The Bible

 

John 1

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1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God*.

2 This* was in the beginning with God.

3 All things were·​·made by Him, and without Him was· not one thing ·made that was·​·made.

4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

5 And the Light appears in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.

6 There was a man sent from God; his name was John.

7 He came for testimony, that he might testify concerning the Light, that all might believe through him.

8 He was not that Light, but was sent that he might testify concerning the Light.

9 He was the true Light, which enlightens every man who comes into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was·​·made by Him, and the world knew Him not.

11 He came to His·​·own, and His·​·own took· Him not ·in.*

12 But as·​·many·​·as received Him, to them He gave authority to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name,

13 who were·​·born, not of bloods*, nor of the will of flesh, nor of the will of a man, but of God.

14 And the Word was·​·made flesh, and dwelt·​·in·​·a·​·tabernacle among us, and we observed His glory, the glory as of the only·​·begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

15 John testified about Him, and cried·​·out, saying, This was He of whom I said, He who comes after me was before me, because He was prior·​·to me.

16 And of His fullness have we all received, and grace for grace,

17 for the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth was·​·made by Jesus Christ.

18 No·​·one has ever seen God; the only·​·begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has brought· Him ·forth·​·to·​·view.

19 And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent from Jerusalem priests and Levites that they might ask him, Who art thou?

20 And he professed, and denied not, and professed, I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elijah? And he says, I am not. Art thou the Prophet*? And he answered, No.

22 Then they said to him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to those who sent us; what sayest thou concerning thyself?

23 He declared, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make·​·straight the way of the Lord*, even·​·as Isaiah the prophet said.

24 And they who were sent were from the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said to him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou art not the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize in water, but in·​·the·​·midst of·​·you stands One whom you know not.

27 He it is who, coming behind me, was in·​·front·​·of me, of whom I am not worthy that I should loose the strap of His shoe.

28 These·​·things were·​·done in Bethabara, across the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 On·​·the·​·morrow John looks·​·at Jesus coming to him and says, See, the Lamb of God who takes·​·away the sin of the world!

30 He it is about whom I said, Behind me comes a Man who was in·​·front·​·of me, for He was prior·​·to me.

31 And·​·I knew Him not; but that He should be made·​·manifest to Israel, on·​·account·​·of this I have come baptizing with water.

32 And John testified, saying, I observed the Spirit descending as a dove out·​·of heaven, and it remained upon Him.

33 And·​·I knew Him not, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, On whomever thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining upon Him, He it is who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

34 And·​·I have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.

35 Again on·​·the·​·morrow, John stood, and two of his disciples.

36 And looking·​·at Jesus walking, he says, See, the Lamb of God!

37 And the two disciples heard him speaking, and they followed Jesus.

38 And Jesus, turning and observing them following, says to them, What do you seek? And they said to Him, Rabbi (which is to say, being translated, Teacher), where stayest Thou?

39 He says to them, Come and see. They came and saw where He stayed, and they stayed with Him that day, and it was about the tenth hour.

40 One of the two who heard from John and followed Him was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.

41 he first finds his·​·own brother Simon and says to him, We have found the Messiah (which is, being translated, the Christ)*.

42 And he led him to Jesus, and Jesus, looking·​·at him, said, Thou art Simon the son of Jonah. Thou shalt be called Kephas (which is, being·​·translated, Peter)*.

43 On·​·the·​·morrow, Jesus willed to go·​·out into Galilee, and He finds Philip, and says to him, Follow Me.

44 And Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter.

45 Philip finds Nathanael and says to him, We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law, and also the Prophets, wrote, Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.

46 And Nathanael said to him, Can anything good be from Nazareth? Philip says to him, Come and see.

47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and says about him, See, truly an Israelite in whom is no deceit.

48 Nathanael says to Him, Whence knowest Thou me? Jesus answered and said to him, Before Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig·​·tree, I saw thee.

49 Nathanael answered and says to Him, Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the King of Israel!

50 Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to thee, I saw thee underneath the fig·​·tree, believest thou? Thou shalt see greater things than these.

51 And He says to him, Amen, Amen, I say to you, Henceforth you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.


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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10122

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10122. 'And a young bull of sin [offering] you shall offer daily at propitiations' means the continuous removal of evils and consequently of falsities in the natural man by means of the good of innocence from the Lord. This is clear from the meaning of 'a young bull' as the good of innocence in the natural man, dealt with in 9391, 9990; from the meaning of 'sin' as purification from evils and consequently falsities (by 'sin' a sacrifice for sin should be understood, 10039, and 'a sin sacrifice' means purification from evils and falsities, 9938, 9990, 10022, 10053), the reason for saying 'the removal' of evils and consequently of falsities being that the evils and falsities with a person are not cast out, only removed or moved back, see the places referred to in 10057; from the meaning of 'daily' or each day as continuously; and from the meaning of 'propitiations' as reception of the good of love and truth of faith from the Lord after the removal of evils and consequently of falsities, dealt with in 9506.

[2] The words 'removal of evils and consequently of falsities' are used because all falsities exist as a result of evil; therefore to the extent that evil is removed falsities are removed. The situation is that all things in heaven have connection with good and consequently with truth, and all things in hell with evil and consequently with falsity. The same is so in people. All the things with a person that come from heaven have connection with good and truth, and all those that come from hell have connection with evil and falsity. Or what amounts to the same thing, all things with a person which originate in the Lord have connection with good and truth, but all that originate in the person himself have connection with evil and falsity. Since good and truth or falsity and evil are what everything throughout creation has connection with, and the human being is the place where they are received, a person has two mental powers to receive them. One is called the will and the other the understanding, the will being what receives good or evil, and the understanding what receives truth or falsity. The will formed by the Lord, also called the new will, receives good, while the understanding formed by the Lord, also called the new understanding, receives truth. But the will properly a person's own, also called the old will, receives evil, and the understanding properly a person's own, also called the old understanding, receives falsity. A person possesses the old will and understanding through being born from his parents, but he comes to have the new will and understanding through being born from the Lord, which happens when he is being regenerated. For when being regenerated a person is conceived anew and is born anew.

[3] The human being has been created in such a way that will and understanding may make one, so that these two together may constitute a whole person. For a person has been given an understanding to comprehend truth, yet to the end that truth may be implanted in his will and become good. And to the extent that it is integrated into the will it has a place in that person; for the will is the inmost part of a person and is the inner being of his life, whereas the understanding is more external and derives its being from the will. For what a person wills he loves, and what he loves gives him a feeling of delight and is therefore called good by him. The understanding lends support to and strengthens it by means of reasons which it calls truths. So it is that will and understanding in reality make one. The situation may indeed seem to be other than this, as when a person understands the truth and yet wills what is evil; even so, when he is left alone to think for himself, what he understands is in full agreement with what he wills, that is, what he loves.

[4] The fact that a person who wills what is evil can nevertheless speak what is true and also do what is good is due to hypocrisy, which uses truth and good as means to its own ends. If those means are taken away from such a person and he is left in freedom, he plunges, under the influence of his unrestrained will, into evils, and uses his power of understanding to defend them. This is above all evident from the same kind of people in the next life. There everyone comes into a state [of life] akin to that of his will, and then people in whom a new will has not been formed by the Lord plunge into evils of every kind and think such things as endorse evils, even though what they had spoken and what they had done in the world had been completely different from this. For it is a law of Divine order that will and understanding should form a mind at unity, thus a person at unity, consequently that the entire person should be either in heaven or in hell and not hanging between the two, that is, with his eye looking towards the things of heaven and his heart set on those of hell. By heart is meant the will, and by eye the understanding.

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