The Bible

 

Matthew 7

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1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.

2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

9 Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone?

10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

12 Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

13 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9143

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9143. 'When fire breaks out' means anger arising from an affection for evil. This is clear from the meaning of 'fire' as love, at this point the love of evil and an affection for it, dealt with just above in 9141. The term 'affection for evil' is used because an extension from love is meant by an affection. The reason why 'fire' means anger arising from an affection for evil is that anger has its origin in that affection. For when that which a person loves is attacked fiery passion erupts and so to speak burns in him. This is the reason why anger is described in the Word as 'fire' and is said to be 'burning', as in David,

Smoke went up out of His nose, and fire out of His mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from Him. Psalms 18:8.

In the same author,

Kiss the Son lest He be angry, for His anger will shortly blaze up. Psalms 2:12.

In Isaiah,

Who among us will dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us will dwell with the hearths of eternity? Isaiah 33:14.

In the same prophet,

He poured out on him the wrath of His anger; He set him on fire round about, and he made no acknowledgement; He burned him, and yet he did not take it to heart. Isaiah 42:25.

In the same prophet,

Behold, Jehovah will come in fire, and His chariots will be like a whirlwind, to requite in the wrath of His anger; and His rebuke [will come] in flames of fire. Isaiah 66:15.

In Moses,

I looked back and came down from the mountain, when the mountain was burning with fire. I was extremely afraid on account of the anger and wrath with which Jehovah was angry with you. 1 Deuteronomy 9:15, 19.

In these and many other places 'fire' is used to describe anger. And 'anger' is attributed to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord; but in fact it resides with man, 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483. The Lord appeared on Mount Sinai to the Israelite people in a way suited to the kind of people they were, therefore in fire, smoke, and thick darkness, see 6832. But it should be remembered that anger is fire bursting out from an affection for evil, whereas zeal is fire bursting out from an affection for good, 4164, 4444, 8598. Therefore 'fire' is also used to describe zeal, in Moses,

Jehovah your God is a devouring fire, a zealous 2 God. Deuteronomy 4:24.

And in Zephaniah,

I will pour out onto them all the wrath of My anger, because in the fire of My zeal the whole earth will be destroyed. Zephaniah 3:8.

'The zeal of Jehovah' is love and mercy, but it is called anger because it is seen by the evil as anger when they incur the punishment of their evil, 8875.

Footnotes:

1. The Latin means us but the Hebrew means you.

2. or jealous

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

The Bible

 

Isaiah 36

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1 Now it happened in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah, that Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all of the fortified cities of Judah, and captured them.

2 The king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to king Hezekiah with a large army. He stood by the aqueduct from the upper pool in the fuller's field highway.

3 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder came out to him.

4 Rabshakeh said to them, "Now tell Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria, "What confidence is this in which you trust?

5 I say that your counsel and strength for the war are only vain words. Now in whom do you trust, that you have rebelled against me?

6 Behold, you trust in the staff of this bruised reed, even in Egypt, which if a man leans on it, it will go into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

7 But if you tell me, 'We trust in Yahweh our God,' isn't that he whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah has taken away, and has said to Judah and to Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar?'"

8 Now therefore, please make a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

9 How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

10 Have I come up now without Yahweh against this land to destroy it? Yahweh said to me, "Go up against this land, and destroy it."'"

11 Then Eliakim, Shebna and Joah said to Rabshakeh, "Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, for we understand it; and don't speak to us in the Jews' language in the hearing of the people who are on the wall."

12 But Rabshakeh said, "Has my master sent me only to your master and to you, to speak these words, and not to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?"

13 Then Rabshakeh stood, and called out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said, "Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria!

14 Thus says the king, 'Don't let Hezekiah deceive you; for he will not be able to deliver you.

15 Don't let Hezekiah make you trust in Yahweh, saying, "Yahweh will surely deliver us. This city won't be given into the hand of the king of Assyria."'

16 Don't listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and each of you eat from his vine, and each one from his fig tree, and each one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;

17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards.

18 Beware lest Hezekiah persuade you, saying, "Yahweh will deliver us." Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria?

19 Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?

20 Who are they among all the gods of these countries that have delivered their country out of my hand, that Yahweh should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?'"

21 But they remained silent, and said nothing in reply, for the king's commandment was, "Don't answer him."

22 Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and told him the words of Rabshakeh.