The Bible

 

Ezekiel 9

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1 Nang magkagayo'y sumigaw siya sa aking pakinig ng malakas na tinig, na nagsasabi, Magsilapit yaong mga may katungkulan sa bayan, na bawa't isa'y may kaniyang pangpatay na almas sa kaniyang kamay.

2 At narito, anim na lalake ay nagsipanggaling sa daan ng mataas na pintuang-daan, na nalalagay sa dako ng hilagaan, na bawa't isa'y may kaniyang pangpatay na almas sa kaniyang kamay; at isang lalake ay nasa gitna nila na nakapanamit ng kayong lino, na may tintero ng manunulat sa kaniyang tagiliran. At sila'y nagsipasok, at nagsitayo sa siping ng tansong dambana.

3 At ang kaluwalhatian ng Dios ng Israel ay umilanglang mula sa kerubin, na kinapapatungan, hanggang sa pintuan ng bahay: at kaniyang tinawag ang lalaking nakapanamit ng kayong lino, na may tintero ng manunulat sa kaniyang tagiliran.

4 At sinabi ng Panginoon sa kaniya, Pumaroon ka sa gitna ng bayan, sa gitna ng Jerusalem, at maglagay ka ng mga tanda sa mga noo ng mga taong nangagbubuntong-hininga at nagsidaing dahil sa lahat na kasuklamsuklam na nagawa sa gitna niyaon.

5 At sa mga iba ay sinabi niya sa aking pakinig, Magsiparoon kayo sa bayan na magsisunod sa kaniya, at manakit kayo: huwag magpatawad ang inyong mata, o kayo man ay mahabag;

6 Lipulin ninyong lubos ang matanda, ang binata at ang dalaga, at ang mga bata at ang mga babae; nguni't huwag lumapit sa sinomang lalake na tinandaan; at inyong pasimulan sa aking santuario. Nang magkagayo'y kanilang pinasimulan sa mga matandang lalake na nangasa harap ng bahay.

7 At sinabi niya sa kanila, Lapastanganin ninyo ang bahay, at punuin ninyo ng patay ang mga looban: magsilabas kayo. At sila'y nagsilabas, at nanakit sa bayan.

8 At nangyari, habang sila'y nananakit, at ako'y naiwan, na ako'y nasubasob, at sumigaw ako, at aking sinabi, Ah Panginoong Dios! iyo bagang lilipulin ang buong nalabi sa Israel, sa iyong pagbubugso ng iyong kapusukan sa Jerusalem?

9 Nang magkagayo'y sinabi niya sa akin, Ang kasamaan ng sangbahayan ni Israel at ni Juda ay totoong malaki, at ang lupain ay puno ng dugo, at ang bayan ay puno ng kasuwailan: sapagka't kanilang sinasabi, Pinabayaan ng Panginoon ang lupa, at hindi nakikita ng Panginoon.

10 At tungkol sa akin naman, ang aking mata ay hindi magpapatawad, o mahahabag man ako, kundi aking ipadadanas ang kanilang lakad sa kanilang ulo.

11 At, narito, ang lalaking nakapanamit ng kayong lino, na may tintero ng manunulat sa kaniyang tagiliran, nagbalita ng bagay; na sinabi, Aking ginawa na gaya ng iniutos mo sa akin.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2242

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2242. That 'I will go down now, and I will see' means visitation becomes clear from the meaning of 'going down to see' as judgement, dealt with in Volume One, in 1311, and consequently as visitation. The final period of the Church in general and of the individual in particular is called visitation in the Word. It occurs prior to judgement, so that visitation is nothing else than an investigation into what such are like, that is, into the nature of the Church in general or of the individual in particular. Such investigation is expressed in the sense of the letter as Jehovah coming down and seeing.

[2] From this the nature of the sense of the letter is made clear, for Jehovah does not go down; indeed one cannot speak of the Lord going down because He always dwells in highest things. Nor does Jehovah look and see whether a thing is so; for one cannot speak of the Lord looking to see whether a thing is so because every single thing is known to Him from eternity. Yet the sense of the letter speaks of Jehovah going down to see because to man that is what He does appear to do. For man dwells among lowest things and when anything presents itself there he does not think about, nor does he even know, what the situation is with higher things and so does not know about how these flow in. He has no knowledge of these things because his thought does not extend beyond what is immediately about him, and therefore he cannot perceive what the Lord does as anything other than some such going down to see; and that perception is even more limited when he imagines that no one knows what he himself is thinking. Besides this, he has no other idea than that an actual coming down from on high is meant, and when said of God, from the highest. But it is not in fact a coming down from the highest but from the inmost.

[3] From this one may see what the sense of the letter is like, namely that it is shaped according to appearances, and that if it were not, nobody would understand and acknowledge the Word, nor thus accept it. But angels are not limited by appearances in the way that man is, and therefore since the Word as to the letter is for man, it is as to the internal sense for angels, and also for those men who in the Lord's Divine mercy have been allowed during their lifetime in the world to be as the angels.

[4] Visitation is mentioned in various places in the Word, where it either means the vastation of the Church or of the individual, or else deliverance, and thus the investigation into the nature of persons or things. It stands for vastation in Isaiah,

What will you do on the day of visitation? It will come from afar. To whom will you flee for help, and where will you leave your glory? Isaiah 10:3.

In the same prophet,

The stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be darkened in its going out, and the moon will not shed its light. And I will visit the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Isaiah 13:10-11.

'The stars and the constellations which will not give their light, and the sun which will be darkened, and the moon which will not shed its light' means that no love and no charity will exist, see 2120. And since this is vastation it is 'the day of visitation'.

[5] In Jeremiah,

They will fall among those who fall, and in the time of their visitation they will stumble. Jeremiah 8:12.

This stands for the time when they have been vastated, that is, when no charity and faith exist. In Ezekiel,

The visitations of the city have drawn near, and each man has his weapon of destruction in his hand. Ezekiel 9:1.

This too is a reference to vastation; consequently 'each man has a weapon of destruction'. In Hosea,

The days of visitation have come, the days of recompense have come. Hosea 9:7.

Here the meaning is similar. In Micah,

The day of your watchmen, your visitation, has come; now will be their confusion. Micah 7:4.

Here also it stands for charity that has been laid waste. In Moses, On the day of My visiting, I will visit them with their sin. Exodus 32:34.

This refers to the people in the wilderness after they had made themselves the golden calf. That visitation also means deliverance is evident from the following places, Exodus 3:16; 4:31; Jeremiah 27:22; 29:10; Luke 1:68, 78; 19:41-42.

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

The Bible

 

Genesis 18

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1 Yahweh appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.

2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and saw that three men stood opposite him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth,

3 and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don't go away from your servant.

4 Now let a little water be fetched, wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

5 I will get a morsel of bread so you can refresh your heart. After that you may go your way, now that you have come to your servant." They said, "Very well, do as you have said."

6 Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Quickly prepare three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."

7 Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a tender and good calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to dress it.

8 He took butter, milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

9 They asked him, "Where is Sarah, your wife?" He said, "See, in the tent."

10 He said, "I will certainly return to you when the season comes round. Behold, Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

12 Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old will I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"

13 Yahweh said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, yet I am old?'

14 Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son."

15 Then Sarah denied, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh."

16 The men rose up from there, and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

17 Yahweh said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I do,

18 since Abraham has surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him?

19 For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him."

20 Yahweh said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,

21 I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know."

22 The men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, but Abraham stood yet before Yahweh.

23 Abraham drew near, and said, "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?

24 What if there are fifty righteous within the city? Will you consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous who are in it?

25 Be it far from you to do things like that, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be like the wicked. May that be far from you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do right?"

26 Yahweh said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."

27 Abraham answered, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, who am but dust and ashes.

28 What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous? Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?" He said, "I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there."

29 He spoke to him yet again, and said, "What if there are forty found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."

30 He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?" He said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."

31 He said, "See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord. What if there are twenty found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake."

32 He said, "Oh don't let the Lord be angry, and I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake."

33 Yahweh went his way, as soon as he had finished communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.