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Jeremiah 49

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1 Concerning the sons of Ammon: `Thus said Jehovah: Sons -- hath Israel none? heir -- hath he none? Wherefore hath Malcam possessed Gad? And his people in its cities have dwelt?

2 Therefore, lo, days are coming, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sounded unto Rabbah of the sons of Ammon a shout of battle, And it hath been for a heap -- a desolation, And her daughters with fire are burnt, And Israel hath succeeded its heirs, Said hath Jehovah.

3 Howl, Heshbon, for spoiled is Ai, Cry, daughters of Rabbah, gird on sackcloth, Lament, and go to and fro by the hedges, For Malcam into captivity doth go, His priests and his princes together.

4 What -- dost thou boast thyself in valleys? Flowed hath thy valley, O backsliding daughter, Who is trusting in her treasures: Who doth come in unto me?

5 Lo, I am bringing in upon thee a fear, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah of Hosts, From all round about thee, And ye have been driven out each before it, And there is no gatherer of the wandering.

6 And after this I turn back the captivity of the sons of Ammon, An affirmation of Jehovah.'

7 Concerning Edom: `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Is wisdom no more in Teman? Perished hath counsel from the intelligent? Vanished hath their wisdom?

8 Flee, turn, go deep to dwell, ye inhabitants of Dedan, For the calamity of Esau I brought in upon him, The time I inspected him.

9 If gatherers have come in to thee, They do not leave gleanings, If thieves in the night, They have destroyed their sufficiency!

10 For I -- I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, And to be hidden he is not able, Spoiled [is] his seed, and his brethren, And his neighbours, and he is not.

11 Leave thine orphans -- I do keep alive, And thy widows -- on Me trust ye,

12 For thus said Jehovah: They whose judgment is not to drink of the cup, Do certainly drink, And thou [art] he that is entirely acquitted! Thou art not acquitted, for thou certainly drinkest.

13 For, by Myself, I have sworn, An affirmation of Jehovah, That for a desolation, for a reproach, For a waste, and for a reviling -- is Bozrah, And all her cities are for wastes age-during.

14 A report I have heard from Jehovah, And an ambassador among nations is sent, Gather yourselves and come in against her, And rise ye for battle.

15 For, lo, little I have made thee among nations, Despised among men.

16 Thy terribleness hath lifted thee up, The pride of thy heart, O dweller in clefts of the rock, Holding the high place of the height, For thou makest high as an eagle thy nest, From thence I bring thee down, An affirmation of Jehovah.

17 And Edom hath been for a desolation, Every passer by her is astonished, And doth hiss because of all her plagues.

18 As the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, And its neighbours, said Jehovah, No one doth dwell there, Nor sojourn in her doth a son of man.

19 Lo, as a lion he cometh up, Because of the rising of the Jordan, Unto the enduring habitation, But I cause to rest, I cause him to run from off her, And who is chosen? concerning her I lay a charge, For who is like Me? and who conveneth Me? And who [is] this shepherd who standeth before Me?

20 Therefore, hear ye the counsel of Jehovah, That He hath counselled concerning Edom, And His devices that He hath devised Concerning the inhabitants of Teman: Drag them out do not little ones of the flock, Make desolate over them doth he not their habitation?

21 From the noise of their fall hath the earth shaken, The cry -- at the sea of Suph is its voice heard.

22 Lo, as an eagle he cometh up, and flieth, And he spreadeth his wings over Bozrah, And the heart of the mighty of Edom hath been in that day, As the heart of a distressed woman!'

23 Concerning Damascus: Ashamed hath been Hamath and Arpad, For an evil report they have heard, They have been melted, in the sea [is] sorrow, To be quiet it is not able.

24 Feeble hath been Damascus, She turned to flee, and fear strengthened her, Distress and pangs have seized her, as a travailing woman.

25 How is it not left -- the city of praise, The city of my joy!

26 Therefore fall do her young men in her broad places, And all the men of war are cut off in that day, An affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts.

27 And I have kindled a fire against the wall of Damascus, And it consumed palaces of Ben-Hadad!'

28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of Hazor, that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath smitten: `Thus said Jehovah: Arise ye, go ye up unto Kedar, And spoil the sons of the east.

29 Their tents and their flock they do take, Their curtains, and all their vessels, And their camels, they bear away for themselves, And they called concerning them, Fear [is] round about.

30 Flee, bemoan mightily, go deep to dwell, Ye inhabitants of Hazor -- an affirmation of Jehovah, For given counsel against you hath Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, Yea, he deviseth against them a device.

31 Rise ye, go up unto a nation at rest, Dwelling confidently, an affirmation of Jehovah, It hath no two-leaved doors nor bar, Alone they do dwell.

32 And their camels have been for a prey, And the multitude of their cattle for a spoil, And I have scattered them to every wind, Who cut off the corner [of the beard], And from all its passages I bring in their calamity, An affirmation of Jehovah.

33 And Hazor hath been for a habitation of dragons, A desolation -- unto the age, No one doth dwell there, nor sojourn in it doth a son of man!'

34 That which hath been the word of Jehovah unto Jeremiah the prophet concerning Elam, in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, saying:

35 `Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Lo, I am breaking the bow of Elam, The beginning of their might.

36 And I have brought in to Elam four winds, From the four ends of the heavens, And have scattered them to all these winds, And there is no nation whither outcasts of Elam come not in.

37 And I have affrighted Elam before their enemies, And before those seeking their life, And I have brought in against them evil, The heat of Mine anger, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I have sent after them the sword, Till I have consumed them;

38 And I have set My throne in Elam, And I have destroyed thence King and princes -- an affirmation of Jehovah.

39 And it hath come to pass, in the latter end of the days, I turn back [to] the captivity of Elam, An affirmation of Jehovah!'

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #6588

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6588. 'And God will certainly visit you' means that the final period is about to come. This is clear from the meaning of 'being visited' as the final period, here that of the oppression of the children of Israel in Egypt, which in the internal sense is the final period of the old Church and the first of the new. In the Word this final period is called 'visitation', and this is used in reference both to the Church collectively and to those within the Church individually. It is used in reference to a new Church that is being born and an old one that is breathing its last, and to the individual member of the Church who is being saved, as well as to one who is damned.

[2] The fact that these things are meant in the Word by 'visitation' and 'the day of visitation' may be seen from the following places: In Luke,

Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and brought deliverance to His people, through the heart 1 of mercy of our God, by which the risen sun from on high has visited us, to appear to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death. Luke 1:68, 78-79.

In this prophecy of Zechariah regarding the Lord, telling what would happen after He had been born, 'being visited' stands for the raising up from death of a new Church and the enlightenment at that time of those who had no knowledge of the truth and good of faith, thus the deliverance of them. It is for this reason that the words 'He has visited and brought deliverance to His people, . . . has visited [us], to appear to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death' are used.

[3] In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, Gather the elders of Israel and say to them, Jehovah, the God of your fathers, has appeared to me, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, I will certainly visit you and what has been done to you in Egypt. Exodus 3:16.

And in the same author,

The people believed and heard that Jehovah had visited the children of Israel. Exodus 4:31.

'Being visited' here stands for the final period when the Church has gone out of existence and for the first period when it comes into existence - for the final period among the Egyptians, and for the first among the children of Israel, and so for the deliverance of them too.

[4] In Jeremiah,

They will be carried away to Babel, and there they will be until the day [ visit them. Then I will cause the vessels of the house of God to come up, and I will bring them back to this place. Jeremiah 27:22.

In the same prophet,

When seventy years have been completed at Babel I will visit you and fulfill My promise 2 to you and bring you back to this place. Jeremiah 29:10.

'Visiting' stands for delivering, in general for the final period of captivity and desolation.

[5] 'Visitation' and 'the day of visitation' stand for the final period of the Church in Isaiah,

What will you do on the day of visitation and devastation? It will come from afar. To whom will you flee for help? Isaiah 10:3.

In the same prophet,

Behold, the day of Jehovah comes, cruel, and one of indignation and wrath and anger, to make the earth a waste. I will visit the world for evil, and the wicked for their iniquity. Isaiah 13:9, 11.

In Jeremiah,

They will fall among those who fall, and in the time of their visitation they will stumble. Jeremiah 8:12.

In Hosea,

The days of visitation have come, the days of recompense have come. Hosea 9:7.

In Moses,

Jehovah said to Moses, All the same, go, lead this people to [the place] of which I have spoken to you; behold, My angel will go before you. But on the day of My visiting, I will visit them for their sin. Exodus 32:34.

In Luke,

Jesus said regarding Jerusalem, They will not leave in you stone upon stone, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation. Luke 19:44.

'The day of visitation' stands for the Lord's Coming, and enlightenment at that time. But in reference to the Jewish nation - seeing that it did not recognize His Coming - 'the day of visitation' stands for the final period of the representative acts of the Church among them. For once Jerusalem was destroyed sacrifices came to an end and that nation was scattered abroad.

[6] In Ezekiel,

A loud voice called out in my ears, saying, The visitations of the city have drawn near, and each man has his weapon of destruction in his hand. Ezekiel 9:1.

Here the meaning is similar. In Isaiah,

The Rephaim will not rise. To that end You have visited them, You have wiped them out. Isaiah 16:14.

'The Rephaim' stands for descendants of the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood. They are also called the Nephilim and the Anakim, regarding whom see 567, 581, 1673. 'You have visited and wiped out the Rephaim' stands for the final period of that Church; it also stands for the casting of them into hell, regarding which see 1265-1272. 'Visitation' stands for retribution, thus for damnation, in Jeremiah,

Shall I not visit them on account of this? Or will not My soul be avenged on a nation which is like this? Jeremiah 5:9.

In the same prophet,

I will bring the disaster of Esau upon him, at the time I visit him. Jeremiah 49:8.

In Hosea,

I will visit upon him his ways, and requite his works. Hosea 4:9.

Footnotes:

1. literally, viscera or bowels

2. literally, establish upon you My good word

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