The Bible

 

Amos 4

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1 Listen to this word, you cows of Bashan, who are on the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who tell their husbands, "Bring us drinks!"

2 The Lord Yahweh has sworn by his holiness that behold, "The days shall come on you that they will take you away with hooks, and the last of you with fish hooks.

3 You will go out at the breaks in the wall, everyone straight before her; and you will cast yourselves into Harmon," says Yahweh.

4 "Go to Bethel, and sin; to Gilgal, and sin more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three days,

5 offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving of that which is leavened, and proclaim free will offerings and brag about them: for this pleases you, you children of Israel," says the Lord Yahweh.

6 "I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in every town; yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.

7 "I also have withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest; and I caused it to rain on one city, and caused it not to rain on another city. one place was rained on, and the piece where it didn't rain withered.

8 So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, and were not satisfied: yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.

9 "I struck you with blight and mildew many times in your gardens and your vineyards; and your fig trees and your olive trees have the swarming locust devoured: yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.

10 "I sent plagues among you like I did Egypt. I have slain your young men with the sword, and have carried away your horses; and I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camp, yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.

11 "I have overthrown some of you, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a burning stick plucked out of the fire; yet you haven't returned to me," says Yahweh.

12 "Therefore thus will I do to you, Israel; because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, Israel.

13 For, behold, he who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought; who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the high places of the Earth: Yahweh, the God of Armies, is his name."

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #10458

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10458. 'And it happened, as he came near the camp' means near to hell, in which that nation was then. This is clear from the meaning of 'the camp of the children of Israel' as heaven and the Church, dealt with in 4236, 10038, so that when they engaged in idolatrous worship, venerating the calf instead of Jehovah, their camp means hell. For what is representative of heaven and the Church is turned into that which is representative of hell when the people turned from the worship of God to worship of the devil, which worship of the calf was. 'The camp' has a similar meaning in Amos,

I have sent the pestilence upon you in the way of Egypt, I have killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses 1 , to such an extent that I have caused the stench of your camp to come up also into your nose. Amos 4:10.

This refers to the vastation of truth; and when truth has been laid waste 'the camp' means hell. The fact that it refers to the vastation of truth is evident from the specific details of the verse when looked at in the internal sense. 'The pestilence' means vastation, 7102, 7505; 'the way' means truth, and in the contrary sense falsity, 10422; 'Egypt' that which is external, and also hell, see in the places referred to in 10437; 'the sword' falsity engaged in conflict against truths, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294; 'young men' the Church's truths, 7668; 'being killed' being destroyed spiritually, 6767, 8902; 'captivity' deprivation of truth, 7990; 'horses' an enlightened power of understanding, 2760-2762, 3217, 5321, 6125, 6534; and 'stench' that which is abominable, emanating from hell, 7161. From all this it is evident that in the internal sense 'the camp' means hell. Hell is also meant in the historical narratives of the Word by the camp of enemies opposed to Jerusalem, and in general of those opposed to the children of Israel.

Footnotes:

1. literally, the captivity of your horses

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