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.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #22

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22. Grace be unto you and peace. That this signifies the delight of truth and of good, is evident from the signification of grace, as being the delight of truth, of which more will be said in what follows; and from the signification of peace, as being the delight of the good of innocence and love (respecting which see the work, Heaven and Hell, where the State of Peace in heaven is treated of, n. 284-290). The reason why grace denotes the delight of truth, is because there are two things that go forth from the Lord, united in their origin, but divided in those who receive them. For there are some who receive Divine truth more than Divine good, and some who receive Divine good more than Divine truth. Those who receive Divine truth more than Divine good, are in the spiritual kingdom of the Lord, and are therefore called spiritual; but those who receive Divine good more than Divine truth, are in the celestial kingdom of the Lord, and are therefore called celestial. (Respecting those two kingdoms in heaven and the church, see the work, Heaven and Hell 20-28.) To those who are in the spiritual kingdom it is granted by the Lord to be in the affection of truth for the sake of truth, and this Divine gift is what is called grace; for this reason, so far as anyone is in that affection, so far is he in the Lord's Divine grace, nor is there any other Divine grace given with man, spirit, or angel, than that of being affected with truth because it is truth, since in that affection they have heaven and all its blessedness (as may be seen in The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 232, 236, 238; and in the work, Heaven and Hell 395-414). It is the same thing whether you say the affection of truth or the delight of truth; for there is no affection without delight. This is what is specifically meant by grace in the Word; as in John:

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, as the glory of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth; of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (1:14, 16, 17).

As grace is the affection and delight of truth, therefore mention is made of both grace and truth.

And in Luke, after the Lord had explained in the synagogue the prophetic declaration of Isaiah concerning Himself, thus concerning Divine truth, it is said,

"And all wondered at the words of grace which proceeded out of his mouth" (4:22).

The Divine truths which the Lord spoke are called words of grace proceeding out of His mouth, because they were acceptable, grateful, and delightful. In general, Divine grace is everything given by the Lord; and as every such thing given has reference to faith and love, and faith is the affection of truth from good, therefore, this is specifically meant by Divine grace; for to be gifted with faith and love, or with the affection of truth from good, is to be gifted with heaven, thus with eternal blessedness.

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

The Bible

 

Revelation 1:4

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4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;