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 #52

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52. As long as someone is a spiritual man, the dominion over him runs from external man to internal man, as is said here, 'They will have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air', and over the beasts, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth'. When however he becomes celestial and does what is good out of love, then the dominion over him runs from internal man to external man. This is how the Lord describes Himself, and so simultaneously the celestial man, who is a likeness of Him, in David,

You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, flocks and all cattle, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, 1 and the fish of the sea, and that crossing the paths of the seas. Psalms 8:6-8.

Here therefore the beasts are mentioned first, the birds next, and the fish of the sea after that, for the reason that the celestial man starts with love which resides in the will. With the spiritual man it is different. With him fish and birds, which have to do with the understanding, the domain of faith, come first, while beasts come afterwards.

Footnotes:

1. literally, bird of the heavens (or the skies)

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6713

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6713. Exodus 2

1. And a man from the house of Levi went and married a daughter of Levi .

2. And the woman conceived and bore a son; and she saw that he was good, 1 and hid him three months.

3. And she could not hide him any longer; and she took for him a box made of rush, and coated it with bitumen and pitch, and put the child in it, and put [him] in the weed at the bank of the river.

4. And his sister stood at a distance, to know what would happen to him.

5. And the daughter of Pharaoh went down to wash at the river; and her maidservants were going along the side of the river. And she saw the box in the middle of the weed, and sent her servant-girl; and she took it.

6. And she opened it, and saw him, the child; and behold, the boy was crying. And she took pity on him, and said, This is one of the children of the Hebrews.

7. And his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a woman, a wet nurse, from the Hebrew women, that she may nurse the child for you?

8. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. And the girl went and called the child's mother.

9. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take to yourself this child and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. And the woman took the child and nursed him.

10. And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he was a son to her. And she called his name Moses, and said, Because I drew him out of the water.

11. And it happened in those days, when Moses had grown up, that he went out to his brothers, and saw their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man, one of his brothers.

12. And he looked this way and that, and saw that there was no man; and he struck the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand.

13. And he went out the second day, and behold, two Hebrew men were quarrelling; and he said to the one in the wrong, Why are you striking your companion?

14. And he said, Who set you up as a man-prince and a judge over us? Do you intend 2 to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian? And Moses was afraid, and said, Surely the matter is known!

15. And Pharaoh heard of this matter and sought to kill Moses. And Moses fled from before Pharaoh, and dwelt in the land of Midian; and he dwelt next to a well.

16. And the priest of Midian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock.

17. And the shepherds came and drove them away; and Moses rose up and helped them, and watered their flock.

18. And they came to Reuel their father, and he said, Why have you hastened to come today?

19. And they said, An Egyptian man delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds; and he even drew water for us, and watered the flock.

20. And he said to his daughters, And where is he? Why is it that you left the man? Call him, and let him eat bread.

21. And Moses was willing to dwell with the man; and he gave Zipporah his daughter to Moses.

22. And she bore a son, and he called his name Gershom; for he said, I am a stranger in a foreign land.

23. And it happened in [the course of] these many days, that the king of Egypt died, and the children of Israel sighed because of their hard service, and cried out; and their cry came up to God because of their hard service.

24. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

25. And God saw the children of Israel, and God knew [them].

CONTENTS

This chapter deals in the internal sense with God's truth - with its beginnings and its succeeding states with a member of the Church.

Footnotes:

1. i.e. a beautiful child

2. literally, say

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