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Amos 7

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1 Ganito nagpakita sa akin ang Panginoong Dios: at, narito, siya'y lumikha ng mga balang sa pasimula ng huling pagsibol ng suwi; at, narito, na siyang huling suwi pagkatapos ng mga gapas para sa hari.

2 At nangyari, na nang kanilang matapos makain ang pananim sa lupain, akin ngang sinabi, Oh Panginoong Dios, isinasamo ko sa iyo, na magpatawad ka: paanong tatayo ang Jacob? sapagka't siya'y maliit.

3 Ang Panginoo'y nagsisi tungkol dito, Hindi mangyayari, sabi ng Panginoon.

4 Ganito nagpakita sa akin ang Panginoong Dios: at, narito, ang Panginoong Dios ay tumawag, upang humatol sa pamamagitan ng apoy; at sinupok ang malaking kalaliman, at susupukin sana ang lupain.

5 Nang magkagayo'y sinabi ko, Oh Panginoong Dios, itigil mo, isinasamo ko sa iyo: paanong makatatayo ang Jacob? sapagka't siya'y maliit.

6 Ang Panginoo'y nagsisi tungkol dito: Ito'y hindi rin mangyayari, sabi ng Panginoong Dios.

7 Ganito siya nagpakita sa akin: at, narito, ang Panginoon ay nakatayo sa tabi ng isang kuta na ang pagkayari ay ayon sa pabatong tingga, na may pabatong tingga sa kaniyang kamay.

8 At sinabi ng Panginoon sa akin, Amos, anong iyong nakikita? At aking sinabi, Isang pabatong tingga. Nang magkagayo'y sinabi ng Panginoon, Narito, ako'y maglalagay ng pabatong tingga sa gitna ng aking bayang Israel; hindi na ako magdadaan pa sa kanila;

9 At ang mga mataas na dako ng Isaac ay magiging sira, at ang mga santuario ng Israel ay mangahahandusay na wasak; at ako'y babangon na may tabak laban sa sangbahayan ni Jeroboam.

10 Nang magkagayo'y nagsugo si Amasias na saserdote sa Beth-el kay Jeroboam na hari sa Israel, na nagsasabi, Si Amos ay nagbanta laban sa iyo sa gitna ng sangbahayan ni Israel: hindi mababata ng lupain ang lahat niyang mga salita.

11 Sapagka't ganito ang sabi ni Amos, Si Jeroboam ay mamamatay sa pamamagitan ng tabak, at ang Israel ay walang pagsalang dadalhing bihag mula sa kaniyang lupain.

12 Sinabi rin ni Amasias kay Amos, Oh ikaw na tagakita, yumaon ka, at tumakas ka sa lupain ng Juda, at doo'y kumain ka ng tinapay, at manghula ka roon:

13 Nguni't huwag ka nang manghula pa sa Beth-el: sapagka't siyang santuario ng hari, at siyang bahay-hari.

14 Nang magkagayo'y sumagot si Amos, at nagsabi kay Amasias, Ako'y hindi propeta, o anak man ng propeta; kundi ako'y pastor, at manggagawa sa mga puno ng sikomoro:

15 At kinuha ako ng Panginoon mula sa pagsunod sa kawan, at sinabi ng Panginoon sa akin, Ikaw ay yumaon, manghula ka sa aking bayang Israel.

16 Kaya't ngayo'y dinggin mo ang salita ng Panginoon, Iyong sinasabi, Huwag kang manghula laban sa Israel, at huwag mong ihulog ang iyong salita laban sa sangbahayan ni Isaac:

17 Kaya't ganito ang sabi ng Panginoon, Ang iyong asawa ay magiging patutot sa bayan, at ang iyong mga anak na lalake at babae ay mangabubuwal sa pamamagitan ng tabak, at ang iyong lupain ay mababahagi sa pamamagitan ng pising panukat; at ikaw ay mamamatay sa isang lupaing marumi, at ang Israel ay walang pagsalang dadalhing bihag mula sa kaniyang lupain.

   

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.