The Bible

 

Genesis 1

Study

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first Day.

6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The Bible

 

創世記 1

Study

1 起初創造

2 是空虛混沌,淵面黑暗的靈運行在水面上。

3 :要有,就有了

4 的,就把分開了。

5 為晝,稱為夜。有晚上,有早晨,這是頭日。

6 :諸水之間要有空氣,將水分為上下。

7 就造出空氣,將空氣以的水、空氣以上的水分開了。事就這樣成了。

8 空氣。有晚上,有早晨,是第二日。

9 的水要聚在處,使旱地露出來。事就這樣成了。

10 稱旱,稱水的聚處為著是的。

11 要發生青和結種子的菜蔬,並結果子的樹木,各從其類,果子都包著核。事就這樣成了。

12 於是發生了青和結種子的菜蔬,各從其類;並結果子的樹木,各從其類;果子都包著核。著是的。

13 晚上,有早晨,是第三日。

14 上要有體,可以分晝夜,作記號,定節令、日子、年歲,

15 並要發天空,普照在上。事就這樣成了。

16 於是造了兩個的管晝,小的管夜,又造眾

17 就把這些光擺列在天空,普照在上,

18 管理晝夜,分別明著是的。

19 晚上,有早晨,是第四日。

20 要多多滋生有生命的物;要有雀地面以上,天空之中。

21 就造出魚和水中所滋生各樣有生命的動物,各從其類;又造出各樣飛,各從其類。著是的。

22 就賜福給這一切,說:滋生繁多,充滿中的水;雀也要多生在上。

23 晚上,有早晨,是第五日。

24 要生出活物來,各從其類;牲畜、昆蟲、上的野獸,各從其類。事就這樣成了。

25 於是造出野獸,各從其類;牲畜,各從其類;上一切昆蟲,各從其類。著是的。

26 我們要照著我們的形像、按著我們的樣式造人,使他們管理裡的魚、空中的上的牲畜,和全,並上所爬的一切昆蟲。

27 就照著自己的形像造人,乃是照著他的形像造男造

28 就賜福給他們,又對他們:要生養眾多,遍滿地面,治理這,也要管理裡的魚、空中的,和上各樣行動的活物。

29 :看哪,我將遍上一切結種子的菜蔬和一切上所結有核的果子全賜你們作食物。

30 至於上的走獸和空中的飛,並各樣爬在上有生命的物,我將青賜給他們作食物。事就這樣成了。

31 著一切所造的都甚。有晚上,有早晨,是第六日。

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3235

Study this Passage

  
/ 10837  
  

3235. 'Abraham took another wife' means a further state which the Lord, whom Abraham represents, passed through - for 'Abraham and Sarah' represented the Lord as regards the Divine Celestial, 'Abraham and Keturah' the Lord as regards the Divine Spiritual. This is clear from what has been stated and shown so far about Abraham and his wife Sarah, and from what is recorded here about Abraham and Keturah. But as it is said that Abraham here represents a further state which the Lord passed through, and that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as regards the Divine Celestial, whereas Abraham and Keturah did so as regards the Divine Spiritual, one needs to know what is meant by the Divine Celestial and by the Divine Spiritual. The Divine Celestial and the Divine Spiritual have to do with those people who receive the Lord's Divine, for the Lord is seen by everyone according to the character of the recipient, as becomes clear from what has been stated in 1838, 1861, and is quite evident from the fact that the Lord appears to celestial people in one way but to spiritual in another. For He appears as the sun to those who are celestial, but as the moon to those who are spiritual, 1529-1531, 1838. The Lord appears to celestial people as the sun because in them celestial love, which is love to the Lord, is present, but to spiritual people as the moon because in these spiritual love, which is charity towards the neighbour, is present. The difference is like that between the light of the sun during the daytime and the light of the moon at night, and also between the warmth of both which causes things in the ground to grow. These are what were meant in Genesis 1 by the words,

And God made the two great Lights, the greater Light to have dominion over the day, and the lesser Light to have dominion over the night. Genesis 1:16.

[2] The Lord's kingdom is in general celestial and spiritual, that is, it consists of those who are celestial and of those who are spiritual. And because the Lord's Divine appears to those who are celestial as being celestial, but to those who are spiritual as being spiritual, it is therefore said that Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord as regards the Divine Celestial, but Abraham and Keturah as regards the Divine Spiritual. But as scarcely anyone knows what the celestial is or what the spiritual, and who they are who are celestial or spiritual, please see what has been stated and shown about them already in the following places:

What the celestial is and what the spiritual, 1155, 1577, 1824, 2048, 2184, 2227, 2507.

Who celestial people are and who spiritual, 2088, 2669, 2708, 2715.

The celestial man is a likeness of the Lord and does good from love, whereas the spiritual man is an image of the Lord and does it from faith, 50-52, 1013.

Those who are celestial perceive truth from good and never indulge in reasoning about it, 202, 337, 607, 895, 1121, 2715.

With the celestial man good is implanted in the will part of his mind, but with the spiritual man in the understanding part, within which, in the case of those who are spiritual, a new will is created, 863, 875, 895, 897, 927, 1023, 1043, 1044, 2256.

From good itself those who are celestial see things without limit, but those who are spiritual, because they reason whether a thing is so, cannot reach even the furthest limit to which the light that the celestial have spreads, 2718.

Compared with those who are celestial those who are spiritual dwell in obscurity, 1043, 2708, 2715.

The Lord came into the world to save those who are spiritual, 2661, 2716, 2833, 2834.

  
/ 10837  
  

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