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 #358

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358. And a crown was given [unto Him], signifies eternal life which is the reward of victory. This is evident from the signification of "crown," as being, when spiritual combat is treated of, as here, eternal life which is the reward of victory. That spiritual combat is here treated of is evident from what precedes and follows; in what precedes it is said that "He that sat upon the white horse had a bow," and "a bow" signifies the doctrine of charity and faith, from which one fights against evils and falsities and disperses them. It is also evident from what follows, in which it is said, "and He went forth conquering and that He might conquer," by which is signified victory over evils and falsities; therefore "crown" here signifies eternal life, which is the reward of victory.

[2] "Crown" has a similar signification where temptations are treated of, because temptations are spiritual combats, as in the second chapter of this book, where these words occur:

Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have affliction ten days; be thou faithful even till death, and I will give thee the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).

Here "crown" signifies wisdom and eternal happiness, as may be seen above n. 126. Wisdom and eternal happiness taken together are eternal life, for the very life of heaven is in wisdom and eternal happiness. The "crown" of the martyrs has a like signification because they were in affliction, and were "faithful even till death," and were also in temptations and conquered; moreover, after death crowns were given them; but lest they should on that account appropriate honor to themselves, and thus acquire haughtiness, they cast them off from their heads.

[3] Because in the Word "wars" signify wars in a spiritual sense which are combats against evils and falsities, and "kings" signify truths from good which fight against evils and falsities, in ancient times, when men had a knowledge of correspondences and representations, kings in their battles wore a crown upon the head, and a bracelet upon the arm, as can be seen in the second book of Samuel:

The young man, the son of an Amalekite, who told David that Saul and Jonathan were dead, said, I came upon Mount Gilboa, when behold, Saul leaned upon his spear; and the chariots and leaders followed hard after him. And he said to me, Come and put me to death. And I stood against him, and put him to death, and I took the crown that was upon his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and I bring them to thee (2 Samuel 1:6, 8-10).

A crown in battle has then a sign of combat, and a bracelet upon the arm was a sign of power, each against evils and falsities. These combats are also signified by battles everywhere in the Word, even in the historical parts. (That "bracelet upon the arm" signifies the power of truth from good, see Arcana Coelestia 3105. What further "crowns of kings" and "crowns" in general signify, see above, n. 272)

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

The Bible

 

Revelation 6

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1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

3 And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?