The Bible

 

John 1:19-30

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19 And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?

20 And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.

21 And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.

22 Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?

23 He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.

24 And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.

25 And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?

26 John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;

27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose.

28 These things were done in Bethabara beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing.

29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

30 This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me.

  

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2239

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2239. 'The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has become great, and their sin has become extremely grave' means that falsity and evil stemming from self-love reached their climax. This is clear from the meaning of 'Sodom' as evil stemming from self-love, and of 'Gomorrah' as falsity from this, shown above in 2220, and also from the meaning of 'cry' as falsity, and of 'sin' as evil, dealt with in the paragraph following this. From all this it is evident that their cry became great, and that their sin became grave, means that falsity and evil came to their peak or climax. This is more clearly evident from what follows where it is said that if ten persons were found there the city would be spared, verse 32, meaning that if some remnants were still left, that is, some good and truth. For when no good or truth remains inwardly with man any longer, there is vastation and desolation and therefore the climax has been reached, which is described in the verse that follows next.

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