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Exodo 23

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1 Huwag kang magkakalat ng kasinungalingan: huwag kang makikipagkayari sa masama, na maging saksi kang sinungaling.

2 Huwag kang susunod sa karamihan na gumawa ng masama; ni magbibigay patotoo man sa isang usap, na ang kiling ay sa karamihan upang sirain ang kahatulan:

3 Ni huwag mo ring kikilingan ang dukha sa kaniyang usap.

4 Kung iyong masumpungan ang baka ng iyong kaalit o ang kaniyang asno, na nakawala, ay tunay na ibabalik mo sa kaniya.

5 Kung iyong makita ang asno ng napopoot sa iyo, na nakalugmok sa ilalim ng kaniyang pasan, at ayaw mo mang alisan ng pasan, ay walang pagsalang iyong tutulungan pati ng may-ari niyaon.

6 Huwag mong sisirain ang kahatulan ng iyong dukha, sa kaniyang usap.

7 Layuan mo ang bagay na kasinungalingan, at ang walang sala at ang matuwid, ay huwag mong papatayin: sapagka't hindi ko patototohanan ang masama.

8 At huwag kang tatanggap ng suhol: sapagka't ang suhol ay bumubulag sa mga may paningin, at sinisira ang mga salita ng mga banal.

9 At ang taga ibang lupa ay huwag mong pipighatiin sapagka't talastas ninyo ang puso ng taga ibang lupa, yamang kayo'y naging mga taga ibang lupa, sa lupain ng Egipto.

10 Anim na taong hahasikan mo ang iyong lupa at aanihin mo ang bunga niyaon:

11 Datapuwa't sa ikapitong taon ay iyong iiwan at babayaan, upang kumain ang dukha sa iyong bayan: at ang kanilang iwan ay kakanin ng hayop sa bukid. Gayon din ang iyong gagawin sa iyong ubasan at sa iyong olibohan.

12 Anim na araw, na iyong gagawin ang iyong gawain, at sa ikapitong araw, ay magpapahinga ka: upang ang iyong baka at ang iyong asno ay makapagpahinga; at ang anak na lalake ng iyong aliping babae, at ang taga ibang lupa ay makapagpahinga.

13 At lahat ng mga bagay na aking sinabi sa inyo ay inyong ingatan: at huwag ninyong banggitin ang pangalan ng ibang dios, o marinig man sa inyong bibig.

14 Makaitlong magdidiwang ka ng pista sa akin, sa bawa't taon.

15 Ang pista ng tinapay na walang lebadura ay iyong ipagdidiwang; pitong araw na kakain ka ng tinapay na walang lebadura, gaya ng iniutos ko sa iyo, sa takdang panahon, sa buwan ng Abib (sapagka't niyaon ka umalis sa Egipto); at walang lalapit sa harap ko na walang dala:

16 At ang pista ng pagaani ng mga unang bunga ng iyong kapagalan, na iyong inihasik sa bukid: at ang pista ng pagaani, sa katapusan ng taon, nang pagaani mo ng iyong kapagalan sa bukid.

17 Makaitlo sa bawa't taon na ang lahat na iyong mga lalake ay haharap sa Panginoong Dios.

18 Huwag mong ihahandog ang dugo ng hain sa akin, na kasabay ng tinapay na may lebadura; o iiwan mo man ang taba ng aking pista sa buong magdamag hanggang sa kinaumagahan.

19 Ang mga pinakauna ng mga unang bunga ng iyong lupa ay iyong ipapasok sa bahay ng Panginoon mong Dios. Huwag mong lulutuin ang batang kambing sa gatas ng kaniyang ina.

20 Narito, aking sinusugo ang isang anghel sa unahan mo, upang ingatan ka sa daan, at upang dalhin ka sa dakong aking inihanda sa iyo.

21 Magingat kayo sa kaniya, at dinggin ninyo ang kaniyang tinig; huwag ninyong mungkahiin siya: sapagka't hindi niya patatawarin ang inyong pagsalangsang; sapagka't ang aking pangalan ay nasa kaniya.

22 Datapuwa't kung didinggin mong lubos ang kaniyang tinig, at gagawin mo ang lahat ng aking sinasalita; ay magiging kaaway nga ako ng iyong mga kaaway, kaalit ng iyong mga kaalit.

23 Sapagka't ang aking anghel ay magpapauna sa iyo at dadalhin ka sa Amorrheo, at sa Hetheo at sa Perezeo, at sa Cananeo, at sa Heveo, at sa Jebuseo, at aking lilipulin.

24 Huwag kang yuyukod sa kanilang mga dios, o maglilingkod man sa mga yaon, o gagawa man ng ayon sa kanilang mga gawa, kundi iyong iwawaksi at iyong pagpuputulputulin ang kanilang mga haligi na pinakaalaala.

25 At inyong paglilingkuran ang Panginoon ninyong Dios, at kaniyang babasbasan ang iyong tinapay at ang iyong tubig; at aking aalisin ang sakit sa gitna mo.

26 Walang babaing makukunan, o magiging baog man, sa iyong lupain: ang bilang ng iyong mga araw ay aking lulubusin.

27 Aking susuguin ang sindak sa unahan mo, at aking liligaligin ang buong bayan na iyong paroroonan, at aking patatalikurin sa iyo ang lahat ng iyong mga kaaway.

28 At aking susuguin ang mga putakti sa unahan mo, na magpapalayas sa Heveo, sa Cananeo at sa Hetheo, sa harap mo.

29 Hindi ko palalayasin sila sa harap mo sa isang taon; baka ang lupa'y maging ilang, at ang mga ganid sa parang ay magsidami laban sa iyo.

30 Untiunting aking palalayasin sila sa harap mo, hanggang sa ikaw ay kumapal at manahin mo ang lupain.

31 At aking itatatag ang iyong hangganan na mula sa Dagat na Mapula hanggang sa dagat ng Filistia at mula sa ilang hanggang sa Ilog ng Eufrates: sapagka't aking ibibigay ang mga nananahan sa lupain sa iyong kamay, at iyo silang palalayasin sa harap mo.

32 Huwag kang makikipagtipan sa kanila, ni sa kanilang mga dios.

33 Sila'y hindi tatahan sa iyong lupain, baka papagkasalahin ka nila laban sa akin: sapagka't kung ikaw ay maglingkod sa kanilang mga dios, ay tunay na magiging silo sa iyo.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9320

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9320. 'For you shall utterly destroy them' means that evils must be completely removed. This is clear from the meaning of 'destroying' - when it has reference to evils and falsities, meant by the nations of the land of Canaan and their gods - as removing. The reason why 'destroying' means removing is that those governed by goodness and truth never destroy those ruled by evil and falsity, but merely move them away. This they do because good, not evil, governs their actions, and good comes from the Lord, who never destroys anyone. Those ruled by evil however and consequently by falsity try to destroy, and so far as they can they do destroy those governed by good. This they do because evil rules their actions. But since, when they try to do so, they make their attack on good which comes from the Lord, thus on what is of God, they destroy themselves, that is, they hurl themselves into damnation and into hell. Such is the law of order. And why it is such, see 4299, 7643, 7679, 7710, 7926, 7989, 8137, 8146, 8265, 8945, 8946.

[2] The reason why the Israelites and Jews were to destroy the nations of the land of Canaan was that they themselves represented spiritual and heavenly realities, while the nations represented hellish and devilish things, which can never exist together with those realities since they are opposites. The reason why they were allowed to destroy the nations was that no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church, so that the Lord was not present among them either except through things of a representative nature, 4307. For they were interested in outward forms but not their inner substances, that is, in the worship that represented goodness and truth but not goodness and truth themselves. People like this are allowed to destroy, kill, and consign to slaughter and complete destruction. But people who are interested in outward forms and at the same time in their inner substance are not allowed to do those things, since their actions must be governed by good, and good comes from the Lord.

[3] The fact that the Jews and Israelites were such is declared explicitly by Moses,

Do not say in your heart, when Jehovah your God has thrust out the nations before you, Because of my righteousness Jehovah has brought me in to possess this land. It is not because of your righteousness and because of the uprightness of your heart; for you are a stiff-necked people. Deuteronomy 9:4-6.

And elsewhere,

They are a nation from whom counsel has perished, nor is there intelligence in them. From the vine of Sodom comes their vine, and from the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of poison, they have clusters of bitterness. The poison of snakes (draco) is their wine, and the cruel poison of asps. Is not this hidden away with Me, sealed up in My treasuries? Deuteronomy 32:28, 32-34.

'The vine' in the internal sense means the Church, 1069, 5113, 6375, 6376, 9277; 'grapes' and 'clusters' mean the internal forms and the external forms of that Church's good, 1071, 5117, 6378; and 'wine' means that Church's internal truth, 1071, 1798, 6377. From this one may see what is meant by the assertions that their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah, that their grapes are grapes of poison and clusters of bitterness, and that their wine is the poison of snakes and the cruel poison of asps. The fact that all this was known to Jehovah, that is, to the Lord, is meant by the remarks about its being hidden away with Him and sealed up in His treasuries.

[4] In John,

Jesus said to the Jews, You are from your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has not stood in the truth. John 8:44.

This is why they are called a wicked and adulterous generation, Matthew 12:39, as well as a brood of vipers, Matthew 3:7; 12:34; 23:33; Luke 3:7. That they were like this is also described by the Lord in His parables in Matthew 21:33-45; Mark 12:1-9; Luke 14:16-24; 20:9ff.

Regarding that nation, that it was the worst nation; that in their worship they were interested in outward forms but not their inner substance; that no Church existed among them, only a representative of the Church; but that nevertheless they were able to represent the internal realities of the Church, see 3398, 3479, 3480, 3732 (end), 3881 (end), 4208, 4281, 4288-4290, 4293, 4307, 4314, 4316, 4317, 4429, 4433, 4444, 4500, 4503, 4680, 4815, 4818, 4820, 4825, 4832, 4837, 4844, 4847, 4865, 4868, 4874, 4899, 4903, 4911-4913, 5057, 5998, 6304, 6832, 6877, 7048, 7051, 7248, 7401, 7439, 8301, 8588, 8788, 8806, 8814, 8819, 8871, 8882, 9284.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8146

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8146. 'And he harnessed his chariot' means doctrine championing falsity that belongs to separated faith in general. This is clear from the meaning of 'chariot' as doctrine, dealt with in 2760, 5321, 5945, in this case doctrine championing falsity that belongs to separated faith, since the chariot is Pharaoh's and 'Pharaoh' represents the falsities that belong to separated faith. For those who subscribe to faith separated from charity and at the same time lead a life of evil are inevitably steeped in falsities, 8094.

[2] The descriptions that follow on from here refer to the gathering together of all the falsities arising from evil that existed with people who subscribed to faith separated from charity and led a life of evil. Descriptions prior to this have dealt with the vastation of the truths of faith that exist with those people, and with the eventual reduction of those people to a condition which is such that they are steeped in utter falsities arising from evil, and so are lost in damnation. The present chapter now deals with their being cast down into hell, for being cast down into hell follows damnation. What happens in this state - a state in which people are cast down into hell - is as follows: When they are going to be cast down all the falsities that exist with them are first gathered together (which is accomplished by the opening up of all the hells with which they have had contact) and then are poured into them. As a result those people have around them dense masses of falsities arising from evil, which appear as waters to those looking on from outside, 8137, 8138; they are vapours emanating from their life. When they are engulfed by those dense masses they are in hell. When the falsities arising from evil are gathered into one and poured into them the purpose is that those people may become surrounded by the kinds of things that have come to be part of their life, and after that may be confined within them. The type of evil, together with the falsity arising from it, then mark them and their hell off from other hells.

[3] Because of the subject here - the gathering together of all the falsities arising from evil that existed with those people - references are made so many times in this chapter to Pharaoh's chariot, his horses, horsemen, army, and people; for these mean all the powers of falsity that reside with those people. Such references are,

He harnessed his chariot, and took his people with him. Verse 6.

He took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt. Verse 7.

And the Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's chariot-horses, and his horsemen, and his army. Verse 9.

I will be glorified in Pharaoh, and in all his army, in his chariots, and in his horsemen. Verse 17, and similarly verse 18.

And the Egyptians pursued, and came after them, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. Verse 23.

Jehovah took off the wheels of their chariots. Verse 25.

Let the waters return onto the Egyptians, onto their chariots, and onto their horsemen. Verse 26.

The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army. Verse 28.

These references to them occur so many times because falsities arising from evil - their being gathered together and poured into those people - are the subject. The things referred to so many times mean all the powers of falsity arising from evil. 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians' are the people themselves who are steeped in falsities arising from evil; 'the chariots' are doctrinal teachings that uphold falsity; 'the horses' are false factual knowledge belonging to a perverted understanding; 'the horsemen' are reasonings resting on that knowledge; and 'the army' and 'the people' are the falsities themselves.

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