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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

 

True Christian Religion #536

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536. Yet all who do good for religious reasons, not only Christians, but also the heathen, are acceptable to the Lord and after death are adopted by Him. For the Lord said:

I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and [you took me in; I was naked and] 1 you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me. And He said, To the extent that you have done this to one of the least of my brothers, you have done it to me. Come, you blessed ones, and possess as your inheritance the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, Matthew 25:31-41.

I will add here something new: after death all of those who do good for religious reasons reject the teaching of the present-day church about three Divine persons from eternity, as well as their faith directed to each of the three in turn. Instead they turn to the Lord God the Saviour and with pleasure they take in the teachings of the new church.

[2] The remainder, however, who have not practised charity for religious reasons are hearts of adamant, so hard they are. These people start by approaching three Gods, then the Father alone, and end by approaching none. They look upon the Lord God the Saviour as merely the son of Mary born of sleeping with Joseph, not as the Son of God; and then they shake off all the kinds of good and truth the new church possesses, Soon afterwards they join the ranks of the spirits of the dragon, and are driven away with them into desert regions or into caves situated at the outermost limits of the so-called Christian world. After some time, because they are separated from the new heaven, they rush into crimes and are therefore sent down to hell.

[3] Such is the fate of those who have not done charitable deeds for religious reasons, believing that no one can do good of himself without seeking merit. So they leave these deeds undone and join the flock of goats, who are damned and cast into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels, because they have not done as the sheep did (Matthew 25:41ff). They are not said in that passage to have done evil, but not to have done good. Those who do good, but without religious reasons, do evil, for

No one can serve two masters; either he would hate one and love the other, or hold to the first and neglect the second, Matthew 6:24.

The Lord says through Isaiah:

Wash yourselves, cleanse yourselves, remove the wickedness of your deeds from before my eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do good. Then though your sins were as scarlet, they will become white as snow; though they were red like purple, they will be like wool, Isaiah 1:16-18.

He said to Jeremiah:

Stand in the gate of Jehovah's house, and there proclaim this word. Thus spoke Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, Make your ways good and your works also. Put not your trust in lying words, saying, This is Jehovah's Temple, Jehovah's Temple (that is, the church). Will you after stealing, murdering, and swearing falsely, then come and stand in my presence in this house, on which my name is written, and say, We were carried away, when you do all those abominations? Has this house become a robbers' cave? Behold, even I have seen it, this is the word of Jehovah, Jeremiah 7:2-4, 9-11.

Footnotes:

1. These words are omitted in the Latin, but are found where the same passage is quoted in 643, 2.

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

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