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 #43

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43. Verse 22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let birds be multiplied upon the earth.

Everything that has life in it from the Lord is fruitful and multiplies without limit. This does not happen during a person's lifetime, but in the next life it does so to an astonishing extent. In the Word 'to be fruitful' has reference to matters of love, while 'to multiply' has reference to matters of faith. The fruit of love contains the seed by which it multiplies itself to so great an extent. The Lord' s blessing also means, in the Word, fruitfulness and multiplication, for they are the outcome of that blessing.

Verse 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #752

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752. Woe to those that inhabit the earth and the sea, signifies lamentation over those who become merely natural and sensual. This is evident from the signification of "woe," as being lamentation (of which above, n. 531); also from the signification of "those that inhabit the earth and the sea," as being the merely natural and sensual; for as "those that dwell in the heavens" signify the spiritual, so "those that inhabit the earth and the sea" signify the natural and sensual, for the natural and sensual mind is beneath the spiritual mind, as the earth and sea are beneath the heavens. So also in the spiritual world the heavens appear on high, and far beneath them appear lands and seas; and the spiritual dwell in the heavens, while the natural dwell upon the earths far beneath them, and the sensual in the seas. For everyone has his dwelling place on high or in the deep, as his interiors, which are called interiors of the mind, are opened or closed. For this reason "heaven and earth" in certain passages in the Word signify the church internal and external, or spiritual or natural; also in particular the spiritual and the natural man, since the church is in man, and thence the man who is spiritual is a church. Here "the earth and the sea" signify the merely natural and sensual, because the earth here means the earth into which the dragon was cast out, and unto which the devil came down, as is next said. That is where the merely natural or external man is, since the natural man without the spiritual, or the external man without the internal, is upon the land that is condemned, under which is hell. For man is born sensual and natural, that is, as if in hell, because into evils of every kind; but by regeneration he becomes spiritual, and by it he is drawn out of hell and raised up into heaven by the Lord. This is why this lamentation is over those who are merely natural and sensual. There is lamentation over them because those are meant who are in faith separated from charity, that is, who say that they have faith and yet have no life of faith; and that such become merely natural and sensual has been shown above (n. 714, 739); such also are meant by "the dragon and his angels" and by "the old serpent," but here those are meant who permit themselves to be easily led astray by the dragon and his angels. It is of such, therefore, that it is said, "Woe to those that inhabit the earth and the sea." (That "heaven and earth" signify the internal church, which is spiritual, and the external church, which is natural, may be seen above, n. 304. That "the earth" also signifies damnation, n. 742. That "seas" signify the most external things of man's life, which are called sensual, n. 275, 342, 511; that they also signify the hells, n. 537, 538).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.