The Bible

 

Ezekiel 26

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1 I det ellevte År På den første dag i ... månede kom HE ENs Ord til mig således:

2 Menneskesøn! Fordi Tyrus siger om Jerusalem: "Ha, ha! Folkeslagenes Port er knust; den står mig åben; den var rig, men er nu øde!"

3 derfor, så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg kommer over dig, Tyrus, og fører mange Folk imod dig, som når Havet rejser sine Bølger.

4 De skal ødelægge Tyruss Mure og nedbryde Tårnene. Jeg fejer Muldet bort og gør Tyrus til nøgen Klippe;

5 en Tørreplads for Net skal det være ude i Havet, så sandt jeg har talet, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN; og det skal blive et Bytte for Folkene.

6 Dets Døtre på Land skal hugges ned med Sværd; og de skal kende, at jeg er HE EN.

7 Thi så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, nordenfra fører jeg mod Tyrus Kong Nebukadrezar af Babel, Kongernes Konge, med Heste, Vogne og yttere og en vældig Hærskare.

8 Dine Døtre på Land skal han hugge ned med Sværd; han skal bygge Belejringstårne, opkaste Stormvold og rejse Skjoldtag imod dig;

9 sin Murbrækkers Stød skal han rette imod dine Mure og nedbryde dine Tårne med sine Sværd.

10 Hans Heste skal myldre, så Støvet, de rejser, skjuler dig; yttere, Hjul og Vogne skal larme, så dine Mure ryster, når han drager igennem dine Porte, som når man trænger ind i en stormet By.

11 Med sine Hestes Hove skal han nedtrampe alle dine Gader; dit Folk skal han hugge ned med Sværdet og styrte dine stolte Støtter til Jorden.

12 De skal rane din igdom og gøre dine Handelsvarer til Bytte; de skal nedbryde dine Mure og nedrive dine herlige Huse: Sten, Tømmer og Ler skal de kaste i Vandet.

13 Jeg gør Endepå dine brusende Sange, og dine Citres Klang skal ikke mere høres.

14 Jeg gør dig til nøgen Klippe, en Tørreplads for Net skal du være. Aldrig mere skal du bygges, så sandt jeg, HE EN, har talet, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN.

15 siger den Herre HE EN til Tyrus: For sandt, ved dit drønende Fald, ved de såredes Stønnen, når Sværd hugger løs i din Midte, skal Strandene skælve.

16 Ned fra sin Trone stiger hver Fyrste ved Havet, Kapperne lægger de bort, aflægger de brogede Klæder og Klæder sig i Sorg; de sidderJorden og skæler uafbrudt, slagne af ædsel over dig.

17 De synger en Klagesang om dig og siger til dig: Ak, du gik under, forsvandt fra Havet, du fejrede By, du, som var vældig på Havet, du og dine Borgere, du, der jog ædsel i alle, som boede der!

18 Nu gribes Strandene af Skælven, den Dag du falder, og Havets Øer forfærdes over din Udgang!

19 Thi så siger den Herre HE EN: Når jeg gør dig til en øde By og lige med affolkede Byer, når jeg fører Verdensdybet over dig, og de vældige Vande skjuler dig,

20 så støder jeg dig ned iblandt dem, der steg ned i Dybet, blandt Fortidens Folk, og lader dig ligge i Underverdenen som ældgamle uiner blandt dem, der steg ned i Dybet, for at du aldrig mere skal bebos eller rejse dig i de levendes Land;

21 jeg giver dig hen til brat Undergang, og det skal være ude med dig; selv om der søges efter dig, skal du aldrig i Evighed findes, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

Commentary

 

Towers

  

In Genesis 11:4, this signifies the worship of self, which consists of a person exalting himself above others, even to the point of worship. This is why self-love, which is arrogance and pride, is called 'height,' 'loftiness,' and 'lifting up,' and is described with anything high. Self-love in worship, or the worship of self is called 'a tower,' because 'a city' signifies doctrine, and ancient cities were fortified with towers with guards. Towers were also built on the borders of a country. This is why they were called guard towers, or watchmen in 2 Kings 9:17, 17:9, 18:8, and watch-towers, in Isaiah 23:13.

In Matthew 21:33; Isaiah 5:2, this signifies interior truths into which there is influx, and communication with heaven. (Arcana Coelestia 918[4])

In Psalm 48:12, this signifies to consider the higher or interior things of that church. (Arcana Coelestia 453[10])

'To build a tower,' as in Luke 14:27, signifies acquiring interior truths.

(References: Arcana Coelestia 4599; Isaiah 25, 30, 30:25)


The Bible

 

Isaiah 30

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1 "Woe to the rebellious children," says Yahweh, "who take counsel, but not from me; and who make an alliance, but not with my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin,

2 who set out to go down into Egypt, and have not asked my advice; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to take refuge in the shadow of Egypt!

3 Therefore the strength of Pharaoh will be your shame, and the refuge in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.

4 For their princes are at Zoan, and their ambassadors have come to Hanes.

5 They shall all be ashamed because of a people that can't profit them, that are not a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach."

6 The burden of the animals of the South. Through the land of trouble and anguish, of the lioness and the lion, the viper and fiery flying serpent, they carry their riches on the shoulders of young donkeys, and their treasures on the humps of camels, to an unprofitable people.

7 For Egypt helps in vain, and to no purpose; therefore have I called her Rahab who sits still.

8 Now go, write it before them on a tablet, and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever.

9 For it is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of Yahweh;

10 who tell the seers, "Don't see!" and to the prophets, "Don't prophesy to us right things. tell us pleasant things. Prophesy deceits.

11 Get out of the way. Turn aside from the path. Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us."

12 Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, "Because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and rely on it;

13 therefore this iniquity shall be to you like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly in an instant.

14 He will break it as a potter's vessel is broken, breaking it in pieces without sparing, so that there won't be found among the broken piece a piece good enough to take fire from the hearth, or to dip up water out of the cistern."

15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, "You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence." You refused,

16 but you said, "No, for we will flee on horses;" therefore you will flee; and, "We will ride on the swift;" therefore those who pursue you will be swift.

17 One thousand will flee at the threat of One. At the threat of five, you will flee until you are left like a beacon on the top of a mountain, and like a banner on a hill.

18 Therefore Yahweh will wait, that he may be gracious to you; and therefore he will be exalted, that he may have mercy on you, for Yahweh is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

19 For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you.

20 Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your teachers won't be hidden anymore, but your eyes will see your teachers;

21 and when you turn to the right hand, and when you turn to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way. Walk in it."

22 You shall defile the overlaying of your engraved images of silver, and the plating of your molten images of gold. You shall cast them away as an unclean thing. You shall tell it, "Go away!"

23 He will give the rain for your seed, with which you will sow the ground; and bread of the increase of the ground will be rich and plentiful. In that day, your livestock will feed in large pastures.

24 The oxen likewise and the young donkeys that till the ground will eat savory provender, which has been winnowed with the shovel and with the fork.

25 There shall be brooks and streams of water on every lofty mountain and on every high hill in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.

26 Moreover the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, in the day that Yahweh binds up the fracture of his people, and heals the wound they were struck with.

27 Behold, the name of Yahweh comes from far away, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke. His lips are full of indignation, and his tongue is as a devouring fire.

28 His breath is as an overflowing stream that reaches even to the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction; and a bridle that leads to ruin will be in the jaws of the peoples.

29 You will have a song, as in the night when a holy feast is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goes with a flute to come to Yahweh's mountain, to Israel's Rock.

30 Yahweh will cause his glorious voice to be heard, and will show the descent of his arm, with the indignation of his anger, and the flame of a devouring fire, with a blast, storm, and hailstones.

31 For through the voice of Yahweh the Assyrian will be dismayed. He will strike him with his rod.

32 Every stroke of the rod of punishment, which Yahweh will lay on him, will be with the sound of tambourines and harps. He will fight with them in battles, brandishing weapons.

33 For his burning place has long been ready. Yes, for the king it is prepared. He has made its pyre deep and large with fire and much wood. Yahweh's breath, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.