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 #33

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33. Everyone is capable of knowing very well that no life is possible without love of some kind, nor any type of joy whatsoever except the joy that flows out from the love. Furthermore the nature of the love determines the nature of the life and of the joy. If you took away your loves, and what amounts to the same, your desires (since these stem from love), thought would instantly perish and you would be as one dead. This I have been shown convincingly. Self-love and the love of the world present a semblance of life and of joy, but because they are absolutely contrary to true love, which is loving the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself, it is clear that neither of them is love but hatred. For the more anyone loves himself and the world, the more he hates his neighbour and so the Lord. Consequently true love is love to the Lord, true life is the life inherent in love from Him, and true joy is the joy of that life. The existence of more than one true love is not possible. Nor consequently is the existence of more than one true life possible which is the source of all true joy and happiness, such as angels in the heavens enjoy.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #928

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928. Seven angels having the seven last plagues. That this signifies evils and falsities in their whole extent which have entirely devastated the church, as to all its goods and truths, made evident by Divine truth from the Lord, is clear from the signification of angels, as denoting Divine truths from the Lord (concerning which see above, n. 130, 302); from the signification of seven, as denoting all things completely (see n. 20, 24, 257, 300); and from the signification of plagues, as denoting the evils and falsities that have devastated the church (concerning which see above, n. 584). And because seven denote all things completely, therefore by the seven plagues are signified evils and falsities in their whole extent, which entirely devastate the church. All evils in the complex pertaining to those who devastate are signified by the number one thousand six hundred (chapter 14:20, concerning which see n. 924); and all falsities in the complex pertaining to those who devastate are signified by the number six hundred and sixty-six (chapter 13:18, concerning which see n. 847); and from the signification of last, as denoting as to all goods and truths; for then is the last and what is consummated. From these things it is evident, that by the seven angels having the seven last plagues, are signified evils and falsities in their whole extent, that have entirely devastated the church, as to all its goods and truths, made evident by Divine truth from the Lord.

[2] How the evils and falsities that have entirely devastated the church were made evident by the Lord is described in the following parts of this chapter from verses 5 to 8. That the church is devastated as to all goods and truths, is evident from this, that the Christian Church, from its beginning, was divided into two, one of which is described in the Apocalypse by the dragon and the two beasts; but the other, by the whore sitting upon the scarlet beast, and by Babylon. That which is described by the dragon and his two beasts, is the church with the Reformed; and that which is described by the whore and by Babylon, is the church with the Papists. The church with the Reformed has been devastated by faith alone; and the church with the Papists, by dominion over the souls of men, and over heaven. The devastation of this latter church as to all goods and the truths therefrom is treated of in chapters 17 and 18; and the devastation of the church with the Reformed is described in chapters 12 and 13; and further in chapter 16, by the seven angels having vials full of the wrath of God.

[3] That both churches have been devastated as to all goods and truths by evils and falsities is perfectly clear from this, that hardly any one at this day knows that God is one, and that He is the Lord; also what love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour are, and hence what are good works. Nor, indeed, is it known what faith is in its essence; and that what they call faith is not faith; nor, also, what is the nature of conscience, free will, regeneration, spiritual temptation, Baptism, the Holy Supper, Heaven and Hell, the Word, and several other things. And because these things are not known, goods and truths are hidden; and, in proportion as worldly and corporeal things are loved, in the same proportion they are lightly esteemed, indeed, are rejected; and then instead of goods, evils enter, and instead of truths, falsities enter. Thus the church is devastated.

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