The Bible

 

Ezekiel 22

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1 Moreover the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 You, son of man, will you judge, will you judge the bloody city? then cause her to know all her abominations.

3 You shall say, Thus says the Lord Yahweh: A city that sheds blood in the midst of her, that her time may come, and that makes idols against herself to defile her!

4 You have become guilty in your blood that you have shed, and are defiled in your idols which you have made; and you have caused your days to draw near, and are come even to your years: therefore have I made you a reproach to the nations, and a mocking to all the countries.

5 Those who are near, and those who are far from you, shall mock you, you infamous one [and] full of tumult.

6 Behold, the princes of Israel, everyone according to his power, have been in you to shed blood.

7 In you have they set light by father and mother; in the midst of you have they dealt by oppression with the foreigner; in you have they wronged the fatherless and the widow.

8 You have despised my holy things, and have profaned my Sabbaths.

9 Slanderous men have been in you to shed blood; and in you they have eaten on the mountains: in the midst of you they have committed lewdness.

10 In you have they uncovered their fathers' nakedness; in you have they humbled her who was unclean in her impurity.

11 One has committed abomination with his neighbor's wife; and another has lewdly defiled his daughter-in-law; and another in you has humbled his sister, his father's daughter.

12 In you have they taken bribes to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbors by oppression, and have forgotten me, says the Lord Yahweh.

13 Behold, therefore, I have struck my hand at your dishonest gain which you have made, and at your blood which has been in the midst of you.

14 Can your heart endure, or can your hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with you? I, Yahweh, have spoken it, and will do it.

15 I will scatter you among the nations, and disperse you through the countries; and I will consume your filthiness out of you.

16 You shall be profaned in yourself, in the sight of the nations; and you shall know that I am Yahweh.

17 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, the house of Israel is become dross to me: all of them are brass and tin and iron and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are the dross of silver.

19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Because you have all become dross, therefore, behold, I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem.

20 As they gather silver and brass and iron and lead and tin into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire on it, to melt it; so will I gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will lay you there, and melt you.

21 Yes, I will gather you, and blow on you with the fire of my wrath, and you shall be melted in its midst.

22 As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so you will be melted in its midst; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have poured out my wrath on you.

23 The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

24 Son of man, tell her, You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.

25 There is a conspiracy of her prophets in its midst, like a roaring lion ravening the prey: they have devoured souls; they take treasure and precious things; they have made her widows many in its midst.

26 Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things: they have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.

27 Her princes in its midst are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, [and] to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain.

28 Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, Thus says the Lord Yahweh, when Yahweh has not spoken.

29 The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery; yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully.

30 I sought for a man among them, who should build up the wall, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none.

31 Therefore have I poured out my indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I brought on their heads, says the Lord Yahweh.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #8711

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8711. 'Men of truth hating gain' means because the truths are pure, devoid of any worldly end in view. This is clear from the meaning of 'men of truth' as pure truths (the reason why 'men of truth' are pure truths is that 'men' means truths, 3134, 5502, and 'truth' means faith, 3121, so that 'men of truth' means the truths of faith, that is, pure truths); and from the meaning of 'hating gain' as detesting the convincing false impressions which falsity and evil create, since 'hating' means detesting and 'gain' falsity and evil that are able to convince people and draw them away from truth and goodness. In general 'gain' means all falsity arising from evil that perverts mental judgements; and since this happens to those with the world as their end in view, men 'hating gain' also means those devoid of any worldly end in view. The fact that 'gain' means all falsity arising from evil that perverts mental judgements and draws a person away from truth and goodness may become clear to anyone who stops to reflect. 'Gain' in this sense is mentioned quite a number of times in the Word, such as in Isaiah 33:15; 56:11; 57:17; Jeremiah 6:13; 8:10; 22:17; Ezekiel 22:27; 33:31; and David, Psalms 119:36.

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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #3134

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3134. 'Who said, Thus the man spoke to me' means the leanings of truth in the natural man. This likewise is clear from the affection that occurs here, and also from what the man, or Abraham's servant, said to Rebekah, from which it is evident that the leanings of truth are meant; and from the meaning of 'the man' as truth, dealt with in 265, 749, 1007, here truth within the natural man and coming from the Divine, as he is Abraham's oldest servant, who means the natural man, see 3019. In the prophetical part of the Word especially 'man' (vir) is a word that occurs often - in the expressions 'man and wife', 'man and woman', 'man and inhabitant', and also 'man and human being' (vir et homo). In those expressions 'man' in the internal sense means that which belongs to the understanding, which is truth, while 'wife', 'woman', 'inhabitant', and 'human being' mean that which belongs to the will, which is good. As in Isaiah,

I look, and there is no man, and from these there is no counsellor. Isaiah 41:28.

'No man' stands for no one having intelligence, and so for no truth.

[2] In the same prophet,

I came, and there was no man; I called and no one answered. Isaiah 50:2.

Here the meaning is the same. In the same prophet,

Truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness has been unable to come in, and truth has been removed, and he who retreats from evil is insane. Jehovah saw, and it was evil in His eyes that there was no judgement. And He saw, and there was no man, and wondered. Isaiah 59:14-16.

'No man' clearly stands for no one having intelligence, and so in the universal sense for no truth. These verses in Isaiah refer to the final period of the Church when no truth at all exists any longer. Hence the statement 'truth has stumbled in the street, uprightness cannot come in, and truth has been removed'. 'The street' too has reference to truth, see 2336, as does 'judgement', 2235. In Jeremiah,

Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem and see now, and take note, and search in its broad places, if you find a man, if anyone is executing judgement and seeking truth. Jeremiah 5:1.

Here also 'a man' clearly stands for one having intelligence, and for truth. In Zephaniah,

I will make their streets desolate with none passing through; their cities will be devastated, with not a man and not an inhabitant there. Zephaniah 3:6.

'Not a man' stands for no truth, 'not an inhabitant' for no good, 2268, 2451, 2712. The same occurs in many other places besides these.

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