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 #343

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343. Unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, signifies the Lord in respect to Divine good and to Divine truth. This is evident from what has been said and shown above n. 297, namely, that "throne" signifies heaven; "Him that sitteth upon the throne" Divine good proceeding, and "the Lamb" Divine truth proceeding, both of these filling the heavens and constituting them. Because Divine good proceeding from the Lord as a sun is received by the angels in His celestial kingdom, and Divine truth by the angels in the spiritual kingdom, therefore two are mentioned, namely, "He that sitteth upon the throne" and "the Lamb;" but in the internal sense, the two mean the Divine Proceeding from the Lord's Divine Human, which is Divine good united to Divine truth, while in the sense of the letter it is distinguished into two for the sake of reception. The Divine that constitutes heaven and gives to angels and men love, faith, wisdom, and intelligence, proceeds not immediately from the Lord's Divine Itself, but through His Divine Human, and this Divine that proceeds is the Holy Spirit (See above, n. 183).

[2] In this way it is to be understood what the doctrine of the church teaches, that the Son proceeds from the Father, and the Holy Spirit through the Son, also that the Lord's Divine and His Human are not two, but a single person or one Christ; for the Lord's Divine is that which assumed the Human, and for that reason He called it His Father; thus He did not call Father another Divine which is at this day worshiped as His Father in place of His own Divine. And the Divine Proceeding is what is called the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Truth, and the Paraclete; since this is the holy of the Spirit, or the holy Divine which the Spirit speaks, and not another Divine, which is worshiped as the third person of the Divinity. That this is so all can understand who are in any light of heaven. And yet it is declared in many places from the doctrine of the Trinity that was given by Athanasius, that the three are one. Let anyone examine himself when he says with the mouth that God is one, whether he does not think of three, when yet there is but one God, and the three names of the Divine are names of the one God. Athanasius, because he did not understand this, believed the three names to be three Gods, though one in essence.

[3] And yet they cannot be said to be one in essence when something is attributed to one and not to another, for thus the essence is divided; consequently a personal name is given to each essence. But they are one essence when the three are names of one person, namely, the Divine Itself, called the Father; the Divine Human, called the Son; and the Divine Proceeding, called the Holy Spirit (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 280-310). These things have been said to show that "He that sitteth upon the throne," and "the Lamb," do not mean two but one, namely, the Lord in respect to the Divine Proceeding.

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

The Bible

 

Revelation 5

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1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.