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Ezekiel 1

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1 En la trideka jaro, en la kvina tago de la kvara monato, kiam mi estis inter la elpatrujigitoj cxe la rivero Kebar, malfermigxis la cxielo, kaj mi ekvidis viziojn de Dio.

2 En la kvina tago de tiu monato, tio estas, en la kvina jaro post la elpatrujigo de la regxo Jehojahxin,

3 aperis la vorto de la Eternulo al la pastro Jehxezkel, filo de Buzi, en la lando HXaldea, cxe la rivero Kebar, kaj tie aperis sur li la mano de la Eternulo.

4 Kaj mi vidis, jen malkvieta vento venis el la nordo kun granda nubo kaj flamanta fajro; brilo estis cxirkauxe de gxi, kaj el interne, el la mezo de la fajro, iris tre hela lumo.

5 El la mezo vidigxis bildo de kvar kreitajxoj, kaj ilia aspekto estis kiel aspekto de homo.

6 Kaj cxiu havis kvar vizagxojn, kaj cxiu el ili havis kvar flugilojn.

7 Iliaj piedoj estis piedoj rektaj, kaj la plandoj de iliaj piedoj estis kiel plando de bovido kaj brilis kiel hela pura kupro.

8 Kaj homaj manoj estis sub iliaj flugiloj cxe iliaj kvar flankoj; cxiuj kvar havis siajn vizagxojn kaj siajn flugilojn.

9 Iliaj flugiloj estis kuntusxigxantaj unu kun la alia; irante, ili sin ne deturnadis, sed cxiu iradis laux la direkto de sia vizagxo.

10 La aspekto de iliaj vizagxoj estis kiel vizagxo homa, kaj kiel vizagxo leona sur la dekstra flanko de cxiuj kvar, kiel vizagxo bova sur la maldekstra flanko de cxiuj kvar, kaj kiel vizagxo agla cxe cxiuj kvar.

11 Iliaj vizagxoj kaj flugiloj supre estis disigitaj; cxe cxiu el ili du flugiloj tusxis unu la alian kaj du kovris ilian korpon.

12 CXiu iradis laux la direkto de sia vizagxo; kien tiris ilin la spirito, tien ili iradis, ne deturnante sin dum sia irado.

13 La aspekto de la kreitajxoj estis kiel aspekto de ardantaj kaj brulantaj karboj, kiel aspekto de torcxoj, irantaj inter tiuj kreitajxoj; brilon havis la fajro, kaj el la fajro eliradis fulmoj.

14 Kaj la kreitajxoj kuradis tien kaj reen kiel fulmoj.

15 Rigardante la kreitajxojn, mi ekvidis, ke sur la tero apud la kreitajxoj trovigxis po unu rado cxe la kvar vizagxoj.

16 La aspekto de la radoj kaj ilia prilaboriteco estis kiel aspekto de turkiso, cxiuj kvar havis la saman aspekton; ilia aspekto kaj prilaboriteco estis tiel, kvazaux unu rado trovigxus en la alia.

17 Irante, ili sin movadis sur siaj kvar flankoj; ili ne deturnadis sin dum la irado.

18 Iliaj radrondoj estis altaj kaj teruraj; la radrondoj de cxiuj kvar estis plenaj de okuloj cxirkauxe.

19 Kaj kiam la kreitajxoj iris, la radoj iradis apud ili; kaj kiam la kreitajxoj levigxis de la tero, levigxadis ankaux la radoj.

20 Kien la spirito instigis ilin iri, tien ili iradis; kien la spirito instigis ilin iri, la radoj levigxadis kune kun ili, cxar la spirito de la kreitajxoj estis en la radoj.

21 Kiam tiuj iris, ili ankaux iradis; kiam tiuj staris, ili ankaux staris; kiam tiuj levigxis de la tero, la radoj levigxadis apud ili, cxar la spirito de la kreitajxoj estis en la radoj.

22 Super la kapoj de la kreitajxoj estis io simila al firmamento, kvazaux terura kristalo, etendita super iliaj kapoj supre.

23 Sub la firmamento estis etenditaj iliaj flugiloj, rekte unu apud la alia; la korpon de cxiu el ili kovris du flugiloj.

24 Mi auxdis, kiel iliaj flugiloj dum ilia irado bruis kiel granda akvo, kiel la vocxo de la Plejpotenculo, granda bruo, kiel bruo de tendaro; kiam ili haltis, iliaj flugiloj mallevigxis.

25 Kiam auxdigxis vocxo el super la firmamento, kiu estis super iliaj kapoj, ili haltadis kaj mallevadis siajn flugilojn.

26 Supre de la firmamento, kiu estis super iliaj kapoj, estis io, aspektanta kiel safiro, havanta la formon de trono; kaj super la bildo de la trono estis kvazaux bildo de homo, sidanta sur gxi.

27 Kaj mi vidis kvazaux helegan brilon, kvazaux fajron interne kaj cxirkauxe, de la bildo de liaj lumboj supren kaj de la bildo de liaj lumboj malsupren; mi vidis aspekton de fajro kaj brilon cxirkaux de li.

28 Kiel la aspekto de cxielarko, kiu montrigxas en la nuboj en la tempo de pluvo, tia estis la aspekto de la brilo cxirkauxe. Tio estis la aspekto de la majesto de la Eternulo. Kiam mi tion vidis, mi jxetis min vizagxaltere, kaj mi auxdis vocxon de parolanto.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #934

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934. 'Cold' means the absence of love, that is, of charity and faith, 'heat' or 'fire' the presence of love or of charity and faith. This becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In John, in the letter to the Church at Laodicea,

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! But because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot I will spew you out of My mouth. Revelation 7:15, 16.

Here 'cold' stands for no charity, 'hot' for much. In Isaiah,

Thus said Jehovah, I will be still and I will behold in My place; like clear heat on the light, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest. Isaiah 18:4.

The subject here is a new Church that is to be founded. 'Heat on the light' and 'the heat of harvest' stand for love and charity. In the same prophet,

Jehovah's fire is in Zion, and His furnace in Jerusalem. Isaiah 3:9.

'Fire' stands for love. Concerning the cherubim seen by Ezekiel,

As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches, moving between the living creatures. And the five was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning. Ezekiel 1:13.

[2] And concerning the Lord in the same prophet,

Above the firmament that was above the heads of the cherubim, in appearance like a sapphire stone, there was the likeness of a throne, and above the likeness of a throne, there was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above. And I saw as it were the shape of fiery coals, as the shape of fire, within it round about, from the appearance of His loins upwards. And from the appearance of His loins and downwards I saw as it were the appearance of fire, whose brightness was round about it. Ezekiel 1:26-27; 8:2.

Here 'fire' stands for love. In Daniel,

The Ancient of Days was seated. His throne was flames of fire, its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came forth from before Him, a thousand thousands served Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. Daniel 7:9-10.

'Fire' stands for the Lord's love. In Zechariah,

I will be to her, said Jehovah, a wall of fire round about. Zechariah 2:5.

This refers to the New Jerusalem. In David,

Jehovah makes winds His messengers, and flaming fire His ministers. Psalms 104:4.

'Flaming fire' stands for that which is celestial-spiritual.

[3] Because 'fire' meant love, fire also became a representative of the Lord. This is clear from 'the five on the altar of burnt offering that was to be kept burning all the time', Leviticus 6:9, 12-13, representing the Lord's mercy. For this reason 'before Aaron entered the place of atonement he had to burn incense with fire taken from the altar of burnt offering', Leviticus 16:12-14. And also, to signify that worship was acceptable to the Lord, 'fire was sent down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering', as in Leviticus 9:24, and elsewhere. In the Word 'fire' also means self-love and its attendant desire. With that love heavenly love can never agree; consequently it is also said that Aaron's two sons were devoured by fire because they employed strange fire, Leviticus 10:1-2. 'Strange fire' means all self-love and love of the world, and every desire accompanying those loves. In addition heavenly love seems to wicked people like nothing else than a burning and devouring fire; and this is why in the Word devouring fire is attributed to the Lord. The fire on Mount Sinai, for example, which represented the Lord's love or mercy, was perceived by the people as a consuming fire, as a consequence of which they told Moses not to make them hear the voice of Jehovah God, or see the great Fire lest they died, Deuteronomy 18:16. This is how the Lord's love or mercy appears to people engulfed in the fire of self-love and love of the world.

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

The Bible

 

Genesis 8

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1 God remembered Noah, all the animals, and all the livestock that were with him in the ship; and God made a wind to pass over the earth. The waters subsided.

2 The deep's fountains and the sky's windows were also stopped, and the rain from the sky was restrained.

3 The waters receded from the earth continually. After the end of one hundred fifty days the waters decreased.

4 The ship rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on Ararat's mountains.

5 The waters receded continually until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.

6 It happened at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ship which he had made,

7 and he sent forth a raven. It went back and forth, until the waters were dried up from the earth.

8 He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from the surface of the ground,

9 but the dove found no place to rest her foot, and she returned to him into the ship; for the waters were on the surface of the whole earth. He put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her to him into the ship.

10 He stayed yet another seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ship.

11 The dove came back to him at evening, and, behold, in her mouth was an olive leaf plucked off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated from the earth.

12 He stayed yet another seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she didn't return to him any more.

13 It happened in the six hundred first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from the earth. Noah removed the covering of the ship, and looked. He saw that the surface of the ground was dried.

14 In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15 God spoke to Noah, saying,

16 "Go out of the ship, you, and your wife, and your sons, and your sons' wives with you.

17 Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you of all flesh, including birds, livestock, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply on the earth."

18 Noah went forth, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives with him.

19 Every animal, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatever moves on the earth, after their families, went out of the ship.

20 Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

21 Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma. Yahweh said in his heart, "I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, because the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I ever again strike everything living, as I have done.

22 While the earth remains, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."