Bibliorum

 

Micah 6

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1 Hør, hvad HE EN taler: Kom fremfør din Trætte for Bjergene, lad Højene høre din øst!

2 I Bjerge, hør HE ENs Trætte, lyt til, I Jordens Grundvolde! Thi HE EN har Trætte med sit Folk, med Israel går han i ette:

3 Hvad har jeg gjort dig, mit Folk. med hvad har jeg plaget dig? Svar!

4 Jeg førte dig jo op fra Ægypten og udløste dig af Trællehuset, og jeg sendte for dit Ansigt Moses, Aron og Mirjam.

5 Mit Folk, kom i Hu, hvad Kong Balak af Moab havde i Sinde, og hvad Bileam, Beors Søn, svarede ham, fra Sjittim til Gilgal, for at du kan kende HE ENs etfærdsgerninger.

6 "Med hvad skal jeg møde HE EN, bøje mig for Højhedens Gud? Skal jeg møde ham med Brændofre, møde med årgamle Kalve?

7 Har HE EN Behag i Tusinder af Vædre, Titusinder af Oliestrømme? Skal jeg give min førstefødte for min Synd, mit Livs Frugt som Bod for min Sjæl?"

8 Det er sagt dig, o Menneske, hvad der er godt, og hvad HE EN kræver af dig: hvad andet end at øve et, gerne vise Kærlighed og vandre ydmygt med din Gud.

9 Hør, HE EN råber til Byen (at frygte dit Navn er Visdom): Hør, Stamme og Byens Menighed!

10 Skal jeg tåle Skattene i den gudløses Hus og den magre, forbandede Efa,

11 tilgive Gudløsheds Vægt og Pungen med falske Lodder?

12 Dens igmænd er fulde af Vold, dens Borgeres Tale er Løgn, og Tungen er falsk i deres Mund.

13 Derfor tog jeg til at slå dig, ødelægge dig for dine Synder.

14 Du skal spise, men ikke mættes, lige tomt skal dit Indre være; hvad du hengemmer, skal du ej bjærge, og hvad du bjærger, giver jeg Sværdet;

15 du skal så, men ikke høste, perse Oliven, men ikke salve dig, perse Most, men ej drikke Vin.

16 Du fulgte Omris Skikke, al Akabs Huses Færd; I vandrede efter deres åd, så jeg må gøre dig til Ørk og Byens Borgere til Spot; Folkenes Hån skal I bære.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

Apocalypse Revealed #902

Studere hoc loco

  
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902. 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations. This symbolically means that the Word in its literal sense contains all of the doctrines of the New Church.

The wall of the city symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898), and its twelve foundations symbolize all of the doctrines of the church - its foundations symbolizing doctrines, and the number twelve all. The church, moreover, is founded on doctrine, for it teaches how a person is to believe and live, and its doctrine is to be drawn only from the Word. That it is to be drawn from the Word's literal sense may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 50-61.

Since the twelve foundations of the wall of the city New Jerusalem symbolize all of the church's doctrine, and the church is a church by virtue of its doctrine, therefore its foundations are described in more detail in verses 19 and 20 below.

The foundations of the earth are mentioned a number of times in the Word, and they do not mean the foundations of the earth, but the foundations of the church, inasmuch as the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285). And the foundations of the church are only ones that come from the Word and are called doctrines. For it is the Word itself that provides a foundation for the church.

[2] Doctrines drawn from the Word are symbolized by foundations also in the following passages:

Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21)

I will put My words in your mouth... to plant the heavens and found the earth... (Isaiah 51:16)

They do not acknowledge, they do not understand, they walk in darkness, all the foundations of the earth shake. (Psalms 82:5)

...the Word of Jehovah... who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. (Zechariah 12:1)

Jehovah... kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)

The impious... shoot in darkness the upright in heart, because the foundations are being destroyed... (Psalms 11:2-3)

Hear, O mountains, Jehovah's quarrel, you strong foundations of the earth; for Jehovah has a quarrel with His people... (Micah 6:2)

...the floodgates on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken... (Isaiah 24:18-20)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 14:32; 48:13; 51:13; Psalms 24:2; 102:25; 104:5-6; 2 Samuel 22:8, 16.

Whoever does not think that the earth symbolizes the church cannot help but think only naturally, even materially, when he reads in these places about the foundations of the earth. So it would be also if he were not to think of the city Jerusalem here as symbolizing the church when he reads about its wall, gates, foundations, streets, dimensions, and more, which are described in this chapter as features of a city, when in fact they are features of the church and so must be interpreted not materially, but spiritually.

  
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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.

Bibliorum

 

Revelation 21

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1 I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, "Behold, God's dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

4 He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away."

5 He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." He said, "Write, for these words of God are faithful and true."

6 He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life.

7 He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son.

8 But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death."

9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls, who were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, "Come here. I will show you the wife, the Lamb's bride."

10 He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,

11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, as if it was a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

13 On the east were three gates; and on the north three gates; and on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.

15 He who spoke with me had for a measure, a golden reed, to measure the city, its gates, and its walls.

16 The city lies foursquare, and its length is as great as its breadth. He measured the city with the reed, Twelve thousand Twelve stadia. Its length, breadth, and height are equal.

17 Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.

18 The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass.

19 The foundations of the city's wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald;

20 the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprasus; the eleventh, jacinth; and the twelfth, amethyst.

21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls. Each one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.

23 The city has no need for the sun, neither of the moon, to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

24 The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it.

25 Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there),

26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter.

27 There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.