The Bible

 

Isaiah 1

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1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth: for the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.

3 The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.

5 Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

7 Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

10 Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.

11 To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.

12 When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?

13 Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.

14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.

15 And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.

16 Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;

17 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

19 If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

20 But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

21 How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers.

22 Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water:

23 Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.

24 Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:

25 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

26 And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellers as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.

27 Zion shall be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness.

28 And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the LORD shall be consumed.

29 For they shall be ashamed of the oaks which ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen.

30 For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water.

31 And the strong shall be as tow, and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Doctrine of the Sacred Scripture #85

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85. To show from the Word that there are in it such paired expressions which seem to be repetitious of the same idea would be a tedious task, as it would take pages. However, in order to banish doubt, I would like to cite passages in which judgment and justice (or righteousness) are mentioned together, then passages in which nation and people are mentioned together, and then joy and gladness.

The following are passages in which judgment and justice (or righteousness) are mentioned together:

(The city) was full of judgment; righteousness spent the night.... (Isaiah 1:21)

Zion shall be redeemed in righteousness, and her former exiles in judgment. (Isaiah 1:27)

Let Jehovah Zebaoth be exalted in judgment, and God, the Holy One, shall be hallowed in righteousness. (Isaiah 5:16)

(He will sit) upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to...establish it with judgment and justice.... (Isaiah 9:7)

Let Jehovah be exalted, for He dwells on high, and He has filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. (Isaiah 33:5)

...said Jehovah: “Maintain judgment, and do righteousness; for My salvation is near..., that My righteousness may be revealed. (Isaiah 56:1)

...as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the judgment of their God. They will ask of Me the judgments of justice. (Isaiah 58:2)

...swear, “as Jehovah lives, ” ...in judgment, and in righteousness. (Jeremiah 4:2)

...let him who glories glory in this..., that...Jehovah...(exercises)...judgment and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 9:24)

Execute judgment and righteousness.... Woe to him who builds his house without righteousness, and his upper rooms without judgment.... Did not your father...do judgment and righteousness? (And) then it was well with him. (Jeremiah 22:3, 13, 15)

...I will raise to David a righteous Branch, who shall reign...as a king, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. (Jeremiah 23:5, cf. 33:15)

If a man is just, who does judgment and justice.... (Ezekiel 18:5)

...if (the impious man) turns from his sin and does judgment and justice..., no mention...will be made against him; he has done judgment and justice; he shall surely live. (Ezekiel 33:14, 16, cf. 33:19)

I will betroth you to Me forever...in righteousness and judgment, and in mercy and compassion. (Hosea 2:19)

Judgment shall flow like water, and righteousness like a mighty torrent. (Amos 5:24)

...you have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. (Amos 6:12)

...(Jehovah) pleads my case and executes judgment for me, (and) brings me forth into the light, and I see His righteousness. (Micah 7:9)

O Jehovah, Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are a great ocean. (Psalms 36:6)

(Jehovah) shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as noonday. (Psalms 37:6)

(Jehovah) will judge Your people with righteousness, and Your wretched with judgment. (Psalms 72:2)

Righteousness and judgment are the foundation of Your throne. (Psalms 89:14)

...when I learn the judgments of Your rightousness.... Seven times a day I praise You, because of the judgments of Your righteousness. (Psalms 119:7, 164)

(Gad) administered the justice of Jehovah, and His judgment with Israel. (Deuteronomy 33:21)

(The Spirit of truth) will indict the world...of righteousness, and of judgment.... (John 16:8, 10)

And so on elsewhere.

[2] Judgment and justice are mentioned so frequently because judgment is predicated of truths, and justice or righteousness of goodness. To execute judgment and justice, therefore, also means to be prompted to do so by truth and by goodness.

Judgment is predicated of truth, and justice or righteousness of goodness, because the Lord’s government in the spiritual kingdom is said to be one of judgment, while the Lord’s government in the celestial kingdom is said to be one of righteousness. Regarding this, see the book Heaven and Hell 214, 215.

Because judgment is predicated of truth, in some places we find mention of truth and righteousness, or truth and justice, as in Isaiah 11:5, Psalms 85:11, and elsewhere.

  
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Thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.