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Lamentatsioonid 4

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1 Kuidas küll on tuhmunud kuld, puhas kuld kuidas teiseks saanud! Pühamu kivid on paisatud kõigile tänavanurkadele.

2 Kallid Siioni lapsed, puhtaima kullaga võrdsed, kuidas on nad nüüd saanud saviastjate sarnaseks, potisseppade käsitööks!

3 Ðaakalidki ulatavad nisa, et imetada oma poegi, aga mu rahva tütar on julm, otsekui jaanalind kõrbes.

4 Imiku keel jääb kinni suulakke janu pärast, lapsed paluvad leiba, aga pole, kes neile jagaks.

5 Kes enne sõid maiustusi, närbuvad tänavail; keda hellitati purpuri peal, lebavad sõnnikuhunnikul.

6 Mu rahva tütre süü on suurem kui patt Soodomas, mis paisati segi silmapilkselt, kätega aitamata.

7 Tema vürstid olid puhtamad lumest, valgemad piimast, ihult korallidest verevamad, kujult otsekui safiirid.

8 Nüüd on nad näost mustemad kui nõgi, neid ei tunta tänavail ära; nende nahk on kontidel kortsunud, kuivanud nagu puu.

9 Õnnelikumad olid need, kes mõõgaga maha löödi, kui need, kes surid nälga, kes põllusaagi puudumisel kidusid nagu teibasse aetud.

10 Kaastundlike naiste käed keetsid oma lapsi: need olid neile roaks mu rahva tütre hävingus.

11 Issand valas välja oma viha, tegi teoks oma tulise raevu ja süütas Siionis tule, mis põletas selle alusmüüridki.

12 Ei oleks uskunud maa kuningad ja kõik maailma elanikud, et vihamees ja vaenlane tuleb sisse Jeruusalemma väravaist.

13 See on sündinud tema prohvetite pattude, tema preestrite süü pärast; nende pärast, kes valasid seal õigete verd.

14 Nad vaarusid tänavail nagu pimedad, verega roojastatud, nõnda et nende riideid ei võinud puudutada.

15 'Hoidke eest! Roojane!' hüüti nende kohta. 'Hoidke eest, hoidke eest, ärge puudutage!' Nad vaarusid ka põgenedes, rahvaste seas öeldi: 'Nad ei tohi jääda siia kauemaks!'

16 Issanda pale hajutas nad, ta ei vaata enam nende peale. Preestritest ei peetud lugu, vanadele ei antud armu.

17 Isegi veel siis, väsinud silmadega, me ootasime asjatult endile abi; oma vahitornidest piilusime rahva poole, kes meid ei päästnud.

18 Meie samme luurati, me ei võinud käia oma turgudel; meie lõpp ligines, meie päevad said täis - tõesti, meie lõpp tuli!

19 Meie jälitajad olid kiiremad kui kotkas taeva all; nad ajasid meid taga mägedel, varitsesid meid kõrbes.

20 Issanda võitu, kes oli meile eluõhuks, püüti kinni nende aukudes, tema, kellest me ütlesime: 'Tema varjus me elame paganate seas!'

21 Rõõmutse ja ole rõõmus, Edomi tütar, kes elad Uusimaal! Sinulegi tuleb karikas: sa jääd joobnuks ja kisud enese paljaks.

22 Sinu süü on lõppenud, Siioni tütar, enam ta ei vii sind vangi. Aga ta karistab su süüd, Edomi tütar, ta paljastab su patud.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #902

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902. 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations. This symbolically means that the Word in its literal sense contains all of the doctrines of the New Church.

The wall of the city symbolizes the Word in its literal sense (no. 898), and its twelve foundations symbolize all of the doctrines of the church - its foundations symbolizing doctrines, and the number twelve all. The church, moreover, is founded on doctrine, for it teaches how a person is to believe and live, and its doctrine is to be drawn only from the Word. That it is to be drawn from the Word's literal sense may be seen in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 50-61.

Since the twelve foundations of the wall of the city New Jerusalem symbolize all of the church's doctrine, and the church is a church by virtue of its doctrine, therefore its foundations are described in more detail in verses 19 and 20 below.

The foundations of the earth are mentioned a number of times in the Word, and they do not mean the foundations of the earth, but the foundations of the church, inasmuch as the earth symbolizes the church (no. 285). And the foundations of the church are only ones that come from the Word and are called doctrines. For it is the Word itself that provides a foundation for the church.

[2] Doctrines drawn from the Word are symbolized by foundations also in the following passages:

Have you not understood the foundations of the earth? (Isaiah 40:21)

I will put My words in your mouth... to plant the heavens and found the earth... (Isaiah 51:16)

They do not acknowledge, they do not understand, they walk in darkness, all the foundations of the earth shake. (Psalms 82:5)

...the Word of Jehovah... who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundations of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him. (Zechariah 12:1)

Jehovah... kindled a fire in Zion, which has devoured its foundations. (Lamentations 4:11)

The impious... shoot in darkness the upright in heart, because the foundations are being destroyed... (Psalms 11:2-3)

Hear, O mountains, Jehovah's quarrel, you strong foundations of the earth; for Jehovah has a quarrel with His people... (Micah 6:2)

...the floodgates on high are open, and the foundations of the earth are shaken. The earth is violently broken, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken... (Isaiah 24:18-20)

And so on elsewhere, as in Isaiah 14:32; 48:13; 51:13; Psalms 24:2; 102:25; 104:5-6; 2 Samuel 22:8, 16.

Whoever does not think that the earth symbolizes the church cannot help but think only naturally, even materially, when he reads in these places about the foundations of the earth. So it would be also if he were not to think of the city Jerusalem here as symbolizing the church when he reads about its wall, gates, foundations, streets, dimensions, and more, which are described in this chapter as features of a city, when in fact they are features of the church and so must be interpreted not materially, but spiritually.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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