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Deuteronomy 28

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1 And it shall be, if obeying thou shalt obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep and to do all His commandments which I command thee today, that Jehovah thy God will put thee on high above all nations of the earth;

2 and all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken to the voice of Jehovah thy God.

3 Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and Blessed shalt thou be in the field.

4 Blessed shall be the fruit of thy belly, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy beasts, the progeny of thine oxen, and the sheep of thy flock.

5 Blessed shall be thy bushel and thy kneading-trough.

6 Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest·​·in, and Blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out.

7 Jehovah shall give thine enemies that rise·​·up against thee to be struck down before thee; they shall go·​·out against thee in one way, and flee before thee in seven ways.

8 Jehovah shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou puttest·​·forth thy hand; and He shall bless thee in the land which Jehovah thy God gives thee.

9 Jehovah shall raise· thee ·up for a holy people to Himself, as He has promised to thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of Jehovah thy God, and walk in His ways.

10 And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee.

11 And Jehovah shall make thee a remainder for goodness, in the fruit of thy belly, and in the fruit of thy beasts, and in the fruit of thy ground, on the ground which Jehovah promised to thy fathers to give thee.

12 Jehovah shall open to thee His good treasure, the heavens to give the rain of thy land in its time, and to bless all the work of thy hand; and thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

13 And Jehovah shall put thee for the head, and not for the tail; and thou shalt be only above, and thou shalt not be beneath; if thou hearken to the commandments of Jehovah thy God, which I command thee today, to keep and to do;

14 and thou shalt not turn·​·aside from any of the words which I command you today, to the right·​·hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

15 But it shall be, if thou wilt not obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, to take·​·heed to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee today; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee;

16 cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.

17 Cursed shall be thy bushel and thy kneading-trough.

18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy belly, and the fruit of thy ground, the progeny of thine oxen, and the sheep of thy flock.

19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest·​·in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest·​·out.

20 Jehovah shall send upon thee a curse, upset, and rebuke, in all that thou puttest· thy hand ·forth to do, until thou be blotted·​·out, and until thou perish hastily; on·​·account·​·of the evil of thine actions in which thou hast forsaken Me.

21 Jehovah shall make the pestilence stick to thee, until He has consumed· thee ·all from on the ground, whither thou goest·​·in to possess her.

22 Jehovah shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with a blazing fever, and with the drought, and with scorching, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.

23 And thy heavens that are over thy head shall be bronze, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

24 Jehovah shall give the rain of thy land as powder and dust; from the heavens shall it come·​·down on thee, until it blots· thee ·out.

25 Jehovah shall give thee to be struck down before thine enemies; thou shalt go·​·out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be in turmoil before all the kingdoms of the earth.

26 And thy carcass shall be food to all fowls of the heavens, and to the beasts of the earth, and none shall·​·frighten them.

27 Jehovah will smite thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and with the hemorrhoids, and with scabies, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

28 Jehovah shall smite thee with madness, and with blindness, and with amazement of heart;

29 and thou shalt be feeling·​·around at noon, as the blind feels·​·around in thick·​·darkness; and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways; and thou shalt be only oppressed and robbed all the days, and none shall save thee.

30 Thou shalt betroth a woman, and another man shall ravish her; thou shalt build a house, and shalt not dwell in it; thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not begin to use it.

31 Thine ox shall be butchered before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat of it; thine donkey shall be taken·​·by·​·robbery from before thy face, and shall not be returned to thee; thy flock shall be given to thine enemies, and thou shalt have no·​·one to save them.

32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given to another people, and thine eyes shall see, and be consumed upon them all the day; and there shall be no power in thy hand.

33 The fruit of thy ground, and all thy toils, shall a people which thou knowest not eat·​·up; and thou only shalt be oppressed and fractured all the days.

34 And thou shalt be mad from the seeing of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

35 Jehovah shall smite thee on the knees, and on the hips, with a bad ulcer that is· not ·able to be healed, from the sole of thy foot to the top·​·of· thy ·head.

36 Jehovah shall make thee go, and thy king whom thou shalt raise·​·up over thee, to a nation which thou and thy fathers have not known; and there shalt thou serve other gods of wood and stone.

37 And thou shalt be an astonishment, a proverb, and a sharp·​·word, among all the peoples whither Jehovah shall direct thee.

38 Thou shalt carry out much seed into the field, and shalt gather in but a·​·little; for the locust shall consume it.

39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.

40 There shall be olive·​·trees for thee in all thy border, but thou shalt not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive·​·trees shall shake·​·off their fruit.

41 Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but they shall not be thine; for they shall go into captivity.

42 All thy trees and fruit of thy ground shall the locust possess.

43 The sojourner that is among thee shall go·​·up above thee, upward upward; and thou shalt go·​·down, downward downward.

44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

45 And all these curses shall come on thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, until thou be blotted·​·out; for thou didst not obey the voice of Jehovah thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded thee;

46 and they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a miracle, and upon thy seed even·​·to eternity.

47 Because thou didst not serve Jehovah thy God with gladness, and with goodness of heart, for the multitude of all things;

48 and shalt thou serve thine enemies which Jehovah shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things; and he shall put a yoke of iron on thy neck, until he has blotted· thee ·out.

49 Jehovah shall lift up a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, as the eagle soars; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not hear;

50 a nation strong of face, which shall not accept the faces of an elder, nor be·​·gracious to a lad;

51 and he shall eat the fruit of thy beasts, and the fruit of thy ground, until thou be blotted·​·out; which also shall not leave for thee grain, must*, or olive·​·oil, or the progeny of thine oxen, or the sheep of thy flock, until he have made· thee ·perish.

52 And he shall be·​·an·​·adversary to thee in all thy gates, until thy tall and fortified walls come·​·down, in which thou didst trust, in all thy land; and he shall be·​·an·​·adversary to thee in all thy gates in all thy land, which Jehovah thy God has given to thee.

53 And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own belly, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which Jehovah thy God has given to thee, in the siege, and in the anguish, with which thine enemies shall cause· thee ·anguish;

54 So that the man that is soft among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be·​·evil against his brother, and against the wife of his bosom, and against the remnant of his sons who shall remain;

55 so that he will not give to any one of them from the flesh of his sons whom he shall eat; because he has nothing left to him in the siege, and in the anguish, with which thine enemies shall cause· thee ·anguish in all thy gates.

56 The tender woman among thee and the delicate, who would not attempt to place the sole of her foot on the earth from delicateness and from tenderness, her eye shall be·​·evil against the husband of her bosom, and against her son, and against her daughter,

57 and against her offspring that goes·​·out from between her feet, and against her sons to whom she shall give·​·birth; for she shall eat them in hiding for want of all things in the siege and in the anguish with which thine enemy shall cause· thee ·anguish in thy gates.

58 If thou wilt not take·​·heed to do all the words of this law written in this book, to fear this glorious and fearful name, Jehovah thy God;

59 then Jehovah will make thy smitings a wonder, and the smitings of thy seed great and constant smitings, and bad and constant sicknesses.

60 And He will turn·​·back on thee all the diseases of Egypt, before which thou wast afraid; and they shall stick to thee.

61 Also every sickness, and every smiting, which is not written in the book of this law, these will Jehovah bring·​·up upon thee, until thou be blotted·​·out.

62 And you shall be left with few mortals, instead·​·of being as the stars of the heavens for multitude; for thou didst not obey the voice of Jehovah thy God.

63 And it shall be, that as Jehovah had·​·joy over you to do· you ·good, and to multiply you; so Jehovah will have·​·joy over you to make· you ·perish, and to blot· you ·out; and you shall be plucked·​·out from on the ground whither thou comest to possess it.

64 And Jehovah shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even to the other end; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have·​·known, even wood and stone.

65 And among these nations shalt thou have no repose, and there shall not be rest for the sole of thy foot; but Jehovah shall give thee there a trembling heart, and a complete consumption* of the eyes, and sadness of soul;

66 and thy life shall be hung in·​·front·​·of thee; and thou shalt dread night and day, and shalt not have·​·faith in thy life;

67 in the morning thou shalt say, May He give evening! and in the evening thou shalt say, May He give morning! for the dread of thy heart wherewith thou shalt dread, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.

68 And Jehovah shall return thee to Egypt with ships, by the way of which I said to thee, Thou shalt not see it again any·​·more; and there you shall be sold to your enemies for servants and handmaids, and no·​·one shall buy you.

   


Thanks to the Kempton Project for the permission to use this New Church translation of the Word.

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Want

  

'Want of spiritual nourishment,' denotes a lack of knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom.

(Referenser: Arcana Coelestia 5576)

Från Swedenborgs verk

 

Arcana Coelestia #5576

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5576. 'And the famine grew more serious' means the desolation resulting from the dearth of spiritual things. This is clear from the meaning of 'the famine' as an absence of cognitions of goodness and truth, dealt with in 3364, 5277, 5279, 5181, 5300, and the consequent desolation, 5360, 5376, 5415. And because desolation can arise from a shortage and consequent dearth of spiritual realities, 'the famine' has this meaning too. A famine in the spiritual world or heaven is not a hunger for [bodily] food, for angels do not feed on material food, which is the food for that body which a person carries around in the world. Rather it is a hunger for the kind of food that nourishes their minds, and this, which is called spiritual food, consists in understanding what is true and in having a wise discernment of what is good. And what is amazing, angels are nourished with this food.

[2] This has been made clear to me by the fact that after young children, who have died as young children, have been furnished in heaven with truths that are the constituents of intelligence and with forms of good that are the essence of wisdom, they no longer look like young children but adults, increasingly so as goodness and truth increase with them. The nourishment of angels by spiritual food has also been made clear to me by the fact that they have a constant desire for those things that are the constituents of intelligence and wisdom. At their eveningtime, that is, when they pass through a state in which they lack what they desire, that state compared with other states holds no happiness for them. In that state there is nothing that they hunger and long for more than a new dawning of morning light upon them and their return to the life filled with happiness that comes with intelligence and wisdom.

[3] It may also be seen by anyone who stops to reflect on the matter that understanding what is true and desiring what is good constitute spiritual food. If someone who is enjoying material food that serves to nourish the body is at the same time in a cheerful state of mind and is engaged in conversation about the kinds of things that accord with that state of mind, the material food for the body becomes all the more nourishing. This is an indication of the existence of a correspondence between spiritual food, which feeds the soul, and material food, which feeds the body. The same is clear in addition from the experience of someone who has the desire to furnish his mind with ideas that constitute knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom. If he is denied these he begins to feel sad and distressed, and like somebody in time of famine he has the desire to return to his spiritual food and so to the nourishment of his soul.

[4] It may also be seen from the Word that spiritual food is what nourishes the soul in the way material food nourishes the body, as in Moses,

Man does not live by bread only, but man lives by every utterance of the mouth of Jehovah. Deuteronomy 8:3; Matthew 4:4.

In general 'utterance of the mouth of Jehovah' is the Divine Truth which goes forth from the Lord, and so is every truth contained in wisdom; specifically it is the Word, the foundation and source of ideas constituting wisdom. And in John,

Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. John 6:17.

This 'food' is clearly the truth that is contained in wisdom and that goes forth from the Lord.

[5] From this one may also recognize what is meant by these words of the Lord recorded in the same chapter,

My flesh is truly food, and My blood truly is drink. John 6:55.

That is to say, 'the Lord's flesh' is Divine Good, 3813, and 'His blood' Divine Truth, 4735. For now that the Lord has made His Human completely Divine, His 'flesh' is nothing else than Divine Good, and His 'blood' nothing else than Divine Truth. One has to understand that in the Divine there is nothing material; therefore in the highest sense, that is, where it has reference to the Lord, 'food' is the Good of Divine Love directed towards the salvation of the human race. This food is also the kind that is meant by the Lord's words in John,

Jesus said to the disciples, I have food to eat of which you do not know. My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. John 4:32, 34.

'Doing the will of Him who sent Me, and finishing His work' is saving the human race; and the Divine attribute which motivates this is Divine Love.

From all this one may now see what is meant in the spiritual sense by 'the famine'.

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