The Bible

 

Exodus 19

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1 In the third month of the going·​·out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, on this day they came·​·into the wilderness of Sinai.

2 And they journeyed from Rephidim, and came·​·into the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped in·​·front·​·of the mountain.

3 And Moses went up to God, and Jehovah called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell to the sons of Israel,

4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I bore you on eagleswings, and brought you to Me.

5 And now, if obeying you shall obey My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be for Me a special possession more* than all peoples; for all the earth is Mine;

6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak to the sons of Israel.

7 And Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which Jehovah commanded him.

8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that Jehovah has spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people to Jehovah.

9 And Jehovah said to Moses, Behold I come to thee in the thick cloud, on·​·account·​·of which the people will hear when I speak with thee, and will also believe in thee to eternity; and Moses told the words of the people to Jehovah.

10 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go to the people, and sanctify them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their raiment.

11 And let them be prepared for the third day, for in the third day Jehovah will come·​·down to the eyes of all the people on Mount Sinai.

12 And thou shalt set·​·a·​·border to the people round·​·about, saying, Take·​·heed to yourselves, that you go not up into the mountain, or touch the extremity of it; everyone that touches the mountain, dying he shall·​·die;

13 a hand shall not touch it, for stoning he shall be stoned, or shooting he shall be shot; if a beast, if a man, he shall not live; when the jobel* is drawn out, they shall come·​·up into the mountain.

14 And Moses went·​·down from the mountain to the people, and sanctified the people, and they washed their raiment.

15 And he said to the people, Prepare for three days, approach not a woman.

16 And it was, on the third day, when it was morning, that there were voices* and lightnings, and a heavy cloud on the mountain, and the voice of a shophar* exceedingly firm, and all the people who were in the camp were·​·frightened.

17 And Moses made the people go·​·out from the camp to meet God; and they stood·​·forth in the lower part of the mountain.

18 And Mount Sinai smoked, all of it, because Jehovah came·​·down upon it in fire; and the smoke’thereof went·​·up as the smoke of a furnace, and all the mountain trembled* exceedingly.

19 And when the voice of the shophar was going, and waxing strong mightily, Moses spoke, and God answered him in a voice.

20 And Jehovah came·​·down on Mount Sinai, to the head of the mountain; and Jehovah called Moses to the head of the mountain, and Moses went·​·up.

21 And Jehovah said to Moses, Go·​·down, call· the people ·to·​·testify, lest they break·​·through to Jehovah to see, and many of them fall.

22 And the priests also, who approach Jehovah, shall sanctify themselves, lest Jehovah break·​·forth on them.

23 And Moses said to Jehovah, The people are· not ·able come·​·up to Mount Sinai; for Thou callest· us ·to·​·testify, saying, set·​·a·​·border on the mountain, and sanctify it.

24 And Jehovah said to him, Go, Go·​·down; and come·​·up, thou and Aaron with thee; and let not the priests and the people break·​·through to come·​·up to Jehovah, lest He break·​·forth against them.

25 And Moses went·​·down to the people, and talked with them.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8784

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8784. 'And Moses told the people's words to Jehovah' means correspondence and joining together. This is clear from the explanation above in 8778, where similar words occur.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8778

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8778. 'And Moses brought back the people's words to Jehovah' means correspondence and being joined together. This is clear from the meaning of 'bringing words back to Jehovah' as correspondence and consequently being joined together. For the subject is the covenant that is to be made with the people; and since covenants are made through agreement on both sides, something that resembles the making of a covenant takes place here. That is to say, Jehovah proposes and the people respond, at this point through Moses, who represents the truth from God when it has been joined to Divine Truth as it exists in heaven, 8760, which is intermediary. But the only way that the covenant is made with mankind is through being receptive of the influx of truth from the Divine, and through correspondence at that time; for when higher things flow into lower they are not received in any other way.

[2] What correspondence and receptivity through correspondence are becomes clear from what has been shown at the ends of quite a number of chapters regarding the correspondence of all things present in the human being with the things that exist in heaven. It has also been shown in those places that all joining of natural things to spiritual ones, and in general of lower things to higher ones, is accomplished through correspondence. Such correspondence does not exist unless the lower things are placed in subordinate positions and made subject to the higher ones; and when the lower have been made subject, the higher ones act on them altogether as a cause does on its effect. From all this one may see what reciprocity on man's side is when the Divine flows in, and what the consequent joining together is, which is described in the sense of the letter here by the method used to make covenants, which is that Jehovah speaks to the people through a messenger, and the messenger brings their reply back to Jehovah. For this is how a person can grasp the concept of being joined to the Divine.

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