The Bible

 

Matthew 5

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1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.

41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christianity #262

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262. The fact that the Lord fulfilled everything in the Word is clear from passages where it says that he fulfilled the law and the Scripture, and completed all things. For example,

Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to dissolve the Law and the Prophets. I did not come to dissolve them but to fulfill them. " (Matthew 5:17-18)

Jesus went into the synagogue and stood up to read. He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, "The spirit of Jehovah is upon me; this is why he anointed me. He sent me to preach the good news to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim release for the bound and sight for the blind, to preach the welcomed year of the Lord. " Afterward he rolled up the scroll and said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. " (Luke 4:16-21)

To fulfill the Scripture that said, "The one who eats bread with me has lifted up his heel against me. " (John 13:18)

Not one of them was lost except the son of perdition, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 17:12)

To fulfill the Word that said, "Of those whom you gave me, I did not lose one. " (John 18:19)

Jesus said to Peter, "Put your sword away in its place. How then would the Scripture that this must occur be fulfilled? This has happened in order to fulfill the Scripture. " (Matthew 26:52, 54, 56)

The Son of Humankind is leaving as it was written of him, so that the Scriptures would be fulfilled. (Mark 14:21, 49)

In this way the Scripture was fulfilled that said, "He was reckoned among the unholy. " (Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37)

They divided his clothes among themselves, so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: "On my inner garment they cast lots. " (John 19:24)

After this, Jesus knew that all things were now completed so that the Scripture would be fulfilled. (John 19:28)

When Jesus had received the vinegar he said, "It is complete," that is, fulfilled. (John 19:30)

These things happened to fulfill the Scripture that "You will not break a bone in him;" and furthermore another line in Scripture says, "They will see the One whom they pierced. " (John 19:36-37)

Before the Lord left, he taught his disciples that the whole Word was written about him and that he had come into the world to fulfill it, as the following words indicate:

He said to them, "You are foolish and slow at heart to believe all the things that were spoken by the prophets. Was it not fitting for Christ to suffer and enter into glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted [points] regarding himself in all the Scriptures. (Luke 24:25-27)

Further, Jesus said,

It was right for all the things written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms to be fulfilled. (Luke 24:44-45)

The following words of the Lord make it clear that in the world he fulfilled everything in the Word down to the least detail:

Truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one little letter or the tip of one letter will pass from the law until all of it is fulfilled. (Matthew 5:18)

From the statements just made you can now clearly see that the Lord's fulfilling everything in the law does not mean that he fulfilled everything in the Ten Commandments; it means that he fulfilled everything in the whole Word. You can see that "the law" means everything in the Word from the following passages: "Jesus said, 'Is it not written in your law, "I said, 'You are gods'"?'" (John 10:34; the passage quoted is written in Psalms 82:6). "The crowd replied, 'We have heard from the law, Christ remains forever'" (John 12:34; the passage quoted is written in Psalms 89:34-37; 110:4; and Daniel 7:14). "To fulfill the Word that is written in their law, 'They hated me for no reason'" (John 15:25; the passage quoted is written in Psalms 35:19). "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the tip of one letter of the law to fall" (Luke 16:17). The "law" in these passages means the whole of Sacred Scripture, as it does a number of times elsewhere.

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