The Bible

 

Exodus 22

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1 If a man steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it, he shall restore five oxen for the ox, and four sheep for the sheep.

2 If the thief be encountered breaking in, and be smitten so that he die, there shall be no blood-guiltiness for him.

3 If the sun be risen on him, there shall be blood-guiltiness for him; he should have made full restitution: if he had nothing, he would have been sold for his theft.

4 If the stolen thing be actually found alive in his hand, whether it be ox, or ass, or sheep, he shall restore double.

5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and put in his cattle, and pasture in another man's field, of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard shall he make [it] good.

6 -- If fire break out, and seize the thorns, and the stacks of corn, or the standing corn, or the field be consumed, he that kindled the fire shall fully make it good.

7 -- If a man deliver unto his neighbour money or stuff to keep, and it be stolen out of the man's house; if the thief be found, let him restore double;

8 if the thief be not found, the master of the house shall be brought before the judges, [to see] if he has not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods.

9 As to all manner of fraud, -- as to ox, as to ass, as to sheep, as to clothing, as to everything lost, of which [a man] saith, It is this -- the cause of both parties shall come before the judges: he whom the judges shall condemn shall restore double to his neighbour.

10 If a man deliver unto his neighbour an ass, or an ox, or a sheep, or any cattle, to keep, and it die, or be hurt, or driven away, and no man see [it],

11 an oath of Jehovah shall be between them both, that he hath not put his hand unto his neighbour's goods; and the owner of it shall accept it, and he shall not make [it] good.

12 But if it have been stolen from him, he shall make [it] good unto its owner.

13 If it have been torn in pieces, let him bring it [as] witness: he shall not make good what was torn.

14 -- And if a man borrow anything of his neighbour, and it be hurt, or die, its owner not being with it, he shall fully make it good;

15 if the owner thereof be with it, he shall not make [it] good; if it be a hired [thing], it came for its hire.

16 And if a man seduce a virgin that is not betrothed, and lie with her, he shall certainly endow her, to be his wife.

17 If her father utterly refuse to give her unto him, he shall weigh money according to the dowry of virgins.

18 -- Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.

19 -- Every one that lieth with a beast shall certainly be put to death.

20 -- He that sacrificeth to [any] god, save to Jehovah only, shall be devoted to destruction.

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him; for ye have been strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child.

23 If thou afflict him in any way, if he cry at all unto me, I will certainly hear his cry;

24 and my anger shall burn, and I will slay you with the sword; and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25 -- If thou lend money to my people, the poor with thee, thou shalt not be to him as a usurer: ye shall charge him no interest.

26 -- If thou at all take thy neighbour's garment in pledge, thou shalt return it to him before the sun goes down;

27 for that is his only covering, his garment for his skin: on what shall he lie down? And it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I will hear; for I am gracious.

28 Thou shalt not revile the judges, nor curse a prince amongst thy people.

29 -- Thou shalt not delay the fulness of thy [threshing-floor] and the outflow of thy [winepress]. The firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

30 Likewise shalt thou do with thy calf, with thy sheep: seven days shall it be with its dam; on the eighth day thou shalt give it me.

31 -- And ye shall be holy men unto me; and ye shall not eat flesh torn in the field: ye shall cast it to the dog.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9132

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9132. 'He shall be sold for his theft' means alienation. This is clear from the meaning of 'being sold' as alienation, dealt with in 4752, 4758, 5886, at this point the alienation of the good or truth that has been taken away, and of which nothing remains, 9131; and from the meaning of 'for his theft' as making amends and undertaking restoration with some other good or truth in place of that which has been taken away, meant by 'making repayment', 9130. For the thief was sold in order that repayment might be made for the theft.

What this verse implies is that when a person can see that good or truth with him is being taken away by falsity arising from evil he is guilty of the violence done to them, since he knows full well what he is doing. For when a person knows full well what he is doing his deeds spring from his will and at the same time from his understanding, and so from his entire person since a person is a person by virtue of both those powers of mind. And a deed springing from both springs from falsity that arises out of evil - from falsity because it springs from the understanding, and from evil because it springs from the will. This is what makes the person guilty.

A person makes that his own which comes from his understanding and at the same time from his will, see 9009, 9069, 9071.

A person becomes guilty if he does not use his power of understanding to restrain evil in his will when he sees it, 9075.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Leviticus 20

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1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Thou shalt say also to the children of Israel, Every one of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel, that giveth of his seed unto Molech, shall certainly be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones.

3 And I will set my face against that man, and will cut him off from among his people; because he hath given of his seed unto Molech, so as to make my sanctuary unclean, and to profane my holy name.

4 And if the people of the land do any ways hide their eyes from that man, when he giveth of his seed unto Molech, that they kill him not,

5 then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go a whoring after him, to commit whoredom with Molech, from among their people.

6 -- And the soul that turneth unto necromancers and unto soothsayers, to go a whoring after them, I will set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

7 Hallow yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am Jehovah your God.

8 And ye shall observe my statutes, and do them: I am Jehovah who hallow you.

9 Whatever man revileth his father and his mother shall certainly be put to death: he hath reviled his father and his mother; his blood is upon him.

10 And a man that committeth adultery with a man's wife, who committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, -- the adulterer and the adulteress shall certainly be put to death.

11 And a man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

12 And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall certainly be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood is upon them.

13 And if a man lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is infamy: they shall burn him and them with fire, that there be no infamy among you.

15 And if a man lie with a beast for copulation, he shall certainly be put to death; and ye shall kill the beast.

16 And if a woman approach unto any beast to gender therewith, thou shalt kill the woman and the beast: they shall certainly be put to death; their blood is upon them.

17 And if a man take his sister, his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness, that is a disgrace; and they shall be cut off before the eyes of the children of their people: he hath uncovered his sister's nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

18 And if a man shall lie with a woman in her infirmity, and uncover her nakedness, her flux doth he lay bare, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood; and both of them shall be cut off from among their people.

19 And the nakedness of thy mother's sister, and of thy father's sister shalt thou not uncover; for he hath laid naked his near relation: they shall bear their iniquity.

20 And if a man lie with his aunt, he hath uncovered his uncle's nakedness: their sin shall they bear: they shall die childless.

21 And if a man take his brother's wife, it is an unclean thing: he hath uncovered his brother's nakedness: they shall be childless.

22 And ye shall observe all my statutes, and all mine ordinances, and do them, that the land whither I bring you to dwell therein vomit you not out.

23 And ye shall not walk in the customs of the nation which I am casting out before you; for all these things have they done, and they became an abomination to me.

24 And I have said unto you, Ye shall possess their land, and I will give it unto you for a possession; a land flowing with milk and honey: I am Jehovah your God, who have separated you from the peoples.

25 And ye shall make a separation between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean, and ye shall not make yourselves an abomination by beast, or by fowl, or by anything that creepeth on the ground which I have separated for you, declaring [it] as unclean.

26 And ye shall be holy unto me; for I Jehovah am holy, and have separated you from the peoples to be mine.

27 And if there be a man or a woman in whom is a spirit of Python or of divination, they shall certainly be put to death: they shall stone them with stones; their blood is upon them.