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Amos 2

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1 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon: Dahil sa tatlong pagsalangsang ng Moab, oo, dahil sa apat, hindi ko ihihiwalay ang kaparusahan sa kaniya; sapagka't kaniyang sinunog ang mga buto ng hari sa Edom na pinapaging apog.

2 Nguni't ako'y magsusugo ng isang apoy sa Moab, at susupukin niyaon ang mga palacio ng Cherioth; at ang Moab ay mamamatay na may kaingay, may hiyawan, at may tunog ng pakakak.

3 At aking ihihiwalay ang hukom sa gitna niyaon, at papatayin ko ang lahat na prinsipe niyaon na kasama niya, sabi ng Panginoon.

4 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon: Dahil sa tatlong pagsalangsang ng Juda, oo, dahil sa apat, hindi ko ihihiwalay ang kaparusahan sa kaniya; sapagka't kanilang itinakuwil ang kautusan ng Panginoon, at hindi iningatan ang kaniyang mga palatuntunan, at iniligaw sila ng kanilang mga pagbubulaan, ayon sa inilakad ng kanilang mga magulang.

5 Nguni't magsusugo ako ng isang apoy sa Juda; at susupukin niyaon ang mga palacio ng Jerusalem.

6 Ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon, Dahil sa tatlong pagsalangsang ng Israel, oo, dahil sa apat, hindi ko ihihiwalay ang kaparusahan sa kaniya; sapagka't kanilang ipinagbili ang matuwid dahil sa pilak, at ang mapagkailangan sa dalawang paang panyapak;

7 Na iniimbot ang alabok sa lupa na nasa ulo ng dukha, at inililiko ang lakad ng maamo: at ang magama ay sumisiping sa isang dalaga, upang lapastanganin ang aking banal na pangalan:

8 At sila'y nangahihiga sa tabi ng lahat na dambana, sa ibabaw ng mga kasuutang sangla; at sa bahay ng kanilang Dios ay nagsisiinom ng alak ng mga multa.

9 Gayon ma'y nililipol ko ang Amorrheo sa harap nila, na ang taas ay gaya ng taas ng mga cedro, at siya'y malakas na gaya ng mga encina; gayon ma'y nilipol ko ang kaniyang bunga sa itaas, at ang kaniyang mga ugat sa ilalim.

10 Iniahon ko rin kayo sa lupain ng Egipto, at pinatnubayan ko kayong apat na pung taon sa ilang, upang ariin ninyo ang lupain ng Amorrheo.

11 At nagbangon ako sa inyong mga anak ng mga propeta, at sa inyong mga binata ng mga Nazareo. Di baga gayon, Oh kayong mga anak ng Israel? sabi ng Panginoon.

12 Nguni't binigyan ninyo ang mga Nazareo ng alak na maiinom, at inutusan ninyo ang mga propeta, na sinasabi, Huwag kayong manganghuhula.

13 Narito, aking huhutukin kayo sa inyong dako, na gaya ng isang karong nahuhutok na puno ng mga bigkis.

14 At ang pagtakas ay mapapawi sa matulin; at ang malakas ay hindi makaaasa sa kaniyang kalakasan; ni ang makapangyarihan man ay makapagliligtas sa sarili;

15 Ni makatitindig man siyang humahawak ng busog; at siyang matulin sa paa ay hindi makaliligtas; ni siya mang nakasakay sa kabayo ay makaliligtas:

16 At siya na matapang sa mga makapangyarihan ay tatakas na hubad sa araw na yaon, sabi ng Panginoon.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9489

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9489. 'And a cubit and a half its height' means what is complete so far as degrees are concerned. This is clear from the meaning of 'a cubit and a half' as what is complete, dealt with immediately above in 9488; and from the meaning of 'height' as degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned. The reason why 'height' has this meaning is that all good and the truth derived from it emanates from the Lord, and the Lord is in the highest place of all, and therefore is called the Most High, 8153. For He is the Sun of heaven, 5097, 8812, and that Sun is above the heavens; it is also the centre from which the whole of heaven that is underneath is brought into being and kept in being. All heights in heaven, measured from its Sun as the centre, are differences in good and the truth derived from it. Consequently those in the inmost heaven are closer to the Lord, because they are governed by the good of love to Him, thus are governed by good more than all others are. Those in the middle heaven are further away from there because they are governed by a lower kind of good, and those in the lowest are still further away. But those in hell are altogether remote from the Lord, because they are ruled by evil and the falsity arising from it. They do not even look towards the Sun, but backwards, away from the Sun. When regarded by the angels therefore, they appear in an upside down position, feet upwards and head downwards. Now since distances and spatial dimensions in the next life are appearances determined by states of good and the truth derived from it, 9440, 'height' in the spiritual sense means degrees so far as good and so far as truth are concerned, that is, degrees away from the Most High, who is the Lord and so Divine Good itself.

[2] From this it is clear what 'height' means in the following places, as in Jeremiah,

They will come and sing on the height of Zion, and converge towards the goodness of Jehovah; and their soul will be like a watered garden. Jeremiah 31:12.

Here 'the height of Zion' stands for celestial good, which is the level of good above spiritual good. The meaning of 'height' as good is what accounts for the statement that they will 'converge towards the goodness of Jehovah'. In Ezekiel,

Asshur was a cedar in Lebanon. Its height was made high, and its branches were made long by many waters. It was beautiful in its greatness, in the length of its branches. Ezekiel 31:3, 5, 7.

'Asshur' stands for an enlightened power of reason, 'a cedar in Lebanon' for the spiritual Church, 'its height' for the degree of good.

[3] In the same prophet,

On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it. Ezekiel 17:23.

Again in the same prophet,

On My holy mountain, and on the mountain height of Israel, all the house of Israel will serve Me. Ezekiel 20:40.

'The mountain height of Israel' stands for the highest degree of good and of the truth derived from it among those belonging to the spiritual Church. Since most things in the Word have a contrary meaning as well, so too does 'height'. In the contrary sense it means the evil of self-love, and so haughtiness of mind, as in Isaiah 14:14; Ezekiel 31:10, 14; 32:5; Amos 2:9; Daniel 4:11, 20; and a number of other places. Another reason why 'height' means degrees so far as good and the truth derived from it are concerned is that what is 'high' means what is internal, and good becomes by degrees more perfect towards more internal parts. For the meaning of what is 'high' as what is internal, see 1735, 2148, 4210, 4599.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2252

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2252. That 'perhaps there may be fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city' means that the truths may be full of goods is clear from the meaning of 'fifty' as full, from the meaning of 'righteous' as good, dealt with in 612, 2235, from [the meaning] of 'midst' as that which is within, 1074, and from [the meaning] of 'the city' as truth, 402. Thus 'fifty righteous persons in the midst of the city' in the internal sense means that the truths may be full of goods. That this meaning exists within these words cannot be seen by anyone from the letter, for the historical details of the literal sense lead the mind in an altogether different direction or to think in a different way; but that these words are nevertheless perceived according to that meaning by those who possess the internal sense, I know for certain. Moreover the actual numbers mentioned, such as fifty here, and forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and ten in what follows, are never perceived as numbers by those who possess the internal sense but as real things or as states, as shown in 482, 487, 575, 647, 648, 755, 813, 1963, 1988, 2075.

[2] Indeed the ancients also used numbers to mark off one from another the states of their Church; and the nature of such numbers worked out by them becomes clear from the meaning of the numbers in the paragraphs that have just been mentioned. The meaning possessed by numbers was received by those people from the representatives which manifest themselves in the world of spirits. There when anything appears as that which is numbered, it does not mean something defined by means of numbers but means some real thing or else a state, as becomes clear from what has been presented in 2129, 2130, and also in 2089, regarding 'twelve' meaning all things of faith. It is similar with the numbers that now follow. This shows what the nature of the Word is in the internal sense.

[3] The reason 'fifty' means that which is full is that it is the number which comes after seven times seven, or forty-nine, and so marks the completion of the latter number. This explains why in the representative Church the feast of the seven sabbaths 1 was held on the fiftieth day, and why a jubilee was held in the fiftieth year. Regarding the feast of the seven sabbaths the following is said in Moses,

You shall count for yourselves from the day after the sabbath; from the day you bring the sheaf of the wave-offering, seven sabbaths shall there be complete. Until the day after the seventh sabbath you shall count fifty days, and offer a new gift to Jehovah. Leviticus 23:15-16.

Regarding the jubilee in the same book,

You shall count for yourself seven sabbaths of years, seven times seven years, and you shall have a time of seven sabbaths of years, forty-nine years. And you shall sanctify the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty in the land to all its inhabitants; it shall be a jubilee for you. Leviticus 25:8, 10.

From this it is evident that 'the fiftieth' means that which marks the full completion of the sabbaths.

[4] What is more, whenever 'fifty' is mentioned in the Word it means that which is full, as in the case of the numbering of the Levites aged thirty years and over up to fifty years of age, Numbers 4:23, 35, 39, 43, 47; 8:25. Here 'fifty' stands for the full or final state of that period of ministerial service. A man found lying with a young woman who was a virgin had to give to the young woman's father fifty pieces of silver, and she had to be his wife; nor could he divorce her, Deuteronomy 22:29. Here 'fifty pieces of silver' stands for a full fine and a full recompense. David's giving to Araunah fifty pieces of silver for the threshing-floor, where he built an altar to Jehovah, 2 Samuel 24:24, stands for a full price and a full payment. Absalom's making ready for himself a chariot and horses, and his having fifty men running before him, 2 Samuel 15:1, and Adonijah's likewise having chariots and horsemen, and fifty men running before him, 1 Kings 1:5, stand for their full dignity and majesty. For these people received from the ancients certain numbers which were representative and carried spiritual meanings and which were observed by them. Those numbers were also commanded in their religious observances, though the majority of the people did not know what was meant by them.

[5] In the same way, because 'fifty' means that which is full and this number was also representative, as has been stated, the same thing is meant in the Lord's parable concerning the steward, who said to the man owing oil,

How much do you owe my master? He said, A hundred baths of oil. Then he said to him, Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty. Luke 16:5-6.

'Fifty' stands for the full discharge of the debt. Being a number it does indeed seem to imply nothing more than a number, when in fact in the internal sense this number is used in every case to mean that which is full, as also in Haggai,

One came to the winevat to draw fifty measures from the winevat, and there were only twenty. Haggai 2:16.

This means that instead of a full amount there was not much. 'Fifty' would not have been mentioned in the prophet if it had not carried this meaning.

Footnotes:

1. Often referred to as the feast of weeks

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