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 Revealed #507

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507. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and be glad. (11:10) This symbolizes the delight of the heart and soul's affection on that account among those people in the church who were caught up in faith alone as regards their doctrine and life.

Those who dwell on the earth mean people in the church, here people in the church where the faith is faith alone. The earth symbolizes the church in which they are (no. 285). To rejoice and be glad symbolizes a delight of the heart and soul's affection. A delight of the heart's affection is a delight of the will, and a delight of the soul's affection is a delight of the intellect, for in the Word the heart and soul mean a person's will and intellect. Thus the people are said to rejoice and be glad, even though joy and gladness seem to be the same thing. Present in the two, however, is a marriage of the will and intellect, which is also a marriage of goodness and truth, a marriage that exists in each and every particular of the Word, as we showed in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem Regarding the Sacred Scripture, nos. 80-90.

That is why both terms, to rejoice and be glad, or joy and gladness, are frequently mentioned elsewhere in the Word, as in the following places:

Lo, joy and gladness, the slaying of oxen... (Isaiah 22:13)

They shall obtain joy and gladness; sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10; 51:11)

...cut off has been... joy and gladness from the house of our God. (Joel 1:16)

(Caused to cease will be) the sound of joy and the sound of gladness... (Jeremiah 7:34, cf. 25:10)

...the fast of the tenth shall be for joy and gladness... (Zechariah 8:19)

Be glad in Jerusalem, rejoice in her... (Isaiah 66:10)

Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom... (Lamentations 4:21)

The heavens shall rejoice; be glad you lands. (Psalms 96:11)

You will make me hear joy and gladness... (Psalms 51:8)

Joy and gladness will be found in (Zion).... (Isaiah 51:3)

You will have gladness... many will rejoice at his birth. (Luke 1:14)

I will cause to cease... the sound of joy and the sound of gladness, the sound of the bridegroom and the sound of the bride. (Jeremiah 7:34; 16:9, cf. 25:10; 33:10-11)

Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad... (Psalms 40:16; 70:4)

Let the righteous be glad..., and let them rejoice in their gladness. (Psalms 68:3)

Be glad in Jerusalem...; rejoice for joy with her... (Isaiah 66:10)

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.