The Bible

 

Ezekiel 28

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1 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

2 `Son of man, say to the leader of Tyre: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because thy heart hath been high, And thou dost say: A god I [am], The habitation of god I have inhabited, In the heart of the seas, And thou [art] man, and not god, And thou givest out thy heart as the heart of god,

3 Lo, thou [art] wiser than Daniel, No hidden thing have they concealed from thee.

4 By thy wisdom and by thine understanding Thou hast made for thee wealth, And makest gold and silver in thy treasuries.

5 By the abundance of thy wisdom, Through thy merchandise, Thou hast multiplied thy wealth, And high is thy heart through thy wealth.

6 Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Because of thy giving out thy heart as the heart of God,

7 Therefore, lo, I am bringing in against thee strangers, The terrible of the nations, And they have drawn out their swords Against the beauty of thy wisdom, And they have pierced thy brightness.

8 To destruction they bring thee down, Thou diest by the deaths of the wounded, in the heart of the seas.

9 Dost thou really say, `I [am] God,' Before him who is slaying thee? And thou [art] man, and not God, In the hand of him who is piercing thee.

10 The deaths of the uncircumcised thou diest, By the hand of strangers, for I have spoken, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.'

11 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

12 `Son of man, lift up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, And thou hast said to him: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Thou art sealing up a measurement, Full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

13 In Eden, the garden of God, thou hast been, Every precious stone thy covering, Ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle, and gold, The workmanship of thy tabrets, and of thy pipes, In thee in the day of thy being produced, have been prepared.

14 Thou [art] an anointed cherub who is covering, And I have set thee in the holy mount, God thou hast been, In the midst of stones of fire thou hast walked up and down.

15 Perfect [art] thou in thy ways, From the day of thy being produced, Till perversity hath been found in thee.

16 By the abundance of thy merchandise They have filled thy midst with violence, And thou dost sin, And I thrust thee from the mount of God, And I destroy thee, O covering cherub, From the midst of the stones of fire.

17 High hath been thy heart, because of thy beauty, Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom because of thy brightness, On the earth I have cast thee, Before kings I have set thee, to look on thee,

18 From the abundance of thy iniquity, By the perversity of thy traffic, Thou hast polluted thy sanctuaries, And I bring forth fire from thy midst, It hath devoured thee, And I make thee become ashes on the earth, Before the eyes of all beholding thee.

19 All knowing thee among the peoples Have been astonished at thee, Wastes thou hast been, and thou art not -- to the age.'

20 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

21 `Son of man, set thy face unto Zidon, and prophesy concerning it;

22 and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Lo, I [am] against thee, O Zidon, And I have been honoured in thy midst, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My doing in her judgments, And I have been sanctified in her.

23 And I have sent into her pestilence, And blood into her out-places, The wounded hath been judged in her midst, By the sword upon her round about, And they have known that I [am] Jehovah.

24 And there is no more to the house of Israel A pricking brier, and paining thorn, Of all round about them -- despising them, And they have known that I [am] the Lord Jehovah.

25 Thus said the Lord Jehovah: In My gathering the house of Israel, Out of the peoples among whom they were scattered, I have been sanctified in them, Before the eyes of the nations, And they have dwelt on their ground, That I gave to My servant, to Jacob,

26 And they have dwelt on it confidently, And builded houses, and planted vineyards, And dwelt confidently -- in My doing judgments, On all those despising them round about, And they have known that I, Jehovah, [am] their God!'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9476

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9476. 'Shoham stones, and stones of fillings' means spiritual truths and forms of good in general. This is clear from the meaning of 'shoham stones' as truths of faith that spring from love, or spiritual truths since the truths of faith that spring from love are spiritual truths; and from the meaning of 'stones of fillings' as forms of the good of faith, or spiritual forms of good. The reason why forms of the good of faith are meant by 'stones of fillings' and the truths of faith by 'shoham stones' is that the stones of fillings were for the breastplate, and 'the breastplate' on the ephod meant the good of faith or spiritual good, whereas the shoham stones went on the shoulder-pieces of the ephod, and by 'the shoulder-pieces of the ephod' the truths of faith or spiritual truths are meant. For the meaning of precious stones in the Word as the truths and forms of the good of faith, or spiritual truths and forms of good, see 114, 643, 3858, 6335, 6640. And since the truths and forms of the good of faith are meant by precious stones, intelligence and wisdom are also meant by them; for intelligence grows out of the truths of faith, and wisdom out of forms of the good of faith. Such is the meaning in Ezekiel,

Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering - ruby, topaz, diamond, tarshish, shoham. Ezekiel 28:12-13, 15.

This refers to the king of Tyre, by whom intelligence that grows out of cognitions or knowledge of the truth of faith is meant, 1201.

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

The Bible

 

Exodus 25

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1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Speak to the children of Israel, that they take an offering for me. From everyone whose heart makes him willing you shall take my offering.

3 This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold, silver, brass,

4 blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats' hair,

5 rams' skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood,

6 oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,

7 onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the breastplate.

8 Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all of its furniture, even so you shall make it.

10 "They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its breadth a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.

11 You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold molding around it.

12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and Two rings on the other side of it.

13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.

15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.

16 You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark.

17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.

18 You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.

19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat.

20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.

21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I will give you.

22 There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony, all that I command you for the children of Israel.

23 "You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, and a cubit its breadth, and one and a half cubits its height.

24 You shall overlay it with pure gold, and make a gold molding around it.

25 You shall make a rim of a handbreadth around it. You shall make a golden molding on its rim around it.

26 You shall make four rings of gold for it, and put the rings in the four corners that are on its four feet.

27 the rings shall be close to the rim, for places for the poles to carry the table.

28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be carried with them.

29 You shall make its dishes, its spoons, its ladles, and its bowls to pour out offerings with. You shall make them of pure gold.

30 You shall set bread of the presence on the table before me always.

31 "You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. Of hammered work shall the lampstand be made, even its base, its shaft, its cups, its buds, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it.

32 There shall be six branches going out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of its one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of its other side;

33 three cups made like almond blossoms in one branch, a bud and a flower; and three cups made like almond blossoms in the other branch, a bud and a flower, so for the six branches going out of the lampstand;

34 and in the lampstand four cups made like almond blossoms, its buds and its flowers;

35 and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, and a bud under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the lampstand.

36 Their buds and their branches shall be of one piece with it, all of it one beaten work of pure gold.

37 You shall make its lamps seven, and they shall light its lamps to give light to the space in front of it.

38 Its snuffers and its snuff dishes shall be of pure gold.

39 It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these accessories.

40 See that you make them after their pattern, which has been shown to you on the mountain.