The Bible

 

Amos 6

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1 Sa aba nila na nangagwawalang bahala sa Sion, at nila na mga tiwasay sa bundok ng Samaria, na magigiting na lalake sa mga pangulong bansa, ng mga pinagsasadya ng sangbahayan ni Israel!

2 Magsidaan kayo sa Calne, at inyong tingnan; at mula roon ay magsiparoon kayo sa Hamath na malaki; kung magkagayo'y magsibaba kayo sa Gath ng mga Filisteo: magaling baga sila kay sa mga kahariang ito? o malaki baga ang kanilang hangganan kay sa inyong hangganan?

3 Kayong nangaglalayo ng masamang araw at nangagpapalit ng likmuan ng karahasan;

4 Na nangahihiga sa mga higaang garing, at nagsisiunat sa kanilang mga hiligan, at nagsisikain ng mga batang tupa na mula sa kawan, at ng mga guya na mula sa gitna ng kulungan;

5 Na nagsisiawit ng mga pagayongayong awit sa tinig ng biola; na nagsisikatha sa ganang kanilang sarili ng mga panugtog ng tugtugin, na gaya ni David;

6 Na nagsisiinom ng alak sa mga mankok, at nagsisipagpahid ng mga mainam na pabango; nguni't hindi nangahahapis sa pagdadalamhati ng Jose.

7 Sila nga ngayo'y magsisiyaong bihag na kasama ng unang nagsiyaong bihag, at ang kasayahan nila na nagsisihiga ay mapaparam.

8 Ang Panginoong Dios ay sumumpa sa kaniyang sarili, sabi ng Panginoon, ng Dios ng mga hukbo: Aking kinayayamutan ang karilagan ng Jacob, at aking kinapopootan ang kaniyang mga palacio; kaya't aking ibibigay ang bayan sangpu ng lahat na nandoon.

9 At mangyayari, kung may matirang sangpung tao sa isang bahay, na pawang mangamamatay.

10 At pagka itataas siya ng amain, sa makatuwid baga'y ng sumusunog sa kaniya, upang ilabas ang mga buto sa bahay, at sasabihin doon sa nasa pinakaloob ng bahagi ng bahay, May kasama ka pa bagang sinoman? at kaniyang sasabihin: Wala; kung magkagayo'y kaniyang sasabihin: Tumahimik ka; sapagka't hindi natin mababanggit ang pangalan ng Panginoon.

11 Sapagka't narito, naguutos ang Panginoon, at ang malaking bahay ay magkakasira, at ang munting bahay ay magkakabutas.

12 Tatakbo baga ang mga kabayo sa malaking bato? magaararo baga roon ang sino man sa pamamagitan ng mga toro? inyo ngang ginagawang kapaitan ang katarungan, at ajenjo ang bunga ng katuwiran,

13 Kayong nangagagalak sa isang bagay na walang kabuluhan na nangagsasabi; Di baga kami ay nagtaglay para sa amin ng mga sungay sa pamamagitan ng aming sariling kalakasan?

14 Sapagka't, narito, aking ititindig laban sa inyo ang isang bansa, Oh sangbahayan ni Israel, sabi ng Panginoon, ng Dios ng mga hukbo; at kanilang pagdadalamhatiin kayo mula sa pasukan sa Hamath hanggang sa batis ng Araba.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #164

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164. And those that commit adultery with her into great affliction, signifies grievous temptations for those who addict themselves to the falsities of such. This is evident from the signification of "committing adultery," as being to falsify truths (See above, n. 141 therefore "to commit adultery with Jezebel" is to surrender oneself to the falsities of those signified by "Jezebel;" and from the signification of "affliction," as being the infestation of truth by falsities (See above, n. 47), here temptation, since temptation with man is nothing else but infestation of truth by falsities (See The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 188, 196, 197); therefore "casting those who commit adultery with her into great affliction" signifies the grievous temptations of those who addict themselves to the falsities of such.

Here those are treated of with whom the spiritual or internal man is not so closed, because they are in some spiritual affection of truth, and yet they suffer themselves to be seduced by those who are in the doctrine of falsities (See above, n. 162). As these receive falsities into the memory of their natural man, with which falsities the internal spiritual man cannot agree, for this receives nothing but truths, a combat arises between the spiritual and the natural man. This combat is temptation, and this is signified by "great affliction." (That temptation is the combat between the spiritual and natural man, see in The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 190, 194, 197, 199)

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for their permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #4335

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4335. In the Word 'those who are grinding' means those within the Church who are led to know the truth by an affection for good, and in the contrary sense those within the Church who are led to know it by an affection for evil, as may be seen from the following places: In Isaiah,

Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babel; sit on the ground, without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans. Take a mill and grind flour; uncover your hair, bare your feet, uncover your thigh, pass through the rivers. Isaiah 47:1-2.

'The daughter of Babel' stands for those among whom externally things give the appearance of being holy and good but interiorly they are unholy and evil, 1182, 1326. 'The daughter of the Chaldeans' stands for those among whom externally things give the appearance of being holy and true, but interiorly they are unholy and false, 1368, 1816. 'Taking a mill and grinding flour' stands for producing teachings out of the truths which they pervert; for 'flour', being the product of wheat or of barley, means truths which are products of good, but in the contrary sense truths which they pervert so as to lead people astray. In Jeremiah,

I will banish from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of mills, and the light of the lamp. And this whole land will be a waste and desolation. Jeremiah 25:10-11.

[2] In John,

No craftsman of any craft will be found in Babylon any more; no sound of a mill will be heard in it any more; and the light of a lamp will not shine in it any more, and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride will not be heard in it any more. Revelation 18:21-23.

'No sound of a mill will be heard in Babylon any more' means that there will not be any truth. 'The light of the lamp will not shine any more' means that neither will there be any understanding of truth. In Lamentations,

They have ravished women in Zion, virgins in the cities of Judah. Princes have been hung up by their hands, the faces of the old men have not been honoured. The young men have been led away to grind at the mill, and the boys collapse under the wood. Lamentations 5:11-14.

'The young men have been led away to grind at the mill' stands for being led away to produce falsities by the use of truths, and so by the power of persuasion.

[3] In Moses,

Ah the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from Pharaoh's firstborn seated upon his throne, even to the servant-girl's firstborn who is behind the mill. Exodus 11:5.

'The firstborn of Egypt' stands for truths of faith which have been separated from the good of charity and therefore become falsities, 3325.

'The servant-girl's firstborn who is behind the mill' stands for the affection for such truth from which falsities are obtained. These were the things represented by such historical events.

[4] In the same author,

He shall not take as a pledge the mill or the milling stone, for they are the livelihood 1 of him who pledges them. Deuteronomy 24:6.

This law was laid down because 'the mill' meant matters of doctrine and 'the milling stone' the truths that were an integral part of them and are called 'the livelihood of him who pledges them'. But for the spiritual meaning which 'mill' and 'milling stone' possess that law would obviously not have been given; nor would it have been said that they were 'his livelihood'.

[5] I have been shown that 'grinding' derives its spiritual meaning from the representatives which manifest themselves in the world of spirits. For I have seen people there who seemed to be grinding; these spirits, I have been told, mean those who gather large numbers of truths together not with any use in view, other than for the sake of their own pleasure. Because truths in that case are devoid of their own affection which originates in good, they do indeed look like truths to external appearance; but because there is no inner substance to them they are sheer fancies. But if evil is present within them truths are used to support that evil, and so are made falsities through that use of them.

Footnotes:

1. literally, the soul

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