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Ezequiel 27

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1 De novo veio a mim a palavra do Senhor, dizendo:

2 Tu pois, ó filho do homem, levanta uma lamentação sobre Tiro;

3 e dize a Tiro, que habita na entrada do mar, e negocia com os povos em muitas ilhas: Assim diz o Senhor Deus: ç Tiro, tu dizes: Eu sou perfeita em formosura.

4 No coração dos mares estão os teus termos; os que te edificaram aperfeiçoaram a tua formosura.

5 De ciprestes de Senir fizeram todas as tuas tábuas; trouxeram cedros do Líbano para fazerem um mastro para ti.

6 Fizeram os teus remos de carvalhos de Basã; os teus bancos fizeram-nos de marfim engastado em buxo das ilhas de Quitim.

7 Linho fino bordado do Egito era a tua vela, para te servir de estandarte; de azul, e púrpura das ilhas de Elisá era a tua cobertura.

8 Os habitantes de Sidom e de Arvade eram os teus remadores; os teus peritos, ó Tiro, que em ti se achavam, esses eram os teus pilotos.

9 Os anciãos de Gebal e seus peritos eram em ti os teus calafates; todos os navios do mar e os seus marinheiros se achavam em ti, para tratarem dos teus negócios.

10 Os persas, e os lídios, e os de Pute eram no teu exército os teus soldados; penduravam em ti o escudo e o capacete; aumentavam o teu esplendor.

11 Os filhos de Arvade e o teu exército estavam sobre os teus muros em redor, e os gamaditas nas tuas torres; penduravam os seus escudos nos teus muros em redor; aperfeiçoavam a tua formosura.

12 Társis negociava contigo, por causa da abundância de toda a casta de riquezas; seus negociantes trocavam pelas tuas mercadorias prata, ferro, estanho, e chumbo.

13 Javã, Tubál e Meseque eram teus mercadores; pelas tuas mercadorias trocavam as pessoas de homens e vasos de bronze.

14 Os da casa de Togarma trocavam pelas tuas mercadorias cavalos e ginetes e machos;

15 os homens de Dedã eram teus mercadores; muitas ilhas eram o mercado da tua mão; tornavam a trazer-te em troca de dentes de marfim e pau de ébano.

16 A Síria negociava contigo por causa da multidão das tuas manufaturas; pelas tuas mercadorias trocavam granadas, púrpura, obras bordadas, linho fino, corais e rubis.

17 Judá e a terra de Israel eram teus mercadores; pelas tuas mercadorias trocavam o trigo de Minite, cera, mel, azeite e bálsamo.

18 Por causa da multidão das tuas manufaturas, por causa da multidão de toda a sorte de riquezas, Damasco negociava contigo em vinho de Helbom e lã branca.

19 Vedã e Javã de Uzal trocavam lã fiada pelas tuas manufaturas; ferro polido, cássia e cálamo aromático achavam-se entre as tuas mercadorias.

20 Dedã negociava contigo em suadouros para cavalgar.

21 Arábia e todos os príncipes de Quedar também eram os mercadores ao teu serviço; em cordeiros, carneiros e bodes, nestas coisas negociavam contigo.

22 Os mercadores de Sabá e Raamá igualmente negociavam contigo; pelas tuas mercadorias trocavam as melhores de todas as especiarias e toda a pedra preciosa e ouro.

23 Harã, e Cané e Edem os mercadores de Sabá, Assur e Quilmade eram teus mercadores.

24 Estes negociavam contigo em roupas escolhidas, em agasalho de azul e de obra bordada, e em cofres de roupas preciosas, amarrados com cordas e feitos de cedro.

25 Os navios de Társis eram as tuas caravanas para a tua mercadoria; e te encheste, e te glorificaste muito no meio dos mares.

26 Os teus remadores te conduziram sobre grandes águas; o vento oriental te quebrantou no meio dos mares.

27 As tuas riquezas, os teus bens, as tuas mercadorias, os teus marinheiros e os teus pilotos, os teus calafates, e os que faziam os teus negócios, e todos os teus soldados, que estão em ti, juntamente com toda a tua companhia, que está no meio de ti, se submergirão no meio dos mares no dia da tua queda.

28 Ao estrondo da gritaria dos teus pilotos tremerão os arrabaldes.

29 E todos os que pegam no remo, os marinheiros, e todos os pilotos do mar descerão de seus navios, e pararão em terra,

30 e farão ouvir a sua voz sobre ti, e gritarão amargamente; lançarão pó sobre as cabeças, e na cinza se revolverão;

31 e se farão calvos por tua causa, e se cingirão de sacos, e chorarão sobre ti com amargura de alma, com amarga lamentação.

32 No seu pranto farão uma lamentação sobre ti, na qual dirão: Quem foi como Tiro, como a que está reduzida ao silêncio no meio do mar?

33 Quando as tuas mercadorias eram exportadas pelos mares, fartaste a muitos povos; com a multidão das tuas riquezas e das tuas mercadorias, enriqueceste os reis da terra.

34 No tempo em que foste quebrantada pelos mares, nas profundezas das águas, caíram no meio de ti todas as tuas mercadorias e toda a tua companhia.

35 Todos os moradores das ilhas estão a teu respeito cheios de espanto; e os seus reis temem em grande maneira, e estão de semblante perturbado.

36 Os mercadores dentre os povos te dão vaias; tu te tornaste em grande espanto, e nao mais existiras.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 1175

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1175. Verse 19. And they cast dust upon their heads and cried out weeping, and mourning, signifies grief and confession that by a life according to that religious persuasion and its doctrine they were condemned. This is evident from the signification of "to cast dust upon the head," as being to mourn because they were condemned (it follows as a consequence that it was on account of life according to that religious persuasion and its doctrine); also from the signification of "to cry out weeping and mourning," as being grief that they were condemned by such a life, "to cry out" having reference to doctrine, and "to weep and mourn" signifying grief of soul and heart (as above, n. 1164. "To cast dust upon the heads" means mourning on account of condemnation, because "dust" signifies what is condemned, and "head" the man himself. "Dust" signifies what is condemned, because the hells are beneath and the heavens are above, and from the hells falsity from evil unceasingly breathes forth, consequently the dust over them signifies what is condemned (See also above, n. 742. Because of this signification of "dust" it was a custom in the representative churches to cast dust upon their heads when they had done evil and had repented of it, thus giving proof of their repentance.

[2] That this was so can be seen from the following passages. In Ezekiel:

They shall cry bitterly and shall cast up dust upon their heads, they shall roll themselves in ashes (Ezekiel 27:30).

"To cast up dust upon their heads" signifies mourning because of condemnation, and "to roll themselves in ashes" signifies still deeper mourning, for "ashes" signify what is condemned, because the fire from which they come signifies infernal love. In Lamentations:

The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the earth, they keep silence, they have cast up dust upon their heads; the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the earth (Lamentations 2:10).

By such things grief and mourning because of evils and falsities of which they repented, and thus confession that they were condemned, were represented. "Daughter of Zion" signifies the church, and "virgins of Jerusalem" signify truths of doctrine; "to sit upon the earth and keep silence" signifies grief of mind; "to cast dust upon the head" signifies confession that they were condemned, and "to hang down the head to the earth" signifies confession that they were in hell. In Job:

The friends of Job rent everyone his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven (Job 2:12).

"To sprinkle dust upon the head towards heaven" signifies mourning on account of Job, who seemed to be condemned. Mourning on account of condemnation of evil is signified by "dust upon the head," and "rending the mantle" signifies mourning on account of condemnation of falsity. The same is signified by:

Rolling themselves in the dust (Micah 1:10).

That repentance was thus represented is evident in Job:

I repent upon dust and upon ashes (Job 42:6).

Because "dust" signifies condemnation, it was said to the serpent:

Upon the belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life (Genesis 3:14).

The "serpent" signifies infernal evil with those who pervert the truths of the Word, and thereby deceive artfully and craftily. So in Isaiah:

Dust shall be the serpent's bread (Isaiah 65:25).

From all this it is clear that "dust" signifies what is condemned, and that "to cast dust upon the head" is a testification of condemnation.

(Continuation)

[3] All this having been premised it shall now be told what affection is, and afterwards why man is led by the Lord by means of affections and not by means of thoughts, and lastly that man can be saved in no other way.

What affection is. The same is meant by affection as by love. But love is like a fountain and affections are like the streams therefrom, thus affections are continuations of love. Love as a fountain is in the will of man; affections, which are streams from it, flow by continuity into the understanding, and there by means of light from truths produce thoughts, just as the influences of heat in a garden produce germinations by means of rays of light. Moreover, love in its origin is the heat of heaven, and truths in their origin are the rays of light of heaven, and thoughts are germinations from their marriage.

From such a marriage are all the societies of heaven, which are innumerable, which in their essence are affections; for they are from the heat that is love and from the wisdom that is light from the Lord as a sun. Therefore these societies, as heat in them is united to light, and light is united to heat, are affections of good and truth. From this are the thoughts of all in these societies. This makes clear that the societies of heaven are not thoughts but affections, consequently to be led by means of these societies is to be led by means of affections, that is, to be led by means of affections is to be led by means of societies; and for this reason in what now follows the term affections will be used in place of societies.

[4] Why man is led by the Lord by means of affections and not by means of thoughts shall now be told. When man is led by the Lord by means of affections he can be led according to all the laws of His Divine providence, but not if he should be led by means of thoughts. Affections do not become evident to man, but thoughts do; also affections produce thoughts, but thoughts do not produce affections; there is an appearance that they do, but it is a fallacy. And when affections produce thoughts they produce all things of man, because these constitute his life. Moreover, this is known in the world. If you hold a man in his affection you hold him bound, and lead him wherever you please, and a single reason is then stronger than a thousand. But if you do not hold man in his affection reasons are of no avail, for his affection, when not in harmony with them, either perverts them or rejects them or extinguishes them. It would be similar if the Lord should lead man by means of thoughts immediately, and not by means of affections.

Again, when a man is led by the Lord by means of affections, it seems to him as if he thought freely as if of himself, and spoke freely and acted freely as if of himself. And this is why the Lord does not teach man immediately, but mediately by means of the Word, and by means of doctrines and preachings from the Word, and by means of conversations and interaction with others; for from these things man thinks freely as if of himself.

[5] In no other way can man be saved. This follows both from what has been said about the laws of the Divine providence and also from this, that thoughts do not produce affections in man. For if man knew all things of the Word, and all things of doctrine, even to the arcana of wisdom that the angels possess, and thought and spoke about them, so long as his affections were lusts of evil he could not be brought out of hell by the Lord. Evidently, then, if man were to be taught from heaven by an influx into his thoughts it would be like casting seed upon the way, or into water, or into snow, or into fire.

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