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 9:6

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6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #261

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261. And the first voice which I heard. That this signifies revelation now concerning things to come is evident from the signification of voice, as denoting whatever proceeds from the Lord and is perceived by angels and men, in this case principally revelation concerning things to come that were to take place before the Last Judgment, to be attendant on it, and to follow it, because these things are treated of in what now follows. That the voice of Jehovah in the Word signifies the proceeding Divine, which is Divine truth, from which are all intelligence and wisdom, may be seen (Arcana Coelestia 219, 220, 375, 3563, 6971, 8813, 9926), and is also evident from the following passages. In David:

"The voice of Jehovah upon the waters. The voice of Jehovah with power, the voice of Jehovah with honour. The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars. The voice of Jehovah falleth as a flame of fire. The voice of Jehovah maketh the wilderness to tremble. The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to bring forth; but in his temple every one saith, Glory" (Psalms 29:3-9).

The subject here treated of is the Divine which proceeds from the Lord, and which in one expression is called the Divine truth; its effect, both with the good and with the evil, is described by those things that are there mentioned; it is therefore evident what is signified by the voice of Jehovah.

[2] In John:

"He who is the shepherd of the sheep, to him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice; a stranger will they not follow; for they know not the voice of strangers. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also must I bring, and they shall hear my voice. But ye are not of my sheep; for my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (10:2-5, 16, 26, 27).

By sheep in the Word are meant those who are in truths from good, thus who are in faith from charity; by the voice here mentioned is not meant voice, but the proceeding Divine, which is the Divine truth. This flows into those who are in the good of charity and gives them intelligence, and so far as they are in good it gives them wisdom; intelligence pertains to truth, and wisdom to truth from good.

[3] In Jeremiah:

"The maker of the earth, by his understanding he stretched out the heavens, at the voice which he giveth there is a multitude of waters in the heavens" (10:12, 13; 51:16).

In David:

"The voice of Jehovah upon the waters, Jehovah upon the great waters" (Psalms 29:3).

In the Apocalypse:

"And his voice as the sound of many waters" (1:15).

And again:

"I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters" (14:2).

The voice of Jehovah, and the voice from heaven is the proceeding Divine, or the Divine truth, from which are intelligence and wisdom; the reason why it is compared to the voice of many waters is that waters signify Divine truths in ultimates, as may be seen above (n. 71). In David:

Ye kingdoms of the earth, sing praises unto the Lord, who rideth upon the heaven of the heaven of old; behold, he will give in a voice, a voice of strength" (Psalms 68:32, 33).

In John:

"I say unto you, that the hour will come when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live" (5:25).

In Joel:

"Jehovah shall give his voice from Jerusalem, that the heavens and the earth may tremble" (3:16).

Again:

"Jehovah hath uttered his voice before his army; because innumerable is the host that executeth his word" (2:11).

That the Divine truth is here signified by the voice of Jehovah is clear; also in many other places.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.