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 #8191

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8191. Verses 19-22 And the angel of God travelled on, marching before the camp of Israel; and he went behind them. And the pillar of cloud travelled from before them and stood behind them. And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel; and it was cloud and darkness [for the former], and it lit up the night [for the latter]. And the latter did not come near the former the whole night. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Jehovah caused the sea to go away by a strong east wind the whole night, and made the sea into dry ground; and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel came into the middle of the sea on dry ground; and the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left.

'And the angel of God travelled on' means rearrangement by Divine Truth. 'Marching before the camp of Israel' means which involved the Church's truths and forms of good. 'And he went behind them' means protection to prevent the inflow of the falsity of evil into the will. 'And the pillar of cloud travelled from before them and stood behind them' means the Lord's presence protecting things of the will as it had previously protected those of the understanding. 'And it came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel' means that it came between the falsities of evil on the one side and the truths of good on the other. 'And it was cloud and darkness [for the former]' means that the falsity arising from evil on the one side was intensified. 'And it lit up the night [for the latter]' means that the truth springing from good on the other side was lightened. 'And the latter did not come near the former' means that as a result no communication took place. 'The whole night' means in the state of obscurity. 'And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea' means the exercising of power by God's truth over hell. 'And Jehovah caused the sea to go away by a strong east wind' means the agent through which falsity was dispersed. 'The whole night' means in the state of obscurity. 'And made the sea into dry ground' means the dispersing of falsity. 'And the waters were divided' means separation from truths, and removal. 'And the children of Israel came into the middle of the sea on dry ground' means the entrance into hell by those who belonged to the spiritual Church and their passage through it in safety and without falsity flowing in. 'And the waters were a wall for them on their right and on their left' means that they were held back from falsities on every side.

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