The Bible

 

Ezekiel 29

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1 I det tiende år, på den tolvte dag i den tiende måned kom HE ENs Ord til mig således:

2 Menneskesøn, vend dit Ansigt mod Farao, Ægyptens Konge, og profeter mod ham og hele Ægypten.

3 Tal og sig: Så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg kommer over dig, Farao, Ægyptens Konge, du store drage, som ligger midt i dine Strømme, som siger: "Nilen er min, jeg skabte den selv!"

4 Jeg sætter Kroge i Kæberne på dig og lader dine Strømmes Fisk hænge ved dine Skæl og drager dig op af dine Strømme med alle deres Fisk, som hænger ved dine Skæl.

5 Jeg slænger dig hen i Ørkenen med alle dine Strømes Fisk; på åben Mark skal du falde, ej samles op eller jordes; til Jordens Dyr og Himlens Fugle giver jeg dig som Føde.

6 Og kende skal hver en Ægypter, at jeg er HE EN. Fordi du har været en ørkæp for Israels Hus -

7 du splintredes, når de greb om dig, og flænged dem hele Hånden; du brast, når de støtted sig til dig, fik hver en Lænd til at vakle -

8 derfor, så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg bringer Sværd over dig og udrydder Folk og Fæ af dig;

9 Ægypten skal blive til Ørk og Øde; og de skal kende, at jeg er HE EN, fordi du sagde: "Nilen er min, jeg skabte den selv!"

10 Se, derfor kommer jeg over dig og dine Strømme og gør Ægypten til Øde og Ørk fra Migdol til Syene og Ætiopiens Grænse.

11 Hverken Mennesker eller Dyr skal sætte deres Fod der, ingen skal færdes der, og det skal ligge hen uden Indbyggere i fyrretyve År.

12 Jeg gør Ægypten til en Ørk blandt øde Lande, og Byerne skal ligge øde hen blandt tilintetgjorte Byer i fyrretyve År; og jeg spreder Ægypterne blandt Folkene og udstrør dem i Landene.

13 Thi så siger den Herre HE EN: Efter fyrretyvears Forløb vil jeg sanke Ægypterne sammen fra de Folkeslag, de er spredt iblandt,

14 og vende Ægyptens Skæbne og føre dem tilbage til Patros, det Land, de stammer fra, og der skal de blive et lille ige.

15 Det skal blive mindre end de andre iger og ikke mere svinge sig op over Folkene; jeg gør dem få i Tal, for at de ikke mere skal råde over Folkene.

16 Og fremtidig skal de ikke være Israels Huss Tillid og således minde mig om dets Misgerning, når det slutter sig til dem; og de skal kende, at jeg er den Herre HE EN.

17 I det syv og tyvende År på den første Dag i den første Måned kom HE ENs Ord til mig således:

18 Menneskesøn! Kong Nebukadrezar af Babel har ladet sin Hær udføre et stort Arbejde mod Tyrus; hvert Hoved er skaldet, hver Skulder flået, og hverken han eller Hæren fik Løn af Tyrus for det Arbejde, han udførte imod det.

19 Derfor, så siger den Herre HE EN: Se, jeg giver Kong Nebukadrezar af Babel Ægypten; han skal bortføre dets igdom, tage Bytte og røve ov der; og det skal være hans Hærs Løn;

20 som Vederlag for hans Arbejde giver jeg ham Ægypten, fordi de sled for mig, lyder det fra den Herre HE EN.

21 På den Dag lader jeg et Horn vokse frem for Israels Hus, og dig giver jeg at åbne din Mund iblandt dem; og de skal kende, at jeg er HE EN.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #90

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90. "'Which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.'" This symbolically means, inwardly in the truths of wisdom and faith.

In the midst means, symbolically, the inmost (nos. 44, 383), here within or inwardly. The Paradise of God symbolizes truths of wisdom and faith. Consequently the tree of life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God symbolizes the Lord accompanied by the goodness of love and charity inwardly in the truths of wisdom and faith. Good also exists inwardly within truths, for good is the essence of life, and truth is the consequent expression of life, as we showed many times in Angelic Wisdom Regarding Divine Love and Wisdom.

That the Paradise of God is the truth of wisdom and faith is apparent from the symbolic meaning of a garden in the Word. A garden there symbolizes wisdom and intelligence, because trees symbolize the people of the church, and their fruits goods of life. That is what the Garden of Eden symbolizes, for it describes the wisdom of Adam.

[2] The garden of God in Ezekiel has the same meaning:

With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself... You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering... (Ezekiel 28:4, 13)

The subject is Tyre, which symbolizes the church in respect to its concepts of truth and good, thus in respect to its intelligence. Accordingly it is said, "With your wisdom and your understanding you have gained riches for yourself." The precious stones which served as its covering symbolize truths of intelligence.

[3] In the same book:

Assyria was a cedar in Lebanon... The cedars in the garden of God did not hide it... No tree in the garden of God was like it in beauty... All the trees of Eden envied it... in the garden of God. (Ezekiel 31:3, 8-9)

This is said of Egypt and Assyria, because Egypt symbolizes knowledge, and Assyria rationality, which leads to intelligence. A cedar has a similar symbolism.

But because Egypt's rationality led also to a conceit in its own intelligence, therefore it is said of it,

To which of the trees in Eden were you then likened in glory and greatness, when you were brought down with the trees of Eden to the earth below, and you lay in the midst of the uncircumcised...? (Ezekiel 31:18)

The uncircumcised are people who lack the goodness of charity.

[4] In Isaiah:

...Jehovah will comfort Zion..., and make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. (Isaiah 51:3)

Zion there is the church. The wilderness and desert are a deficiency of truth and ignorance of it. Eden and the garden of God are wisdom and intelligence.

Wisdom and intelligence are also symbolically meant by a garden in Isaiah 58:11; 61:11, Jeremiah 31:12, Amos 9:14, and Numbers 24:6.

[5] A person of the church is also like a garden in respect to his intelligence when he possesses goodness of love from the Lord, because the spiritual warmth that enlivens him is love, and spiritual light is the resulting intelligence.

People know that these two, warmth and light, cause gardens in the world to bloom. It is the same in heaven. Paradisal gardens are seen in heaven, with trees bearing fruit in accordance with the inhabitants' wisdom that springs from their goodness of love from the Lord. But around people who possess intelligence without the goodness of love, no gardens are seen, but grass, while around those whose faith is divorced from charity, not even grass is seen, but sand.

  
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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.

The Bible

 

Amos 9:14

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14 I will bring my people Israel back from captivity, and they will rebuild the ruined cities, and inhabit them; and they will plant vineyards, and drink wine from them. They shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.