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Deuteronomy 28

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1 It shall happen, if you shall listen diligently to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command you this day, that Yahweh your God will set you on high above all the nations of the earth:

2 and all these blessings shall come on you, and overtake you, if you shall listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

3 You shall be blessed in the city, and you shall be blessed in the field.

4 You shall be blessed in the fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the fruit of your animals, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock.

5 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be blessed.

6 You shall be blessed when you come in, and you shall be blessed when you go out.

7 Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be struck before you. They will come out against you one way, and will flee before you seven ways.

8 Yahweh will command the blessing on you in your barns, and in all that you put your hand to; and he will bless you in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.

9 Yahweh will establish you for a holy people to himself, as he has sworn to you; if you shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and walk in his ways.

10 All the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of Yahweh; and they shall be afraid of you.

11 Yahweh will make you plenteous for good, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers to give you.

12 Yahweh will open to you his good treasure in the sky, to give the rain of your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand: and you shall lend to many nations, and you shall not borrow.

13 Yahweh will make you the head, and not the tail; and you shall be above only, and you shall not be beneath; if you shall listen to the commandments of Yahweh your God, which I command you this day, to observe and to do [them],

14 and shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15 But it shall come to pass, if you will not listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command you this day, that all these curses shall come on you, and overtake you.

16 You shall be cursed in the city, and you shall be cursed in the field.

17 Your basket and your kneading trough shall be cursed.

18 The fruit of your body, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your livestock, and the young of your flock shall be cursed.

19 You shall be cursed when you come in, and you shall be cursed when you go out.

20 Yahweh will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke, in all that you put your hand to do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly; because of the evil of your doings, by which you have forsaken me.

21 Yahweh will make the pestilence cling to you, until he has consumed you from off the land, where you go in to possess it.

22 Yahweh will strike you with consumption, and with fever, and with inflammation, and with fiery heat, and with the sword, and with blight, and with mildew; and they shall pursue you until you perish.

23 Your sky that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth that is under you shall be iron.

24 Yahweh will make the rain of your land powder and dust: from the sky shall it come down on you, until you are destroyed.

25 Yahweh will cause you to be struck before your enemies; you shall go out one way against them, and shall flee seven ways before them: and you shall be tossed back and forth among all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 Your dead body shall be food to all birds of the sky, and to the animals of the earth; and there shall be none to frighten them away.

27 Yahweh will strike you with the boil of Egypt, and with the tumors, and with the scurvy, and with the itch, of which you can not be healed.

28 Yahweh will strike you with madness, and with blindness, and with astonishment of heart;

29 and you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and you shall not prosper in your ways: and you shall be only oppressed and robbed always, and there shall be none to save you.

30 You shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: you shall build a house, and you shall not dwell therein: you shall plant a vineyard, and shall not use its fruit.

31 Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it: your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you: your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to save you.

32 Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people; and your eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day: and there shall be nothing in the power of your hand.

33 The fruit of your ground, and all your labors, shall a nation which you don't know eat up; and you shall be only oppressed and crushed always;

34 so that you shall be mad for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

35 Yahweh will strike you in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore boil, of which you can not be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head.

36 Yahweh will bring you, and your king whom you shall set over you, to a nation that you have not known, you nor your fathers; and there you shall serve other gods, wood and stone.

37 You shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all the peoples where Yahweh shall lead you away.

38 You shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather little in; for the locust shall consume it.

39 You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worm shall eat them.

40 You shall have olive trees throughout all your borders, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil; for your olive shall cast [its fruit].

41 You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours; for they shall go into captivity.

42 All your trees and the fruit of your ground shall the locust possess.

43 The foreigner who is in the midst of you shall mount up above you higher and higher; and you shall come down lower and lower.

44 He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and you shall be the tail.

45 All these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you, and overtake you, until you are destroyed; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you:

46 and they shall be on you for a sign and for a wonder, and on your seed forever.

47 Because you didn't serve Yahweh your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, by reason of the abundance of all things;

48 therefore you shall serve your enemies whom Yahweh shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron on your neck, until he has destroyed you.

49 Yahweh will bring a nation against you from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle flies; a nation whose language you shall not understand;

50 a nation of fierce facial expressions, that shall not respect the person of the old, nor show favor to the young,

51 and shall eat the fruit of your livestock, and the fruit of your ground, until you are destroyed; that also shall not leave you grain, new wine, or oil, the increase of your livestock, or the young of your flock, until they have caused you to perish.

52 They shall besiege you in all your gates, until your high and fortified walls come down, in which you trusted, throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you in all your gates throughout all your land, which Yahweh your God has given you.

53 You shall eat the fruit of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, whom Yahweh your God has given you, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemies shall distress you.

54 The man who is tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children whom he has remaining;

55 so that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat, because he has nothing left him, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in all your gates.

56 The tender and delicate woman among you, who would not adventure to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter,

57 and toward her young one who comes out from between her feet, and toward her children whom she shall bear; for she shall eat them for want of all things secretly, in the siege and in the distress with which your enemy shall distress you in your gates.

58 If you will not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, YAHWEH YOUR GOD;

59 then Yahweh will make your plagues wonderful, and the plagues of your seed, even great plagues, and of long continuance, and severe sicknesses, and of long continuance.

60 He will bring on you again all the diseases of Egypt, which you were afraid of; and they shall cling to you.

61 Also every sickness, and every plague, which is not written in the book of this law, Yahweh will bring them on you, until you are destroyed.

62 You shall be left few in number, whereas you were as the stars of the sky for multitude; because you didn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.

63 It shall happen that as Yahweh rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you, so Yahweh will rejoice over you to cause you to perish, and to destroy you; and you shall be plucked from off the land where you go in to possess it.

64 Yahweh will scatter you among all peoples, from the one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth; and there you shall serve other gods, which you have not known, you nor your fathers, even wood and stone.

65 Among these nations you shall find no ease, and there shall be no rest for the sole of your foot: but Yahweh will give you there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and pining of soul;

66 and your life shall hang in doubt before you; and you shall fear night and day, and shall have no assurance of your life.

67 In the morning you shall say, "I wish it were evening!" and at evening you shall say, "I wish it were morning!" for the fear of your heart which you shall fear, and for the sight of your eyes which you shall see.

68 Yahweh will bring you into Egypt again with ships, by the way of which I said to you, You shall see it no more again: and there you shall sell yourselves to your enemies for bondservants and for bondmaids, and no man shall buy you.

   

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Apocalypse Revealed # 503

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503. We will now say what Egypt symbolizes in the Word: Egypt symbolizes the natural self joined to the spiritual self, and its affection for truth then and consequent knowledge and intelligence. And in an opposite sense it symbolizes the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, and its conceit in its own intelligence then and consequent irrationality in spiritual matters.

Egypt symbolizes the natural self joined to the spiritual self, and its affection for truth then and consequent knowledge and intelligence, in the following passages:

In that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt... swearing an oath to Jehovah of Hosts... In that day there will be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt... Then Jehovah will be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day... (Isaiah 19:18-21)

In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, so that the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria - a blessing in the midst of the land, whom Jehovah of Hosts shall bless, saying, "Blessed is My people Egypt, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance." (Isaiah 19:23-25)

Egypt there is the natural component, Assyria the rational one, and Israel the spiritual one. These three form a person of the church.

That is why the king of Egypt is called "the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings," and Egypt is called "the cornerstone of (the) tribes." (Isaiah 19:11, 13) And regarding Solomon we are told that his wisdom excelled the wisdom of the Egyptians (1 Kings 4:30). We are also told that he "took Pharaoh's daughter as a wife, and brought her into the city of David" (1 Kings 3:1), and that he "built a house for Pharaoh's daughter next to the porch" (1 Kings 7:8).

[2] For this reason Joseph was carried down into Egypt and there became the ruler of the whole land (Genesis 41).

Since Egypt symbolized the natural self in respect to its affection for truth and consequent knowledge and intelligence, therefore Joseph, the husband of Mary, having been warned by an angel, went with the infant Lord into Egypt (Matthew 2:14-15), in fulfillment of the prophecy,

When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. (Hosea 11:1)

You caused a vine to come out of Egypt; You... planted it... and caused it to send forth its roots... (Psalms 80:8-9)

For a person is born natural, becomes rational, and later spiritual. Thus is a vine from Egypt planted and caused to take root.

For the sake of this representation, moreover, Abraham sojourned in Egypt (Genesis 12:10ff.). And Jacob was commanded to go with his sons into Egypt, and they also abode there (Genesis 46ff.).

So, too, the land of Canaan, which symbolizes the church, is described to extend "even to the river of Egypt" (Genesis 15:18, 1 Kings 4:21, Micah 7:12). And Egypt is compared to the Garden of Eden, the garden of God (Ezekiel 31:2, 8, Genesis 13:10).

The knowledge of the natural self is also called "the precious things of Egypt" (Daniel 11:43), and "fine embroidered linen from Egypt" (Ezekiel 27:7).

And so on elsewhere where Egypt is spoken of affirmatively, as in Isaiah 27:12-13.

[3] On the other hand, in an opposite sense Egypt symbolizes the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, and its conceit in its own intelligence then and consequent irrationality in spiritual matters, in the following places:

Because...(Pharaoh's) heart was lifted up in its height, and it set its top among the thick boughs..., aliens... will cut him off and cast him down... In the day when he went down to hell..., I covered the deep over him...(and) you shall lie in the midst of the uncircumcised... (Ezekiel 31:10-18)

...the foundations (of Egypt) shall be overthrown... ...the pride of her power shall come down... ...and shall be laid waste... her cities... in the midst of the desolate cities... I will set fire to Egypt..., and I will disperse Egypt among the nations, and scatter them throughout the lands. (Ezekiel 30:1ff.)

Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help..., and do not look to the Holy One of Israel... For the Egyptians are men, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. (Isaiah 31:1, 3)

Egypt rises up like a flood... He says, "I will go up, I will cover the earth, (and) I will destroy... Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots! ...The sword shall devour (you), and be... made drunk with blood...; there is no healing for you. (Jeremiah 46:2, 8-11)

How do you say to Pharaoh, "I am the son of the wise, and the son of ancient kings?" Where are your wise men now? ...let them know... The princes of Zoan have become fools...; they have led Egypt astray..., the cornerstone of (the) tribes... Neither will there be any work for Egypt, which may form the head or the tail... (Isaiah 19:1-17)

...prophesy against... Egypt..., O great whale who lie in the midst of your rivers. Because he said, "My river, and I have made myself," (therefore) I will put hooks in your jaws, and cause the fish of your rivers to stick to your scales... And I will leave you in the wilderness... Therefore... the land of Egypt shall become desolate and waste. (Ezekiel 29:1-12)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 30:1, 2, 7; 2 Kings 18:21.

[4] Since the Egyptians became of such a character, therefore they were rendered desolate as regards all the goods and truths of the church. Their desolations are described by the miracles done there, which were plagues, and these symbolized the many lusts of the natural self divorced from the spiritual self, a natural self which acts only in accordance with its own intelligence and its conceit. The plagues symbolic of its lusts were these:

That the water in the river turned to blood so that the fish died and the river stank. (Exodus 7)

That the streams and ponds brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt. That the dust of the ground turned into lice. That a swarm of noxious flying insects was sent. (Exodus 8)

[That a pestilence occurred so that the livestock of Egypt died.] That sores were caused to break out with pustules on man and beast. That a downpour of hail mixed with fire rained down. (Exodus 9)

That locusts were sent. That darkness occurred through all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 10).

That all the firstborn in the land of Egypt died. (Exodus 11,12)

And finally, that the Egyptians were drowned in the Red Sea (Exodus 14), which symbolizes hell.

To find what all these things symbolize specifically, see Arcana Coelestia (The Secrets of Heaven), published in London, where they are explained.

It is apparent from this what is symbolically meant by the plagues and diseases of Egypt in Deuteronomy 7:15; 28:60; what is symbolically meant by drowning in the river of Egypt in Amos 8:8; 9:5; and why it is that Egypt is called a land of bondage in Micah 6:4, the land of Ham in Psalms 106:22, and an iron furnace in Deuteronomy 4:20, 1 Kings 8:51.

[5] The reason Egypt symbolizes both intelligence and irrationality in spiritual matters was that the Ancient Church, which extended through many kingdoms in Asia, existed also in Egypt, and at that time the Egyptians, more than any others, cultivated a study of the correspondences between spiritual and natural things, as is apparent from the hieroglyphs there. But when that study among them was turned into magic and became idolatrous, then their intelligence in spiritual matters became irrational. Egypt symbolizes this, therefore, in an opposite sense.

It can be seen from this what the great city means, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt.

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

Bible

 

Genesis 41

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1 It happened at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and behold, he stood by the river.

2 Behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, sleek and fat, and they fed in the marsh grass.

3 Behold, seven other cattle came up after them out of the river, ugly and thin, and stood by the other cattle on the brink of the river.

4 The ugly and thin cattle ate up the seven sleek and fat cattle. So Pharaoh awoke.

5 He slept and dreamed a second time: and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, healthy and good.

6 Behold, seven heads of grain, thin and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

7 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy and full ears. Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.

8 It happened in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all of Egypt's magicians and wise men. Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.

9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, "I remember my faults today.

10 Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put me in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, me and the chief baker.

11 We dreamed a dream in one night, I and he. We dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

12 There was with us there a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard, and we told him, and he interpreted to us our dreams. To each man according to his dream he interpreted.

13 It happened, as he interpreted to us, so it was: he restored me to my office, and he hanged him."

14 Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon. He shaved himself, changed his clothing, and came in to Pharaoh.

15 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one who can interpret it. I have heard it said of you, that when you hear a dream you can interpret it."

16 Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, "It isn't in me. God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace."

17 Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, "In my dream, behold, I stood on the brink of the river:

18 and behold, there came up out of the river seven cattle, fat and sleek. They fed in the marsh grass,

19 and behold, seven other cattle came up after them, poor and very ugly and thin, such as I never saw in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

20 The thin and ugly cattle ate up the first seven fat cattle,

21 and when they had eaten them up, it couldn't be known that they had eaten them, but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

22 I saw in my dream, and behold, seven heads of grain came up on one stalk, full and good:

23 and behold, seven heads of grain, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

24 The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven good heads of grain. I told it to the magicians, but there was no one who could explain it to me."

25 Joseph said to Pharaoh, "The dream of Pharaoh is one. What God is about to do he has declared to Pharaoh.

26 The seven good cattle are seven years; and the seven good heads of grain are seven years. The dream is one.

27 The seven thin and ugly cattle that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty heads of grain blasted with the east wind; they will be seven years of famine.

28 That is the thing which I spoke to Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown to Pharaoh.

29 Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt.

30 There will arise after them seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land,

31 and the plenty will not be known in the land by reason of that famine which follows; for it will be very grievous.

32 The dream was doubled to Pharaoh, because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

33 "Now therefore let Pharaoh look for a discreet and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt.

34 Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint overseers over the land, and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt's produce in the seven plenteous years.

35 Let them gather all the food of these good years that come, and lay up grain under the hand of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it.

36 The food will be for a store to the land against the seven years of famine, which will be in the land of Egypt; that the land not perish through the famine."

37 The thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of all his servants.

38 Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"

39 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Because God has shown you all of this, there is none so discreet and wise as you.

40 You shall be over my house, and according to your word will all my people be ruled. Only in the throne I will be greater than you."

41 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Behold, I have set you over all the land of Egypt."

42 Pharaoh took off his signet ring from his hand, and put it on Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in robes of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck,

43 and he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had. They cried before him, "Bow the knee!" He set him over all the land of Egypt.

44 Pharaoh said to Joseph, "I am Pharaoh, and without you shall no man lift up his hand or his foot in all the land of Egypt."

45 Pharaoh called Joseph's name Zaphenath-Paneah; and he gave him Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On as a wife. Joseph went out over the land of Egypt.

46 Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

47 In the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth abundantly.

48 He gathered up all the food of the seven years which were in the land of Egypt, and laid up the food in the cities: the food of the field, which was around every city, he laid up in the same.

49 Joseph laid up grain as the sand of the sea, very much, until he stopped counting, for it was without number.

50 To Joseph were born two sons before the year of famine came, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore to him.

51 Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, "For," he said, "God has made me forget all my toil, and all my father's house."

52 The name of the second, he called Ephraim: "For God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."

53 The seven years of plenty, that were in the land of Egypt, came to an end.

54 The seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

55 When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread, and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, "Go to Joseph. What he says to you, do."

56 The famine was over all the surface of the earth. Joseph opened all the store houses, and sold to the Egyptians. The famine was severe in the land of Egypt.

57 All countries came into Egypt, to Joseph, to buy grain, because the famine was severe in all the earth.