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Ezekiel 34

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1 Kaj aperis al mi vorto de la Eternulo, dirante:

2 Ho filo de homo, profetu pri la pasxtistoj de Izrael, profetu, kaj diru al ili, al la pasxtistoj:Tiele diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo:Ve al la pasxtistoj de Izrael, kiuj pasxtas sin mem! cxu ne la sxafojn devas pasxti la pasxtistoj?

3 La grasajxon vi mangxas, per la lano vi vin vestas, la grasigitan sxafon vi bucxas; sed la sxafojn vi ne pasxtas.

4 La malfortajn vi ne flegas, malsanan vi ne kuracas, vunditan vi ne bandagxas, forerarintan vi ne revenigas, perditan vi ne sercxas; sed vi regas super ili maldelikate kaj kruele.

5 Kaj ili diskuris, cxar ili ne havas pasxtiston; kaj ili farigxis mangxajxo por cxiuj bestoj de la kampo, ili diskuris.

6 Erarvagas Miaj sxafoj sur cxiuj montoj kaj sur cxiuj altaj montetoj, kaj sur la tutan teron diskuris Miaj sxafoj, kaj neniu demandas pri ili, neniu ilin sercxas.

7 Tial, ho pasxtistoj, auxskultu la vorton de la Eternulo:

8 Kiel Mi vivas, diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo:pro tio, ke Miaj sxafoj farigxis rabatajxo, kaj pro foresto de pasxtisto Miaj sxafoj farigxis mangxajxo por cxiuj bestoj de la kampo, kaj Miaj pasxistoj ne sercxis Miajn sxafojn, kaj la pasxtistoj pasxtis sin mem, sed Miajn sxafojn ili ne pasxtis -

9 pro tio, ho pasxtistoj, auxskultu la vorton de la Eternulo:

10 Tiele diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo:Jen Mi iras kontraux la pasxtistojn, kaj Mi elpostulos Miajn sxafojn el iliaj manoj, kaj Mi forprenos de ili la pasxtadon de sxafoj, kaj la pasxtistoj jam ne plu pasxtos sin mem, kaj Mi savos Miajn sxafojn el ilia busxo, por ke ili ne plu estu mangxajxo por ili.

11 CXar tiele diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo:Jen Mi venos, kaj Mi sercxos Miajn sxafojn kaj esploros ilin.

12 Kiel pasxtisto esploras sian sxafaron, kiam li alvenas al siaj diskurintaj sxafoj, tiel Mi esploros Miajn sxafojn; kaj Mi savos ilin el cxiuj lokoj, kien ili diskuris en la tago nuba kaj malluma.

13 Mi elkondukos ilin el inter la popoloj, Mi kolektos ilin el la diversaj landoj, Mi revenigos ilin sur ilian teron; kaj Mi pasxtos ilin sur la montoj de Izrael, en la valoj, kaj sur cxiuj logxeblaj lokoj de la tero.

14 Sur bona pasxtejo Mi ilin pasxtos, kaj sur la altaj montoj de Izrael estos ilia logxloko; tie ili ripozos en bona restejo, kaj pasxtigxos sur grasa pasxtejo, sur la montoj de Izrael.

15 Mi pasxtos Miajn sxafojn, kaj Mi ripozigos ilin, diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo.

16 La sxafon perdigxintan Mi elsercxos, la forpelitan Mi revenigos, la vunditan Mi bandagxos, la malsanan Mi fortigos; sed la grasan kaj fortan Mi ekstermos; Mi pasxtos kun justeco.

17 Kaj pri vi, ho Miaj sxafoj, tiele diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo:Jen Mi faros jugxon inter sxafo kaj sxafo, al virsxafoj kaj virkaproj.

18 CXu ne suficxas al vi, ke vi pasxtigxas sur bona pasxtejo? la restajxon sur via pasxtejo vi dispremas per viaj piedoj! CXu ne suficxas, ke vi trinkas puran akvon? la restajxon vi movmalklarigas per viaj piedoj!

19 Kaj Miaj sxafoj devas mangxi tion, kio estas dispremita per viaj piedoj, kaj trinki tion, kio estas malklarigita per viaj piedoj.

20 Tial tiele diras al ili la Sinjoro, la Eternulo:Jen Mi venos, kaj Mi faros jugxon inter sxafo grasa kaj sxafo malgrasa.

21 CXar vi pusxas per la flanko kaj per la sxultro kaj frapas per viaj kornoj cxiujn malfortajn, gxis vi forpelas ilin eksteren,

22 Mi helpos al Miaj sxafoj, kaj ili ne plu estos prirabataj, kaj Mi faros jugxon inter sxafo kaj sxafo.

23 Kaj Mi starigos super ili unu pasxtiston, kiu pasxtos ilin, Mian servanton David; li pasxtos ilin, kaj li estos por ili pasxtisto.

24 Kaj Mi, la Eternulo, estos por ili Dio, kaj Mia servanto David estos princo inter ili; Mi, la Eternulo, tion parolis.

25 Kaj Mi faros kun ili interligon de paco, kaj Mi malaperigos cxiujn sovagxajn bestojn el la lando, por ke oni povu logxi en la dezerto sendangxere kaj dormi en la arbaroj.

26 Kaj Mi faros ilin kaj la cxirkauxajxon de Mia monteto objekto de beno, kaj Mi sendados pluvon en gxia tempo, tio estos pluvoj de beno.

27 Kaj la arbo de la kampo donados siajn fruktojn, kaj la tero donados siajn produktajxojn, kaj ili estos sur sia tero ekster dangxero; kaj ili ekscios, ke Mi estas la Eternulo, kiam Mi rompos la stangojn de ilia jugo, kaj savos ilin el la manoj de tiuj, kiuj sklavigis ilin.

28 Kaj ili ne plu estos prirabataj de la nacioj, kaj la bestoj de la tero ne mangxegos ilin; kaj ili logxos sendangxere, kaj neniu teruros ilin.

29 Kaj Mi arangxos por ili gloran plantadon, kaj ili ne plu estos ekstermataj de malsato en la lando, kaj ili ne plu havos malhonoron inter la nacioj.

30 Kaj oni ekscios, ke Mi, la Eternulo, ilia Dio, estas kun ili, kaj ke ili, la domo de Izrael, estas Mia popolo, diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo.

31 Kaj vi, homoj, estas Miaj sxafoj, la sxafoj de Mia pasxtejo, kaj Mi estas via Dio, diras la Sinjoro, la Eternulo.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10182

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10182. 'Its horns shall be of one piece with it' means the powers of truth derived from the good of love and charity. This is clear from the meaning of 'horns' as the powers of truth, dealt with in 2832, 9719-9721. The reason why derived from the good of love and charity is meant is that all the power which truth possesses comes from that good. Therefore also the horns continued from the altar itself or were of one piece with it; for this altar was representative of the Lord, of His hearing and receiving everything of worship that springs from love and charity, 10177.

[2] The statement that all the power which truth possesses comes from the good of love is unintelligible to those who have only a material idea of power, and therefore the nature of that power must be described. In the heavens all power is derived from Divine Truth emanating from the Lord's Divine Good. This is the source of the power angels possess, for angels are recipients of Divine Truth from the Lord, 1752, 4295, 8192. By means of the power which they receive from that source they protect a person by removing the hells from him; for a single angel is stronger than a thousand who come from hell. This power is what Peter's keys serve to mean, though Peter, who in the same place is referred to as a rock, means the Lord in respect of the truth of faith springing from the good of love, see Preface to Genesis 22, and 3750, 4738, 6000, 6073(end), 6344(end), 10087, 'the Rock' being the Lord in respect of the truth of faith, 8581.

[3] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the voice of Jehovah' in David,

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the voice of Jehovah is powerful; the voice of Jehovah breaks the cedars; the voice of Jehovah strikes a flame of fire; the voice of Jehovah causes the wilderness to shake; the voice of Jehovah strips the forests bare; Jehovah gives strength to His people. Psalms 29:3-5, 7-9, 11.

'The voice of Jehovah' is the Divine Truth emanating from His Divine Good, see 9926.

[4] The power that Divine Truth possesses is also meant by 'the Word' in John,

All things were made through the Word, and without Him nothing was made that was made. John 1:3.

'The Word' is the Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good, see 9987. Therefore also the Lord, when He was in the world, first made Himself Divine Truth, which is also meant in John 1:14 by the Word became flesh. The Lord made Himself Divine Truth then to the end that He might fight against all the hells and overcome them, and in so doing might restore all things to order there, and at the same time in the heavens, 9715, 9809, 10019, 10152.

[5] The fact that truths springing from good possess all power, while on the other hand falsities arising from evil have no power, is very well known in the next life. For this reason the evil who come there from the world have their belief, which is no more than persuasion, and also their knowledge of any truth, taken away from them. This then leaves them with the falsities belonging to their evil.

[6] The statement that truths springing from good possess such power is unintelligible to those who have the idea that truth or a belief in truth is no more than mental activity, when yet a person's mental activity, under the control of his will, constitutes all the strength which the body has; and if the Lord were to instill it through His Divine Truth into that body the person would possess the strength of Samson. But yet it is the Lord's good pleasure to impart strength to a person through faith springing from love in the things that belong to his spirit and that contribute to eternal life.

[7] From all this one may see what should be understood by the power of truth springing from good, the power meant by 'the horns' of both the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense. That this power is meant by 'the horns' is clear from places in the Word where 'horns' are mentioned, as in Ezekiel,

On that day I will make a horn grow up for the house of Israel. Ezekiel 29:21.

In Amos,

Have we not by our own strength taken horns for ourselves? Amos 6:13.

In the first Book of Samuel,

Jehovah will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His anointed. 1 Samuel 2:10.

In David,

Jehovah has exalted the horn of His people. Psalms 148:14.

In the same author,

All the horns of the wicked I will cut off; the horns of the righteous will be exalted. Psalms 75:10.

In Jeremiah,

The Lord has cut down in His very fierce anger 1 the whole horn of Israel. And He has exalted the horn of your foes. Lamentations 2:3, 17.

In Ezekiel,

You push with side and shoulder, and butt with your horns all the weak sheep, until you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:21.

In Zechariah,

I saw four horns. The angel said, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. The smiths have come to cast down the horns of the nations lifting up their horn against the land of Judah. Zechariah 1:18-21.

In Moses,

His horns are unicorn horns 2 . With these he will strike the peoples together to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:17.

In these places it is self-evident that power is meant by 'horns', and indeed power in both senses, that is to say, of truth directed against falsity and of falsity directed against truth; for the state of the Church is the subject in the internal sense of every one of these places.

[8] Something similar occurs in Amos,

On that day I will visit the altars of Bethel, and the horns of the altar will be cut away and fall to the ground. Amos 3:14.

'The altars of Bethel' and 'the horns of the altar' mean the evils and falsities destroying the Church's goodness and truth, regarding which it says that they 'will be cut away'.

[9] From all this one may see what should be understood by 'the horns' mentioned so frequently by Daniel, and by John in the Book of Revelation. Daniel describes the beast which had ten horns and also a horn speaking, Daniel 7:8, 11, 20; and he says that the horn was making war with the saints and prevailing, until the Ancient of Days 3 came, Daniel 7:11, 21-22, 24. He also speaks about the horns of the ram and the horns of the he-goat, which they used to make war against each other, Daniel 8:3-21. And John mentions that the dragon had ten horns, Revelation 12:3, as did the beast coming up out of the sea, Revelation 13:1, and also the scarlet beast, Revelation 17:12. In this verse it is also stated that the ten horns are ten kings; and the same words occur in Daniel 7:24. By 'kings' in the Word truths are meant, and in the contrary sense falsities, see 1672, 2015, 2069, 3009, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044, 5068, 6148.

[10] It is because 'horn' means truth in its power, or in the contrary sense falsity destroying truth, that speech is attributed to a horn in Revelation 9:13; Daniel 7:8; Psalms 22:21.

[11] The anointing of kings with oil from a horn, 1 Samuel 16:1, 13; 1 Kings 1:39, represented truth springing from good, in its power; for truths in their power are meant by 'horns', good by 'oil', and those who are guided by truths springing from good by 'kings'. For the meaning of 'oil' as good, see 886, 9780; and for that of 'kings' as those who are guided by truths springing from good, thus - in the abstract sense - as truths springing from good, 6148. So it is also that in Psalms 132:17 a horn is said to bud, because all spiritual budding is that of truth springing from good. Therefore also in former times they made [imitations of] budding horns.

All power belongs to good and is exercised through truth, or what amounts to the same thing, belongs to truth springing from good, see the places referred to in 10019.

Footnotes:

1. literally, in the fierceness of His anger

2. i.e. horns that are high and powerful, like the horn of a unicorn

3. The Latin means the Son of Man but the original Aramaic means the Ancient of Days, which Swedenborg has in another place where he quotes these verses.

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