The Bible

 

Ezekiel 13

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1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, be a prophet against the prophets of Israel, and say to those prophets whose words are the invention of their hearts, Give ear to the word of the Lord;

3 This is what the Lord has said: A curse on the foolish prophets who go after the spirit which is in them and have seen nothing!

4 O Israel, your prophets have been like jackals in the waste places.

5 You have not gone up into the broken places or made up the wall for the children of Israel to take your place in the fight in the day of the Lord.

6 They have seen visions without substance and made use of secret arts, who say, The Lord has said; and The Lord has not sent them: hoping that the word would have effect.

7 Have you not seen a vision without substance and have you not falsely made use of secret arts, when you say, The Lord has said; though I have said nothing?

8 So this is what the Lord has said: Because your words are without substance and your visions are false, see, I am against you, says the Lord.

9 And my hand will be against the prophets who see visions without substance and who make false use of secret arts: they will not be in the secret of my people, and they will not be recorded in the list of the children of Israel, and they will not come into the land of Israel; and it will be clear to you that I am the Lord.

10 Because, even because they have been guiding my people into error, saying, Peace; when there is no Peace; and in the building of a division wall they put whitewash on it:

11 Say to those who put whitewash on it, There will be an overflowing shower; and you, O ice-drops, will come raining down; and it will be broken in two by the storm-wind.

12 And when the wall has come down, will they not say to you, Where is the whitewash which you put on it?

13 For this reason, the Lord has said: I will have it broken in two by a storm-wind in my passion; and there will be an overflowing shower in my wrath, and you, O ice-drops, will come raining angrily down.

14 So I will let the wall, which you were covering with whitewash, be broken down; I will have it levelled to the earth so that its base is uncovered: it will come down, and destruction will come on you with it; and it will be clear to you that I am the Lord.

15 So I will let loose my passion on the wall in full measure, and on those who put whitewash on it; and I will say to you, Where is the wall, and Where are those who put whitewash on it?

16 Even the prophets of Israel who say words to Jerusalem, who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace, says the Lord.

17 And you, son of man, let your face be turned against the daughters of your people, who are acting the part of prophets at their pleasure; be a prophet against them, and say,

18 This is what the Lord has said: A curse is on the women who are stitching bands on all arms and putting veils on the heads of those of every size, so that they may go after souls! Will you go after the souls of my people and keep yourselves safe from death?

19 And you have put me to shame among my people for a little barley and some bits of bread, sending death on souls for whom there is no cause of death, and keeping those souls living who have no right to life, by the false words you say to my people who give ear to what is false.

20 For this cause the Lord has said: See, I am against your bands with which you go after souls, and I will violently take them off their arms; and I will let loose the souls, even the souls whom you go after freely.

21 And I will have your veils violently parted in two, and will make my people free from your hands, and they will no longer be in your power for you to go after them; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

22 Because with your false words you have given pain to the heart of the upright man when I had not made him sad; in order to make strong the hands of the evil-doer so that he may not be turned from his evil way and get life:

23 For this cause you will see no more foolish visions or make false use of secret arts: and I will make my people free from your power; and you will be certain that I am the Lord.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #156

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156. (vi) A PERSON'S SPIRIT IS HIS MIND, AND WHATEVER COMES FROM IT.

A person's spirit, regarded as an object, is nothing but his mind. It is this which lives on after death, and it is then called a spirit; if he is good, an angelic spirit and later an angel, if wicked, a satanic spirit and afterwards a Satan. Everyone's mind is his internal man, which is the real person and resides within the external man composed of his body. So when the body is cast off as the result of death, the internal man has a fully human form. Those, then, are in error who believe that a person's mind resides only in his head. There it is only in its beginnings, from which first emerge everything a person's understanding allows him to think and his will induces him to do. But in the body the mind is present in derivatives from those beginnings, and these have been so constructed as to permit sensation and action. Since it is inwardly attached to the bodily structures, it imparts to them sensation and movement, together with a feeling that the body thinks and acts of itself. Yet every intelligent person knows that this is a fallacy. Now since a person's spirit is allowed by his understanding to think and is induced by his will to act, and the body does not do so of itself but from the spirit, it follows that a person's spirit means his intelligence and the affection of his love, and everything which comes from it and acts.

[2] There are numerous passages in the Word to prove that a person's spirit means such things as are to do with the mind; their mere quotation will show anyone that this is so. The following are a few among many:

Bezaleel was filled with the spirit of wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, Exodus 31:3.

Nebuchadnezzar said of Daniel that an outstanding spirit of knowledge, intelligence and wisdom was in him, Daniel 5:12, 14.

Joshua was filled with the spirit of wisdom, Deuteronomy 34:9.

Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, Ezekiel 18:31.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for of such is the kingdom of the heavens, Matthew 5:3.

I dwell in a broken and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, Isaiah 57:15.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, Psalms 51:17.

I will give a cloak of praise in place of a depressed spirit, Isaiah 61:3.

Spirit also stands for the products of a wrong and unjust mind, as these passages prove:

He said to the foolish prophets, who run after their own spirit, Ezekiel 13:3.

Conceive chaff, bring forth stubble; as to your spirit, fire shall devour you, Isaiah 33:11.

A man who is in spirit a vagabond and utters a lie, Micah 2:11.

A generation whose spirit is not steadfast with God, Psalms 78:8.

A spirit of whoring, Hosea 4:12; 5:4.

That every heart may melt and every spirit be depressed, Ezekiel 21:7.

That which rises upon your spirit shall never be, Ezekiel 20:32.

Provided there is no deceit in his spirit, Psalms 32:2.

The spirit of Pharaoh was troubled, Genesis 41:8.

Likewise that of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel 2:3.

These and very many other passages plainly establish that spirit means a person's mind and what is to do with it.

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