The Bible

 

1 Mosebok 2

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1 Så blev himmelen og jorden med hele sin hær fullendt.

2 Og Gud fullendte på den syvende dag det verk som han hadde gjort, og han hvilte på den syvende dag fra all den gjerning som han hadde gjort.

3 Og Gud velsignet den syvende dag og helliget den; for på den hvilte han fra all sin gjerning, den som Gud gjorde da han skapte.

4 Dette er himmelens og jordens historie, da de blev skapt, den tid da Gud Herren gjorde jord og himmel:

5 Det var ennu ingen markens busk på jorden, og ingen markens urt var ennu vokset frem; for Gud Herren hadde ikke latt det regne på jorden, og der var intet menneske til å dyrke jorden.

6 Da steg det op en damp av jorden og vannet hele jordens overflate.

7 Og Gud Herren dannet mennesket av jordens muld og blåste livets ånde i hans nese; og mennesket blev til en levende sjel.

8 Og Gud Herren plantet en have i Eden, i Østen, og der satte han mennesket som han hadde dannet.

9 Og Gud Herren lot trær av alle slag vokse op av jorden, prektige å se til og gode å ete av, og midt i haven livsens tre og treet til kunnskap om godt og ondt.

10 Og det gikk en elv ut fra Eden og vannet haven; og siden delte den sig i fire strømmer.

11 Den første heter Pison; det er den som løper omkring hele landet Havila, der hvor det er gull.

12 Og gullet i dette land er godt; der er bdellium* og onyks-stenen. / {* et slags velluktende gummi.}

13 Den annen elv heter Gihon; det er den som løper omkring hele landet Kus.

14 Den tredje elv heter Hiddekel; det er den som går østenfor Assur. Og den fjerde elv er Frat.

15 Og Gud Herren tok mennesket og satte ham i Edens have til å dyrke og vokte den.

16 Og Gud Herren bød mennesket: Du må fritt ete av alle trær i haven;

17 men treet til kunnskap om godt og ondt, det må du ikke ete av; for på den dag du eter av det, skal du visselig .

18 Og Gud Herren sa: Det er ikke godt at mennesket er alene; jeg vil gjøre ham en medhjelp som er hans like.

19 Og Gud Herren hadde dannet av jorden alle dyr på marken og alle fugler under himmelen, og han ledet dem til mennesket for å se hvad han vilde kalle dem; og som mennesket kalte hver levende skapning, så skulde den hete.

20 Så gav mennesket navn til alt feet og fuglene under himmelen og alle ville dyr; men for et menneske fant han ingen medhjelp som var hans like.

21 Da lot Gud Herren en dyp søvn falle på mennesket, og mens han sov, tok han et av hans ribben og fylte igjen med kjøtt.

22 Og Gud Herren bygget av det ribben han hadde tatt av mennesket, en kvinne og ledet henne til mennesket.

23 Da sa mennesket: Dette er endelig ben av mine ben og kjøtt av mitt kjøtt; hun skal kalles manninne, for av mannen er hun tatt.

24 Derfor skal mannen forlate sin far og sin mor og bli hos sin hustru, og de skal være ett kjød.

25 Og de var nakne både Adam og hans hustru, men bluedes ikke.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8935

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8935. 'An altar of soil you shall make for Me' means something which in a general way represents worship that springs from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'an altar' as the chief representative of the Lord and consequently of the worship of Him, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4489, 4541; and from the meaning of 'soil' or 'the ground' as good. The reason why 'the ground' stands for good is that a Church which abides in good is meant by 'the ground', 566. This is why Adam was said to be formed from the ground, at Genesis 2:7; 3:19; for one who belonged to the celestial Church, that is, the Church itself abiding in good, was meant by him, 478, 479. Since there are two entities that inspire worship of the Lord - goodness and truth - worship springing from good was represented by an altar of soil, while worship springing from truth was represented by an altar of stones. Both kinds of altars are the subject here; and those two entities that inspire worship are called faith and charity. Worship springing from truth has connection with faith, and worship springing from good has connection with charity.

[2] As regards worship inspired by faith and worship inspired by charity, or that which springs from truth and that which springs from good, the situation is that before a person has been regenerated his worship consists of truth, but after he has been regenerated it consists of good. Before a person has been regenerated he is led by means of truth to good, that is, by means of faith to charity; but when he has been regenerated he abides in good and consequently in truth, that is, in charity and consequently in faith, 8516, 8539, 8643, 8648, 8658. These two kinds of worship are what the altars of soil and of stone represent. The reason why the altar is the chief representative of worship of the Lord is that burnt offerings and sacrifices were offered on it; and it was in these that the worship of God by the Hebrew nation, and subsequently by the Israelite and Jewish nation, chiefly consisted, 923, 1343, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519, 6405.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #940

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940. The majority in this hell are Jews who have been disgustingly avaricious, and when they come among other spirits their presence is detected as the stench of mice. While on the subject of Jews let some account of their cities and of the robbers in the desert be given to show how wretched their condition is after death, that is to say, the condition of those who have been disgustingly avaricious and who, because of the arrogance bred into them, have looked down on others and imagined that they alone were the elect.

[2] As a result of their having conceived and confirmed for themselves during their lifetime the false notion that they would enter into Jerusalem and would possess the Holy Land - not wishing to know that by the New Jerusalem is meant the Lord's kingdom in heaven and on earth - a city appears to them when they enter the next life on the left side of Gehenna and a little to the front. Into the city they stream in solid masses. That city however is muddy and stinking, and is therefore called the filthy Jerusalem. There they rush in all directions through its streets, ankle-deep in sludge and mud, wailing and lamenting as they do so. This city, including its streets, they see with their eyes; it is a representation to them, as in clear daylight, of the kind of people they are. I have indeed seen that city frequently.

[3] A swarthy person coming out of this filthy Jerusalem once appeared before me, the gate seeming to be opened. Roving around him, chiefly on his left side, there were stars - in the world of spirits stars roving around a spirit mean falsities; the meaning is different when the stars are not roving around. He came up to me and pressed himself to the upper part of my left ear which he seemingly touched with his mouth so as to speak to me. No sound came from him as from others when he spoke; instead he spoke within himself, yet his speech was such that I heard and understood. He said that he was a Jewish rabbi and had been in that muddy city for a long time. He also said that the streets of the city were nothing but sludge and mud wherever you went, and that there was nothing else but muck to eat.

[4] I asked why it was so that he, being a spirit, should desire to eat at all. He said that he did eat, and when he desired to eat, he was offered nothing other than muck, which he moaned about exceedingly. Saying that he had not found Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he asked what he ought therefore to do. I told him certain facts concerning these three, and added that he was seeking them in vain. Even when he found them, I said, they could be no possible help whatever. In addition to mentioning other deeper matters I said that nobody at all ought to be sought except the Lord alone, who is the Messiah whom during their lifetime these Jews had rejected with contempt. I went on to say that He rules the whole heaven and the whole earth, and that help comes from none other. He asked eagerly and repeatedly, 'Where is He?' I said that He is found everywhere, and that He hears and knows us all. But at that point some other Jewish spirits dragged him away.

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