The Bible

 

Matthew 13

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1 THE same day Jesus going out of the house, sat by the sea side.

2 And great multitudes were gathered unto him, so that he went up into a boat and sat: and all the multitude stood on the shore.

3 And he spoke to them many things in parables, saying: Behold the sower went forth to sow.

4 And whilst he soweth some fell by the way side, and the birds of the air came and ate them up.

5 And other some fell upon stony ground, where they had not much earth: and they sprung up immediately, because they had no deepness of earth.

6 And when the sun was up they were scorched: and because they had not root, they withered away.

7 And others fell among thorns: and the thorns grew up and choked them.

8 And others fell upon good ground: and they brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold.

9 He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

10 And his disciples came and said to him: Why speakest thou to them in parables?

11 Who answered and said to them: Because to you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven: but to them it is not given.

12 For he that hath, to him shall be given, and he shall abound: but he that hath not, from him shall be taken away that also which he hath.

13 Therefore do I speak to them in parables: because seeing they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

14 And the prophecy of Isaias is fulfilled in them, who saith: By hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand: and seeing you shall see, and shall not perceive.

15 For the heart of this people is grown gross, and with their ears they have been dull of hearing, and their eyes they have shut: lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.

16 But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear.

17 For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them.

18 Hear you therefore the parable of the sower.

19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, there cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he that received the seed by the way side.

20 And he that received the seed upon stony ground, is he that heareth the word, and immediately receiveth it with joy.

21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but is only for a time: and when there ariseth tribulation and persecution because of the word, he is presently scandalized.

22 And he that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word, and he becometh fruitless.

23 But he that received the seed upon good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth, and beareth fruit, and yieldeth the one an hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty.

24 Another parable he proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field.

25 But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way.

26 And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle.

27 And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle?

28 And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up?

29 And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it.

30 Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn.

31 Another parable he proposed unto them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field.

32 Which is the least indeed of all seeds; but when it is grown up, it is greater than all herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come, and dwell in the branches thereof.

33 Another parable he spoke to them: The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened.

34 All these things Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes: and without parables he did not speak to them.

35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.

36 Then having sent away the multitudes, he came into the house, and his disciples came to him, saying: Expound to us the parable of the cockle of the field.

37 Who made answer and said to them: He that soweth the good seed, is the Son of man.

38 And the field, is the world. And the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the cockle, are the children of the wicked one.

39 And the enemy that sowed them, is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world. And the reapers are the angels.

40 Even as cockle therefore is gathered up, and burnt with fire: so shall it be at the end of the world.

41 The Son of man shall send his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all scandals, and them that work iniquity.

42 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then shall the just shine as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

44 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

45 Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls.

46 Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.

47 Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a net cast into the sea, and gathering together of all kind of fishes.

48 Which, when it was filled, they drew out, and sitting by the shore, they chose out the good into vessels, but the bad they cast forth.

49 So shall it be at the end of the world. The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from among the just.

50 And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 Have ye understood all these things? They say to him: Yes.

52 He said unto them: Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old.

53 And it came to pass: when Jesus had finished these parables, he passed from thence.

54 And coming into his own country, he taught them in their synagogues, so that they wondered and said: How came this man by this wisdom and miracles?

55 Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Jude:

56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence therefore hath he all these things?

57 And they were scandalized in his regard. But Jesus said to them: A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

58 And he wrought not many miracles there, because of their unbelief.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2966

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2966. 'Four hundred shekels of silver' means the price of redemption, as has been shown above in 2959. But what the price of redemption is will now be stated. Redemption is attributable to the Lord alone, and so also is the price of redemption. Yet the latter may also be spoken of in reference to man's receptivity, though with him the price of redemption is determined by the measure of his receptivity. The price of redemption is the Lord's merit and righteousness acquired through the severest temptations by which He united the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, doing so by His own power. And through that uniting of them He has saved the human race, especially those who belong to the spiritual Church.

For the Lord's becoming righteousness through the severest temptations, see 1813, 2025-2027.

For the Lord's uniting of the Human Essence to the Divine Essence, and the Divine Essence to the Human Essence, 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 1813, 2083.

For His doing this by His own power, 1616, 1921, 2025, 2026, 2083, 2500, 2523, 2632.

And for His salvation of the human race, especially those who belong to the spiritual Church, through that uniting of both, 2661, 2716.

These are the factors meant by the price of redemption.

[2] As regards the consideration that this price may also be spoken of in reference to man's receptivity, though with him that price is determined by the measure of his receptivity, this may be seen from the truth that it is the Lord's Divine which constitutes the Church with man. For the Church does not hearken to anything except that which is the Lord's own. It is the good of love and charity, and the truth of faith, that constitute that which is called the Church. For it is well known that all good comes from the Lord and that all truth comes from the Lord. Good and truth that come from man are not good and truth. From this it is evident that the price of redemption is with man determined by the measure of his receptivity.

[3] Because among the Jews the Lord's redemption was rated so low as to be scarcely anything at all, it is therefore said in Zechariah,

I said to them, If it is good in your eyes, give me my wages; and if not, withhold them. And they weighed out my wages, thirty pieces of silver. And Jehovah said to me, Throw it to the potter, the magnificent price I was valued at among them. Zechariah 11:12-13.

And in Matthew,

They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him whom they had bought from the children of Israel, and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord commanded me. Matthew 27:9-10.

'Thirty' is that which is so little as to be scarcely anything, see 2276. Thus the meaning is that the Jews rated the Lord's merit and redemption as nothing, but among those who believed that all good and all truth came from the Lord, the price of redemption is meant by 'forty' and to a higher degree by 'four hundred'.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #1304

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1304. That 'let us build ourselves a city and a tower' means that they fabricated a form of doctrine and of worship becomes clear from the meaning of 'a city' and from the meaning of 'a tower', dealt with in the paragraphs that follow this. The Church is such that when charity towards the neighbour departs and self-love takes its place, the doctrine of faith is of no account at all except insofar as it can be converted into worship of self. Nor do people consider that worship contains anything holy unless it exists for the sake of self, thus unless it is worship of self. This applies to all self-love. In fact a person who loves himself more than others not only hates everybody who is not subservient to him and shows no favour to them except when they have become subservient, but also, to the extent that he is not prevented, he plunges even into exalting himself above God. The fact that self-love is such when given free rein I have been shown in actual occurrences. These are the things meant by 'a city and a tower'. Self-love, and every desire springing from it, is of all things the filthiest and most unholy, and is very hell itself. From this anyone may deduce the nature of the worship that has such as this within it.

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