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Lamentations 5

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1 Remember, O Jehovah, what hath befallen us, Look attentively, and see our reproach.

2 Our inheritance hath been turned to strangers, Our houses to foreigners.

3 Orphans we have been -- without a father, our mothers [are] as widows.

4 Our water for money we have drunk, Our wood for a price doth come.

5 For our neck we have been pursued, We have laboured -- there hath been no rest for us.

6 [To] Egypt we have given a hand, [To] Asshur, to be satisfied with bread.

7 Our fathers have sinned -- they are not, We their iniquities have borne.

8 Servants have ruled over us, A deliverer there is none from their hand.

9 With our lives we bring in our bread, Because of the sword of the wilderness.

10 Our skin as an oven hath been burning, Because of the raging of the famine.

11 Wives in Zion they have humbled, Virgins -- in cities of Judah.

12 Princes by their hand have been hanged, The faces of elders have not been honoured.

13 Young men to grind they have taken, And youths with wood have stumbled.

14 The aged from the gate have ceased, Young men from their song.

15 Ceased hath the joy of our heart, Turned to mourning hath been our dancing.

16 Fallen hath the crown [from] our head, Wo [is] now to us, for we have sinned.

17 For this hath our heart been sick, For these have our eyes been dim.

18 For the mount of Zion -- that is desolate, Foxes have gone up on it.

19 Thou, O Jehovah, to the age remainest, Thy throne to generation and generation.

20 Why for ever dost Thou forget us? Thou forsakest us for length of days!

21 Turn us back, O Jehovah, unto Thee, And we Turn back, renew our days as of old.

22 For hast Thou utterly rejected us? Thou hast been wroth against us -- exceedingly?

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #2336

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2336. That 'the street' means truth becomes clear from many places in the Word, as in John where the New Jerusalem is referred to,

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate was one pearl; and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. Revelation 21:21.

[2] 'The New Jerusalem' is the Lord's kingdom which because it is being described as regards good and truth is described by walls, gates, and streets. By the last of these -'the streets' - are meant all avenues of truth which lead to good, that is, all those of faith which lead to love and charity. And because truths in this way become part of good, and so are made transparent from good, it is said that 'the street was pure gold, like transparent glass'. In the same book,

Out of the middle of the street of it, and of the river, on this side and on that, was the tree of life bearing twelve fruits. Revelation 22:2.

This also refers to the New Jerusalem or the Lord's kingdom. 'The middle of the street' is the truth of faith, by means of which good comes and which after that stems from good. 'The twelve fruits' are those called the fruits of faith, for 'twelve' means all things of faith, as shown in 577, 2089, 2129, 2130.

[3] In Daniel,

Know and perceive that from the going forth of the Word to restore and to build Jerusalem until the Messiah, the Leader, there will be seven weeks - and sixty-two weeks; and it will be restored and built with street and moat. Daniel 9:25.

This refers to the Coming of the Lord, 'it will be restored with street and moat' meaning that there will be truth and good at that time. The fact that Jerusalem was not restored and built at that time is well known; and that it is not to be restored and built anew anyone may also know provided he does not fix his ideas on a worldly kingdom but on a heavenly kingdom meant in the internal sense by Jerusalem.

[4] In Luke,

The householder said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind. Luke 14:21.

People who confine themselves to the sense of the letter gain nothing more from this verse than the idea that the servant was to go everywhere, and that this is what is meant by 'streets and lanes', and that he was to fetch in everybody, and that this is what is meant by 'the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind'. But each and all of these words, being the Lord's, embody arcana within them. The command that he should go out into the streets and lanes means that he was to search everywhere for some genuine truth, that is, for truth which shines out of good, or through which good shines. The command that he should bring in the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, means that such people were to be brought in as had in the Ancient Church been called the poor, maimed, lame, or blind - that is, he was to bring in those who were such as regards faith but who had led good lives, and who for this reason ought to be taught about the Lord's kingdom - thus to bring in gentiles who were as yet uninformed.

[5] Because 'streets' meant truths it was a representative custom among the Jews to teach in the streets, as is evident from Matthew 6:2, 5, and Luke 13:26-27. Wherever 'streets' are mentioned in the Prophets they mean in the internal sense either truths or things contrary to truths, as in Isaiah,

Judgement is cast away backwards, and justice stands afar off, for truth has stumbled in the street, and uprightness cannot come in. Isaiah 59:14.

In the same prophet,

Your sons fainted and lay at the head of every street. Isaiah 51:20.

In Jeremiah,

Death has come up into our windows, it has entered our palaces, cutting off the small child from the street and the young men from the lanes. Jeremiah 9:21.

[6] In Ezekiel,

By means of the hoofs of his horses Nebuchadnezzar will trample all your streets. Ezekiel 26:11.

This refers to Tyre, which means cognitions of truth, 1201. 'The hoofs of the horses' are facts which pervert the truth. In Nahum,

In the streets the chariots rage; they rush about in the lanes. Nahum 2:4.

'Chariots' stands for the doctrine of truth, which is said 'to rage in the streets' when falsity has replaced truth. In Zechariah,

Old men and old women will again dwell in the streets of Jerusalem. And the streets of the city will be full of boys and girls playing in the streets. Zechariah 8:4-5.

This refers to affections for truth, and consequent forms of joy and gladness. There are other places besides these, such as Isaiah 24:11; Jeremiah 5:1; 7:34; 49:26; Lamentations 2:11, 19; 4:8, 14; Zephaniah 3:6.

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

The Bible

 

Daniel 9

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1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,

2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the word of Yahweh came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.

3 I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

4 I prayed to Yahweh my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,

5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances;

6 neither have we listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, who are near, and who are far off, through all the countries where you have driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against you.

8 Lord, to us belongs confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.

9 To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; for we have rebelled against him;

10 neither have we obeyed the voice of Yahweh our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him.

12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth.

14 Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.

15 Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as at this day; we have sinned, we have done wickedly.

16 Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us.

17 Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.

18 My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies' sake.

19 Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don't defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.

20 While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God;

21 yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.

22 He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I am now come forth to give you wisdom and understanding.

23 At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went forth, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision.

24 Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.

25 Know therefore and discern, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem to the Anointed One, the prince, shall be seven weeks, and sixty-two weeks: it shall be built again, with street and moat, even in troubled times.

26 After the sixty-two weeks the Anointed One shall be cut off, and shall have nothing: and the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and its end shall be with a flood, and even to the end shall be war; desolations are determined.

27 He shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease; and on the wing of abominations [shall come] one who makes desolate; and even to the full end, and that determined, shall [wrath] be poured out on the desolate.