The Bible

 

Matthew 6

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1 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

2 Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:

4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

11 Give us this day our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:

15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

17 But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face;

18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1081

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1081. And shall make her desolate and naked. That this signifies rejection of the falsities thereof, which are falsified truths, and then manifestation that they are destitute of all truth, is evident from the signification of making desolate and naked, as denoting to reject the falsities thereof, which are falsified truths. And, because, when these are rejected, it is manifested that they are without any truth, therefore this also is signified. By being desolate and naked is signified to be destitute of all truth, for spiritual desolation and nakedness is signified. And spiritual desolation is like that in a wilderness, where there are neither corn nor fruit-trees, and spiritual nakedness is like that of a man who is without garments. Corn and fruit-trees also signify the knowledges of truth and good, and garments signify truths clothing. Wherefore, to be without the latter and the former is to be without any truth. That nakedness denotes the deprivation of truth may be seen (n. 240, 1008); and that desolation, such as is in the wilderness, denotes where there is no truth may be seen (n. 730).

Continuation concerning the Word:-

[2] What is the nature of the Word as to influx and as to correspondences can now be illustrated. It is said in John:

"He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, lest they should see with their eyes, and understand with the heart, and should turn, and I should heal them" (12:40).

By the eyes which are blinded are signified the understanding and the faith of truth; by the heart which is hardened is signified the will and the love of good; and by being healed is signified to be reformed. The reason of their not being turned and healed was, lest they should profane; for the wicked man who is healed, and returns to his evil and falsity, profanes; and so it would have been with the Jewish nation.

[3] In Matthew:

"Blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear" (13:16).

By the eyes here also are signified the understanding and the faith of truth; thus, by seeing is signified to understand and believe, and by the ears is signified obedience, thus a life according to the truths of faith, and by hearing is signified to obey and live. For no one is blessed because he sees and hears, but because he understands, believes, obeys, and lives.

[4] In the same:

"The lamp of the body is the eye; if the eye be entire, the whole body is lucid; if the eye be evil, the whole body is darkened. If therefore the light be darkness, how great is the darkness" (6:22, 23).

Here, also, by the eye is signified the understanding and the faith of truth, which is called a lamp from the light of truth, which man has from understanding and faith. And because from the understanding and faith of truth a man becomes wise, it is said, if the eye be entire, the whole body is lucid. The body is the man, and to be lucid is to be wise. But it is the reverse with the evil eye, that is, the understanding and the faith of falsity. Darkness denotes falsities. If the light be darkness, signifies, if the truth be false or falsified. And because truth falsified is worse than every other falsity, it is said, if the light be darkness, how great is the darkness.

[5] From these few examples it is evident what correspondence and influx are, namely, that the eye is a correspondence of the understanding and faith; the heart, a correspondence of the will and love; the ears, a correspondence of obedience; the lamp and light, correspondences of truth; and darkness, a correspondence of the false, and so on. And because the one is spiritual, and the other natural, and the spiritual acts into the natural, and forms it to a likeness of itself that it may appear before the eyes, or before the world, therefore that action is influx. Such is the Word in all and every part.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.