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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 3:18

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18 Men jeg vil frydes i HE EN, juble i min Frelses Gud.


The Project Gutenberg Association at Carnegie Mellon University

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #533

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533. APOCALYPSE. CHAPTER 9.

1. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth; and there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss.

2. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke 1 of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened, and the air, by the smoke of the pit.

3. And out of the smoke there went forth locusts on the earth; and there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have power.

4. And it was said to them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but the men only that have not the seal of God on their foreheads.

5. And it was given to them that they should not kill them, but that they should torment them five months; and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion when it striketh a man.

6. And in those days shall men seek death and shall not find it; and they shall long to die and death shall flee from them.

7. And the likenesses of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for battle; and upon their heads as it were crowns like gold, and their faces as men's faces.

8. And they had hair as the hair of women, and their teeth were as those of lions.

9. And they had breastplates as iron breastplates; and the voice of their wings was as the voice of chariots of many horses running into battle.

10. And they had tails like scorpions, and stings were in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months.

11. And they had over them a king, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon.

12. One woe is past; behold there come yet two woes after this.

13. And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God.

14. Saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, Loose the four angels bound at the great river Euphrates.

15. And the four angels were loosed that had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, that they should kill the third part of men.

16. And the number of the armies of the horsemen was two myriads of myriads; and I heard the number of them.

17. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and those that sat on them, having breastplates fiery and hyacinthine and brimstone-like; and the heads of the horses as the beads of lions; and out of their mouths proceeded fire and smoke and brimstone.

18. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone that proceeded out of their mouths.

19. For their power was in their mouth, for their tails were like serpents and had heads, and with them do they hurt.

20. And the rest of men who were not killed in these plagues, and repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not adore demons and idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk.

21. And repented not of their murders nor of their enchantments nor of their whoredoms nor of their thefts.

Footnotes:

1. Latin "pit," Greek "smoke," as we find just above, as also in AE 539.

EXPOSITION.

Verses 1, 2. And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth; and there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss. And he opened the pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun was darkened and the air by the smoke of the pit.

1. "And the fifth angel sounded" signifies influx out of heaven manifesting the state of the church, that it was wholly changed (n. 534); "and I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth," signifies the knowledges of truth falsified, and thus turned into falsities (n. 535); "and there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss," signifies communication and conjunction with the hells n. 536.

2. "And he opened the pit of the abyss," signifies communication and conjunction with the hells, where and from which are such falsities (n. 537, 538); "and there went up a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace," signifies dense falsities therefrom out of the evils of earthly and corporeal loves (n. 539, 540); "and the sun was darkened and the air by the smoke of the pit," signifies that the light of truth from the Lord was made thick darkness by infernal falsities (n. 541).

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