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Ezequiel 36

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1 Y tú, hijo de hombre, profetiza sobre los montes de Israel, y di: montes de Israel, oíd palabra del SEÑOR:

2 Así dijo el Señor DIOS: Por cuanto el enemigo dijo sobre vosotros: ¡Ea! También las alturas perpetuas nos han sido por heredad;

3 profetiza, por tanto, y di: Así dijo el Señor DIOS: Pues por cuanto os asolaron y os tragaron de todas partes, para que fueseis heredad a los otros gentiles, habéis subido en bocas de lenguas, e infamia del pueblo,

4 por tanto, montes de Israel, oíd Palabra del Señor DIOS: Así dijo el Señor DIOS a los montes y a los collados, a los arroyos y a los valles, a las ruinas y asolamientos, y a las ciudades desamparadas, que fueron puestas a saqueo y en escarnio a los otros gentiles alrededor;

5 por eso, así dijo el Señor DIOS: He hablado por cierto en el fuego de mi celo contra los demás gentiles, y contra toda Idumea, que se disputaron mi tierra por heredad con alegría, de todo corazón, con menosprecio de ánimo, echándola a saqueo.

6 Por tanto, profetiza sobre la tierra de Israel, y di a los montes y a los collados, y a los arroyos y a los valles: Así dijo el Señor DIOS: He aquí, en mi celo y en mi furor he hablado, por cuanto habéis llevado la injuria de los gentiles.

7 Por lo cual así dijo el Señor DIOS: Yo he alzado mi mano, que los gentiles que os están alrededor han de llevar su afrenta.

8 Mas vosotros, oh montes de Israel, daréis vuestros ramos, y llevaréis vuestro fruto a mi pueblo Israel; porque cerca están para venir.

9 Porque heme aquí a vosotros, y a vosotros me volveré, y seréis labrados y sembrados.

10 Y haré multiplicar sobre vosotros hombres, a toda la Casa de Israel, toda ella ; y las ciudades han de ser habitadas, y serán edificadas las ruinas.

11 Y multiplicaré sobre vosotros hombres y bestias, y serán multiplicados y crecerán; y os haré morar como solíais antiguamente, y os haré más bien que en vuestros comienzos; y sabréis que yo soy el SEÑOR.

12 Y haré andar hombres sobre vosotros, a mi pueblo Israel; y te poseerán, y les serás por heredad, y nunca más les matarás los hijos.

13 Así dijo el Señor DIOS: Por cuanto dicen de vosotros: Comedora de hombres, y matadora de los hijos de tus naciones has sido;

14 por tanto, no devorarás más hombres, y nunca más matarás los hijos a tus moradores, dice el Señor DIOS.

15 Y nunca más te haré oír injuria de gentiles, ni más llevarás denuestos de pueblos, ni harás más morir los hijos a tus moradores, dice el Señor DIOS.

16 Y vino Palabra del SEÑOR a mí, diciendo:

17 Hijo de hombre, la Casa de Israel que mora en su tierra, la han contaminado con sus caminos y con sus obras; como inmundicia de menstruosa fue su camino delante de mí.

18 Y derramé mi ira sobre ellos por la sangre que ellos derramaron sobre la tierra; y por sus ídolos con que la contaminaron.

19 Y yo los esparcí por los gentiles, y fueron aventados por las tierras; conforme a sus caminos y conforme a sus obras los juzgué.

20 Y entrados a los gentiles adonde fueron, profanaron mi santo Nombre, diciéndose de ellos: Estos son pueblo del SEÑOR, y de la tierra de él han salido.

21 Y he tenido dolor al ver mi santo Nombre profanado por la Casa de Israel entre los gentiles adonde fueron.

22 Por tanto, di a la Casa de Israel: Así dijo el Señor DIOS: No lo hago por vosotros, oh Casa de Israel, sino por causa de mi santo Nombre, el cual profanasteis vosotros entre los gentiles adonde habéis llegado.

23 Y santificaré mi grande Nombre profanado entre los gentiles, el cual profanasteis vosotros en medio de ellos; y sabrán los gentiles que yo soy el SEÑOR, dijo el SEÑOR DIOS, cuando fuere santificado en vosotros delante de sus ojos.

24 Y yo os tomaré de los gentiles, y os juntaré de todas las tierras, y os traeré a vuestra tierra.

25 Y esparciré sobre vosotros agua limpia, y seréis limpiados de todas vuestras inmundicias; y de todos vuestros ídolos os limpiaré.

26 Y os daré corazón nuevo, y pondré espíritu nuevo dentro de vosotros; y quitaré de vuestra carne el corazón de piedra, y os daré corazón de carne.

27 Y pondré dentro de vosotros mi Espíritu, y haré que andéis en mis mandamientos, y guardéis mis derechos, y los pongáis por obra.

28 Y habitaréis en la tierra que di a vuestros padres; y vosotros me seréis por pueblo, y yo seré a vosotros por Dios.

29 Y os guardaré de todas vuestras inmundicias; y llamaré al trigo, y lo multiplicaré, y no os daré hambre.

30 Multiplicaré asimismo el fruto de los árboles, y el fruto de los campos, para que nunca más recibáis oprobio de hambre entre los gentiles.

31 Y os acordaréis de vuestros malos caminos, y de vuestras obras que no fueron buenas; y os avergonzaréis de vosotros mismos por vuestras iniquidades, y por vuestras abominaciones.

32 No lo hago por vosotros, dijo el Señor DIOS, sabedlo bien; avergonzaos y confundios de vuestras iniquidades, Casa de Israel.

33 Así dijo el Señor DIOS: El día que os limpiare de todas vuestras iniquidades, haré también habitar las ciudades, y las asoladas serán edificadas.

34 Y la tierra asolada será labrada, en lugar de haber sido asolada en ojos de todos los que pasaron;

35 los cuales dijeron: Esta tierra asolada fue como huerto del Edén; y estas ciudades desiertas y asoladas y arruinadas, fortalecidas estuvieron.

36 Y los gentiles que fueron dejados en vuestros alrededores, sabrán que yo, el SEÑOR, edifiqué las derribadas, y planté las asoladas; yo, el SEÑOR, he hablado, y lo haré.

37 Así dijo el Señor DIOS: Aún seré solicitado de la Casa de Israel, para hacerles esto ; los multiplicaré de hombres a modo de rebaños.

38 Como las ovejas santas, como las ovejas de Jerusalén en sus solemnidades, así las ciudades desiertas serán llenas de rebaños de hombres; y sabrán que yo soy el SEÑOR.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #9642

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9642. 'The boards for the south side, southwards' means even to the more internal and the inmost parts [of it], where truth dwells in light. This is clear from the meaning of 'the boards of the dwelling-place' as the good supporting heaven, dealt with in 9634; from the meaning of 'the side (or corner)', when the term is used in reference to the four quarters, as the specific state meant by that quarter, dealt with below; and from the meaning of 'the south, southwards' 1 as the more internal and the inmost parts, where truth dwells in light. 'The south' or 'midday' means a state of light, which is a state of intelligence produced by truths, thus also an interior state; for in the heavens the light, and the intelligence and wisdom that accompany the light, increases towards the more internal parts. Further away from those parts truth dwells in shade; and this state of truth is meant by 'the north'. This then is why 'the south side, southwards' means even to the more internal and the inmost parts, where truth dwells in light.

[2] The same things are meant by 'the south' in Isaiah,

I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Do not withhold. Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the end of the earth. Isaiah 43:6.

This refers to a new Church. 'Saying to the north' means speaking to those who are in darkness or have no knowledge of the truths of faith, who are gentiles outside the Church. 'Saying to the south' means speaking to those who dwell in the light provided by cognitions or knowledge of goodness and truth, who are people within the Church. This explains why the latter are told not to 'withhold' [those sons and daughters], but the former 'to give them up'.

[3] In Ezekiel,

Set your face the way of the south, and drop [your words] towards the south, and prophesy against the forest of the field to the south, and say to the forest of the south, Behold, I am kindling in you a fire, which will devour in you every green tree; and all faces from south to north will be scorched. Set your face towards Jerusalem, and drop [your words] against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel. Ezekiel 20:46-21:2.

'The south' here stands for those who have the light of truth provided by the Word, thus those who belong to the Church, yet who are influenced by falsities which they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word wrongly explained. This is why the expressions 'the forest of the field towards the south' and 'the forest of the south' are used. 'A forest' is a state in which factual knowledge is predominant, whereas 'a garden' is one in which truth is predominant. From this it is evident what the meaning is of 'setting one's face the way of the south, and dropping [one's words] towards the south, and prophesying against the forest of the field to the south', and then of 'set your face towards Jerusalem, and drop [your words] against the sanctuaries, and prophesy against the land of Israel'. 'Jerusalem' and 'the land of Israel' mean the Church, and 'the sanctuaries' there things of the Church.

[4] In Isaiah,

If you bring out for the hungry your soul 2 and satisfy the afflicted soul, your light will rise in the darkness, and your thick darkness will be as at midday. Isaiah 58:10.

'Darkness' and 'thick darkness' stand for lack of knowledge of truth and good, 'light' and 'midday' for an understanding of them. In the same prophet, Give counsel, execute judgement, set your shade like the night in the middle of the day; 3 hide the outcasts, do not reveal the wanderer. Isaiah 16:3.

'In the middle of the day' stands for in the midst of the light of truth. In Jeremiah,

Prepare for 4 battle against the daughter of Zion; arise, and let us go up into the south, 5 for the day goes away, for the shadows of evening are set at an angle. Jeremiah 6:4.

'Going up into the south' stands for going up against the Church, where truth dwells in light from the Word. In Amos,

I will make the sun go down in the south, 5 and I will darken the land in broad daylight. Amos 8:9.

This stands for blotting out all the light of truth which is provided by the Word.

[5] In David,

You will not be afraid of the terror of the night, of the arrow that flies by day, of the pestilence in thick darkness, of death that lays waste at noonday. Psalms 91:5-6.

'The terror of the night' stands for falsities arising from evil that come from hell; 'the arrow that flies by day' stands for falsity which is taught openly; 'death that lays waste at noonday' stands for evil that is openly present in people's lives, and that destroys truth wherever it is able to dwell in its own light from the Word.

[6] And in Isaiah,

The prophecy of the wilderness of the sea. As whirlwinds in the south sweep through, 6 it comes from the wilderness, from a terrible land. Isaiah 21:1.

In Daniel,

The he-goat of the she-goats made himself exceedingly great, and his horn grew exceedingly towards the south, and towards the east, and towards the glorious [land]. And it grew even towards the host of heaven, and cast down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars, and trampled on them. Daniel 8:8-10.

This refers to the state of the future Church. It foretells that the Church will be ruined by teachings about faith separated from the good of charity, 'the he-goat of the she-goats' being this kind of faith, 4169 (end), 4769. 'The horn's growing towards the south' stands for the power of falsity from this faith directed against truths, 'towards the east' for directing it against forms of good, and 'towards the glorious [land]' for directing it against the Church. 'Towards the host of heaven' stands for directing that power against all the forms of good and the truths belonging to heaven, and 'casting down to the earth some of the host, and of the stars' stands for destroying these, and also even the cognitions or knowledge of good and truth, 4697.

[7] The whole of Chapter 11 in the same prophet describes a war between the king of the south and the king of the north. 'The king of the south' means the light of truth derived from the Word, and 'the king of the north' reasoning about truths which is based on factual knowledge. The shifting fortunes which the Church will experience until it ceases to exist are described by the different phases in the course of that war.

[8] Because 'the south' meant truth dwelling in light it was decreed that the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad should camp towards the south, Numbers 2:10-15. Encampments represented the arrangement of all things in heaven as determined by the truths and forms of the good of faith and love, 4236, 8103 (end), 8193, 8196, and 'the twelve tribes' which formed the camp meant all the truths and forms of good in their entirety, 3858, 3862, 3926, 3939, 4060, 6335, 6337, 6397, 6640, 7836, 7891, 7996, 7997. 'The tribe of Reuben' meant the truth of faith present in doctrine, 3861, 3866, 5542, 'the tribe of Simeon' the truth of faith subsequently present in life, 3869-3872, 4497, 4502, 4503, 5482, and 'the tribe of Gad' works motivated by that truth in doctrine and life, 6404, 6405. From these meanings it is evident why these three camped towards the south; for all things on the side of truth or faith belong in the south because they are in light.

[9] From all this it is now clear what 'the south side' means, namely where the state of truth dwelling in light is to be found. For all states of the good of love and the truth of faith are meant by the four corners of the earth, states of the good of love being meant by the east and west sides, and states of the truth of faith by the south and north ones. Much the same is meant by 'the four winds', as in the Book of Revelation,

... angels standing over the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, in order that the wind should not blow onto the earth. Revelation 7:1.

And elsewhere,

Satan will come out to deceive the nations which are at the four corners of the earth. Revelation 20:7-8.

In Matthew,

He will send angels, and gather the elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 7 Matthew 24:31.

And in Ezekiel,

Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe into these killed, that they may live. Ezekiel 37:9.

[10] Because those winds, that is, those four quarters, meant all aspects of good and truth, thus all aspects of heaven and the Church, and 'a temple' meant heaven or the Church, it had been the custom since ancient times to site temples in an east-west direction. This was because the east meant the good of love on the rise, and the west the good of love on the decline. This custom had its origin in representative signs, which were well known to the ancients who belonged to the Church.

Footnotes:

1. Two different words denoting the south are used here. The first (meridies) also means noon or midday and is translated as such in some quotations below. The second (auster) is sometimes used to mean more specifically a south wind.

2. i.e. If you bring food out of store for the hungry

3. or the south

4. literally, Sanctify

5. or at noon

6. literally, for passing through

7. literally, from the bounds of the heavens to the bounds of the heavens

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