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

 

Spiritual Experiences #5605

  
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5605. They have the Word of the ancient Church, which Moses mentioned, calling it "the wars of Jehovah" [Num. 21:14], and the prophetical enunciations, about which [he speaks] 1 . They said that this Word has been written so that they can be instructed in the details. It was also inspired, but because it ceased to be suitable to subsequent people another word (sic) was written. The nature of this Word is evident from the first Books of Genesis, which are taken from it.

Footnotes:

1. See The Doctrine of New Jerusalem concerning Sacred Scripture 103.

  
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Thanks to the Academy of the New Church, and Bryn Athyn College, for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #535

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535. And I saw a star from heaven fallen unto the earth, signifies the knowledges of truth falsified, and thus turned into falsities. This is evident from the signification of "stars," as being the knowledges of good and truth (of which above, n. 72, 402); and from the signification of "gliding" and "falling from heaven," as being to perish; and the knowledges of truth perish when denied and when falsified, here when falsified; for this book does not treat of those who deny truths, but of those who falsify them. For those who deny truths are not among those who are in "the former heaven," and who are cast down therefrom into hell at the day of the Last Judgment, for such are cast down thither immediately after death. But in this book those who, for various reasons, falsify truths are treated of, for such made for themselves a heaven that was afterwards destroyed. Those falsify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word who acknowledge the Word but apply it to favor their loves and to favor principles that are from self-intelligence, thus they turn the truths of the Word into falsities, and thus the knowledges of good and truth with them perish. From this it can be seen that "a star from heaven fallen unto the earth" signifies that the knowledges of truth are falsified, and thus turned into falsities (See above, n. 517).

[2] "To fall down" or "to fall from heaven unto the earth" signifies to perish, that is, to have no longer any place in heaven but to be cast down therefrom and conjoined with hell, as is evident from what follows, where it is said "there was given unto him the key of the pit of the abyss, and he opened it," "the pit of the abyss" signifying the hell where and from which are the falsities of evil. "To fall from heaven unto the earth" has a similar signification above in Revelation:

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth (Revelation 6:13).

The dragon with his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth (1 Revelation 12:4).

In Daniel:

The horn of the he-goat waxed great, even to the host of heaven; and some of the host and of the stars it cast down to the ground and trampled upon them (Daniel 8:10).

In Matthew:

Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the stars shall fall from heaven (Matthew 24:29).

The like is signified by the Lord's words in Luke:

Jesus said, I beheld Satan as lightning falling from heaven (Luke 10:18).

"Satan" means every falsity that destroys truth, for the hells where and from which are such falsities are called "Satan," while the hells where and from which are the evils that destroy goods, are called the "devil," therefore "Satan as lightning falling from heaven" means that every falsity that destroyed the truth of the Word was cast down out of heaven. So in Revelation:

The great dragon was cast down to the earth, and his angels with him, and their place was not found anymore in heaven (Revelation 12:8, 9).

From this it can be seen that "to glide down," "to fall" and "to be cast down out of heaven to the earth" signify to have place no more in heaven, but in hell, thus to perish, the "earth" here also signifying what is cursed (as was shown above at the end of n. 304.

[3] Because heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word, those who falsify the truths of the Word by interpretations to confirm evils of life avert themselves from heaven and turn themselves to hell. For heaven is in the spiritual sense of the Word, and man is in its natural sense; consequently heaven is conjoined with the world by means of the Word. For this reason the Word is also called a "covenant" and a covenant is a conjunction. This is why those who apply the Word to evils of life and to the false principles that are from self-intelligence cannot be conjoined with heaven; and those who are not conjoined with heaven are conjoined with hell; for man must be either in heaven or in hell; it is not permitted him to hang between the two. But those who apply the Word to such falsities as do not disagree with the good of life, such as exist with the upright Gentiles that do not have the Word and with the simple in the church who believe in the Lord and lead a good life, because from their falsities they look to good, have such falsities applied by the Lord to good, and are turned towards heaven; for the essential thing in heaven is the good of life, which is the same as the good of love to the Lord and the good of charity towards the neighbor; for in heaven everyone has perception of truth, intelligence, and wisdom, in accordance with that good. This makes clear what is meant by falsifying the truth from the Word, which is here signified by "a star from heaven fallen unto the earth."

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