59. 31. I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it. Jehovah of Hosts shall yet choose Jerusalem (Zechariah 1:16-17).

I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. He said, I go to measure Jerusalem to see what is the breadth thereof and what is the length thereof. For I, saith Jehovah, will be unto Jerusalem a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the midst of her. Jehovah shall choose Jerusalem again (Zechariah 2:1-12).

Jehovah chooseth Jerusalem; is not this a brand snatched from the fire (Zechariah 3:2)?

Jehovah said, I will remove the iniquity of the land in one day. In that day shall ye call, a man to his neighbor, under the vine and under the fig tree (Zechariah 3:9-10).

Thus said Jehovah; I will return to Zion and dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; therefore Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth, and the mountain of Jehovah of Hosts the mountain of holiness. The streets of the city shall yet be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. I will bring them that they may dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, that they may be My people, and I may be their God, in truth and justice. Thus many people shall come to seek Jehovah of Hosts in Jerusalem, to entreat the faces of Jehovah (Zechariah 8:2-5, 8, 12, 15, 20-22).

In that day all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against Jerusalem. In that day shall Jehovah protect the inhabitant of Jerusalem. The house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. In that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. But I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitant of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of prayers, that they may look upon Me whom they pierced (Zechariah 12:3, 8-10).

In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In that day I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and I will cause the unclean spirit to pass out of the land (Zechariah 13:1-2).

It shall be one day which is known unto Jehovah, not day nor night; for about evening time it shall be light. And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, in summer and in winter. And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah be one, and His name one. There shall be no more curse upon the earth, but Jerusalem shall dwell securely (Zechariah 14:6-9, 11). In that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of Jehovah (verse 21).

(All the gates of Zion are devastated (Lamentations 1:4). Jehovah hath turned me back; He laid me waste (verse 13). My sons are devastated (verse 16). Devastation and breaking are come upon us (Lamentations 3:47).

Thine iniquity is consummated, He will visit thine iniquity. He will manifest thy sins (Lamentations 4:22).

3671. 'You and your seed with you' means to the good and the truth born from this good. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, to whom 'you' refers here, as the good of truth, or good that is a product of truth, dealt with above, and from the meaning of 'seed' as the good and truth of faith, dealt with in 1025, 1447, 1610, 2848, 3373. 'With you' means that it was allied to the good of truth, represented by 'Jacob'. Good and truth are like seeds and the soil. Interior good is like seed that is productive, though not unless it is sown in good soil. Exterior good and truth are like the soil in which it is made productive. The former, that is to say, the seed, which is interior good and truth, cannot otherwise take root. This is why a person's rational is regenerated first of all, for the rational is where the seeds are; then after that the natural is regenerated to serve as the soil for them, 3286, 3288, 3321, 3368, 3493, 3576, 3620, 3623. And because the natural is like the soil, good and truth can be made fruitful and be multiplied within the rational, which could not take place if the soil where the seed has its root were anywhere else. From this comparison one may see as in a mirror what regeneration is like and the numerous arcana that go with it.

[2] Understanding good and truth and willing them is the function of the rational, and perceptions of good and truth resulting from this are like seeds; but knowing them and doing them is the function of the natural. Facts and deeds are like the soil. When a person has an affection for the facts that corroborate what is good and true, the more so when he experiences joy in acting them out, those facts are seeds that are present and growing in the natural as their own proper soil; and there they grow. As a consequence good is made fruitful and truth is multiplied, and they are constantly springing up out of that soil into the rational and perfecting it. The situation is different when a person understands what is good and true, and also interiorly perceives that he wills something, and yet does not desire to know these things, let alone do them. In that case good cannot be made fruitful nor truth be multiplied within the rational.