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 #221

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221. 'Breeze, or breath, 1 of the daytime' means a time when the Church still had a residue of perception. This becomes clear from the meaning of 'day' and of 'night'. The most ancient people compared states of the Church to the times of the day and of the night. States when the Church still had light they compared to times of the day; therefore this verse speaks of 'the breath' or breeze of the daytime' as when they still had some residue of perception, from which they knew that they were fallen. The Lord too calls a state in which there is faith 'the daytime' and one in which there is none 'the night', as in John,

I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; night is coming when nobody will be able to work. John 9:4.

The consecutive states of man's regeneration for the same reason were called 'days' in Chapter Genesis 1.

Footnotes:

1. literally, spirit

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1045

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1045. Having a golden cup in her hand full of the abominations and uncleanness of her whoredoms. That this signifies doctrine from goods and truths profaned, is evident from the signification of a cup, as denoting falsity from hell. For the signification of a cup is the same as that of wine; and by wine is signified truth from heaven, and, in the opposite sense, falsity from hell (see (n. 887, 960, 1022). And because a cup signifies truth or falsity; and the doctrine of every church is either that of truth or of falsity - for all the truth or falsity of the church is contained in doctrine - therefore by a cup is also signified doctrine, and by a golden cup, the doctrine of falsity from evil.

[2] Similarly in Jeremiah:

"A golden cup is Babel in the hand of Jehovah, making drunken the whole earth" (51:7).

It is called a golden cup for the same reason that the woman is said to be clothed in crimson and scarlet, and decked with gold, precious stones, and pearls, namely, from appearance in externals, although, in internals, it is as a cup full of abominations and uncleanness. For it is as the Lord says of the externals and internals with the scribes and Pharisees:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, who make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. And ye make yourselves like to whitened sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of bones of the dead and all uncleanness" (Matthew 23:25-27).

It is also evident from the signification of abominations, as denoting the profanations of good, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the uncleanness of whoredom, as denoting the profanation of truth. For whoredom signifies the falsification of truth, as above, hence the uncleanness thereof signifies profanation.

[3] As to the profanations signified by abominations, they are the perversions of the holy things of the church; thus, the turning of its goods into evils, and its truths into falsities. They are called abominations, because the angels abominate them; for so far as they were the holy things of the church, from goods and truths from the Word, they ascend into heaven; but so far as they were applied to evils, and thus profaned, they carry with them that which is infernal, concealed within. Consequently, they are perceived as things dead, in which there once was a living soul, and therefore heaven abominates and detests them.

[4] That such things are meant by abominations in the Word, is evident from the account of the abominations of Jerusalem. Thus in Ezekiel:

As that she took off the garments of her adorning which were given to her, and made herself variegated lofty places, and played the harlot upon them.

That of the gold and silver given to her, she made herself images of a male, with which she also committed whoredom.

That the oil, the incense, the bread, fine flour, and honey, which were given to her, she made into an odour of rest.

That they sacrificed their sons and their daughters.

That she committed whoredom first in Egypt, and afterwards with the sons of Asshur, and lastly with the Chaldeans. Besides several other things which are there called abominations (16:2-63).

By all these things are signified the profanations of the Word, of the church, and of worship. Similarly in other passages where abominations are either recounted or spoken of:

As Jeremiah 7:9, 10; 16:18; 32:35; Ezekiel 5:11; 7:19, 20; 8:6-18; 11:21; 14:6; 20:7, 8; Deuteronomy 7:25, 26; 12:31; 18:9, 10; Matthew 24:15; Mark 13:14; Dan. 9:27; 11:31; and elsewhere.

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