The Bible

 

Genesis 3

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1 Aga madu oli kavalam kõigist loomadest väljal, kelle Issand Jumal oli teinud, ja ta ütles naisele: 'Kas Jumal on tõesti öelnud, et te ei tohi süüa mitte ühestki rohuaia puust?'

2 Ja naine vastas maole: 'Me sööme küll rohuaia puude vilja,

3 aga selle puu viljast, mis on keset aeda, on Jumal öelnud: Te ei tohi sellest süüa ega selle külge puutuda, et te ei sureks!'

4 Ja madu ütles naisele: 'Te ei sure, kindlasti mitte,

5 aga Jumal teab, et päeval, mil te sellest sööte, lähevad teie silmad lahti ja te saate Jumala sarnaseks, tundes head ja kurja.'

6 Ja naine nägi, et puust oli hea süüa, ja see tegi ta silmadele himu, ja et puu oli ihaldusväärne, sest see pidi targaks tegema. Siis ta võttis selle viljast ja sõi ning andis ka oma mehele, ja tema sõi.

7 Siis nende mõlema silmad läksid lahti ja nad tundsid endid alasti olevat, ja nad õmblesid viigilehti kokku ning tegid enestele põlled.

8 Ja nad kuulsid Issanda Jumala häält, kes rohuaias sinna ja tänna käis, kui päev viluks läks, ja Aadam ja tema naine peitsid endid Issanda Jumala palge eest rohuaia puude keskele.

9 Ja Issand Jumal hüüdis Aadamat ning ütles temale: 'Kus sa oled?'

10 Ja tema vastas: 'Ma kuulsin su häält rohuaias ja kartsin, sest ma olen alasti. Sellepärast ma peitsin enese ära.'

11 Siis ta küsis: 'Kes on sulle teada andnud, et sa alasti oled? Või oled sa söönud puust, millest ma sind keelasin söömast?'

12 Ja Aadam vastas: 'Naine, kelle sa mulle kaasaks andsid, tema andis mulle puust ja ma sõin.'

13 Ja Issand Jumal küsis naiselt: 'Miks sa seda tegid?' Ja naine vastas: 'Madu pettis mind, ja ma sõin.'

14 Siis Issand Jumal ütles maole: 'Et sa seda tegid, siis ole sa neetud kõigi koduloomade ja kõigi metsloomade seas! Sa pead roomama oma kõhu peal ja põrmu sööma kogu eluaja!

15 Ja ma tõstan vihavaenu sinu ja naise vahele, sinu seemne ja tema seemne vahele, kes purustab su pea, aga kelle kanda sa salvad.'

16 Naisele ta ütles: 'Sinule ma saadan väga palju valu, kui sa lapseootel oled: sa pead valuga lapsi ilmale tooma! Sa himustad küll oma meest, aga tema valitseb su üle.'

17 Aga Aadamale ta ütles: 'Et sa kuulasid oma naise sõna ja sõid puust, millest mina olin sind keelanud, öeldes, et sa ei tohi sellest süüa, siis olgu maapind neetud sinu üleastumise pärast! Vaevaga pead sa sellest sööma kogu eluaja!

18 Ta peab sulle kasvatama kibuvitsu ja ohakaid, ja põllutaimed olgu sulle toiduks!

19 Oma palge higis pead sa leiba sööma, kuni sa jälle mullaks saad, sest sellest sa oled võetud! Tõesti, sa oled põrm ja pead jälle põrmuks saama!'

20 Ja Aadam pani oma naisele nimeks Eeva, sest ta sai kõigi elavate emaks.

21 Ja Issand Jumal tegi Aadamale ja ta naisele nahkriided ning pani neile selga.

22 Ja Issand Jumal ütles: 'Vaata, inimene on saanud nagu üheks meie hulgast, tundes head ja kurja. Aga nüüd, et ta oma kätt ei sirutaks ega võtaks ka elupuust ega sööks ega elaks igavesti!'

23 Siis saatis Issand Jumal tema Eedeni rohuaiast välja, et ta hariks maad, millest ta oli võetud.

24 Ja ta ajas Aadama välja ja pani hommikupoole Eedeni rohuaeda keerubid ja tuleleegina sähviva mõõga, et need valvaksid elupuu teed.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christianity #470

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470. We Are Not Life, but We Are Vessels for Receiving Life from God

There is a generally held belief that there is life in us, that it belongs to us, and that therefore we are not only vessels for receiving life but we ourselves are life. This common belief derives from the way things appear to be, because we are alive, that is, we sense, think, speak, and act completely as if we had autonomy. Therefore the statement that we are not life, but are vessels for receiving life, cannot help but seem like something completely unheard of before, or like a paradox that goes against our sense-oriented thinking because it goes against the way things appear to be. I have blamed this misleading belief on the way things appear to be - the belief that we are in fact life, and therefore that life has been created as part of us and grafted onto us from birth. But the real reason for this misleading belief (which is based on the way things appear to be) is that many people today are earthly, and few are spiritual. The earthly self makes judgments based on appearances and resulting false impressions, when in fact these run directly counter to the truth, which is that we are not life but are vessels for receiving life.

[2] The fact that we are not life but are vessels for receiving life from God is demonstrated by the following clear points of evidence: All things that have been created are intrinsically finite. Human beings, because they are finite, could only have been created from finite things. Therefore in the Book of Creation it says that Adam was made from the ground and its dust [Genesis 2:7; 3:19]. In fact, he was named for the ground, since "Adam" means the soil of the earth. And every human being actually consists of nothing other than types of materials that are in the earth or are in the atmosphere from the earth. The elements that are in the atmosphere from the earth we absorb through our lungs and through the pores all over our bodies; we absorb the denser substances through foods made up of earthly elements.

[3] As for the human spirit, however, that too has been created from things that are finite. What is the human spirit but a vessel for the life that the mind possesses? The finite things of which it is made are spiritual substances. These substances exist in the spiritual world, but they have also been incorporated into our earth in a hidden way. If these spiritual substances were not present within material substances, seeds would not be loaded with hidden instructions and would not miraculously develop, without deviation, from the first shoot all the way to the production of fruit and new seeds. Worms would not be generated from emanations from the ground and from the gases exuded by plants with which the atmosphere is saturated.

[4] It is unreasonable to think that the Infinite could create anything other than what is finite; and that human beings, because they are finite, are anything other than forms that the Infinite is able to bring to life from the life he has within himself. Indeed, this is what is meant by the following: "Jehovah God formed the human being, the dust from the earth, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life" (Genesis 2:7). Because God is infinite, he is life in itself. This life is not something he can create and then transfer into a human being - that would make the human being God. The serpent or Devil, and from him, Eve and Adam, had the insane thought that this had actually happened. This is why the serpent said, "On the day you eat some of the fruit of this tree, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God" (Genesis 3:5).

[5] At the end of the earliest church, when it came to its final close, people latched onto the dreadful conviction that God had transfused and transferred himself into human beings. I know so because I have heard it from their own mouths. On account of their horrendous belief that they are gods, they remain profoundly hidden in an underground chamber. No one can get near it without collapsing as a result of inner dizziness. (The fact that Adam and his wife mean and describe the earliest church was made known under the previous heading [466].)

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