The Bible

 

Hosea 12

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1 Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind: he continually multiplieth lies and desolation; and they make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt.

2 Jehovah hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him.

3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel; and in his manhood he had power with God:

4 yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him at Beth-el, and there he spake with us,

5 even Jehovah, the God of hosts; Jehovah is his memorial [name].

6 Therefore turn thou to thy God: keep kindness and justice, and wait for thy God continually.

7 [He is] a trafficker, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.

8 And Ephraim said, Surely I am become rich, I have found me wealth: in all my labors they shall find in me no iniquity that were sin.

9 But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn feast.

10 I have also spoken unto the prophets, and I have multiplied visions; and by the ministry of the prophets have I used similitudes.

11 Is Gilead iniquity? they are altogether false; in Gilgal they sacrifice bullocks; yea, their altars are as heaps in the furrows of the field.

12 And Jacob fled into the field of Aram, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept [sheep].

13 And by a prophet Jehovah brought Israel up out of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved.

14 Ephraim hath provoked to anger most bitterly: therefore shall his blood be left upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #5214

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5214. 'And behold, seven heads, thin' means facts that are useless. This is clear from the meaning of heads' as facts, dealt with above in 5212, and from the meaning of 'thin' as ones that are useless. For thin is the opposite of full, and the expression full is used to refer to what has a use, or what amounts to the same, what is good; for everything good has a use to serve. Consequently 'thin' describes that which is useless. Useless facts are those which have no other end in view than personal glory and pleasure. Such ends are useless because they do not benefit one's neighbour.

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

The Bible

 

Ezekiel 19:14

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14 Fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it has devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.