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Jeremiah 22

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1 Thus says Jehovah: Go·​·down·​·to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word,

2 and say, Hear the word of Jehovah, O king of Judah, who sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people who come·​·in by these gates:

3 thus says Jehovah, Do ye judgment and justice, and rescue from the hand of the oppressor what is taken·​·by·​·robbery; and exploit not the sojourner, the orphan and the widow; do· no ·violence, and shed not innocent blood in this place.

4 For if doing you do this thing, then shall there come·​·in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people.

5 But if you will not hear these words, I promise in Myself, says Jehovah, that this house shall become a waste.

6 For thus says Jehovah against the house of the king of Judah; Thou art as Gilead to Me, as the head of Lebanon; yet surely I will set thee for a wilderness, for cities not dwelt·​·in.

7 And I will sanctify destroyers against thee, a man and his weapons; and they shall cut·​·off thy choice cedars, and cause them to fall on the fire.

8 And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say, a man to his companion, Wherefore has Jehovah done as·​·thus unto this great city?

9 Then they shall say, Because they have forsaken the covenant of Jehovah their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them.

10 Weep ye not for the dead, and be· not ·sorry for him; but weeping you shall Weep for him who goes into captivity; for he shall return no more and see the land of his birth.

11 For thus says Jehovah concerning Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, who reigned instead·​·of Josiah his father, who went·​·out from this place; He shall not return thither any·​·more:

12 but he shall·​·die in the place whither they have led him into exile, and shall see this land no more.

13 Woe to him who builds his house with no justice, and his upper·​·rooms with no judgment, with his companion serving for·​·nothing, and for his work he gives him not;

14 who says, I will build for myself a measurable house and spacious upper·​·rooms; and he cuts out windows for himself; and it is paneled with cedar, and anointed* with vermilion.

15 Shalt thou reign, because thou competest with the cedar? Did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well for him?

16 He made·​·the·​·cause for the cause of the afflicted and needy; then it was good. Was this not knowing Me? says Jehovah.

17 For thine eyes and thy heart are nothing but for thy gain, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for clashing, to do it.

18 Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not wail for him, saying, Woe my brother! and, Woe sisters! They shall not wail for him, saying, Woe lord! and, Woe his majesty!

19 He shall be buried with the burial of a donkey, dragged and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem.

20 Go·​·up·​·to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the crossings; for all thy lovers are broken.

21 I spoke to thee in thy tranquility; but thou didst say, I will not hear. This has been thy way from thy youth, that thou didst not obey My voice.

22 The wind shall shepherd all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into the captivity; for then shalt thou be·​·ashamed and humiliated on account of all thine evil.

23 O she who dwells in Lebanon, making· thy ·nest in the cedars, how gracious· shalt thou ·be when pangs come to thee, the travailing as of a woman giving·​·birth!

24 As I live, says Jehovah, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet on My right hand, surely I would pull· thee ·out from there;

25 and I will give thee into the hand of those who seek thy soul, and into the hand of them of whose faces thou art afraid, and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.

26 And I will throw thee out, and thy mother who gave·​·birth to thee, into another land, where you were not born; and there shall you die.

27 But on the land where they bear their soul to return, thither they shall not return.

28 Is this man Coniah a despised, shattered idol? Is he a vessel in which is no delight? Wherefore are they thrown, he and his seed, and are cast upon a land which they know not?

29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of Jehovah.

30 Thus says Jehovah, Write ye that this man is childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days; for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any·​·more in Judah.

   


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

Mula sa Mga gawa ni Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 9164

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9164. 'Or is led away captive' means removal. This is clear from the meaning of 'being led away captive', when it has reference to the good or truth present with a person, as removal. The situation here is that when truth that springs from good reigns in a person the truth he believes in the most strongly lies in the middle, and the truths he believes in less strongly are stationed further and further away from the middle, ending with those about which he is in doubt. Bordering the truths are falsities, but they are not part of that sequence of truths. Nor do they stand upright pointing to heaven in the way that the truths springing from good do, but are bent over pointing downwards, and in the measure that they arise from evil they look towards hell. But when falsity supplants truth order is turned upside down; the truths move away to the sides and form the outer circle, and the falsities arising from evil occupy the middle. This shows what removal is used to mean, regarding which see also 3436, 6084, 6103. The reason why that kind of removal is meant by 'being led away captive' is that when falsities take truths captive they lead them away in that manner. Such things are also meant by 'being taken captive' and 'being led away captive' in Jeremiah,

The wind will feed on all your shepherds, and your lovers will be led away into captivity. Jeremiah 22:22.

In the same prophet,

Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh have perished, for your sons have been led away into captivity, and your daughters into captivity. Yet I will bring back the captives 1 of Moab in the last days. Jeremiah 48:46-47.

'Sons' who have been led away into captivity are truths, and 'daughters' are forms of good. And in Luke,

They will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken captive among all the gentiles; 2 and at length Jerusalem will be trodden underfoot by the gentiles. 2 Luke 21:24.

This refers to the close of the age, which is the final period of the Church. 'Falling by the edge of the sword' means being destroyed by falsities, 'the sword' being falsity engaged in conflict against truth, 2799, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294. 'The gentiles' among whom they will be taken captive and by whom the Church will be trodden underfoot are evils that give rise to falsities, see 1259, 1260, 1849, 1868, 6306; and 'Jerusalem' which will be trodden underfoot then is the Church, 2117, 3654.

Mga talababa:

1. literally, the captivity

2. or the nations

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

Mula sa Mga gawa ni Swedenborg

 

Arcana Coelestia # 6353

Pag-aralan ang Sipi na ito

  
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6353. 'Instruments of violence are their swords (machaera)' means that religious teachings serve to destroy charitable deeds, thus charity itself. This is clear from the meaning of 'instruments of violence' as things that serve to destroy charity (the fact that 'instruments' are things that serve is self-evident, while the fact that 'violence' means the destruction of charity will be seen shortly below); and from the meaning of 'swords as religious teachings. For 'swords' (gladius) are the truths of faith that are employed to fight against falsities and evils, 2799; thus swords' (machaera) 1 are religious teachings, here teachings employed to fight against truth and goodness and to annihilate them, for they are employed by those who champion faith alone, or faith separated from charity, and with whom the opposite of charity resides.

[2] The religious teachings employed by those who champion faith alone to dispense with charitable works are principally these:

A person is saved by faith alone without the works of charity.

Those works are unnecessary, and a person can be saved by faith alone even in his final hour when he dies, irrespective of how he has lived throughout the whole course of his life.

Thus those who have performed nothing else than cruel deeds, robberies, acts of adultery, or unholy deeds can be saved.

Consequently salvation is merely a letting into heaven, which means that none are let in except those who have received that grace at the end of their lives, and which also means that some by God's mercy have been chosen and others by the lack of it have been damned.

The truth of the matter however is that the Lord does not deny heaven to anyone. The life people have led and the communication of that life, which is perceived in heaven in the way an odour is on earth by its recipients, make it completely impossible for them to be there; for they are tormented in heaven by the wicked life they led more than they are in the deepest hell.

[3] 'A sword' means falsity fighting and killing. This is evident in John,

There went out another horse, fiery red; and it was granted to the one sitting on it to take away peace from the earth, so that people would kill one another, for which reason there was given him a great sword. Revelation 6:4.

In the same author,

If anyone kills with the sword, he must be killed with the sword. Revelation 13:10, 14.

[4] 'Violence' is the use of force against charity. This is plain from many places in the Word, as in Isaiah,

The violent one will cease to be and the scornful one will be destroyed. All ripeners of iniquity 2 will be cut off, those who cause a person to sin by a word, and lay a snare for him who reproves in the gate, and cause him who is just to turn aside to something empty. Isaiah 59:20, 21.

Here a different expression is used in the original language for 'the violent one'; but it carries a similar spiritual meaning. The fact that 'the violent one' is someone who uses force against charity is meant when it says that 'they cause a person to sin by a word' and 'cause him who is just to turn aside'.

[5] In the same prophet,

Their works are works of iniquity, and the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Isaiah 59:6-7.

Here 'violence' stands for force used against charity, a force that is also meant by 'shedding blood', see 774, 1005. In the same prophet,

No longer will there be violence in your land, a laying waste and ruin within your borders. Isaiah 60:18.

'Violence' stands for the destruction of charity, for the outcome is a laying waste and ruin in the land, that is, in the Church.

[6] In Jeremiah,

I proclaim violence and a laying waste, for the word of Jehovah was made to me a reproach and ignominy the whole day. Jeremiah 20:8.

Here also 'violence' stands for violence in spiritual things, thus for the destruction of charity, and also of faith. In Ezekiel,

The land is full of the judgement of blood, 3 and the city is full of violence. Ezekiel 7:23.

'The judgement of blood' stands for the destruction of faith, 'violence' for the destruction of charity.

[7] In the same prophet,

If he begets a violent son, a shedder of blood, who does any one of these things; if he eats on the mountains, or defiles his companion's wife, oppresses the wretched and needy, engages in plunderings, does not restore the pledge, or lifts his eyes to idols, commits abomination, lends at interest and takes usury, will he live? He will not live; he will surely die. Ezekiel 18:10-13.

In this description of what 'a violent son and a shedder of blood' is, the wrong-doings that are listed are all the charitable works he destroys; thus 'a violent son and a shedder of blood' is one who destroys charity and faith.

[8] In David,

Deliver me, O Jehovah, from the evil person; from the man of violent actions preserve me. Those who think evil things in their heart gather together all the day for war, they make their tongue sharp, like a serpent; the poison of an asp is under their lips. Keep me, O Jehovah, from the hands of the wicked; from the man of violent actions preserve me. Do not let a slanderer 4 be established in the land; as for the violent man, evil hunts him down, to overthrow him. Psalms 140:1-4, 11.

'The man of violent actions' stands for those who destroy the truths of faith and forms of the good of charity. Their fight against these is meant by 'they gather together all the day for war, they make their tongue sharp, like a serpent', 'the poison of an asp is under their lips', and 'evil hunts him down, to overthrow him'. 'Violence' is referred to in other places besides these, such as Ezekiel 12:19; Joel 3:19; Malachi 2:16-17; Zephaniah 3:4; Psalms 18:48; 55:9-11; 58:2-5; Deuteronomy 19:16.

Mga talababa:

1. The Hebrew word m'kerah, which Swedenborg renders machaera here in Genesis 49:7, does not occur again in OT. But machaera, a Greek word for a sword, is generally retained by Swedenborg in quotations from NT.

2. The Latin means judgement but the Hebrew means iniquity.

3. literally, bloods

4. literally, a man of tongue

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