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Deuteronomy 18

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1 `There is not to the priests the Levites -- all the tribe of Levi -- a portion and inheritance with Israel; fire-offerings of Jehovah, even His inheritance, they eat,

2 and he hath no inheritance in the midst of his brethren; Jehovah Himself [is] his inheritance, as He hath spoken to him.

3 `And this is the priest's right from the people, from those sacrificing a sacrifice, whether ox or sheep, he hath even given to the priest the leg, and the two cheeks, and the stomach;

4 the first of thy corn, of thy new wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy flock, thou dost give to him;

5 for on him hath Jehovah thy God fixed, out of all thy tribes, to stand to serve in the name of Jehovah, He and his sons continually.

6 `And when the Levite cometh from one of thy cities out of all Israel, where he hath sojourned, and hath come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which Jehovah doth choose,

7 then he hath ministered in the name of Jehovah his God, like all his brethren, the Levites, who are standing there before Jehovah,

8 portion as portion they do eat, apart from his sold things, with the fathers.

9 `When thou art coming in unto the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, thou dost not learn to do according to the abominations of those nations:

10 there is not found in thee one causing his son and his daughter to pass over into fire, a user of divinations, an observer of clouds, and an enchanter, and a sorcerer,

11 and a charmer, and one asking at a familiar spirit, and a wizard, and one seeking unto the dead.

12 `For the abomination of Jehovah [is] every one doing these, and because of these abominations is Jehovah thy God dispossessing them from thy presence.

13 Perfect thou art with Jehovah thy God,

14 for these nations whom thou art possessing, unto observers of clouds, and unto diviners, do hearken; and thou -- not so hath Jehovah thy God suffered thee.

15 `A prophet out of thy midst, out of thy brethren, like to me, doth Jehovah thy God raise up to thee -- unto him ye hearken;

16 according to all that thou didst ask from Jehovah thy God, in Horeb, in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not add to hear the voice of Jehovah my God, and this great fire let me not see any more, and I die not;

17 and Jehovah saith unto me, They have done well that they have spoken;

18 a prophet I raise up to them, out of the midst of their brethren, like to thee; and I have given my words in his mouth, and he hath spoken unto them all that which I command him;

19 and it hath been -- the man who doth not hearken unto My words which he doth speak in My name, I require [it] of him.

20 `Only, the prophet who presumeth to speak a word in My name -- that which I have not commanded him to speak -- and who speaketh in the name of other gods -- even that prophet hath died.

21 `And when thou sayest in thy heart, How do we know the word which Jehovah hath not spoken? --

22 that which the prophet speaketh in the name of Jehovah, and the thing is not, and cometh not -- it [is] the word which Jehovah hath not spoken; in presumption hath the prophet spoken it; -- thou art not afraid of him.

   

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Apocalypse Explained # 1191

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1191. Because by thy sorcery have all nations been seduced signifies that by their wicked arts and persuasions they have compelled all the well disposed of that church to believe and to do those things from which they have gained dominion and wealth. This is evident from the signification of "sorcery," as being arts and persuasions, (of which presently); also from the signification of "nations" as being those who are in good, thus the well disposed (See n. 175, 331, 625, 1077); also from the signification of "to be seduced," as meaning to be deceived by such arts and persuasions into believing and doing those things from which they have gained dominion and wealth. "Sorcery" has nearly the same signification in the Word as "enchantment," and "enchantment" signifies such persuasion as causes a man to have no other perception than that a thing is so. Certain spirits possess a power of persuasion that closes up as it were the understanding of another, and suffocates the ability to perceive; and as the well-disposed men in the Babylonish nation are compelled and persuaded to believe and to do whatever the monks say, it is here said that "they have been seduced by their sorcery." "Sorcery" here has the same signification as "enchantment" in Isaiah (Isaiah 47:9, 12), where Babylon is treated of; also in David (Psalms 58:4, 5). Enchantment is also mentioned among the arts associated with magic, that were forbidden to the sons of Israel (Deuteronomy 18:10-11).

(Continuation)

[2] The eminence and wealth of the angels of heaven shall also be described. In the societies of heaven there are higher and lower governors, all arranged by the Lord and subordinated according to their wisdom and intelligence. Their chief, who excels the rest in wisdom, dwells in the midst in a palace so magnificent that nothing in the whole world can be compared with it. Its architecture is so wonderful that I can truthfully assert that not a hundredth part of it can be described by natural language, for art itself is there in its art. Within the palace are rooms and bed-chambers, in which all the furniture and decorations are resplendent with gold and various precious stones in such forms as no artist in the world can imitate either in painting or sculpture. And what is wonderful, the particulars, even to the minutest particulars, are for use; and everyone who enters sees their use, perceiving it by a breathing forth, as it were, of the uses through their images. But no wise person who enters keeps his eyes fixed very long on the images, but his mind attends to the uses, since these delight his wisdom. Round about the palace are colonnades, pleasure gardens, and smaller palaces, each in the form of its own beauty a heavenly delight. Besides these magnificent objects there are attendant guards, all clad in shining garments, and many other things. The subordinate governors enjoy similar luxuries, which are magnificent and splendid according to the degrees of their wisdom, and their wisdom is according to the degrees of their love of uses. And not only do the rulers have such things, but also the inhabitants, all of whom love uses and perform them by various employments.

[3] But few of these things can be described; those that cannot be described are innumerable, for as they are in their origin spiritual they do not fall into the ideas of the natural man, and consequently not into the expressions of His language, except into these, that when wisdom builds for itself a habitation, and makes it comformable to itself, everything that lies inmostly concealed in any science or in any art flows together and accomplishes the purpose. These things have been written to make known that all things in the heavens also have reference to eminence and wealth, but that eminence there pertains to wisdom and wealth to knowledge, and that such are the things to which man is led by the Lord through His Divine providence.

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