The Bible

 

Revelation 21

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1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,

11 Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;

12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:

13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.

14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.

17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

18 And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.

19 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

25 And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.

26 And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #1063

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1063. (Verse 10) And they are seven kings. That this signifies also the truths of the Word falsified and profaned by them, is evident from the signification of kings, as denoting the truths of the Word (see (n. 29, 31, 625, 1034). And from its being said seven, as relating to what is holy, and in the opposite sense to what is profane. Whence it follows, that by seven kings are signified the truths of the Word falsified and profaned. The reason why they are signified by seven kings is, that by the seven mountains, mentioned just above, are signified the goods of the Word adulterated and profaned. For in the Word where good is treated of, truth is also treated of, because of the heavenly marriage, which is the marriage of good and truth in all its details (concerning which see above, n. 238, 660, 775).

[2] He who does not know that by kings, in the Word, are signified truths, can never know what is meant by kings in many passages in the Word.

As in Daniel, where it is also said that the heads and horns of the beasts are kings or kingdoms. As also in the Apocalypse (16:12, 14; 18:3; 19:19; 21:24), and elsewhere.

And in this chapter:

The seven heads are seven kings. Five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and the beast that was, and is not, he is the eighth king, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns are ten kings, which have not yet received a kingdom; and more things that follow.

For if kings were here meant by kings, it could not be conjectured what is meant by such words. But when it is known, that by kings are signified the truths of the Word and the truths of the church therefrom, it is quite evident what is meant. But in this case, also, by the numbers are not meant so many truths, but such truths as are signified by the number in the spiritual sense. For if seven truths were signified by seven kings, and five truths by the five kings who fell, also ten truths by the ten kings and as many horns, then there could be no spiritual sense involved. Therefore in every case it must be observed that all numbers, in the Word, signify the qualities of the things described.

Continuation concerning the fourth kind of Profanation:-

[3] In this kind of profanation are those especially who read the Word, and have knowledge concerning the Lord; because from the Lord through the Word are all the holy things that are capable of being profaned; the things not therefrom cannot be profaned. That is called profane which is opposed to what is holy, and which offers violence to what is holy, and destroys it. It therefore follows that those who do not read the Word, and do not approach the Lord, as is the case with the Roman Catholics, are not in this kind of profanation; still less, those who have no knowledge of the Lord, or of the Word, as is the case with the Gentiles.

Those who are in this kind of profanation, after death, appear, at first, with a face of human colour, around which float many wandering stars. And those of this kind, who were Prelates, sometimes appear to have a shining mouth. But when they are brought into the light of heaven, the stars and the shining of the mouth disappear, and the colour of the face is turned into black; and the same is the case with their garments. But the blackness of these profaners is of a blueish tinge, whereas the blackness of the former kind of profaners is of a reddish colour. This is because the latter profane the goods of the Word and of the church, but the former, the truths thereof. For red, as being derived from the sun, signifies good, and blue, as being derived from the sky, signifies truth.

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