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Amós 4

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1 Oíd esta palabra, vacas de Basán, que estáis en el monte de Samaria, que oprimís a los pobres, que quebrantáis a los menesterosos, que decís a sus señores: Traed, y beberemos.

2 El Señor DIOS juró por su Santidad: He aquí, vienen días sobre vosotros en que os llevará con anzuelos, y a vuestros descendientes en barquillos de pescador.

3 Y saldrán por los portillos la una en pos de la otra, y seréis echadas del palacio, dice el SEÑOR.

4 Id a Bet-el, y prevaricad; en Gilgal aumentad la rebelión, y traed de mañana vuestros sacrificios, y vuestros diezmos cada tres años;

5 y ofreced sacrificio de alabanza con leudo, y pregonad, publicad voluntarias ofrendas; pues que así lo queréis, hijos de Israel, dijo el Señor DIOS.

6 Yo también os di limpieza de dientes en todas vuestras ciudades, y falta de pan en todos vuestros pueblos; mas no os tornasteis a mí, dijo el SEÑOR.

7 Y también yo os detuve la lluvia tres meses antes de la siega; e hice llover sobre una ciudad, y sobre otra ciudad no hice llover; sobre una parte llovió; y la parte sobre la cual no llovió, se secó.

8 Y venían dos o tres ciudades a una ciudad para beber agua, y no se saciaban; con todo , no os tornasteis a mí, dijo el SEÑOR.

9 Os herí con viento solano y oruga; vuestros muchos huertos y vuestras viñas, y vuestros higuerales y vuestros olivares comió la langosta; pero nunca os tornasteis a mí, dijo el SEÑOR.

10 Envié entre vosotros mortandad en el camino a Egipto; maté a cuchillo a vuestros jóvenes, quité vuestros caballos; e hice subir el hedor de vuestros reales hasta vuestras narices; y nunca os tornasteis a mí, dijo el SEÑOR.

11 Os trastorné, como cuando Dios trastornó a Sodoma y a Gomorra, y fuisteis como tizón escapado del fuego; y nunca os tornasteis a mí, dice el SEÑOR.

12 Por tanto, de esta manera haré a ti, oh Israel; y porque te he de hacer esto, aparéjate para venir al encuentro de tu Dios, oh Israel.

13 Porque he aquí, el que forma los montes, y crea el viento, y denuncia al hombre su pensamiento; el que hace a las tinieblas mañana, y pasa sobre las alturas de la tierra; el SEÑOR, Dios de los ejércitos, es su Nombre.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #1860

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1860. That 'there was thick darkness' means when hatred existed in place of charity is clear from the meaning of 'thick darkness'. In the Word 'darkness' means falsities, while 'thick darkness' means evils, as explained immediately below. 'Darkness' is when falsity exists in place of truth, and 'thick darkness' when evil exists in place of good, or what amounts entirely to the same, when hatred exists in place of charity. When hatred exists in place of charity the darkness is so thick that the person is not even aware of its being an evil, let alone of its being so great an evil as to thrust him down in the next life into hell; indeed people who are steeped in hatred find a certain delight and so to speak life in it. This very delight and life have the effect that he hardly knows other than that hatred is good. Whatever favors a person's pleasure and desire, because it favors his love, he feels as good - so much so that when he is told it is of hell he can hardly believe it. Even less can he believe it when he is told that such delight and life is converted in the next life into an utterly foul and corpse-like stench. Even less still can he believe that he is becoming a devil and a dreadful replica of hell; for hell consists of nothing else than varieties of hatred and other such forms.

[2] But of this anyone may know who has any power of thought; for if he were to describe hatred, or to represent it, or to portray it if he were able to in any way, he would not do so except by the use of devil-like forms such as these persons steeped in evil also assume after death. And what is extraordinary, such people can still declare that in the next life they will go to heaven, in some cases for merely saying that they have faith - though in fact the only forms occurring in heaven are those of charity, the nature of which may be seen in what has been told from experience in 553. Let those people now consider how these two forms - of hatred and of charity - can be in agreement in the same place.

[3] That 'darkness' means falsity and 'thick darkness' evil becomes clear from the following places in the Word: In Isaiah,

Behold, darkness is covering the earth, and thick darkness the peoples. Isaiah 60:2.

In Joel,

Let all the inhabitants of the earth tremble, for the day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and thick darkness. Joel 2:1-2.

In Zephaniah,

A day of wrath is that day, a day of vastation and desolation, a day of darkness and thick darkness. Zephaniah 1:15.

In Amos,

Is not the day of Jehovah darkness and not light, and thick darkness, and no brightness in it? Amos 5:20.

In these places 'the day of Jehovah' stands for the final period of the Church, which is also the subject here. 'Darkness' stands for falsities, 'thick darkness' for evils; hence both are mentioned. Otherwise there would be a repetition of the same thing, or a pointless excess of words. The term used in the original language however to express thick darkness in this verse embodies both within itself - falsity as well as evil, or gross falsity that produces evil, as well as gross evil that produces falsity.

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