The Bible

 

Revelation 22

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1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:

4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.

5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.

6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.

7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.

9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.

10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.

11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst Come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #269

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269. And a rainbow was round about the throne in aspect like an emerald, signifies the appearance of Divine truth in the heavens about the Lord. This is evident from the signification of "a rainbow in aspect like an emerald," as denoting the appearance of Divine truth in its circumference; for "a rainbow round about the throne" signifies Divine truth round about; "in aspect like" signifies appearance. The appearance was like an emerald, because it had reference to the Last Judgment; for the color of this stone is green, and "green" signifies truth obscured. Divine truth in its brightness appears either of the color of heaven, or in various colors in beautiful order like a rainbow; but when obscured it appears of the color of an emerald. The heaven that was obscured was the heaven called "the former heaven," on which judgment was to be executed, and which was about to perish (See Revelation 21:1). On this account "a rainbow round about like an emerald" is mentioned. "Rainbow" signifies Divine truth in the heavens in its order and consequently in its beauty, because there are infinite varieties of truth from good in the heavens, and when these are represented by colors, they present the aspect of a most beautiful rainbow. For this reason "a rainbow" was made the sign of the covenant after the flood (Genesis 9:12-17). (That there are infinite varieties in the heavens see in the work on Heaven and Hell 56, 405, 418, 486; and in the small work onThe Last Judgment 13; and in Arcana Coelestia 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236, 7833, 7836, 9002; that colors in heaven appear from the light there, and that they are modifications and variegations of the light, n. 1042, 1043, 1053, 1624, 3993, 4530, 4742, 4922; and that the colors appear various according to the varieties of the states of truth from good, and thence of intelligence and wisdom, n. 4530, 4677, 4922, 9466; that rainbows are seen in heaven, and whence and what they are, n. 1042, 1043, 1623-1625)

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #486

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486. All the delights that a man has are the delights of his ruling love, for he feels nothing to be delightful except what he loves, thus especially that which he loves above all things. It is the same whether you say the ruling love or that which he loves above all things. These delights are various. In general, there are as many as there are ruling loves; consequently as many as there are men, spirits, and angels; for the ruling love of one is not in every respect like that of another. For this reason no one has a face exactly like that of any other; for each one's face is an image of his mind; and in the spiritual world it is an image of his ruling love. In particular, every one's delights are of infinite variety. It is impossible for any one delight to be exactly like another, or the same as another, either those that follow one after another or those that exist together at the same time, no one ever being the same as another. Nevertheless, the particular delights with everyone have reference to his one love, which is his ruling love, for they compose it and thus make one with it. Likewise all delights in general have reference to one universally ruling love, which in heaven is love to the Lord, and in hell is the love of self.

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