The Bible

 

Lamentations 3

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1 ἐγὼ ἀνὴρ ὁ βλέπων πτωχείαν ἐν ῥάβδῳ θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ἐμέ

2 παρέλαβέν με καὶ ἀπήγαγεν εἰς σκότος καὶ οὐ φῶς

3 πλὴν ἐν ἐμοὶ ἐπέστρεψεν χεῖρα αὐτοῦ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν

4 ἐπαλαίωσεν σάρκας μου καὶ δέρμα μου ὀστέα μου συνέτριψεν

5 ἀνῳκοδόμησεν κατ' ἐμοῦ καὶ ἐκύκλωσεν κεφαλήν μου καὶ ἐμόχθησεν

6 ἐν σκοτεινοῖς ἐκάθισέν με ὡς νεκροὺς αἰῶνος

7 ἀνῳκοδόμησεν κατ' ἐμοῦ καὶ οὐκ ἐξελεύσομαι ἐβάρυνεν χαλκόν μου

8 καί γε κεκράξομαι καὶ βοήσω ἀπέφραξεν προσευχήν μου

9 ἀνῳκοδόμησεν ὁδούς μου ἐνέφραξεν τρίβους μου ἐτάραξεν

10 ἄρκος ἐνεδρεύουσα αὐτός μοι λέων ἐν κρυφαίοις

11 κατεδίωξεν ἀφεστηκότα καὶ κατέπαυσέν με ἔθετό με ἠφανισμένην

12 ἐνέτεινεν τόξον αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐστήλωσέν με ὡς σκοπὸν εἰς βέλος

13 εἰσήγαγεν τοῖς νεφροῖς μου ἰοὺς φαρέτρας αὐτοῦ

14 ἐγενήθην γέλως παντὶ λαῷ μου ψαλμὸς αὐτῶν ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν

15 ἐχόρτασέν με πικρίας ἐμέθυσέν με χολῆς

16 καὶ ἐξέβαλεν ψήφῳ ὀδόντας μου ἐψώμισέν με σποδόν

17 καὶ ἀπώσατο ἐξ εἰρήνης ψυχήν μου ἐπελαθόμην ἀγαθὰ

18 καὶ εἶπα ἀπώλετο νεῖκός μου καὶ ἡ ἐλπίς μου ἀπὸ κυρίου

19 ἐμνήσθην ἀπὸ πτωχείας μου καὶ ἐκ διωγμοῦ μου πικρίας καὶ χολῆς μου

20 μνησθήσεται καὶ καταδολεσχήσει ἐπ' ἐμὲ ἡ ψυχή μου

21 ταύτην τάξω εἰς τὴν καρδίαν μου διὰ τοῦτο ὑπομενῶ

25 ἀγαθὸς κύριος τοῖς ὑπομένουσιν αὐτόν ψυχῇ ἣ ζητήσει αὐτὸν ἀγαθὸν

26 καὶ ὑπομενεῖ καὶ ἡσυχάσει εἰς τὸ σωτήριον κυρίου

27 ἀγαθὸν ἀνδρὶ ὅταν ἄρῃ ζυγὸν ἐν νεότητι αὐτοῦ

28 καθήσεται κατὰ μόνας καὶ σιωπήσεται ὅτι ἦρεν ἐφ' ἑαυτῷ

30 δώσει τῷ παίοντι αὐτὸν σιαγόνα χορτασθήσεται ὀνειδισμῶν

31 ὅτι οὐκ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα ἀπώσεται κύριος

32 ὅτι ὁ ταπεινώσας οἰκτιρήσει κατὰ τὸ πλῆθος τοῦ ἐλέους αὐτοῦ

33 ὅτι οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη ἀπὸ καρδίας αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐταπείνωσεν υἱοὺς ἀνδρός

34 τοῦ ταπεινῶσαι ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ πάντας δεσμίους γῆς

35 τοῦ ἐκκλῖναι κρίσιν ἀνδρὸς κατέναντι προσώπου ὑψίστου

36 καταδικάσαι ἄνθρωπον ἐν τῷ κρίνεσθαι αὐτὸν κύριος οὐκ εἶπεν

37 τίς οὕτως εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθη κύριος οὐκ ἐνετείλατο

38 ἐκ στόματος ὑψίστου οὐκ ἐξελεύσεται τὰ κακὰ καὶ τὸ ἀγαθόν

39 τί γογγύσει ἄνθρωπος ζῶν ἀνὴρ περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας αὐτοῦ

40 ἐξηρευνήθη ἡ ὁδὸς ἡμῶν καὶ ἠτάσθη καὶ ἐπιστρέψωμεν ἕως κυρίου

41 ἀναλάβωμεν καρδίας ἡμῶν ἐπὶ χειρῶν πρὸς ὑψηλὸν ἐν οὐρανῷ

42 ἡμαρτήσαμεν ἠσεβήσαμεν καὶ οὐχ ἱλάσθης

43 ἐπεσκέπασας ἐν θυμῷ καὶ ἀπεδίωξας ἡμᾶς ἀπέκτεινας οὐκ ἐφείσω

44 ἐπεσκέπασας νεφέλην σεαυτῷ εἵνεκεν προσευχῆς

45 καμμύσαι με καὶ ἀπωσθῆναι ἔθηκας ἡμᾶς ἐν μέσῳ τῶν λαῶν

46 διήνοιξαν ἐφ' ἡμᾶς τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν πάντες οἱ ἐχθροὶ ἡμῶν

47 φόβος καὶ θυμὸς ἐγενήθη ἡμῖν ἔπαρσις καὶ συντριβή

48 ἀφέσεις ὑδάτων κατάξει ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐπὶ τὸ σύντριμμα τῆς θυγατρὸς τοῦ λαοῦ μου

49 ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου κατεπόθη καὶ οὐ σιγήσομαι τοῦ μὴ εἶναι ἔκνηψιν

50 ἕως οὗ διακύψῃ καὶ ἴδῃ κύριος ἐξ οὐρανοῦ

51 ὁ ὀφθαλμός μου ἐπιφυλλιεῖ ἐπὶ τὴν ψυχήν μου παρὰ πάσας θυγατέρας πόλεως

52 θηρεύοντες ἐθήρευσάν με ὡς στρουθίον οἱ ἐχθροί μου δωρεάν

53 ἐθανάτωσαν ἐν λάκκῳ ζωήν μου καὶ ἐπέθηκαν λίθον ἐπ' ἐμοί

54 ὑπερεχύθη ὕδωρ ἐπὶ κεφαλήν μου εἶπα ἀπῶσμαι

55 ἐπεκαλεσάμην τὸ ὄνομά σου κύριε ἐκ λάκκου κατωτάτου

56 φωνήν μου ἤκουσας μὴ κρύψῃς τὰ ὦτά σου εἰς τὴν δέησίν μου

57 εἰς τὴν βοήθειάν μου ἤγγισας ἐν ᾗ σε ἡμέρᾳ ἐπεκαλεσάμην εἶπάς μοι μὴ φοβοῦ

58 ἐδίκασας κύριε τὰς δίκας τῆς ψυχῆς μου ἐλυτρώσω τὴν ζωήν μου

59 εἶδες κύριε τὰς ταραχάς μου ἔκρινας τὴν κρίσιν μου

60 εἶδες πᾶσαν τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αὐτῶν εἰς πάντας διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν ἐν ἐμοί

61 ἤκουσας τὸν ὀνειδισμὸν αὐτῶν πάντας τοὺς διαλογισμοὺς αὐτῶν κατ' ἐμοῦ

62 χείλη ἐπανιστανομένων μοι καὶ μελέτας αὐτῶν κατ' ἐμοῦ ὅλην τὴν ἡμέραν

63 καθέδραν αὐτῶν καὶ ἀνάστασιν αὐτῶν ἐπίβλεψον ἐπὶ τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτῶν

64 ἀποδώσεις αὐτοῖς ἀνταπόδομα κύριε κατὰ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῶν

65 ἀποδώσεις αὐτοῖς ὑπερασπισμὸν καρδίας μόχθον σου αὐτοῖς

66 καταδιώξεις ἐν ὀργῇ καὶ ἐξαναλώσεις αὐτοὺς ὑποκάτω τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κύριε

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #410

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410. The name of the star is Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood. (8:11) This symbolizes hellish falsity, the origin of their personal intelligence, by which they had falsified all the Word's truths.

The star symbolizes their personal intelligence owing to a conceit arising from a hellish love (no. 408). The name symbolizes its character (nos. 81, 122, 165). Wormwood symbolizes hellish falsity, which we will consider next. Waters symbolize truths (no. 50), here the Word's truths, because the subject is faith. A third means, symbolically, all, as said before. Gathering these into a single meaning yields the meaning presented above.

As for wormwood, it symbolizes hellish falsity because of its extreme bitterness, which renders foods and beverages unpalatable. Wormwood symbolizes such falsity, therefore, in the following places:

Behold, I feed... this people with wormwood, and will give them water of gall to drink. (Jeremiah 9:14-15)

...thus says Jehovah... against the prophets: Behold, I feed them with wormwood, and will make them drink water of gall; for from the prophets of Jerusalem hypocrisy has gone out into all the land. (Jeremiah 23:15)

...you turn justice into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. (Amos 6:12, cf. 5:7)

...that there may not be among you a root bearing gall or wormwood. (Deuteronomy 29:18)

Since the Jewish Church falsified all the Word's truths, like the church which is the subject here, and the Lord represented it by all the events of His suffering, by permitting the Jews to treat Him as they had the Word, because He embodied the Word, therefore "they gave Him vinegar mingled with gall," which is like wormwood, "but when He had tasted it, He would not drink" (Matthew 27:34, Mark 15:23, cf. Psalms 69:21).

As that was the character of the Jewish Church, it is therefore described in this way:

He has filled me with bitterness, (and) He has made me drunk on wormwood. (Lamentations 3:15, 19)

  
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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.