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Isaiah 2

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1 The word which Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saw about Judah and Jerusalem.

2 And it will come about in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord will be placed on the top of the mountains, and be lifted up over the hills; and all nations will come to it.

3 And the peoples will say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob: and he will give us knowledge of his ways, and we will be guided by his word; for out of Zion the law will go out, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

4 And he will be the judge between the nations, and the peoples will be ruled by his decisions: and their swords will be turned into plough-blades, and their spears into vine-knives: no longer will the nations be turning their swords against one another, and the knowledge of war will be gone for ever.

5 O family of Jacob, come, and let us go in the light of the Lord.

6 For you, O Lord, have given up your people, the family of Jacob, because they are full of the evil ways of the east, and make use of secret arts like the Philistines, and are friends with the children of strange countries.

7 And their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their stores; their land is full of horses, and there is no end to their carriages.

8 Their land is full of images; they give worship to the work of their hands, even to that which their fingers have made.

9 And the poor man's head is bent, and the great man goes down on his face: for this cause there will be no forgiveness for their sin.

10 Go into a hole in the rock, covering yourselves with dust, in fear of the Lord, before the glory of his power.

11 The high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low, and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.

12 For the day of the Lord of armies is coming on all the pride of men, and on all who are high and lifted up;

13 And on all the high trees of Lebanon, and on all the strong trees of Bashan;

14 And on all the high mountains, and on all the hills which are lifted up;

15 And on every high tower, and on every strong wall;

16 And on all the ships of Tarshish, and on all the fair boats.

17 And the high looks of man will be put to shame, and the pride of men will be made low: and only the Lord will be lifted up in that day.

18 And the images will never be seen again.

19 And men will go into cracks of the rocks, and into holes of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength.

20 In that day men will put their images of silver and of gold, which they made for worship, in the keeping of the beasts of the dark places;

21 To take cover in the cracks of the rocks, and in the holes of the hills, for fear of the Lord, and before the glory of his power, when he comes out of his place, shaking the earth with his strength.

22 Have no more to do with man, whose life is only a breath, for he is of no value.

   

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True Christian Religion #434

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434. As for parties, in the earliest church these took place among such people as called themselves brothers in Christ. They were therefore charitable parties, because there was a spiritual brotherhood. They served also as a consolation when the church encountered difficulties, as a celebration of its increase, and also to restore spirits exhausted by study and work, and for discussions of various matters. Since the source from which they sprang was spiritual love, their reason and morality had a spiritual origin. Parties are given at the present time among friends, the purpose of which is intended to be the pleasures of social intercourse, the cheering of the mind by conversation, and as a result the broadening of the mind, the release of bottled-up thoughts and so the revival of the sensory functions of the body, and their restoration to complete health.

[2] But charitable parties no longer exist; for the Lord says:

At the completion of the age (that is, the end of the church) injustice will increase greatly and charity will grow cold, Matthew 24:12.

The reason was that the church had ceased to acknowledge the Lord God the Saviour as God of heaven and earth, and approach Him directly, who is the only source and giver of real charity. Parties, however, where there is no friendship with its imitation of charity to link minds together, are nothing but pretences of friendship, specious demonstrations of mutual love, seductive attempts to worm one's way into favour, and indulgence in bodily pleasures, especially those of the senses. They sweep other people along, like ships with their sails filled and a following sea; and on them stand sycophants and hypocrites on the poop holding the tiller in their hands.

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