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

 

Divine Providence #263

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263. For a clearer view of all this, I may add some material presented at the close of Teachings for the New Jerusalem on the Lord 60-61, as follows.

It is quite clear from many things that the Lord said that God and Human in him are not two but are one, as the theology says, and are completely one, like soul and body. He said, for example, that the Father and he are one [John 10:30], that whatever belongs to the Father is his and that whatever belongs to him is the Father's [John 16:15], that he is in the Father and the Father in him [John 14:10], that everything has been given into his hand [John 3:35], that he has all power [Matthew 28:18], that he is God of heaven and earth, that everyone who believes in him has eternal life [John 3:15], and that the wrath of God rests on everyone who does not believe in him. He says further that both the divine and the human have been raised up into heaven, and in regard to both he is sitting at the right hand of God (that is, he is omnipotent), and more passages from the Word about his divine human nature that have already been cited in abundance. All of this material bears witness to the fact that God is one in both person and essence, containing a trinity, and that this God is the Lord.

[2] The reason this information about the Lord is only now being made public is that it was foretold in chapters 21 and 22 of the Book of Revelation that a new church would be established at the close of the former one, a church in which this would be fundamental. This church is what "the New Jerusalem" means in those chapters, where no one will enter except those who recognize the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, which is why that church is called "the Lamb's bride." I am able to proclaim that the whole heaven believes in the Lord alone and that anyone who does not believe this is not allowed into heaven. Heaven is heaven because of the Lord. It is this belief, held in love and in faith, that puts us in the Lord and the Lord in us, as he tells us in John: "In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you" (John 14:20); and "Abide in me, and I in you. I am the vine, you are the branches; all who abide in me, and I in them, bear abundant fruit, for without me you cannot do anything. Whoever does not abide in me is cast out" (John 15:4-5, 6; John 17:22-23).

[3] The reason this has not been seen in the Word before is that if it had been seen any earlier it would not have been accepted. The last judgment had not yet been completed; and until that happened, hell was stronger than heaven. We are in the middle, between heaven and hell; so if we had seen this any earlier, the devil--hell, that is--would have snatched it from our hearts and would have profaned it as well.

This state of hell's power was shattered by the Last Judgment, which has now been completed. Once that was done, in other words now, anyone who wants to be enlightened and wise can be.

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