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Genesis 1

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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.

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創世記 1

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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。

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Arcana Coelestia #59

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59. The reason why the “vegetable and the green of the herb” only are here described as food for the natural man, is this. In the course of regeneration, when man is being made spiritual, he is continually engaged in combat, on which account the church of the Lord is called “militant;” for before regeneration cupidities have the dominion, because the whole man is composed of mere cupidities and the falsities thence derived. During regeneration these cupidities and falsities cannot be instantaneously abolished, for this would be to destroy the whole man, such being the only life which he has acquired; and therefore evil spirits are suffered to continue with him for a long time, that they may excite his cupidities, and that these may thus be loosened, in innumerable ways, even to such a degree that they can be inclined by the Lord to good, and the man be thus reformed. In the time of combat, the evil spirits, who bear the utmost hatred against all that is good and true, that is, against whatever is of love and faith toward the Lord-which things alone are good and true, because they have eternal life in them-leave the man nothing else for food but what is compared to the vegetable and the green of the herb; nevertheless the Lord gives him also a food which is compared to the herb bearing seed, and to the tree in which is fruit, which are states of tranquillity and peace, with their joys and delights; and this food the Lord gives the man at intervals.

[2] Unless the Lord defended man every moment, yea, even the smallest part of every moment, he would instantly perish, in consequence of the indescribably intense and mortal hatred which prevails in the world of spirits against the things relating to love and faith toward the Lord. The certainty of this fact I can affirm, having been now for some years (notwithstanding my remaining in the body) associated with spirits in the other life, even with the worst of them, and I have sometimes been surrounded by thousands, to whom it was permitted to spit forth their venom, and infest me by all possible methods, yet without their being able to hurt a single hair of my head, so secure was I under the Lord’s protection. From so many years’ experience I have been thoroughly instructed concerning the world of spirits and its nature, as well as concerning the combat which those being regenerated must needs endure, in order to attain the happiness of eternal life. But as no one can be so well instructed in such subjects by a general description as to believe them with an undoubting faith, the particulars of the Lord’s Divine mercy will be related in the following pages.

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