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

 

Arcana Coelestia #10196

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10196. 'Before the mercy-seat which is above the Testimony' means where the Lord hears and receives everything of worship arising from the good of love. This is clear from the meaning of 'the mercy-seat' as the hearing and reception by the Lord of everything of worship arising from the good of love, dealt with in 9506; and from the meaning of 'the Testimony' as the Lord in respect of the Word, dealt with in 8535, 9503, thus of Divine Truth since the Lord in respect of Divine Truth is the Word, 9987.

[2] A brief statement about Divine Good and Divine Truth needs to be made here. As to His Divine [Being] itself, called the Father, and His Divine Humanity, called the Son, the Lord is Divine Love itself, and is accordingly Divine Good itself. But as to His presence in heaven, which is beneath the Lord as the Sun, He is Divine Truth. Yet this Divine Truth has Divine Good within it, adjusted to its reception by angels and spirits. This Divine presence is what is called the Spirit of Jehovah and that which is Holy. The reason why it is spoken of as Divine Truth and not Divine Good is that angels and spirits are created beings and therefore are recipients of Divine Truth emanating from Divine Good. Like people in the world they enjoy two powers of mind - the understanding and the will. The understanding has been formed to receive Divine Truth and the will to receive Divine Good; and their understanding serves not only to receive [that Truth] but also to perceive [this Good].

[3] Simple people may gain some idea of this matter if it is compared with the sun and the world that comes into being from it. The sun is composed of fire, but what radiates from it is heat and light. As anyone may know, there is no light within the sun itself, but light radiates from it. And in the measure that light radiating from the sun holds heat within itself plants come to life and grow, producing fruit and seeds. These things have been mentioned by way of comparison because the whole natural order is a theatre representative of the Lord's kingdom; and it is a representative theatre because the natural world has been brought into being by the Divine - and is unceasingly brought into being, that is, is held in being, by Him - by means of the spiritual world. So it is that in the Word 'the sun', similarly 'fire', is used to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Love, and 'light' to mean the Lord in respect of Divine Truth, as in John 1:9; 3:19; 9:5; 12:46.

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

The Bible

 

John 12:46

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46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.