941. There is another city on the right of Gehenna too, or between Gehenna and the lake, ¹ where the better Jews seem to themselves to live. But the city changes for them as their fantasies change. At one point it turns into a collection of small towns, at another into a lake, and at another back into a city. The residents have a fear of robbers, but as long as they are in the city they are safe.

Between the two cities is a kind of triangular space dark with shadows. That is the home of the outlaws, who are Jews but of the worst kind. Anyone they come across they torture cruelly. The Jews are so terrified of these outlaws that they call them "Lord," and they call the wilderness the outlaws live in "the [Holy] Land."

To keep those who enter the city on the right-hand side safe from the bandits, a good spirit stands at one corner of the city limits and welcomes arrivals. ² When they reach the spirit, they bow down to the ground and enter at the spirit's feet. That is the ritual they go through to get into the city.

One spirit came up to me quite suddenly. "Where did you come from?" I asked.

"I ran in terror from the thieves, because they kill people, and chop, roast, and boil them," was the answer. "Where can I be safe?"

"What place, what land are you from?" I asked.

Out of fear, the spirit did not dare to answer more than, "The land is the Lord's." (As noted, they call the wilderness the [Holy] Land and the thieves Lord).

[2] Then some of these outlaws came up, and they were very dark. They had deep voices, like giants' voices, and wherever they make an appearance they inflict an amazingly palpable fear and horror. I asked who they were. They said they were looking for goods to loot. "Where do you expect to pile your loot?" I asked. "Don't you know that you're spirits and can't make off with loot or pile it up? Such are the delusions of the evil!"

"We live in the wilderness, looking for plunder," they answered, "and we torture the people we run into." While they were with me they finally admitted that they were spirits, but they still could not be persuaded to believe they were not living in their bodies.

There are Jews who wander around in this way, making talk about indiscriminately murdering, chopping, roasting, and boiling others, even if the victims are Jews or friends of theirs. This has allowed others to recognize their character, despite the fact that they dare not divulge it in the world. ³

Фусноте:

374. The symbolism of the voice of blood as violence inflicted on charity can be seen from many places in the Word, where a voice is taken to mean everything that accuses and blood to mean every kind of sin, especially hatred. Those who hate their sister or brother kill her or him in their hearts, as the Lord teaches:

You have heard that among the people of old it was said, "You shall not kill; but whoever kills will be subject to judgment." I say to you, though, that any who are angry at their sister or brother without cause will be subject to judgment. Once again, any who say "Raca!" ¹ to their sister or brother will be subject to the Sanhedrin. ² But any who say, "Stupid!" will be subject to fiery Gehenna. ³ (Matthew 5:21-22)

These words refer to different degrees of hatred. Hatred opposes charity, and if it does not kill with its hand, it still does so in its mind or heart, in every way it can. External deterrents alone prevent it from killing with its hand. So every form of hatred is blood, as in Jeremiah:

Why do you amend your ways so as to seek love? Yes, on your hems ⁴ is found the blood of innocent paupers' souls. (Jeremiah 2:33-34)

[2] Since hatred is blood, so is all wickedness, because the source of all wickedness is hatred, as in Hosea:

False swearing and lying and killing and stealing and the committing of adultery; they rob, and blood has followed on blood. Therefore the earth will mourn and everyone living in it will waste away. (Hosea 4:2-3)

In Ezekiel:

Will you judge the blood-soaked city and let it know all its abominations? The city is shedding blood in its midst. By your blood that you shed you have become guilty. (Ezekiel 22:2-3, 4, 6, 9)

This is about lack of mercy. In the same author:

The earth is full of judgment on [crimes of] blood, and the city is full of violence. (Ezekiel 7:23)

In Jeremiah:

On account of the sins of Jerusalem's prophets, the transgressions of its priests, who shed the blood of the just in its midst, [those same prophets and priests] wander blind in the streets; they are defiled with blood. (Lamentations 4:13-14)

In Isaiah:

... when the Lord washes away the dirt of Zion's daughters, and has cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from its midst, with a spirit of judgment and a spirit of burning. (Isaiah 4:4)

In the same author:

Your palms have been defiled with blood, and your fingers with wickedness. (Isaiah 59:3)

In Ezekiel:

I passed right by you and saw you trampled in your blood, and I told you, "Live in your blood!" And I told you, "Live in your blood!" (Ezekiel 16:6, 22)

This is about Jerusalem's abominations, which are referred to as blood.

[3] The ruthlessness and hatred of the final days are also pictured as blood in Revelation 16:3-4.

Blood is used in the plural here [in the original language] because everything wicked and abhorrent wells up out of hatred, just as everything good and holy wells up out of love. Those who hate their neighbor would kill him or her if possible, in every way they are capable of, which is to inflict violence on their neighbor; and violence is what the voice of bloods properly symbolizes here.

Фусноте: