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Joel 2

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1 Stød i horn på Zion, blæs alarm på mit hellige Bjerg! Alle i landet skal bæve, thi HE ENs Dag, den kommer;

2 ja, nær er Mulms og Mørkes Dag, Skyers og Tåges Dag. Et stort, et vældigt Folk er bredt som Gry over Bjerge. Dets Lige har aldrig været, skal aldrig komme herefter til fjerneste Slægters År.

3 Foran det æder Ild, og bag det flammer Lue; foran det er Landet som Eden og bag det en øde Ørk; fra det slipper ingen bort.

4 At se til er de som Heste, som Hingste farer de frem;

5 det lyder som raslende Vogne, når de hopper på Bjergenes Tinder, som knitrende Lue, der æder Strå, som en vældig Hær, der er rustet til Strid.

6 Folkeslag skælver for dem, alle Ansigter blusser.

7 Som Helte haster de frem, som Stridsmænd stormer de Mure; enhver går lige ud, de bøjer ej af fra vejen.

8 De trænger ikke hverandre, hver følger sin egen Sti. Trods Våbenmagt styrter de frem uden at lade sig standse, de kaster sig over Byen,

9 stormer Mulen i Løb; i Husene trænger de ind, gennem Vinduer kommer de som Tyve.

10 Foran dem skælver Jorden, Himlen bæver; Sol og Måne sortner, Stjernerne mister deres Glans.

11 Foran sin Stridsmagt løfter HE EN sin øst, thi såre stor er hans Hær, ja, hans Ords Fuldbyrder er vældig; thi stor er HE ENs Dag og såre frygtelig; hvem holder den ud?

12 Selv nu, så lyder det fra HE EN, vend om til mig af ganske Hjerte, med Faste og Gråd og Klage!

13 Sønderriv Hjerterne, ej eders Klæder, vend om til HE EN eders Gud! Thi nådig og barmhjertig er han, langmodig og rig på Miskundhed, han angrer det onde.

14 Måske slår han om og angrer og levner Velsignelse efter sig, Afgrødeoffer og Drikoffer til HE EN eders Gud.

15 Stød i Horn på Zion, helliger Faste, udråb festlig Samling,

16 kald Folket sammen, helliger et Stævne, lad de gamle samles, kald Børnene sammen, også dem, som dier Bryst; lad Brudgom gå ud af sit Kammer, Brud af sit Telt!

17 Imellem Forhal og Alter skal Præsterne, HE ENs Tjenere, græde og sige: "HE E, spar dog dit Folk! Overgiv ej din Arv til Skændsel, til Hedningers Spot! Hvi skal man sige blandt Folkene: Hvor er deres Gud?"

18 Og HE EN blev nidkær for sit Land og fik Medynk med sit Folk.

19 Og HE EN svarede sit Folk: Se, jeg sender eder korn, Most og Olie, så I kan mættes deraf; og jeg vil ikke længer gøre eder til Skændsel iblandt Hedningerne.

20 Fjenden fra Nord driver jeg langt bort fra eder og støder ham ud i et tørt og øde Land, hans Fortrop ud i Havet i Øst og hans Bagtrop i Havet i Vest, og han skal udsprede Stank og ilde Lugt; thi han udførte store Ting.

21 Frygt ikke, Jord, fryd dig, vær glad! Thi HE EN har udført store Ting.

22 Frygt ikke, I Markens Dyr! Thi Ørkenens Græsmarker grønnes, og Træerne bærer Frugt; Figentræ og Vinstok giver alt, hvad de kan.

23 Og I, Zions Sønner, fryd eder, vær glade i HE EN eders Gud! Thi han giver eder Føde til Frelse, idet han sender eder egn, Tidligregn og Sildigregn, som før.

24 Tærskepladserne skal fyldes med Korn, Persekummerne løbe over med Most og Olie.

25 Og jeg godtgør eder de År, da Græshoppen, Springeren, Æderen og Gnaveren hærgede, min store Hær, som jeg sendte imod eder.

26 I skal spise og mættes og love HE EN eders Guds Navn, fordi han handler underfuldt med eder; og mit Folk skal i Evighed ikke blive til Skamme.

27 Og I skal kende, at jeg er i Israels Midte, og at jeg, og ingen anden er HE EN eders Gud; og mit Folk skal i Evighed ikke blive til Skamme.

28 Og det skal ske derefter, at jeg vil udgyde min ånd over alt kød, eders Sønner og eders Døtre skal profetere, eders gamle skal drømme drømme og eders unge skue Syner;

29 også over Trælle og Trælkvinder vil jeg udgyde min Ånd i de Dage.

30 Og jeg lader ske Tegn på Himmelen og på Jorden, Blod, Ild og øgstøtter.

31 Solen skal vendes til Mørke og Månen til Blod, før HE ENs store og frygtelige Dag kommer.

32 Men enhver, som påkalder HE ENs Navn, skal frelses; thi på Zions Bjerg og i Jerusalem skal der være Frelse, som HE EN har sagt; og til de undslupne skal hver den høre, som HE EN kalder.

   


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

The Bible

 

Habakkuk 1:6

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6 Thi se, han vækker Kaldæerne, det grumme og raske Folk, som drager viden om Lande for at indtage andres Bo.


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Teachings #248

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248. The Jewish church and Jews. 1 The statutes, judgments, and laws that were commanded in the Jewish church were somewhat like those of the ancient church: 4449, 4834. How the symbolic rites of the Jewish church differed from the symbolic rites of the ancient church: 4288, 10149. A symbolic church was established for the people of that nation, but there was no real church among them: 4899, 4912, 6304. So they had something that symbolized a church but not an actual church: 4281, 4288, 4311, 4500, 6304, 7048, 9320, 10396, 10526, 10531, 10698. Because of the stubborn insistence of their ancestors and Moses, the Israelite and Jewish people were accepted as a church, not because they actually were a chosen people but rather so that they would symbolize a church: 4290, 4293, 7051, 7439, 10430, 10535, 10632. Their worship was solely external, without any inner worship: 1200, 3147, 3479, 8871. They knew absolutely nothing about inner worship and did not want to know: 301, 302, 303, 3479, 4429, 4433, 4680, 4844, 4847, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10694, 10701, 10707. What they thought of the inner aspects of worship, the church, and the Word: 4865. Their inner natures were foul, full of their love for themselves and the world and of avarice: 3480, 9962, 10454-10457, 10462-10466, 10575. Therefore the inner teachings of the church were not disclosed to them, because otherwise they would have defiled them: 2520, 3398, 3480, 4289. The Word was completely closed to them: 3769. They saw the Word from the outside and not from the inside (10549, 10550, 10551), so their inner self was closed when they were engaged in worship (8788, 8806, 9320, 9377, 9380, 9962, 10396, 10401, 10407, 10492, 10498, 10500, 10575, 10629, 10692). All the same, this people was more capable than any other of being outwardly holy despite the fact that their inner self was closed: 4293, 4311, 4903, 9373, 9377, 9380. Their state at such times: 4311. That is also why they have been preserved to this day: 3479. Their holy outward behavior was miraculously raised up and exhibited to heaven by the Lord, and as a result deeper levels of worship, the church, and the Word were perceived there: 3480, 4307, 4311, 6304, 8588, 10499, 10500, 10602. So that this could happen, they were driven by external pressures to a strict observance of their rituals in outward form: 3147, 4281, 8006. Because they could be outwardly holy without inner holiness, they were able to represent what is truly holy in the church and heaven: 3479, 3881, 4208, 6304, 8588, 9377, 10430, 10500, 10570. Nevertheless, they were not interested in what is truly holy: 3479. It does not matter what a person who symbolizes something is like, because symbolism focuses on the issue and not on the person: 665, 1097, 1361, 3147, 3881, 4208, 4281, 4288, 4292, 4500, 6304, 7048, 7439, 8588, 8788, 8806.

[2] Those people were worse than other peoples; a description of what they were like, including material from the Word of both Testaments: 4314, 4316, 4317, 4444, 4503, 4750, 4751, 4815, 4820, 4832, 5057, 5998, 7248, 8819, 9320, 10454-10457, 10462-10466. The tribe of Judah strayed more than the other tribes: 4815. How they took pleasure in cruelly treating other peoples: 5057, 7248, 9320. That people was idolatrous at heart and worshiped other gods more than other peoples did: 3732, 4208, 4281, 4825, 5998, 6877, 7401, 8301, 8871, 8882. Even their worship, seen in the context of that people, was idolatrous, since it was superficial, with no inner substance: 4281, 4825, 8871, 8882. They worshiped Jehovah in name only (6877, 10559, 10560, 10561, 10566), and only because of the miracles he did (4299). It is incorrect to think that the Jews are going to be converted at the end of the church 2 and brought back into the land of Canaan: 4847, 7051, 8301. A copious selection of passages from the Word on this subject-passages that are, however, to be understood in their inner meaning and therefore not taken literally: 7051. The Word was changed in its outer meaning because of that people, but not in its inner meaning: 10453, 10461, 10603, 10604. The way Jehovah appeared to them on Mount Sinai was shaped by their own nature, so he appeared in devouring fire, thick cloud, and smoke like that of a furnace: 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434. The way the Lord appears to each of us depends on what we ourselves are really like-as a life-giving and creative fire if we are devoted to doing good, but as a devouring fire if we are bent on doing evil: 934, 1861, 6832, 8814, 8819, 9434, 10551. One lineage of that people was of Canaanite ancestry and two others were the result of fornication with a daughter-in-law: 1167, 4818, 4820, 4874, 4899, 4913. Those stories represent the nature of their relationship with the inner truth of the church, namely, that it was like that of union with a Canaanite or fornication with a daughter-in-law: 4868, 4874, 4899, 4913. Their state in the other life: 939, 940, 5057.

[3] Because despite all this that people symbolized the church, and because the Word was composed among and about them, their names-for example, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Ephraim, Joseph, and the rest-have divine and heavenly meanings. In its inner meaning, "Judah" means the Lord in respect to his heavenly love and his heavenly kingdom: 3654, 3881, 5583, 5603, 5782, 6363. An explanation of Israel's prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:8-12, which is about the Lord: 6362-6381. Both the tribe of Judah and Judea mean the heavenly church: 3654, 6364. The twelve tribes represented and meant all the aspects of love and faith taken together (3858, 3926, 4060, 6335), and therefore heaven and the church as well (6337, 6637, 7836, 7891). Their meanings depend on the order in which they are named: 3862, 3926, 3939, 4603 and following, 6337, 6640. The twelve tribes were divided into two kingdoms so that the Judeans could represent the heavenly kingdom and the Israelites could represent the spiritual kingdom: 3654, 8770. The seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means the goodness and truth that belong to the church: 3373, 10445.

Footnotes:

1. On problematic material in Swedenborg's works, including his attitude toward Jews, see the discussion in the translator's preface, pages 19-21. [Editors]

2. From early Christian times it has been believed that all Jews will convert to Christianity before the Last Judgment. Augustine refers to this belief as "a very frequent topic in the conversation of the faithful and a very familiar thought in their hearts" ( City of God 20:29 [= Augustine 1952, 557]). The notion is based at least in part on Romans 11:26-27, in which Paul says, "All Israel will be saved," and goes on to quote Isaiah 59:20-21 (from the Septuagint version) and Jeremiah 31:33 (with reference also perhaps to Isaiah 27:9) to the effect that a Deliverer out of Zion will turn away the ungodliness of the descendants of Jacob and thus fulfill God's covenant with them. Malachi 4:5-6 is sometimes also cited in support. This prophecy has been discussed and even promoted by many major Christian theologians over the centuries, and it remains a topic of discussion in Christian circles. [SS]

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.