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.

Commentary

 

Resurrection, the first

  

'The first resurrection,' mentioned in Revelation 20:5, 6, does not mean a first resurrection, but the essence and primary part of resurrection, which is salvation and eternal life. There is only one resurrection to life. A second does not happen, and is not mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

(References: Apocalypse Explained 6; Apocalypse Revealed 851; Revelation 20:5-6)

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #592

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592. CHAPTER 10.

1. AND I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven encompassed with a cloud and the rainbow over his head, and his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.

2. And he had in his hand a little book open, and he set his right foot upon the sea, and the left upon the earth.

3. And he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth. And when he cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.

4. And when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; and I heard a voice out of heaven, saying unto me, Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

5. And the angel whom I saw standing upon the sea and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven.

6. And sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages, who created heaven, and the things that are therein, and the earth, and the things that are therein, and the sea and the things that are therein, that there should be time no longer.

7. But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God shall be consummated, as he hath declared in good tidings to his servants the prophets.

8. And the voice which I heard out of heaven, spake unto me again, and said, Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.

9. And I went unto the angel and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.

10. And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my belly was made bitter.

11. And he said to me, Thou must prophesy again over peoples, and nations, and tongues, and many kings.

EXPLANATION.

Verse 1. AND I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven, encompassed with a cloud and the rainbow upon his head and his face as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire.- "And I saw another strong angel coming down out of heaven," signifies the Lord as to the Word, in this case, as to its ultimate sense, which is called the sense of the letter; "encompassed with a cloud," signifies the ultimate of the Word; "and a rainbow over his head," signifies the interior things of the Word; "and his face as the sun," signifies the Divine Love of the Lord, from which is all Divine Truth which is the Word in heaven and in the church; "and his feet as pillars of fire," signifies Divine Truth, or the Word in ultimates, sustaining interior things therein, also full of the good of love.

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