The Bible

 

Postanak 1

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1 U početku stvori Bog nebo i zemlju.

2 A zemlja beše bez obličja i pusta, i beše tama nad bezdanom; i duh Božji dizaše se nad vodom.

3 I reče Bog: Neka bude svetlost. I bi svetlost.

4 I vide Bog svetlost da je dobra; i rastavi Bog svetlost od tame.

5 I svetlost nazva Bog dan, a tamu nazva noć. I bi veče i bi jutro, dan prvi.

6 Potom reče Bog: Neka bude svod posred vode, da rastavlja vodu od vode.

7 I stvori Bog svod, i rastavi vodu pod svodom od vode nad svodom; i bi tako.

8 A svod nazva Bog nebo. I bi veče i bi jutro, dan drugi.

9 Potom reče Bog: Neka se sabere voda što je pod nebom na jedno mesto, i neka se pokaže suvo. I bi tako.

10 I suvo nazva Bog zemlja, a zborišta vodena nazva mora; i vide Bog da je dobro.

11 Opet reče Bog: Neka pusti zemlja iz sebe travu, bilje, što nosi seme, i drvo rodno, koje rađa rod po svojim vrstama, u kome će biti seme njegovo na zemlji. I bi tako.

12 I pusti zemlja iz sebe travu, bilje, što nosi seme po svojim vrstama, i drvo, koje rađa rod, u kome je seme njegovo po njegovim vrstama. I vide Bog da je dobro.

13 I bi veče i bi jutro, dan treći.

14 Potom reče Bog: Neka budu videla na svodu nebeskom, da dele dan i noć, da budu znaci vremenima i danima i godinama;

15 I neka svetle na svodu nebeskom, da obasjavaju zemlju. I bi tako.

16 I stvori Bog dva videla velika: videlo veće da upravlja danom, i videlo manje da upravlja noću, i zvezde.

17 I postavi ih Bog na svodu nebeskom da obasjavaju zemlju.

18 I da upravljaju danom i noću, i da dele svetlost od tame. I vide Bog da je dobro.

19 I bi veče i bi jutro, dan četvrti.

20 Potom reče Bog: Neka vrve po vodi žive duše, i ptice neka lete iznad zemlje pod svod nebeski.

21 I stvori Bog kitove velike i sve žive duše što se miču, što provrveše po vodi po vrstama svojim, i sve ptice krilate po vrstama njihovim. I vide Bog da je dobro;

22 I blagoslovi ih Bog govoreći: Rađajte se i množite se, i napunite vodu po morima, i ptice neka se množe na zemlji.

23 I bi veče i bi jutro, dan peti.

24 Potom reče Bog: Neka zemlja pusti iz sebe duše žive po vrstama njihovim, stoku i sitne životinje i zveri zemaljske po vrstama njihovim. I bi tako.

25 I stvori Bog zveri zemaljske po vrstama njihovim, i stoku po vrstama njenim, i sve sitne životinje na zemlji po vrstama njihovim. I vide Bog da je dobro.

26 Potom reče Bog: Da načinimo čoveka po svom obličju, kao što smo mi, koji će biti gospodar od riba morskih i od ptica nebeskih i od stoke i od cele zemlje i od svih životinja što se miču po zemlji.

27 I stvori Bog čoveka po obličju svom, po obličju Božjem stvori ga; muško i žensko stvori ih.

28 I blagoslovi ih Bog, i reče im Bog: Rađajte se i množite se, i napunite zemlju, i vladajte njom, i budite gospodari od riba morskih i od ptica nebeskih i od svih zveri što se miče po zemlji.

29 I još reče Bog: Evo, dao sam vam sve bilje što nosi seme po svoj zemlji, i sva drveta rodna koja nose seme; to će vam biti za hranu.

30 A svim zverima zemaljskim i svim pticama nebeskim i svemu što se miče na zemlji i u čemu ima duša živa, dao sam svu travu da jedu. I bi tako.

31 Tada pogleda Bog sve što je stvorio, i gle, dobro beše veoma. I bi veče i bi jutro, dan šesti.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9336

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9336. 'Little by little I will drive them out from before you' means a removal effected gradually according to order. This is clear from the meaning of 'little by little' as gradually, thus slowly; and from the meaning of 'driving out' - when it has reference to falsities and evils, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan - as a removal, dealt with just above in 9333. The words 'gradually according to order' are used because everything with a person who is being regenerated is rearranged in accordance with heavenly order. For a person who has been regenerated is a miniature heaven, 9276, and therefore also within that person order exists akin to that which obtains in heaven.

[2] When a person is born he is, so far as his hereditary evils are concerned, a miniature hell. He also becomes an embodiment of hell to the extent that he draws on hereditary evils and adds his own to them. This being so, the order of a person's life which exists by reason of what he receives at birth, and by reason of his own acts in life, is the opposite of heavenly order. For what is a person's own leads him to love self more than the Lord and to love the world more than heaven, whereas the life of heaven consists in loving the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. From this it is evident that the first life, which is that of hell, must be completely destroyed, that is, evils and falsities must be removed, in order that the new life, which is that of heaven, may be implanted, see 4551, 4552, 4839, 6068. This cannot possibly be done hurriedly, for every deep-rooted evil, together with its falsities, is interconnected with all other evils and their falsities. Such evils and falsities are countless, and their interconnection is so complex that it cannot be comprehended, not even by angels, only by the Lord. From this it is evident that the life of hell with a person cannot be destroyed suddenly; for if it were destroyed suddenly the person too would perish. Nor can the life of heaven be implanted suddenly, for if this were implanted suddenly the person would again perish.

[3] There are thousands and thousands of hidden ways, scarcely a single one of which is known to mankind, by which the Lord leads a person from the life of hell to the life of heaven. I have been informed from heaven that this is so, and it has also been corroborated for me by many things that I have been made aware of. Since mankind knows scarcely anything at all about these things many have fallen into errors concerning human deliverance from evils and falsities, which is the forgiveness of sins. They think that the life of hell with a person can be changed to the life of heaven with him in an instant, by mercy. But in actual fact mercy lies in the whole act of regeneration; and none undergo regeneration apart from those who receive the Lord's mercy in faith and life while they are in the world, in keeping with the Lord's words in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood 1 , nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man (vir), but of God. John 1:12-13.

What 'blood', 'the will of the flesh', and 'the will of man', also 'born of God' mean, see 5826.

[4] The proper way to understand 'a removal from evils and falsities, effected gradually according to order' must also be stated briefly. Divine Truth which emanates from the Lord's Divine Good arranges all things into order in heaven; consequently this Divine Truth, holding good from the Lord within it, is order itself, see 1728, 1919, 2247, 2258, 5703, 6338, 8700, 8988. In accordance with that order all things there come into being, and in accordance with that same order they remain in being; for remaining in being is a constant coming into being. Therefore to enable heaven to come into being in a person, it is necessary for him to receive Divine Truth in the good he has from the Lord. This can be brought into effect only gradually, according to the order similar to that which governs the way the Lord arranges heaven; for if the essential nature of the thing is the same, then the situation on the smaller scale is the same as on the larger scale. This arranging step-by-step is what should be understood here by order brought into effect gradually. From all this it is also evident that the new creation of a person, which is his regeneration, resembles the creation of heaven and earth. For this reason also in the Word a new heaven and a new earth is used to mean a new Church, 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118 (end), 3355 (end), 4535; and the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis serves to mean the new creation of a celestial Church, called Man, dealt with in the explanations of that chapter.

Footnotes:

1. literally, bloods

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