The Bible

 

Genesis 2

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1 And the heavens and the earth are completed, and all their host;

2 and God completeth by the seventh day His work which He hath made, and ceaseth by the seventh day from all His work which He hath made.

3 And God blesseth the seventh day, and sanctifieth it, for in it He hath ceased from all His work which God had prepared for making.

4 These [are] births of the heavens and of the earth in their being prepared, in the day of Jehovah God's making earth and heavens;

5 and no shrub of the field is yet in the earth, and no herb of the field yet sprouteth, for Jehovah God hath not rained upon the earth, and a man there is not to serve the ground,

6 and a mist goeth up from the earth, and hath watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And Jehovah God formeth the man -- dust from the ground, and breatheth into his nostrils breath of life, and the man becometh a living creature.

8 And Jehovah God planteth a garden in Eden, at the east, and He setteth there the man whom He hath formed;

9 and Jehovah God causeth to sprout from the ground every tree desirable for appearance, and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river is going out from Eden to water the garden, and from thence it is parted, and hath become four chief [rivers];

11 the name of the one [is] Pison, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of the Havilah where the gold [is],

12 and the gold of that land [is] good, there [is] the bdolach and the shoham stone;

13 and the name of the second river [is] Gibon, it [is] that which is surrounding the whole land of Cush;

14 and the name of the third river [is] Hiddekel, it [is] that which is going east of Asshur; and the fourth river is Phrat.

15 And Jehovah God taketh the man, and causeth him to rest in the garden of Eden, to serve it, and to keep it.

16 And Jehovah God layeth a charge on the man, saying, `Of every tree of the garden eating thou dost eat;

17 and of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou dost not eat of it, for in the day of thine eating of it -- dying thou dost die.'

18 And Jehovah God saith, `Not good for the man to be alone, I do make to him an helper -- as his counterpart.'

19 And Jehovah God formeth from the ground every beast of the field, and every fowl of the heavens, and bringeth in unto the man, to see what he doth call it; and whatever the man calleth a living creature, that [is] its name.

20 And the man calleth names to all the cattle, and to fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; and to man hath not been found an helper -- as his counterpart.

21 And Jehovah God causeth a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he sleepeth, and He taketh one of his ribs, and closeth up flesh in its stead.

22 And Jehovah God buildeth up the rib which He hath taken out of the man into a woman, and bringeth her in unto the man;

23 and the man saith, `This [is] the [proper] step! bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh!' for this it is called Woman, for from a man hath this been taken;

24 therefore doth a man leave his father and his mother, and hath cleaved unto his wife, and they have become one flesh.

25 And they are both of them naked, the man and his wife, and they are not ashamed of themselves.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Explained #664

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664. And after three days and a half.- That this signifies when completed, thus the end of the old church, and the beginning of a new church, is evident from the signification of three days and a half, as denoting fulness or completion at the end of the old church, when there is the beginning of a new church, concerning which see above (n. 658). The reason why it is said, after three days and a half, is, that days, in the Word, signify states, here, the last state of the church. For all times, in the Word, as hours, days, weeks, months, years, and ages, signify states in the Word, as in this case, the last state of the church, when there is no longer any good of love or truth of faith remaining. Because days signify states, and since in the first chapter of Genesis the establishment of the Most Ancient Church is treated of which was accomplished successively from one state to another, therefore it is said there that there was evening and there was morning the first, the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth, and sixth days, unto the seventh, when it was completed (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31), and the days there do not mean days, but the successive states of the regeneration of men at that time, and the consequent establishment of the church with them. So also elsewhere in the Word.

  
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Translation by Isaiah Tansley. Many thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.