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

 

The Last Judgement #2

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2. The passages in the Word which mention the destruction of heaven and earth are as follows:

Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down upon the earth. The heavens shall perish like smoke, and the earth like a worn-out garment. Isaiah 51:6.

Lo, I will create new heavens and a new earth, and the former ones will not be mentioned. Isaiah 65:17.

I will make new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 66:22.

The stars of heaven fell to earth, and the heaven departed like a scroll which is rolled up. Revelation 6:13-14.

I saw a mighty throne and one sitting on it, earth and heaven fled from his gaze, and their place was found no more. Revelation 20:11.

I saw a new heaven and a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth had gone away. Revelation 21:1.

In these passages a new heaven does not mean the sky we see with our eyes, but the real heaven, where the human race is gathered. For heaven is a collection of the whole human race right from the beginning of the Christian church; but those in it were not angels, but spirits from various religious bodies. This is what is meant by the first heaven which is to be destroyed; but how this can be, I shall explain in more detail in what follows. At this point it is merely mentioned so that it may be known what is meant by the first heaven which is to be destroyed. Anyone indeed whose thoughts are at all enlightened can see that it is not the starry sky, the immense firmament of creation, which is meant, but heaven in the spiritual sense, where the angels and spirits are.

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