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 #745

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745. Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ.- That this signifies that now the Lord has power, by means of His Divine Truth, to save those who are of His church, who receive it in heart and soul, is evident from the signification of salvation, as denoting deliverance; from the signification of "the power" (potentia), as denoting to have ability, thus possibility (of which we shall speak presently); and from the signification of kingdom, as denoting heaven and the church (concerning which see above, n. 48, 685); from the signification of our God, as denoting the Lord as to His Divine; and from the signification of the authority (potestas) of His Christ, as denoting the efficacy of Divine Truth, that is, by means of Divine Truth. That Christ means the Lord as to Divine Truth may be seen above (n. 684, 685); that authority (or power), when said of the Lord, signifies the salvation of the human race, may be seen above (n. 293); and that the Lord has the power of saving by means of His Divine Truth, may also be seen above (n. 333, 726). And because the Lord can save only those who receive Divine Truth from Him in heart and soul, this also is signified. It is therefore evident that Now is come the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority (or power) of His Christ, signifies that now the Lord has, by means of His Divine Truth, the power of saving those who are of His church, who receive it in heart and soul.

[2] It is said "who receive it in heart and soul," and this means in love and faith, also in will and understanding; for when in the Word it is said "heart and soul," then soul signifies faith, and also understanding, while heart signifies love, and also will. For soul (anima), in the Word in the ultimate sense, means the respiration of man, which is also called his breath (spiritus), therefore the expression "to animate" (animare) is used for "to respire" (respirare); also a man is said to give up the ghost, or it is said that the breath has gone out of him, when he dies. That soul (anima), moreover, signifies faith and also understanding, and the heart love, and also the will, is from correspondence. For faith and understanding correspond to the animation or respiration of the lungs, and the love and will correspond to the motion and pulsation of the heart; concerning this correspondence see above (n. 167); and the Arcana Coelestia 2930, 3883-3896, 9050).

[3] The reason why these words, "Now is come the salvation and the power of our God," signify that the Lord can now save, thus why power there signifies to have ability, thus possibility, is that the Lord could not save those who were of His church until the dragon with his angels had been driven out, that is, separated from heaven. He who is ignorant of the laws of Divine order may suppose that the Lord can save whomsoever He pleases, thus the evil as well as the good; and for this reason some are of opinion that in the end all who are in hell will also be saved. But that no one can be saved by immediate, but only by mediate mercy, and that still it is from pure mercy that those are saved who receive Divine Truth from the Lord in soul and heart, may be seen in Heaven and Hell 521-527).

[4] This also is meant by these words in John:

"His own received him not; but as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born not of bloods, neither of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (1:11-13).

His own who received Him not, mean those who are of the church where the Word is, and to whom the Lord could therefore be known; therefore those who were of the Jewish church are there meant by His own. That the Lord would give to those who believe in His name power to become the sons of God, signifies to give heaven to those who receive Divine truths from Him in soul and heart, or in faith and life; to believe in His name signifying to receive the Lord in faith and life, for the name of the Lord signifies everything by which He is worshipped. The sons of God, mean those who are regenerated by the Lord; who are born not of bloods, signifies those who have not falsified and adulterated the Word; nor of the will of the flesh, signifies those who are not in evils from their proprium; nor of the will of man, signifies those who are not in falsities from their proprium, for the will signifies man's proprium, flesh signifies evil, and man falsity; but born of God, signifies those who are regenerated by means of truths from the Word and by a life according to them. From these things also it is evident that those who are not willing to be reformed and regenerated by the Lord cannot be saved, this being effected by the reception of Divine Truth in faith and life.

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

The Bible

 

Micah 7:2

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2 The godly man has perished out of the earth, and there is no one upright among men. They all lie in wait for blood; every man hunts his brother with a net.