Bibliorum

 

Matthew 6

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1 Take·​·heed that you do not do your alms in·​·front·​·of men, to be observed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in the heavens.

2 Therefore when thou doest alms, do not sound·​·a·​·trumpet in·​·front·​·of thee, just·​·as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the lanes, so·​·that they may be glorified by men. Amen I say to you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left·​·hand know what thy right·​·hand does,

4 so·​·that thine alms may be in secret, and thy Father who looks in secret shall repay thee Himself in what·​·is·​·manifest.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be just·​·as the hypocrites; for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, so·​·that they may appear unto men. Amen I say unto you that they have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy bedroom, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father who is in secret, and thy Father who looks in secret shall repay thee in what·​·is·​·manifest.

7 And when you pray, do not speak·​·on·​·and·​·on, just·​·as the gentiles, for they think that they shall be heard by their many·​·words.

8 Therefore be· ye not ·like them; for your Father knows what things you need before you ask Him.

9 In·​·this·​·way, therefore, you should pray: Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name;

10 Thy kingdom come; Thy will be·​·done, as in heaven so upon the earth.

11 Give us this·​·day our daily bread.

12 And forgive* us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil*; for Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.

14 For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

15 But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 And when you fast, be not just·​·as the hypocrites, of·​·a·​·sad·​·face, for they spoil their faces, so·​·that they may appear to men to fast. Amen I say to you, that they have their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face,

18 so·​·that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father who looks·​·on in secret shall repay thee in what·​·is·​·manifest.

19 Treasure· not ·up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust spoil, and where thieves dig·​·through and steal;

20 but treasure·​·up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust spoils, and where thieves do not dig·​·through nor steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The lamp of the body is the eye; if therefore thine eye be single*, thy whole body shall be illuminated;

23 but if thine eye be wicked, thy whole body shall be dark; if therefore the light in thee is darkness, how·​·great is the darkness!

24 No·​·one can serve two lords, for either he will hate the one and love the·​·other, or he will hold·​·to the one and despise the·​·other. You cannot serve God and mammon*.

25 On·​·account·​·of this I say to you, Be· not ·anxious for your soul, what you shall eat and what you shall drink; nor for your body, what you shall put·​·on. Is not the soul more than food, and the body more than clothing?

26 Look·​·intently at the birds of the sky*; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your heavenly Father feeds them. Are· you not ·of· more ·value than they?

27 And which of you by being·​·anxious can add one cubit to his stature?

28 And why are· you ·anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they labor not, neither do they spin;

29 but I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these.

30 And if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more clothe you, O ye of·​·little·​·faith?

31 Be· not therefore ·anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, With what shall we be arrayed?

32 For all these·​·things do the nations seek; for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these·​·things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these·​·things shall be added to you.

34 Therefore do not be·​·anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow shall be·​·anxious for the·​·things of itself. Sufficient for the day is the evil of it.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

from the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

 

The White Horse #11

Studere hoc loco

  
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11. In the internal or spiritual sense of the Word innumerable things are hidden.

The Word in its internal sense contains many things which surpass human comprehension: 3085-3086. They cannot be expressed in words, and cannot be explained: 1955. They exist solely for the angels, and are understood by them: 167. The internal sense of the Word contains the hidden things of heaven, which have to do with the Lord and His kingdom in heaven and on earth: 1-4, 937. Those hidden things do not appear in the literal sense: 937, 1502, 2161. Many other things in the writings of the prophets, which appear as if randomly scattered, in the internal sense fit together continuously in a beautiful 1 sequence: 7153, 9022. In its original language not a single word, not even a single jot, can be missing from the literal meaning without interruption of the internal sense; and for that very reason the Word, out of the Lord's divine providence, has been preserved so completely, down to the last tittle: 7933. There are innumerable things in each individual part of the Word: 6617, 6620, 8920. And in each and every phrase: 1869. Countless things are contained in the Lord's Prayer and in its individual petitions: 6619. And in the Ten Commandments; though in the external sense of these there are some ideas which are known to every nation without revelation: 8862, 8899. In every tiny little tittle of a letter of the Word in its original language there is something holy, revealed from Heaven, this may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell 260, where the words of the Lord are explained, that Not one jot or tittle shall be lost from the Law; Matthew 5:18.

Particularly in the prophetical part of the Word there are two expressions of the same thing, as it were, but one refers to what is good and the other to what is true: 683, 707, 2576, 8339. In the Word things relating to what is good and what is true are married together, to an amazing degree, but that marriage is evident only to one who is acquainted with the internal sense: 10554. So, in the Word and in its individual parts there are divine marriage and heavenly marriage: 683, 793, 801, 2173, 2516, 2712, 5138, 7022. Divine marriage, which is the marriage between divine good and divine truth, is thus the Lord in heaven, in whom alone that marriage exists there: 3004-3005, 3009, 4137, 5194, 5502, 6343, 7945, 8339, 9263, 9314. Through Jesus also there is signified divine good, and through Christ divine truth, and thus through both divine marriage in heaven is signified: 3004-3005, 3009. This marriage-and thus the Lord as regards divine good and divine truth-is in each individual part of the Word in its internal sense: 5502. The marriage of good and truth by the Lord in heaven and in the Church is what is called heavenly marriage: 2508, 2618, 2803, 3004, 3211, 3952, 6179. Thus in this respect the Word is heaven, so to speak: 2173, 10126. Heaven is likened to marriage in the Word from the marriage of good and truth there: 2758, 3132, 4434, 4835. The internal sense is itself the genuine doctrine of the Church: 9025, 9430, 10400. Those who understand the Word according to its internal sense know the true doctrine itself of the Church, because the internal sense contains that: 9025, 9430, 10400. The internal part of the Word is also the internal part of the Church, and so also of worship: 10460. The Word is the doctrine of love towards the Lord, and affectionate regard for your neighbour: 3419-3420.

The Word in its literal meaning is like a cloud, and its glory is in its internal sense-Preface to Genesis 18; also 5922, 6343-where there is explained that the Lord will come in the clouds of the sky with glory. Also 'cloud' in the Word signifies the Word in its literal sense, and 'glory' signifies the Word in its internal sense-Preface to Genesis 18: also 4060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574. Things which are in the literal sense, compared to those in the internal sense, are like rough projections round a polished optical cylinder, from which nevertheless there exists in the cylinder a beautiful image of a man: 1871. Those who wish for and recognize only the literal sense are represented in the spiritual world as an ugly little old woman, while those who wish for and recognize at the same time the internal sense appear as a virgin finely clothed: 1774. The Word in all that it embraces is an image of heaven, because the Word is divine truth, and divine truth constitutes heaven, and heaven resembles one human, and in that respect The Word is an image of a human, as it were: 1871. That heaven in its total make-up resembles one human may be seen in the work Heaven and Hell 59-67. That divine truth proceeding from the Lord constitutes heaven, 126-140, 200-212. The Word is presented to the Angels in a beautiful and delightful way: 1767-1768. The literal sense is like a body, and the internal sense is like the soul of that body: 8943.

Consequently, life for the Word comes from its internal sense: 1405, 4857. The Word is pure in its internal sense, and it does not appear so in its literal sense: 2362, 2395. Things in the literal sense become holy from internal things: 10126, 10276. In the historical narratives of the Word also there is an internal sense, but within them: 4989. Thus the historical parts just as much as the prophetical parts contain hidden things of heaven: 755, 1659, 1709, 2310, 2333. The angels perceive these not in relation to history but in relation to doctrine, because they perceive them spiritually: 6884. The innermost hidden things in the historical narratives are less evident to humans than those in the prophetical parts for the simple reason that their minds are intent upon, and in contemplation of, the historical parts: 2176, 6597.

Moreover, the nature of the internal sense of the Word is shown: 1756, 1984, 2004, 2663, 3035, 7089, 10604, 10614, and it is illustrated by comparisons: 1873.

V:

1. In the end I can find no better word than 'beautiful' for Swedenborg's 'pulchra' here. I guess his thought is that the coherent sequence of ideas referred to is pleasing and satisfying, aesthetically and intellectually; hence, beautiful' which is the true classical meaning of the word anyway.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.