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Psalms 23 : The 23rd Psalm

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1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Apocalypse Revealed #955

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955. 22:17 And the spirit and the bride say, "Come!" This symbolically means that heaven and the church long for the Lord's advent.

The spirit symbolizes heaven, the bride symbolizes the church, and saying "Come!" symbolizes a longing for the Lord's advent. It is clear from chapter 21:2, 21:9-10 that the church meant by the bride is the New Church, the Holy Jerusalem, as may be seen in nos. 881, 895. And the spirit means heaven because angelic spirits are meant, of whom the New Heaven consists, as symbolized in chapters 14:1-7; 19:1-9; 20:4-5.

The church, here called the bride, does not mean a church composed of people whose faith consists of falsities, but a church composed of people whose faith consists of truths, for it is the latter who long for light, thus who long for the Lord's advent. See no. 954 above.

  
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Many thanks to the General Church of the New Jerusalem, and to Rev. N.B. Rogers, translator, for the permission to use this translation.

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