The Bible

 

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.

The Bible

 

Genesis 9:1

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1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4729

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4729. 'And let us say, An evil wild animal has devoured him' means a lie invented out of a life of evil desires. This is clear from the meaning of 'a wild animal' as affection or else evil desire, dealt with in 45, 46, for in the genuine sense 'a wild animal' means that which is living, 774, 841, 908, and therefore 'an evil wild animal' here means a life of evil desires. The fact that a lie is meant is self-evident; and this lie is connected with what has come immediately before about them casting that Divine truth away among falsities - a lie invented out of a life of evil desires. For falsity arises from three different sources, the first being the teaching of the Church, the second the illusions of the senses, and the third the life of evil desires. Falsity arising from the teaching of the Church occupies solely the understanding part of a person's mind, for he has been convinced since early childhood that such falsity is the truth, confirmations coming in by and by to strengthen that conviction. But falsity arising from the illusions of the senses has less impact on the understanding part, for people who are under the influence of falsity arising from the illusions of the senses receive little insight from their understanding because their thinking is founded on base ideas and on sensory impressions. Falsity arising from a life of evil desires however springs from the will itself, or what amounts to the same, from the heart, for a person desires that which he wills from the heart. This is the worst kind of falsity because it clings and is not rooted out except by means of a new life received from the Lord.

[2] As is well known, man has two inner mental powers - the understanding and the will. That which the understanding takes in and absorbs does not therefore pass over into the will, but that which the will takes in and absorbs does pass over into the understanding; for what is in a person's will occupies his thought also. Consequently when his desires lead him to will what is evil he is also thinking about it and confirming it. And when thoughts of evil have become confirmations of it they are called falsities arising from a life of evil desires. These falsities are seen by that person as truths, and once he has confirmed those falsities, truths are then seen by him as falsities, for he has now blocked off the light that flows from the Lord through heaven. But if he has not confirmed those falsities, truths which have been previously absorbed by his understanding stand in the way and prevent those falsities from being confirmed.

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