The Bible

 

Genesis 3

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1 And the serpent hath been subtile above every beast of the field which Jehovah God hath made, and he saith unto the woman, `Is it true that God hath said, Ye do not eat of every tree of the garden?'

2 And the woman saith unto the serpent, `Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we do eat,

3 and of the fruit of the tree which [is] in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye do not eat of it, nor touch it, lest ye die.'

4 And the serpent saith unto the woman, `Dying, ye do not die,

5 for God doth know that in the day of your eating of it -- your eyes have been opened, and ye have been as God, knowing good and evil.'

6 And the woman seeth that the tree [is] good for food, and that it [is] pleasant to the eyes, and the tree is desirable to make [one] wise, and she taketh of its fruit and eateth, and giveth also to her husband with her, and he doth eat;

7 and the eyes of them both are opened, and they know that they [are] naked, and they sew fig-leaves, and make to themselves girdles.

8 And they hear the sound of Jehovah God walking up and down in the garden at the breeze of the day, and the man and his wife hide themselves from the face of Jehovah God in the midst of the trees of the garden.

9 And Jehovah God calleth unto the man, and saith to him, `Where [art] thou?'

10 and he saith, `Thy sound I have heard in the garden, and I am afraid, for I am naked, and I hide myself.'

11 And He saith, `Who hath declared to thee that thou [art] naked? of the tree of which I have commanded thee not to eat, hast thou eaten?'

12 and the man saith, `The woman whom Thou didst place with me -- she hath given to me of the tree -- and I do eat.'

13 And Jehovah God saith to the woman, `What [is] this thou hast done?' and the woman saith, `The serpent hath caused me to forget -- and I do eat.'

14 And Jehovah God saith unto the serpent, `Because thou hast done this, cursed [art] thou above all the cattle, and above every beast of the field: on thy belly dost thou go, and dust thou dost eat, all days of thy life;

15 and enmity I put between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; he doth bruise thee -- the head, and thou dost bruise him -- the heel.'

16 Unto the woman He said, `Multiplying I multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, in sorrow dost thou bear children, and toward thy husband [is] thy desire, and he doth rule over thee.'

17 And to the man He said, `Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and dost eat of the tree concerning which I have charged thee, saying, Thou dost not eat of it, cursed [is] the ground on thine account; in sorrow thou dost eat of it all days of thy life,

18 and thorn and bramble it doth bring forth to thee, and thou hast eaten the herb of the field;

19 by the sweat of thy face thou dost eat bread till thy return unto the ground, for out of it hast thou been taken, for dust thou [art], and unto dust thou turnest back.'

20 And the man calleth his wife's name Eve: for she hath been mother of all living.

21 And Jehovah God doth make to the man and to his wife coats of skin, and doth clothe them.

22 And Jehovah God saith, `Lo, the man was as one of Us, as to the knowledge of good and evil; and now, lest he send forth his hand, and have taken also of the tree of life, and eaten, and lived to the age,' --

23 Jehovah God sendeth him forth from the garden of Eden to serve the ground from which he hath been taken;

24 yea, he casteth out the man, and causeth to dwell at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flame of the sword which is turning itself round to guard the way of the tree of life.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #196

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196. In ancient times people who relied on sensory evidence rather than matters of revelation were called serpents. Nowadays the position is even worse, for not only are there people who believe nothing unless they can see it with their eyes and apprehend it with their senses, there are also those who confirm themselves in that attitude by means of facts unknown to the most ancient people, and who in so doing blind themselves very much more. To make known how people who draw conclusions about heavenly things on the basis of sensory evidence, facts, and philosophical arguments, so blind themselves that they subsequently see and hear absolutely nothing, and who are not only the deaf serpents but also the far more deadly flying serpents, mentioned in the Word as well, let their belief concerning the spirit serve as an example.

[2] Anybody who is sensory-minded, that is, whose belief is rooted solely in the senses, denies the existence of the spirit because he does not see it. He says, 'Because I do not feel it, it is nothing; what I see and touch, I know to exist'. Anybody who is factually-minded, that is, who bases his conclusions on factual knowledge, says, 'What is the spirit but perhaps breath, or vital heat, or something else known to me, which is dissipated when it comes to an end? Do not animals as well have a body, and senses, and something analogous to reason? Yet people say that animals are destined to die but man's spirit to live.' In this way they deny the existence of the spirit. Philosophers, men wishing to be more incisive than everybody else, speak of the spirit in terms which they themselves are not clear about since they argue about them. They contend that not a single expression is applicable which in any way derives from what is material, organic, or spatial. In this way they dismiss the spirit from their ideas, and as a result it passes from their notice and becomes nothing at all.

[3] Those among them however who are more sensible say that the spirit is thought, but when they begin to reason about thought they at length conclude, since they separate thought from substance, that it will disappear when the body breathes its last. In this way everyone who reasons on the basis of sensory evidence, facts, and philosophical arguments denies the existence of the spirit, and in denying its existence never believes anything that is said about the spirit or about spiritual things. But if indeed the simple in heart are questioned they say that they know that the spirit exists because the Lord has said that they will live after death. Instead of smothering their rationality they nurture it by means of the Word of the Lord.

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