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

 

Arcana Coelestia #1096

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1096. That 'blessed be Jehovah, [God] of Shem' means every good imparted to those who worship the Lord from things that are internal becomes clear from the meaning of 'blessed'. Blessing entails every good - celestial and spiritual, and natural as well. All these are meant in the internal sense by blessing, while in the external sense it means all worldly, bodily, and earthly good. But if the latter are to be a blessing, it is vital that they derive from internal blessing, for this alone is real blessing since it is eternal and is joined with all happiness. It is the Essential Being (Esse) of all blessings. For what has Being apart from that which is eternal? Everything else that has being is non-eternal. In early times it was customary to say 'Blessed be Jehovah', by which people meant that every blessing, that is, all good, flows from Him. It was also a way of expressing thanks for the Lord's blessing or having blessed them, as in David, Psalms 28:6; 71:21; 41:13; 66:20; 68:19, 35; 72:18-19; 89:52; 119:12; 124:6; 135:21; 144:1, and in other places besides these.

[2] The expression 'blessed be Jehovah God' is used because Shem, or the internal Church, is the subject. That Church is called an internal Church by virtue of charity. It is in charity that the Lord is present, Who is therefore called 'Jehovah God' here. But He is not called this in the external Church, for although the Lord is present there, that presence is not the same as with the member of the internal Church. The member of the external Church still believes that he himself is the source of the good deeds of charity which he performs. Consequently when the subject is the member of the external Church the Lord is called God, as He is in the next verse in reference to Japheth - 'God enlarge Japheth'. That every good imparted to those who worship the Lord from things that are internal is meant becomes clear also from the order of things. The order is this: From the Lord comes everything celestial, from the celestial comes everything spiritual, from the spiritual comes everything natural. Such is the order by which all things are brought into being, and therefore is the order belonging to influx.

[3] That which is celestial is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour. Where there is no love, the chain is broken and the Lord not present For He flows in solely by way of that which is celestial, that is, by way of love. When that which is celestial does not exist, that which is spiritual cannot either, for everything spiritual comes from the Lord by way of the celestial. That which is spiritual is faith. Consequently faith does not exist unless it comes from the Lord by way of charity or love. And the same applies to the natural. It is according to this same order that all goods flow in. From this it follows that every good is imparted to those who worship the Lord from things that are internal, that is, from charity. But to those who do not do so from charity no good is imparted, but only an imitation of good which is in itself evil, as the delight accompanying hatred and adultery, which regarded in itself is an absolutely foul delight, into which it is also converted in the next life.

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