The Bible

 

Hosea 4

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1 ἀκούσατε λόγον κυρίου υἱοὶ ισραηλ διότι κρίσις τῷ κυρίῳ πρὸς τοὺς κατοικοῦντας τὴν γῆν διότι οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλήθεια οὐδὲ ἔλεος οὐδὲ ἐπίγνωσις θεοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς

2 ἀρὰ καὶ ψεῦδος καὶ φόνος καὶ κλοπὴ καὶ μοιχεία κέχυται ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ αἵματα ἐφ' αἵμασιν μίσγουσιν

3 διὰ τοῦτο πενθήσει ἡ γῆ καὶ σμικρυνθήσεται σὺν πᾶσιν τοῖς κατοικοῦσιν αὐτήν σὺν τοῖς θηρίοις τοῦ ἀγροῦ καὶ σὺν τοῖς ἑρπετοῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ σὺν τοῖς πετεινοῖς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ οἱ ἰχθύες τῆς θαλάσσης ἐκλείψουσιν

4 ὅπως μηδεὶς μήτε δικάζηται μήτε ἐλέγχῃ μηδείς ὁ δὲ λαός μου ὡς ἀντιλεγόμενος ἱερεύς

5 καὶ ἀσθενήσεις ἡμέρας καὶ ἀσθενήσει καὶ προφήτης μετὰ σοῦ νυκτὶ ὡμοίωσα τὴν μητέρα σου

6 ὡμοιώθη ὁ λαός μου ὡς οὐκ ἔχων γνῶσιν ὅτι σὺ ἐπίγνωσιν ἀπώσω κἀγὼ ἀπώσομαι σὲ τοῦ μὴ ἱερατεύειν μοι καὶ ἐπελάθου νόμον θεοῦ σου κἀγὼ ἐπιλήσομαι τέκνων σου

7 κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος αὐτῶν οὕτως ἥμαρτόν μοι τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν εἰς ἀτιμίαν θήσομαι

8 ἁμαρτίας λαοῦ μου φάγονται καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἀδικίαις αὐτῶν λήμψονται τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτῶν

9 καὶ ἔσται καθὼς ὁ λαὸς οὕτως καὶ ὁ ἱερεύς καὶ ἐκδικήσω ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ διαβούλια αὐτοῦ ἀνταποδώσω αὐτῷ

10 καὶ φάγονται καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐμπλησθῶσιν ἐπόρνευσαν καὶ οὐ μὴ κατευθύνωσιν διότι τὸν κύριον ἐγκατέλιπον τοῦ φυλάξαι

11 πορνείαν καὶ οἶνον καὶ μέθυσμα ἐδέξατο καρδία λαοῦ μου

12 ἐν συμβόλοις ἐπηρώτων καὶ ἐν ῥάβδοις αὐτοῦ ἀπήγγελλον αὐτῷ πνεύματι πορνείας ἐπλανήθησαν καὶ ἐξεπόρνευσαν ἀπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ αὐτῶν

13 ἐπὶ τὰς κορυφὰς τῶν ὀρέων ἐθυσίαζον καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς βουνοὺς ἔθυον ὑποκάτω δρυὸς καὶ λεύκης καὶ δένδρου συσκιάζοντος ὅτι καλὸν σκέπη διὰ τοῦτο ἐκπορνεύσουσιν αἱ θυγατέρες ὑμῶν καὶ αἱ νύμφαι ὑμῶν μοιχεύσουσιν

14 καὶ οὐ μὴ ἐπισκέψωμαι ἐπὶ τὰς θυγατέρας ὑμῶν ὅταν πορνεύωσιν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς νύμφας ὑμῶν ὅταν μοιχεύωσιν διότι καὶ αὐτοὶ μετὰ τῶν πορνῶν συνεφύροντο καὶ μετὰ τῶν τετελεσμένων ἔθυον καὶ ὁ λαὸς ὁ συνίων συνεπλέκετο μετὰ πόρνης

15 σὺ δέ ισραηλ μὴ ἀγνόει καὶ ιουδα μὴ εἰσπορεύεσθε εἰς γαλγαλα καὶ μὴ ἀναβαίνετε εἰς τὸν οἶκον ων καὶ μὴ ὀμνύετε ζῶντα κύριον

16 ὅτι ὡς δάμαλις παροιστρῶσα παροίστρησεν ισραηλ νῦν νεμήσει αὐτοὺς κύριος ὡς ἀμνὸν ἐν εὐρυχώρῳ

17 μέτοχος εἰδώλων εφραιμ ἔθηκεν ἑαυτῷ σκάνδαλα

18 ᾑρέτισεν χαναναίους πορνεύοντες ἐξεπόρνευσαν ἠγάπησαν ἀτιμίαν ἐκ φρυάγματος αὐτῶν

19 συστροφὴ πνεύματος σὺ εἶ ἐν ταῖς πτέρυξιν αὐτῆς καὶ καταισχυνθήσονται ἐκ τῶν θυσιαστηρίων αὐτῶν

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #342

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342. I have talked with angels about little children, whether they are free from evils, inasmuch as they have no actual evil as adults have; and I was told that they are equally in evil, and in fact are nothing but evil; 1 but, like all angels, they are so withheld from evil and held in good by the Lord as to seem to themselves to be in good from themselves. For this reason when children have become adults in heaven, that they may not have the false idea about themselves that the good in them is from themselves and not from the Lord, they are now and then let down into their evils which they inherited, and are left in them until they know, acknowledge and believe the truth of the matter.

[2] There was one, the son of a king, who died in childhood and grew up in heaven, who held this opinion. Therefore he was let down into that life of evils into which he was born, and he then perceived from the sphere of his life that he had a disposition to domineer over others, and regarded adulteries as of no account; these evils he had inherited from his parents; but after he had been brought to recognize his real character he was again received among the angels with whom he had before been associated.

[3] In the other life no one ever suffers punishment on account of his inherited evil, because it is not his evil, that is, it is not his fault that he is such; he suffers only on account of actual evil that is his, that is, only so far as he has appropriated to himself inherited evil by actual life. When, therefore, the children that have become adults are let down into the state of their inherited evil it is not that they may suffer punishment for it, but that they may learn that of themselves they are nothing but evil, and that it is by the mercy of the Lord that they are taken up into heaven from the hell in which they are, and that it is from the Lord that they are in heaven and not from any merit of their own; and therefore they may not boast before others of the good that is in them, since this is contrary to the good of mutual love, as it is contrary to the truth of faith.

Footnotes:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] All kinds of men are born into evils of every kind, even to the extent that what is their own is nothing but evil (Arcana Coelestia 210, 215, 731, 874-876, 987, 1047, 2307-2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283-10284, 10286, 10731).

Consequently man must needs be reborn, that is, regenerated (3701).

Man's inherited evil consists in his loving himself more than God, and the world more than heaven and in making his neighbor, in comparison with himself, of no account, except for the sake of self, that is, himself alone, thus it consists in the love of self and of the world (694, 731, 4317, 5660).

All evils are from the love of self and of the world, when those loves rule (1307-1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7490, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742).

These evils are contempt of others, enmity, hatred revenge, cruelty, deceit (6667, 7370-7374, 9348, 10038, 10742).

And from these evils comes all falsity (1047, 10283-10284, 10286). These loves, so far as the reins are given them, rush headlong; and the love of self aspires even to the throne of God (7375, 8678).

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