8859. Exodus 20

1. And God spoke all these words, saying,

2. I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.

3. You shall not have other gods before My face.

4. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness [of things] which are in the heavens above, and which are on the earth beneath, and which are in the waters under the earth.

5. You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them; for I am Jehovah your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons, ¹ on the third and on the fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

6. And showing mercy to thousands who love Me and keep My commandments.

7. You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; for Jehovah will not render him innocent who takes His name in vain.

8. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

9. Six days you shall labour and do all your work;

10. And the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work - you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your male slave, nor your female slave, nor your beast, nor your sojourner who is within your gates.

11. For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and sanctified it.

12. Honour your father and your mother, in order that your days may be prolonged on the land which Jehovah your God gives you.

13. ² You shall not kill.

14. You shall not commit adultery.

15. You shall not steal.

16. You shall not answer as witness of a lie against your neighbour.

17. You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male slave nor his female slave, nor his ox nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbour's.

18. And all the people saw the voices and torches, ³ and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw and were violently shaken, and stood afar off.

19. And they said to Moses, Speak yourself to us, and we will hear; and do not let God speak to us, lest perhaps we die.

20. And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come in order to test you, and in order that His fear may be before your faces, so that you do not sin.

21. And the people stood afar off; and Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

22. And Jehovah said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

23. You shall not make [to be] with Me gods of silver and gods of gold; you shall not make [them] for yourselves.

24. An altar of soil ⁴ you shall make for Me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your eucharistic offerings, your flocks and your herds; in every place where I shall put the memory of My name I will come to you and bless you.

25. And if you make for Me an altar of stones, you shall not build it with hewn ones; for if you move your chisel over it you will profane it.

26. And you shall not go up to My altar by steps, in order that your nakedness may not be revealed on it.

CONTENTS

This chapter deals in the internal sense with God's truths that are to be implanted in the good which governs those belonging to the Lord's spiritual Church. The Ten Commandments are those truths; and the commandments that follow them in this chapter, regarding sacrifices and the altar, are outward truths concerned with worship.

Notas de rodapé:

5180. There are genii and spirits who subject the head to a kind of sucking or drawing out, which they do in such a way that pain is felt at the point where that drawing or sucking out takes place. I have experienced a definite sensation of suction, altogether as if a membrane was being sucked out. I doubt whether anyone else could put up with the pain of it; but because I have become accustomed to the experience I have at length come to bear it without noticing the pain. The chief place subjected to suction was the top of my head, and from there it spread towards the region of my left ear and also towards that of my left eye, the spread towards the eye being caused by spirits and that towards the ear by genii. These genii and spirits belong to the province of the Cistema Chyli and its ducts, to which point chyle is drawn from everywhere around, even though other chyle is being sent forth at the same time from there. Besides those genii and spirits there were also others acting inside my head in almost the same manner, though not with so great a power of suction. I was told that these are the ones to whom the fine chyle corresponds - the fine chyle which is conveyed towards the brain and there mingled with new animal spirit ¹ so as to be sent down to the heart. At first I had seen those acting on the outside in front, a little to the left; but subsequently I saw them in a higher position there, which made me realize that their region extended from the level of the septum of the nose upwards to the level of the left ear. Those who constitute this province are of two kinds, for some are quite constrained while others are impudent. The constrained are ones who have sought to know other people's thoughts to the end that they might gain those people's interest and become attached to them; for a person who knows another's thoughts knows his secret and inner feelings, and these link the two together. The end in view is company and friendship. These constrained spirits desire to know simply about the good things, finding out more about these and placing a good interpretation on all else. But the impudent ones have a longing to know - and strive in various ways to fish out - other people's thoughts, their end in view being to take advantage of those people or harm them. Now because that kind of longing and striving is present in them they fix another person's mind steadfastly on the matter which they themselves wish to know about, showing him affection and approval as they do so. By acting in this way they get out of him even his secret thoughts. They behave in the same way in the next life within the communities there, yet in a more expert manner. There too they do not allow another to stray from whatever idea he has in mind; indeed they foster it and thereby get it out of him. As a consequence these impudent spirits then have a hold so to speak on others and subject them to their own will; for they know what those others' evils are. These spirits however, being some of those who are wanderers, suffer frequent punishment.

Notas de rodapé: