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 #1020

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1020. That these things are meant becomes clear from the fact that everything put together as history from Genesis 1 down to Eber in Chapter 11 means something different from what appears in the letter, and from the consideration that the historical narratives there are purely made-up history customary among the most ancient people. When attesting the truth of some matter they would say that 'Jehovah said it'. Here however 'God' is used because the subject is the spiritual Church. And they did the same when anything true was being, or had been, put into effect.

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

The Bible

 

Psalms 18

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1 I love you, Yahweh, my strength.

2 Yahweh is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower.

3 I call on Yahweh, who is worthy to be praised; and I am saved from my enemies.

4 The cords of death surrounded me. The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

5 The cords of Sheol were around me. The snares of death came on me.

6 In my distress I called on Yahweh, and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of his temple. My cry before him came into his ears.

7 Then the earth shook and trembled. The foundations also of the mountains quaked and were shaken, because he was angry.

8 Smoke went out of his nostrils. Consuming fire came out of his mouth. Coals were kindled by it.

9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.

10 He rode on a cherub, and flew. Yes, he soared on the wings of the wind.

11 He made darkness his hiding place, his pavilion around him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

12 At the brightness before him his thick clouds passed, hailstones and coals of fire.

13 Yahweh also thundered in the sky. The Most High uttered his voice: hailstones and coals of fire.

14 He sent out his arrows, and scattered them; Yes, great lightning bolts, and routed them.

15 Then the channels of waters appeared. The foundations of the world were laid bare at your rebuke, Yahweh, at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

16 He sent from on high. He took me. He drew me out of many waters.

17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me; for they were too mighty for me.

18 They came on me in the day of my calamity, but Yahweh was my support.

19 He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me, because he delighted in me.

20 Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.

21 For I have kept the ways of Yahweh, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

22 For all his ordinances were before me. I didn't put away his statutes from me.

23 I was also blameless with him. I kept myself from my iniquity.

24 Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

25 With the merciful you will show yourself merciful. With the perfect man, you will show yourself perfect.

26 With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.

27 For you will save the afflicted people, but the haughty eyes you will bring down.

28 For you will light my lamp, Yahweh. My God will light up my darkness.

29 For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.

30 As for God, his way is perfect. The word of Yahweh is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.

31 For who is God, except Yahweh? Who is a rock, besides our God,

32 the God who arms me with strength, and makes my way perfect?

33 He makes my feet like deer's feet, and sets me on my high places.

34 He teaches my hands to war, so that my arms bend a bow of bronze.

35 You have also given me the shield of your salvation. Your right hand sustains me. Your gentleness has made me great.

36 You have enlarged my steps under me, My feet have not slipped.

37 I will pursue my enemies, and overtake them. Neither will I turn again until they are consumed.

38 I will strike them through, so that they will not be able to rise. They shall fall under my feet.

39 For you have armed me with strength to the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.

40 You have also made my enemies turn their backs to me, that I might cut off those who hate me.

41 They cried, but there was none to save; even to Yahweh, but he didn't answer them.

42 Then I beat them small as the dust before the wind. I cast them out as the mire of the streets.

43 You have delivered me from the strivings of the people. You have made me the head of the nations. A people whom I have not known shall serve me.

44 As soon as they hear of me they shall obey me. The foreigners shall submit themselves to me.

45 The foreigners shall fade away, and shall come trembling out of their close places.

46 Yahweh lives; and blessed be my rock. Exalted be the God of my salvation,

47 even the God who executes vengeance for me, and subdues peoples under me.

48 He rescues me from my enemies. Yes, you lift me up above those who rise up against me. You deliver me from the violent man.

49 Therefore I will give thanks to you, Yahweh, among the nations, and will sing praises to your name.

50 He gives great deliverance to his king, and shows loving kindness to his anointed, to David and to his seed, forevermore. For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.