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 Revealed #960

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960. 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! This symbolizes the Lord, who presented the visions in the book of Revelation and has now laid the book open, testifying to the gospel that He is coming as a bridegroom and husband in His Divine humanity which He assumed in the world and glorified, and that the church longs for Him as His bride and wife.

The Lord says before this, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches" (verse 16 in this chapter), which symbolizes a testification by the Lord before the whole Christian world of the truth that the Lord alone has presented the visions described in this book, and that their meaning is now disclosed (see no. 953 above). It is apparent from this that He who testifies to these things, saying, symbolizes the Lord testifying, who has presented the visions in the book of Revelation and has now laid the book open. He is testifying to the gospel stated because He here announces His coming, His kingdom, and His spiritual marriage with the church; for the verse says, "'Surely I am coming quickly.' Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" and the gospel symbolizes the Lord's coming to His kingdom. See nos. 478, 553, 626, 664. It includes here His coming to a spiritual marriage with the church, because this New Church is called His bride and wife, and the Lord its bridegroom and husband (see chapters 19:7-9; 21:2, 9-10, and 22:17). And here, at the end of the book, the Lord speaks and the church speaks, like a bridegroom and bride. The Lord says, "Surely I am coming quickly. Amen." And the church says, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!" These are the words of a betrothal looking to a spiritual marriage.

That the Lord will come in His Divine humanity which He assumed in the world and glorified is clear from the fact that He calls Himself Jesus and says that He is the Root and the Offspring of David (verse 16), while the church here says, "Come, Lord Jesus!" See nos. 953 and 954 above.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

The Bible

 

Deuteronomy 12:5

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5 But unto the place which the LORD your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come: