The Bible

 

Danilo 4

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1 Car Navuhodonosor svim narodima, plemenima i jezicima što su po svoj zemlji, mir da vam se umnoži.

2 Svide mi se da objavim znake i čudesa što mi učini Bog Višnji.

3 Znaci Njegovi kako su veliki! I čudesa Njegova kako su silna! Carstvo je Njegovo carstvo večno, i vlast Njegova od kolena do kolena.

4 Ja Navuhodonosor bejah miran u kući svojoj i cvetah u dvoru svom.

5 Usnih san, koji me uplaši, i misli na postelji mojoj i utvare glave moje uznemiriše me.

6 I zapovedih da se dovedu preda me svi mudraci vavilonski da mi kažu šta znači san.

7 Tada dođoše vračari, zvezdari, Haldeji i gatari, i pripovedih im san, ali mi ne mogoše kazati šta znači.

8 Najposle dođe preda me Danilo, koji se zove Valtasar po imenu boga mog, i u kome je duh svetih bogova, i pripovedih mu san.

9 Valtasare, poglavare vračima, znam da je duh svetih bogova u tebi i nikakva tajna nije ti teška; kaži san moj što sam snio i šta znači.

10 A utvara glave moje na postelji mojoj beše: Videh, gle, drvo usred zemlje, i visina mu velika.

11 Drvo beše veliko i jako, i visina mu dosezaše do neba, i viđaše se do kraja sve zemlje.

12 Lišće mu beše lepo i rod obilat, i na njemu beše hrane svemu, zverje poljsko odmaraše se u hladu njegovom, i na granama njegovim stanovahu ptice nebeske, i od njega se hranjaše svako telo.

13 Videh u utvarama glave svoje na postelji svojoj, i gle, Stražar i Svetac siđe s neba.

14 Povika jako i reče ovako: Posecite drvo, i okrešite mu grane, pokidajte mu lišće i razmetnite mu rod; neka pobegnu zveri ispod njega i ptice s grana njegovih.

15 Ali panj sa žilama ostavite mu u zemlji, u okovima gvozdenim i bronzanim u travi poljskoj, neka ga kvasi rosa nebeska i deo da mu je sa zverjem od trave zemaljske.

16 Srce čovečje neka mu se promeni, i srce životinjsko neka mu se da, i sedam vremena neka prođe preko njega.

17 To su odredili stražari i izrekli sveti da bi poznali živi da Višnji vlada carstvom ljudskim, i daje ga kome hoće, i postavlja nad njim najnižeg između ljudi.

18 Taj san snih ja, car Navuhodonosor; a ti, Valtasare, kaži šta znači, jer nijedan mudrac u carstvu mom ne može da mi kaže šta znači; a ti možeš, jer je u tebi duh svetih bogova.

19 Tada Danilo, koji se zvaše Valtasar, osta u čudu za jedan sat, i misli ga uznemiravahu. A car progovori i reče: Valtasare, san i značenje mu da te ne uznemiruje. A Valtasar odgovori i reče: Gospodaru moj, san da bude tvojim nenavidnicima, i značenje njegovo neprijateljima tvojim.

20 Drvo što si video, veliko i jako, kome visina dosezaše do neba i koje se viđaše po svoj zemlji,

21 Kome lišće beše lepo i rod obilan, i na kome beše hrane svemu, pod kojim stanovaše zverje poljsko i na granama mu seđahu ptice nebeske,

22 To si ti, care, koji si velik i silan, i veličina je tvoja visoka i doseže do neba i vlast tvoja do krajeva zemaljskih.

23 A što car vide Stražara i Sveca gde silažaše s neba i govoraše: Posecite drvo i potrite ga, ali mu panj sa žilama ostavite u zemlji u okovima gvozdenim i bronzanim u travi poljskoj, da ga kvasi rosa nebeska, i sa zverjem poljskim neka mu je deo dokle sedam vremena prođe preko njega,

24 Ovo znači, care, i ovo je naredba Višnjeg koja će se izvršiti na mom gospodaru caru:

25 Bićeš prognan između ljudi, i sa zverima ćeš poljskim živeti, i hraniće te travom kao goveda, i rosa će te nebeska kvasiti, i sedam će vremena proći preko tebe dokle poznaš da Višnji vlada carstvom ljudskim i daje ga kome hoće.

26 A što se reče da se ostavi panj sa žilama od drveta, carstvo će ti ostati, kad poznaš da nebesa vladaju.

27 Zato, care, da ti je ugodan moj savet, oprosti se greha svojih pravdom, i bezakonja svojih milošću prema nevoljnima, e da bi ti se produžio mir.

28 Sve ovo dođe na cara Navuhodonosora.

29 Posle dvanaest meseci hodaše po carskom dvoru u Vavilonu.

30 I progovori car i reče: Nije li to Vavilon veliki što ga ja sazidah jakom silom svojom da je stolica carska, i slava veličanstvu mom?

31 Te reči još behu u ustima caru, a glas dođe s neba: Tebi se govori, care Navuhodonosore: Carstvo se uze od tebe.

32 I bićeš prognan između ljudi, i živećeš sa zverjem poljskim, hraniće te travom kao goveda, i sedam će vremena proći preko tebe dokle poznaš da Višnji vlada carstvom ljudskim i daje ga kome hoće.

33 U taj čas ispuni se ta reč na Navuhodonosoru; i bi prognan između ljudi i jede travu kao goveda, i rosa nebeska kvasi mu telo da mu narastoše dlake kao pera u orla i nokti kao u ptica.

34 Ali posle tog vremena ja Navuhodonosor podigoh oči svoje k nebu, i um moj vrati mi se, i blagoslovih Višnjeg, i hvalih i slavih Onog koji živi doveka, čija je vlast vlast večna i čije je carstvo od kolena do kolena.

35 I svi stanovnici zemaljski ništa nisu prema Njemu, i radi šta hoće s vojskom nebeskom i sa stanovnicima zemaljskim, i nema nikoga da bi Mu ruku zaustavio i rekao Mu: Šta radiš?

36 U to vreme um moj vrati mi se, i na slavi carstva mog vrati mi se veličanstvo moje i svetlost moja; i dvorani moji i knezovi moji potražiše me, i utvrdih se u carstvu svom, i doda mi se više veličanstva.

37 Sada ja Navuhodonosor hvalim, uzvišujem i slavim cara nebeskog, čija su sva dela istina i čiji su putevi pravedni i koji može oboriti one koji hode ponosito.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #158

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158. "'Be watchful.'" (3:2) This symbolically means that they should have truths and live in accordance with them.

To be watchful has precisely this symbolic meaning in the Word, for a person who learns truths and lives according to them is like someone who awakens from sleep and becomes alert. By contrast, a person who lacks truths, but who is engaged simply in worship, is like someone who is asleep and dreaming.

Natural life, regarded in itself or apart from spiritual life, is really no more than a state of sleep, whereas natural life that contains spiritual life is a state of alertness. This alertness, moreover, is obtained only through truths - truths which appear in their own light and in their own clarity when a person lives in accordance with them.

This is the symbolic meaning of watching in the following passages:

Watch..., for you do not know at what hour your Lord will come. (Matthew 24:42)

Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he comes, will find watching... Be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect. (Luke 12:37, 40)

Watch..., for you do not know when the lord of the house will come..., lest, when he comes suddenly, he find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch! (Mark 13:35-37)

While the bridegroom was delayed, (the virgins)...slumbered and slept... And the (five foolish) virgins came..., saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us!" But (the Lord) answered..., ."..I do not know you." Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour at which the Son of Man will come. (Matthew 25:1-13)

Because the Lord's coming is called the morning (no. 151), and truths are then revealed and light dawns, therefore that time is called "the beginning of the watches" in Lamentations 2:19, and the Lord is called "a watcher" in Daniel 4:13. Moreover we read in Isaiah,

Your dead shall live... Awake..., you who dwell in dust. (Isaiah 26:19)

To be shown that the state of a person who lacks truths is called slumbering and sleep, see Jeremiah 51:39, 57, Psalms 13:3; 76:6, Matthew 13:25, and other places.

  
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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

 

Isaiah 26

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1 In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah; We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks.

2 Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

5 For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty city, he layeth it low; he layeth it low, even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust.

6 The foot shall tread it down, even the feet of the poor, and the steps of the needy.

7 The way of the just is uprightness: thou, most upright, dost weigh the path of the just.

8 Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.

9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

10 Let favour be shewed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the LORD.

11 LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.

12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.

13 O LORD our God, other lords beside thee have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name.

14 They are dead, they shall not live; they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore hast thou visited and destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish.

15 Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

16 LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.

20 Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.