Bible

 

Ezekiel 16

Studie

   

1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, cause Jerusalem to know her abominations,

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD to Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite.

4 And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all.

5 No eye pitied thee, to do any of these to thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born.

6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thy own blood, I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yes, I said to thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.

7 I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and become great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thy hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare.

8 Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yes, I swore to thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine.

9 Then I washed thee with water; yes, I thoroughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil.

10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.

11 I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck.

12 And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and ear-rings in thy ears, and a beautiful crown upon thy head.

13 Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.

14 And thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord GOD.

15 But thou didst trust in thy own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown, and pouredst out thy fornications on every one that passed by; his it was.

16 And of thy garments thou didst take, and deck thy high places with divers colors, and play the harlot upon them: the like things shall not come, neither shall it be so.

17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and hast made to thyself images of men, and hast committed lewdness with them.

18 And hast taken thy broidered garments, and covered them: and thou hast set my oil and my incense before them.

19 My provisions also which I gave thee, fine flour, and oil, and honey, with which I fed thee, thou hast even set before them for a sweet savor: and thus it was, saith the Lord GOD.

20 Moreover thou hast taken thy sons and thy daughters, whom thou hast borne to me, and these hast thou sacrificed to them to be devoured. Is this of thy lewdness a small matter,

21 That thou hast slain my children, and delivered them to cause them to pass through the fire for them?

22 And in all thy abominations and thy deeds of lewdness thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, when thou wast naked and bare, and wast polluted in thy blood.

23 And it came to pass after all thy wickedness, (woe, woe to thee! saith the Lord GOD;)

24 That thou hast also built to thee an eminent place, and hast made thee a high place in every street.

25 Thou hast built thy high place at every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be abhorred, and hast prostituted thyself to every one that passed by, and multiplied thy lewd deeds.

26 Thou hast also committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh; and hast multiplied thy lewd deeds, to provoke me to anger.

27 Behold, therefore I have stretched out my hand over thee, and have diminished thy ordinary food, and delivered thee to the will of them that hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines, who are ashamed of thy lewd way.

28 Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians, because thou wast insatiable; yes, thou hast played the harlot with them, and yet couldst not be satisfied.

29 Thou hast moreover multiplied thy fornication in the land of Canaan to Chaldea; and yet with this thou wast not satisfied.

30 How weak is thy heart, saith the Lord GOD, seeing thou doest all these things, the work of an imperious lewd woman;

31 In that thou buildest thy eminent place in the head of every way, and makest thy high place in every street; and hast not been as a harlot, in that thou scornest hire;

32 But as a wife that committeth adultery, who taketh strangers instead of her husband!

33 They give gifts to all lewd women: but thou givest thy gifts to all thy lovers, and hirest them, that they may come to thee on every side for thy lewdness.

34 And the contrary is in thee from other women in thy unlawful commerce, whereas none followeth thee to commit lewdness: and in that thou givest a reward, and no reward is given to thee, therefore thou art contrary.

35 Wherefore, O harlot, hear the word of the LORD:

36 Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thy filthiness was poured out, and thy nakedness exposed through thy carnal connection with thy lovers, and with all the idols of thy abominations, and by the blood of thy children, which thou didst give to them;

37 Behold therefore, I will gather all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast hated; I will even gather them on every side against thee, and will uncover thy nakedness to them, that they may see all thy nakedness.

38 And I will judge thee, as women that break wedlock and shed blood are judged; and I will give thee blood in fury and jealousy.

39 And I will also give thee into their hand, and they shall throw down thy eminent place, and shall break down thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy clothes, and shall take thy fair jewels, and leave thee naked and bare.

40 They shall also bring up a company against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and thrust thee through with their swords.

41 And they shall burn thy houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more.

42 So will I make my fury towards thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry.

43 Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast provoked me in all these things; behold therefore, I also will recompense thy way upon thy head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thy abominations.

44 Behold, every one that useth proverbs shall use this proverb against thee, saying, As is the mother, so is her daughter.

45 Thou art thy mother's daughter, that lotheth her husband and her children; and thou art the sister of thy sisters, who lothed their husbands and their children: your mother was a Hittite, and your father an Amorite.

46 And thy elder sister is Samaria, she and her daughters that dwell at thy left hand: and thy younger sister, that dwelleth at thy right hand, is Sodom and her daughters.

47 Yet hast thou not walked after their ways, nor done after their abominations: but as if that were a very little thing, thou wast corrupted more than they in all thy ways.

48 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, Sodom thy sister hath not done, she nor her daughters, as thou hast done, thou and thy daughters.

49 Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.

50 And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.

51 Neither hath Samaria committed half of thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thy abominations more than they, and hast justified thy sisters in all thy abominations which thou hast done.

52 Thou also, who hast judged thy sisters, bear thy own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they: they are more righteous than thou: yes, be thou confounded also, and bear thy shame, in that thou hast justified thy sisters.

53 When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them:

54 That thou mayest bear thy own shame, and mayest be confounded in all that thou hast done, in that thou art a comfort to them.

55 When thy sisters, Sodom and her daughters, shall return to their former state, and Samaria and her daughters shall return to their former state, then thou and thy daughters shall return to your former state.

56 For thy sister Sodom was not mentioned by thy mouth in the day of thy pride,

57 Before thy wickedness was disclosed, as at the time of thy reproach of the daughters of Syria, and all that are around her, the daughters of the Philistines, who despise thee on every side.

58 Thou hast borne thy lewdness and thy abominations, saith the LORD.

59 For thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even deal with thee as thou hast done, who hast despised the oath in breaking the covenant.

60 Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish to thee an everlasting covenant.

61 Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thy elder and thy younger: and I will give them to thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.

62 And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD:

63 That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD.

   

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Revealed # 543

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 962  
  

543. She bore a male Child. (12:5) This symbolizes the doctrine of the New Church.

A son in the Word symbolizes doctrinal truth, and also an understanding of and consequent thought about truth and goodness. A daughter, on the other hand, symbolizes the goodness taught by doctrine, and also a willing of and consequent affection for truth and goodness. A male child, moreover, symbolizes truth conceived in the spiritual self and born in the natural one.

The reason for this is that generations and births in the Word symbolize spiritual generations and births, all of which relate in general to goodness and truth (no. 535). For nothing else is begotten and born of the Lord as husband and of the church as wife.

Now because the woman who bore the child symbolizes the New Church (no. 533), it is apparent that the male child symbolizes that church's doctrine.

The doctrine meant here is The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine (London, 1758), and also The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, and The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem in Accordance With the Ten Commandments (Amsterdam, 1763). For doctrine means all the truths of doctrine, since doctrine embraces them all. When I was writing these doctrines, followers of the dragon stood about me and with all their fury endeavored to devour them, that is, to extinguish them.

I am permitted to report this new information, because of a truth it happened as I have said. The followers of the dragon who stood about me came from all over the Protestant Reformed Christian world.

[2] Since these and no other are the offspring born of the spiritual marriage, and male offspring are truth and good in the intellect and consequent thought, while female offspring are truth and good in the will and consequent affection, therefore a son in the Word symbolizes truth. To confirm this we will cite some passages from which it can in some measure be seen:

Behold, sons are a heritage from Jehovah, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of one's youth. (Psalms 127:3-5)

Make yourself bald and shave yourself, because of your delightful sons..., for they are gone from you. (Micah 1:16)

(I saw two olive trees beside the lampstand,) and he said, "These are the two sons of the olive tree, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth." (Zechariah 4:11, 14)

My tent is destroyed...; my sons have gone from me, and they are no more. (Jeremiah 10:20)

My sons are made desolate because the enemy prevailed. (Lamentations 1:16)

Your sons, (O Jerusalem,) have fainted, they lie at the head of all the streets... (Isaiah 51:17-18, 20)

...fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you, and sons shall eat their fathers..., and all of you who remain I will scatter to all the winds. (Ezekiel 5:10)

Son will be divided against father, and father against son... (Luke 12:53, cf. Matthew 10:21, Mark 13:12)

You have also taken your beautiful vessels of My gold... and made for yourself male images with which you played the harlot. (Ezekiel 16:17)

(Jesus said,) ...the... seeds are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of evil. (Matthew 13:38)

[3] That the Son of Man is the Divine truth in the Word, thus the Lord, may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Lord, nos. 19-28.

In the passages cited, sons mean people who possess doctrinal truths drawn from the Word, and abstractly, those truths themselves. So, too, elsewhere, as in Isaiah 13:17-18; 14:21-23; 43:6; 49:17, 22; 51:17-18; 60:9; Deuteronomy 32:8.

That daughters symbolize an affection for the church's truth, thus the church in relation to that affection, follows from so many passages in the Word that if I were to quote them, they would fill many pages. Nothing else is meant by daughter of Zion, daughter of Jerusalem, daughter of Judah, and daughter of Israel. See some passages cited in no. 612[1-4] regarding the daughter of Zion. Who cannot see that no actual daughter of Zion, of Jerusalem, of Judah or of Israel, so often mentioned in the Word, can be meant?

  
/ 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

Ze Swedenborgových děl

 

Apocalypse Revealed # 612

Prostudujte si tuto pasáž

  
/ 962  
  

612. REVELATION: CHAPTER 14

1. Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written on their foreheads.

2. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.

3. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and before the elders; and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth.

4. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

5. And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.

6. Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth - to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people -

7. saying with a loud voice, "Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."

8. And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness."

9. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, "If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,

10. he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with pure wine in the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

11. And the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever; and they will have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."

12. Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus (Christ.)

13. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' " "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, for their works follow them."

14. Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.

15. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the hour has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth has dried."

16. So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

17. Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

18. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire, and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes of the vine of the earth, for her grapes are ripe."

19. So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the vine of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

20. And the winepress was trampled outside the city, and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles, for one thousand six hundred furlongs.

THE SPIRITUAL MEANING

The Contents of the Whole Chapter

The New Christian Heaven, described in verses 1-5. The gospel concerning the Lord's advent preached, and a new church then, verses 6, 7, 13. An exhortation for people to forsake the faith divorced from charity that grips today's church, verses 9-12. An examination and exposure of those people, revealing that their works are evil, verses 14-20.

The Contents of the Individual Verses:

Verse ContentsSpiritual Meaning
1. Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand,The Lord now present in a new heaven formed of Christians who acknowledged Him as God of heaven and earth, and had doctrinal truths received from Him through the Word.
having His Father's name written on their foreheads.The acknowledgment among them of the Lord's Divinity and of His Divine humanity.
2. And I heard a voice from heaven, like the voice of many waters,The Lord speaking through the new heaven with Divine truths,
and like the voice of loud thunder.and out of Divine love.
And I heard the sound of harpists playing their harps.A confession of the Lord from a glad heart by spiritual angels in the lower heavens.
3. They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and before the elders;A celebration and glorification of the Lord in His presence and in the presence of the angels of the higher heavens.
and no one could learn that song except the hundred and forty-four thousandNo other Christians could understand and so acknowledge out of love and faith that the Lord alone is God of heaven and earth but those received by the Lord into this new heaven.
who were redeemed from the earth.They are people who could be regenerated by the Lord and so be redeemed in the world.
4. These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins.They did not adulterate the church's truths or defile them with the falsities of their faith, but loved the truths because they are true.
These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.They are conjoined with the Lord through love and through faith in Him, because they lived in accordance with His commandments.
These were redeemed from among men,The same here as before [verse 3] .
being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.The commencement of a Christian heaven that acknowledges one God in whom is the Trinity, and acknowledges that the Lord is that God.
5. And in their mouth was found no deceit,They do not speak with cunning or with a purpose to persuade people of falsity and evil,
for they are without blemish before the throne of God.because they are governed by truths springing from goodness from the Lord.
6. Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earthAn announcement of the Lord's advent, and of a new church to descend from Him out of heaven,
- to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people -to all people who, owing to religion, are prompted by goods, and owing to doctrine are guided by truths.
7. saying with a loud voice, "Fear GodAn admonition not to do evil, because it is to act against the Lord.
and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come;An acknowledgment and confession that all the Word's truth comes from the Lord, and that everyone will be judged in accordance with it,
and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water."and that the Lord alone is to be worshiped, because He alone is the Creator, Savior, and Redeemer, and because the angelic heaven and the church and everything in them originate from Him alone.
8. And another angel followed, saying, "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,The Roman Catholic religion has now been dispelled with respect to its dogmas and doctrines,
because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her licentiousness."because by profanations of the Word and adulterations of the church's goodness and truth, it has led astray all the people it was able to bring under its dominion.
9. Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice,Still more from the Lord concerning people caught up in faith divorced from charity.
"If anyone worships the beast and its image, and receives its mark on his forehead or on his hand,People who acknowledge and accept the doctrine of justification and salvation by faith alone, affirm it, and live in accordance with it,
10. he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed with pure wine in the cup of His indignation.falsify the Word's goods and truths and steep themselves in a life in accordance with their falsification of them.
He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11. And the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever;Their love of self and the world and the ensuing lusts, and stemming from these a conceit in their own intelligence, and torment in hell because of them.
and they will have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."The continuing state of vexations in people who acknowledge and accept that faith, affirm it, and live in accordance with it.
12. Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.By temptations or trials induced by vexations, a person belonging to the Lord's church is explored as to his character in respect to his life in accordance with the Word's commandments and to his faith in the Lord.
13. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'�"A prediction by the Lord concerning the state of people after death who will belong to His New Church, that they will have eternal life and happiness.
"Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors,The Word's Divine truth teaches that people who afflict their soul therefore and crucify their flesh will have peace in the Lord,
for their works follow them."according as they have loved and believed and so have done and spoken.
14. Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man,The Lord in relation to the Word.
having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.The Divine wisdom emanating from His Divine love, and the Divine truth in the Word.
15. And another angel came out of the temple,The angelic heaven.
crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Thrust in Your sickle and reap, for the hour has come for You to reap, for the harvest of the earth has dried."A supplication by angels in heaven to the Lord to bring things to an end and execute judgment, because the church had now reached its last state.
16. So He who sat on the cloud thrust in His sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.The end of the church, because it no longer had any Divine truth in it.
17. Then another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.The heavens of the Lord's spiritual kingdom, and the Word's Divine truth in them.
18. And another angel came out from the altar, who had power over fire,The heavens of the Lord's celestial kingdom, which are prompted by the goodness of love received from the Lord.
and he cried with a loud cry to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, "Thrust in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes of the vine of the earth,The Lord's operation from the goodness of His love through the Word's Divine truth into the works of charity and faith among people belonging to the Christian Church,
for her grapes are ripe."because the Christian Church has reached its last state.
19. So the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vintage of the vine of the earth,The end of the present Christian Church.
and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.An examination of the character of the people's works, revealing that their works were evil.
20. And the winepress was trampled outside the city,The examination was made in accordance with Divine truths in the Word, to discover the character of the works that flowed from their church's doctrine regarding faith.
and blood came out of the winepress, up to the horses' bridles,The violence done to the Word by their dreadful falsifications of truth, and the consequent understanding of it so closed up that it was scarcely possible for anyone any longer to be taught by it, and so to be led by the Lord through Divine truths,
for one thousand six hundred furlongs.being nothing but the falsities accompanying evil.

THE EXPOSITION

14:1 Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand. This symbolizes the Lord now present in a new heaven composed of people in the Christian churches who acknowledged the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth, and had doctrinal truths springing from the goodness of love received from Him through the Word.

This and the rest of what is said in this chapter is symbolically meant by "I saw." The Lamb means the Lord in respect to His Divine humanity (no. 269). Mount Zion symbolizes a heaven where the inhabitants are people impelled by love toward the Lord, as described below. One hundred and forty-four thousand symbolizes all those people who acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth and have doctrinal truths springing from the goodness of love received from Him through the Word (nos. 348ff.).

We described these people in chapter 7, but there we were told that they were sealed on their foreheads, being thus distinguished and separated from the rest. Here we are now told that they were gathered together and a new heaven formed of them.

[2] The heaven that is the subject here is a heaven composed of Christians from the time the Lord was in the world, and formed of those who approached the Lord alone and lived in accordance with His commandments in the Word by shunning evils as sins against God.

This heaven is the new heaven from which the holy Jerusalem, or New Church, will descend on earth (Revelation 21:1-2). The heavens that existed before the Lord's advent are above it and are called the ancient heavens. The people in them also all acknowledge the Lord alone as God of heaven and earth. Those heavens communicate with this new heaven through influx.

[3] People know that the land of Canaan symbolizes the church, because the Word existed there, and by it the Lord was known. Moreover, in the middle of it was the city of Zion, and below it the city of Jerusalem, both situated on the mountain. Zion and Jerusalem symbolized, therefore, the innermost elements of the church. And because the church in the heavens goes hand in hand with the church on earth, therefore the church in both places is meant by Zion and Jerusalem - Zion meaning the church as to love, and Jerusalem the church as to its accompanying doctrine.

The mountain is called Zion, because a mountain symbolizes love (no. 336).

[4] That Mount Zion symbolizes heaven and the church where the Lord is worshiped can be seen from the following passages:

I have anointed My King on... Zion. I will declare the decree: ..."You are My Son, today I have begotten You. ...I will give You the nations for Your inheritance...." ...Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish... Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him. (Psalms 2:6-8, 12).

Get up into the high mountain, O Zion, you who bring good tidings... Say..., "Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming with might...." (Isaiah 40:9-10)

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! ...Behold, your King is coming to you, just and having salvation... (Zechariah 9:9, cf. Matthew 21:2, 4-5)

Cry out and exult, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst! (Isaiah 12:6)

The redeemed of Jehovah shall return... to Zion with singing... (Isaiah 35:10)

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion! ...behold, I am coming to dwell in your midst... (Zechariah 2:10-11)

Who shall give in Zion the salvation of Israel? (Psalms 14:7; 53:6)

(The Lord Jehovih will) lay in Zion a testing stone... And (then) your covenant with death will be annulled... (Isaiah 28:16-18)

My salvation shall not linger. I will give salvation in Zion... (Isaiah 46:13)

He will come to Zion, a Redeemer... (Isaiah 59:20)

...Jehovah Zebaoth will reign on Mount Zion... (Isaiah 24:23)

Jehovah loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things shall be proclaimed in you, O city of God! ..."This one was born there." ..."All my springs are in you." (Psalms 87:2-3, 6-7)

...Jehovah has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place. "This is My resting place forever; there I will dwell...." (Psalms 132:13-14)

Let the children of Zion exult in their King. (Psalms 149:2-3)

(Arise, O Jehovah) and have mercy on Zion; ...the set time has come... (Declared shall be) the name of Jehovah in Zion..., when the peoples are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve Jehovah. (Psalms 102:13-16, 22-23)

Out of Zion... God will shine forth. Our God shall come, and... He shall call to heaven above, and to the earth...: "Gather My saints together to Me...." (Psalms 50:2-5)

And so on elsewhere, as Isaiah 1:27; 4:3-5; 31:4, 9; 33:5, 20; 37:22; 52:1; 64:10; Jeremiah 6:2; Lamentations 4:2; Amos 1:2; Micah 3:10, 12; 4:1-3, 7-8.

Many passages mention the daughter, or virgin, of Zion, which does not mean some daughter or virgin there, but the church in respect to its affection for goodness and truth, like the bride of the Lamb (Revelation 21:2, 9; 22:17).

The daughter, or virgin, of Zion symbolizes the Lord's church in the following places: Isaiah 1:8; 3:16-26; 4:4; 10:32; 16:1; 37:22; 52:2; 62:11; Psalms 9:14; and elsewhere.

  
/ 962  
  

Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.