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 #230

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230. (Verse 15) I know thy works. That this signifies the life of faith alone is evident from the signification of works as being those things that belong to the interior life of man, because works proceed from those things, and are their effects (concerning which see above, n. 157, 185). Here therefore they signify the life of faith alone, because this is treated of in what is written to the angel of this church. To each of the churches it is premised, "I know thy works," and in every case it signifies the things belonging to the church there treated of (see above, n. 98); therefore the quality of the life of faith alone, or of faith separated from charity, is described in what now follows.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9910

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9910. Verses 31-35 And you shall make the robe of the ephod, the whole from violet. And its hole for the head 1 shall be in the middle of it; its hole 2 shall have a border round about, the work of a weaver; something like the hole 2 of a corslet it must have, so that it does not tear. And you shall make on its hem pomegranates of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet on its hem round about, and bells of gold in the middle of them round about - a bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about. And it shall be on Aaron when he ministers, and his voice 3 will be heard when he goes into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he comes out, that he may not die.

'And you shall make the robe' means Divine Truth in its inward form in the spiritual kingdom. 'The whole from violet' means through an inflow from the good of the celestial kingdom. 'And its hole for the head shall be in the middle of it' means the course which the inflow from the higher source takes. 'And its hole shall have a border round about' means that it is bounded and enclosed on every side. 'The work of a weaver' means from the celestial. 'And the hole of a corslet it must have, so that it does not tear' means so that it has been made strong and safe from damage. 'And you shall make on its hem' means in the most external parts, where the natural is. 'Pomegranates' means factual knowledge of good. 'Of violet, and purple, and twice-dyed scarlet' means springing from the good of charity and faith. 'On its hem round about' means in the most external parts, where the natural is, in every direction. 'And bells of gold' means all aspects of religious teachings and of worship springing from good which come across to those who belong to the Church. 'In the middle of them round about' means consisting of the more internal features of the factual knowledge of good in every direction. 'A bell of gold and a pomegranate, a bell of gold and a pomegranate, on the hem of the robe round about' means that this shall be so everywhere, at every point. 'And it shall be on Aaron' means that which is representative of the Lord. 'When he ministers' means while engaged in worship and preaching the gospel. 'And his voice will be heard' means the inflow of truth among those in heaven and those on earth. 'When he goes into the holy place before Jehovah, and when he comes out' means in every state of good and truth in worship. 'That he may not die' means so that what is representative, and the joining to heaven through it, may not be lost.

Footnotes:

1. literally, its mouth of the head

2. literally, mouth

3. i.e. the sound made by the bells as he moves

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