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 #63

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63. Meanwhile the Lord is constantly fighting on his behalf against evils and falsities and by these conflicts is confirming him in truth and good. The hour of conflict is the hour when the Lord is at work, which is why in the Prophets a regenerate person is called 'the work of God's fingers'. Nor does He rest until love is playing the leading part, at which point conflict ceases. When that work has reached the point where faith has been joined to love, it is then called 'very good', for the Lord then moves him to be a likeness of Himself. At the end of the sixth day evil spirits go away and good ones take their place; then the person is led into heaven, or the heavenly paradise, which is the subject of the next chapter.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2819

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2819. As regards the Lord's temptations in general, some were more external, others more internal. The more internal they were, the more severe they were. His inmost temptations are described in Matthew 26:37-39, 42, 44; 27:46; Mark 14:33-36; 15:34; Luke 22:42-44. But see what has been stated already regarding the Lord's temptations, namely the following:

The Lord first of all fought from goods and truths which were appearances of goods and truths, 1661.

Out of Divine love towards the whole human race He fought against the evils of self-love and of love of the world, 1690, 1691 (end), 1789, 1812, 1813, 1820.

He alone has fought out of Divine love, 1812, 1813.

All the hells fought against the Lord's love, which was the salvation of the whole human race, 1820.

The Lord suffered the severest temptations of all, 1663, 1668, 1787.

By means of temptations and victories the Lord by His own power became righteousness, 1813, 2025.

The Lord effected the union of the Human Essence to the Divine Essence by means of temptations and victories, 1737, 1813, 1921, 2025, 2026.

See also what has been stated already about temptations in general, in 59, 63, 227, 847.

Temptation is a power-struggle over whether good or evil, truth or falsity, is to prevail, 1923.

Temptations involve feelings of anger, and many other emotions, 1917.

Temptations are celestial, spiritual, or natural, 847.

In temptations evil genii and spirits attack the things that belong to a person's love, and so the things that constitute his life, 847, 1820.

What temptations accomplish, 1692, 1717, 1740.

The purpose of temptation therefore is that bodily things may be subdued, 857.

Evils and falsities with a person who is being regenerated are subdued by means of temptations, not done away with, 868.

Truth goes into battle first, 1685.

A person fights from the goods and truths which he has acquired by means of cognitions even when they are not in themselves goods and truths, 1661.

Spirits and evil genii activate the falsities and evils within man, and this leads to temptations, 741, 751, 761.

In temptations a person assumes that the Lord is absent, when in fact He is at such times more present, 840.

A person cannot by any means endure by himself the conflicts brought about by temptations, for they are conflicts against every hell, 1692 (end).

The Lord alone fights in man, 1661, 1692.

By means of temptations evil genii and spirits are deprived of their power to do evil and to inspire falsity within man, 1695, 1717.

Temptations take place with those who have conscience, and are more intense with those who have perception, 1668.

Temptations take place rarely at the present day; instead occasions of anxiety occur, which are something different and have a different origin, 762.

Persons who are dead spiritually are not able to suffer the conflicts brought about by temptations, 270.

All temptations bring with them despair over the end in view, 1787, 1820.

After temptations fluctuation occurs, 848, 857.

By means of temptations the good learn that [left to themselves] they are nothing but evil, and that all things are subject to mercy, 2334.

By means of temptations goods become joined more closely to truths, 272.

People are not saved by virtue of enduring temptations if they go under, or if they imagine that they have acquired merit through them, 273.

Every temptation involves freedom, greater freedom than outside of temptations, 1937.

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