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Amos 8

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1 Således lod Herren mig skue: Se, der var en kurv sommerfrugt.

2 Og han sagde: "Hvad ser du, Amos?" Jeg svarede: "En kurv Sommerfrugt!" Da sagde HE EN til mig: "Enden er kommet for mit Folk Israel; jeg vil ikke længer bære over med det."

3 Paladsets Sangerinder skal jamre på denne Dag, så lyder det fra den Herre HE EN. Dynger af Lig er henkastet alle Vegne.

4 Hør, I, som knuser de fattige, gør det af med de arme i Landet

5 og siger: "Hvornår er Nymånen omme, så vi kan få solgt noget Korn, Sabbaten, så vi kan åbne vort Kornsalg, gøre Efaen lille og Sekelen stor og med Svig gøre Vægten falsk

6 for at købe den ringe for Sølv, den fattige for et Par Sko og få Afaldskornet solgt?"

7 HE EN svor ved Jakobs Stolthed: Aldrig glemmer jeg een af deres Gerninger!

8 Jorden ej skælve derover og enhver, som bor på den, sørge? Den stiger overalt som Nilen og synker som Ægyptens Flod.

9 På hin Dag lader jeg det ske, så lyder det fra den Herre HE EN, at Solen går ned ved Middag, og Jorden bliver mørk ved højlys Dag.

10 Jeg vender eders Fester til Sorg og alle eders Sange til klage, lægger Sæk om alle Lænder, gør hvert et Hoved skaldet, bringer Sorg som over en enbåren, en bitter Dag til sidst.

11 Se, Dage skal komme, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN, da jeg sender Hunger i Landet, ikke Hunger efter Brød, ikke Tørst efter Vand, men efter at høre HE ENs Ord.

12 Da vanker de fra Hav til Hav, flakker fra Nord til Øst for at søge HE ENs Ord, men finder det ej.

13 Den Dag vansmægter af Tørst de fagre Jomfruer og unge Mænd,

14 som sværger ved Samarias Synd, som siger: "Ved din Gud, o Dan!" "Ved din Skytsgud, o Be'ersjeba!" de skal falde, ej mere stå op.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #492

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492. "Clothed in sackcloth." This symbolizes the grief experienced meanwhile over the truth's not being accepted.

Being clothed in sackcloth symbolizes grief over the destruction of truth in the church, for garments symbolize truths (nos. 166, 212, 328, 378, 379). Consequently to be clothed in sackcloth, which is not a garment, symbolizes grief over the lack of truth, and where there is no truth, there is no church.

The children of Israel represented grief in various ways, which, because of their correspondence, were symbolic. For example, they would put ash on their heads, roll around in the dust, sit on the ground for a long time in silence, shave themselves, beat their breasts and wail, rend their garments, and also clothe themselves in sackcloth, and so on. Each action symbolized some evil in the church among them for which they were being punished. Then, when they were being punished, they put on a representation of repentance in these ways, and because of their representation of repentance, and at the same time then of their humbling themselves, they were heard.

[2] That putting on sackcloth represented grief over the destruction of truth in the church may be seen from the following passages:

The lion has come up from his thicket... He has gone forth from his place to make your land desolate... For this, clothe yourself with sackcloth, lament, wail. (Jeremiah 4:7-8)

O daughter of my people, gird yourself in sackcloth and roll about in ashes! ...For the destroyer will suddenly come upon us. (Jeremiah 6:26)

Woe to you, Chorazin (and) Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented... in sackcloth and ashes. (Matthew 11:21, Luke 10:13)

After the king of Nineveh heard the words of Jonah, he "laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes." Moreover, he proclaimed a fast and ordered that "man and beast be covered with sackcloth." (Jonah 3:5-8)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 3:24; 15:2-3; 22:12; 37:1-2; 50:3; Jeremiah 48:37-38; 49:3; Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 7:17-18; 27:31; Daniel 9:3; Joel 1:8, 13; Amos 8:10; Job 16:15-16; Psalms 30:11; Psalms 35:13; 69:10-11; 2 Samuel 3:31; 1 Kings 21:27; 2 Kings 6:30; 19:1-2.

  
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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.