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

 

Marriage #48

  
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48. Those of them who are in the heaven of the Mohammedans have only one wife, having rejected more. For there is a Mohammedan heaven distinct from the Christian heaven. But those who eventually, as many do, acknowledge the Lord as one with the Father are separated and are in heavens which communicate with the Christian heavens; and they have conjugial love.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2699

Study this Passage

  
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2699. 'For I will make him into a great nation' means the spiritual Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'a great nation' as the spiritual Church which was to receive the good of faith, dealt with above in 2669. The expression 'a great nation' is used because the spiritual kingdom is the Lord's second kingdom, also dealt with in that same paragraph. As the member of the spiritual Church is represented by Ishmael, so also is the spiritual Church itself represented by him, as well as the Lord's spiritual kingdom in heaven; for the image and likeness of the one exists in the other. The first state following desolation was described in the previous verse, which was a state of comfort and of the hope of help. Their second state following desolation is described in the present verse, which is a state of enlightenment and of renewal resulting from this enlightenment.

[2] Since these states are unknown in the world, for the reason mentioned previously that few at the present day are being regenerated, let the nature of this state be described as it is experienced by those who are being regenerated in the next life, where that state is very well known. After being comforted with the hope of help, those in the next life who have experienced vastation or desolation are raised up by the Lord into heaven, thus from a state of shade, which is a state of ignorance, into a state of light, which is a state of enlightenment and of resulting renewal, and so into joy which stirs their inmost feelings. It is indeed light into which they enter, of such a nature that it enables them to see not only with their eyes but also at the same time with their understanding. How much this light renews them may become clear from the contrary state from which they have been released. At that time some who have had a childlike disposition and whose faith has been simple appear to themselves in dazzling white garments. Some appear wearing crowns. Some are taken round to many angelic communities and are everywhere received charitably as brothers; and therefore all good that is gratifying to their new life is offered to them. Some are allowed to observe the vastness of heaven, that is, of the Lord's kingdom, and at the same time to discern the blessedness of those who are there, in addition to countless other things there which defy description. Such is the state of initial enlightenment, and of the feeling of renewal resulting from this, of all who come out of desolation.

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