In Ezekiel,

You have desecrated Me among My people, to kill souls that ought not to die, and to keep alive souls that ought not to live. Ezekiel 13:19.

In these places 'soul' stands for a person's spiritual life, the life which is that of his spirit after death. 'Killing the soul', 'suffering the loss of one's soul', and 'destroying the soul' stand for dying spiritually or being subject to damnation.

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