The Bible

 

Genesis 5

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1 This [is] an account of the births of Adam: In the day of God's preparing man, in the likeness of God He hath made him;

2 a male and a female He hath prepared them, and He blesseth them, and calleth their name Man, in the day of their being prepared.

3 And Adam liveth an hundred and thirty years, and begetteth [a son] in his likeness, according to his image, and calleth his name Seth.

4 And the days of Adam after his begetting Seth are eight hundred years, and he begetteth sons and daughters.

5 And all the days of Adam which he lived are nine hundred and thirty years, and he dieth.

6 And Seth liveth an hundred and five years, and begetteth Enos.

7 And Seth liveth after his begetting Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

8 And all the days of Seth are nine hundred and twelve years, and he dieth.

9 And Enos liveth ninety years, and begetteth Cainan.

10 And Enos liveth after his begetting Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

11 And all the days of Enos are nine hundred and five years, and he dieth.

12 And Cainan liveth seventy years, and begetteth Mahalaleel.

13 And Cainan liveth after his begetting Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

14 And all the days of Cainan are nine hundred and ten years, and he dieth.

15 And Mahalaleel liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Jared.

16 And Mahalaleel liveth after his begetting Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

17 And all the days of Mahalaleel are eight hundred and ninety and five years, and he dieth.

18 And Jared liveth an hundred and sixty and two years, and begetteth Enoch.

19 And Jared liveth after his begetting Enoch eight hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

20 And all the days of Jared are nine hundred and sixty and two years, and he dieth.

21 And Enoch liveth five and sixty years, and begetteth Methuselah.

22 And Enoch walketh habitually with God after his begetting Methuselah three hundred years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

23 And all the days of Enoch are three hundred and sixty and five years.

24 And Enoch walketh habitually with God, and he is not, for God hath taken him.

25 And Methuselah liveth an hundred and eighty and seven years, and begetteth Lamech.

26 And Methuselah liveth after his begetting Lamech seven hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

27 And all the days of Methuselah are nine hundred and sixty and nine years, and he dieth.

28 And Lamech liveth an hundred and eighty and two years, and begetteth a son,

29 and calleth his name Noah, saying, `This [one] doth comfort us concerning our work, and concerning the labour of our hands, because of the ground which Jehovah hath cursed.'

30 And Lamech liveth after his begetting Noah five hundred and ninety and five years, and begetteth sons and daughters.

31 And all the days of Lamech are seven hundred and seventy and seven years, and he dieth.

32 And Noah is a son of five hundred years, and Noah begetteth Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #530

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530. As has been stated, the names used in this chapter mean Churches, or what amounts to the same, doctrinal systems, for it is by virtue of its doctrine that a Church exists and takes its name. Thus Noah means the Ancient Church, or the doctrine that remained from the Most Ancient Church. The situation with Churches or doctrines has been stated already, namely that they dwindle away until nothing remains any longer of the goods and truths of faith. And when that point has been reached, the Church is in the Word called vastated. Nevertheless a remnant is always preserved, that is, some people are preserved, no matter how few, with whom the good and truth of faith persist. And unless that good and truth of faith were preserved with those people there would be no conjunction of heaven with the human race.

[2] As regards the remnants that reside with the individual, the fewer they are the less possible it is for the rational concepts and the factual knowledge he possesses to receive light; for the light of good and truth flows in from the remnants, or rather from the Lord by way of the remnants. If there were no remnants residing with a person, he would not be a human being, but someone far inferior to any animal. The fewer the remnants, the less he is a human being, while the more they are, the more he is a human being. Remnants are like a star in the sky; the smaller it is the weaker the light coming from it, but the greater it is, the brighter the light coming from it. The few things that did remain from the Most Ancient Church resided with those who constituted the Church called Noah. Those things were not however the remains of perception but of integrity, and also of doctrine deriving from the things of the Most Ancient Churches that were matters of perception. At that point therefore a new Church was raised up by the Lord. Being entirely different in disposition from the Most Ancient Churches, it is to be referred to as the Ancient Church, ancient from the fact that it existed at the last stage before the Flood and in the first period of time after it. This Church will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.

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