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Daniel 7

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1 In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel saw a dream and visions of his head upon his bed: then he wrote the dream; he told the sum of the matters.

2 Daniel spoke and said, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of the heavens broke forth upon the great sea.

3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, different one from another.

4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till its wings were plucked; and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.

5 And behold, another beast, a second, like unto a bear, and it raised up itself on one side; and [it had] three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and they said thus unto it: Arise, devour much flesh.

6 After this I saw, and behold, another, like a leopard, and it had four wings of a bird upon its back; and the beast had four heads; and dominion was given to it.

7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and exceeding strong; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet; and it was different from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.

8 I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another, a little horn, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

9 I beheld till thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was flames of fire, [and] its wheels burning fire.

10 A stream of fire issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

11 I beheld therefore, because of the voice of the great words that the horn spoke; I beheld till the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and it was given up to be burned with fire.

12 As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time.

13 I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven [one] like a son of man, and he came up even to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.

14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.

15 As for me Daniel, my spirit was grieved in the midst of my body, and the visions of my head troubled me.

16 I came near unto one of them that stood by, and asked him the certainty of all this. And he told me, and made me know the interpretation of the things:

17 These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, [that] shall arise out of the earth.

18 But the saints of the most high [places] shall receive the kingdom, and they shall possess the kingdom for ever, even to the ages of ages.

19 Then I desired to know the certainty concerning the fourth beast, which was different from them all, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its feet;

20 and concerning the ten horns that were in its head, and the other that came up, and before which three fell: even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth speaking great things, and whose look was more imposing than its fellows.

21 I beheld, and that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed over them;

22 until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most high [places]; and the appointed time arrived, and the saints possessed the kingdom.

23 He said thus: The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.

24 And as to the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall arise ten kings; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall subdue three kings.

25 And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High [places], and think to change seasons and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and a half time.

26 And the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.

27 But the kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heavens, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most high [places]. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

28 So far is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my thoughts much troubled me, and my countenance was changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart.

   

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De Verbo (The Word) #11

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11. XI. The wisdom of the angels of the three heavens comes from the Lord by means of the Word; its literal sense serves as its fulcrum and foundation.

I have been told from heaven that the most ancient people on this earth had direct revelation, and therefore they did not have a written Word. But after their time, when direct revelation could not exist without risk to souls and so could not be accepted, to prevent people's communication and linking with the heavens being cut off and destroyed, the Lord was pleased to reveal Divine Truth by means of the Word, which is written entirely by means of correspondences. As a result it is so constructed in its ultimate sense that it holds within it the wisdom of the angels of the three heavens. This wisdom is not visible in our Word, yet it is contained in it, and I must briefly describe how this is done.

There are three heavens, one below the other, and beneath them the world. In the highest heaven the wisdom of the angels reaches the highest degree; this is called celestial wisdom. In the middle heaven the wisdom of the angels reaches the middle degree; this is called spiritual wisdom. In the lower heaven the wisdom of the angels reaches the ultimate degree; this is called spiritual- and celestial-natural wisdom. In the world, which is below those heavens, wisdom is at its lowest degree; this is called natural wisdom. All these degrees of wisdom are present in the Word we possess in the world, but in a simultaneous arrangement. For a successive arrangement becomes simultaneous as it comes down; so that the simultaneous becomes a complex of all the successive stages. The highest in a successive arrangement becomes the inmost in a simultaneous arrangement, the middle becomes its middle, and the ultimate becomes its ultimate.

The Word as it exists in the world has a simultaneous arrangement of this sort; in its inmost is the Lord, like a sun, the source of Divine Truth and Divine Good, light and flame radiating and spreading through the middle stages to the ultimate. In this simultaneous arrangement the Celestial Divine is nearest, as it is in the highest or third heaven, the source of the wisdom of the angels there. Then follows the Spiritual Divine, as it is in the middle or second heaven, the source of the wisdom of the angels there. After this comes the Spiritual-Natural Divine and the Celestial-Natural Divine, as it is in the ultimate or first heaven, the source of the wisdom of the angels there. The ultimate ring of this simultaneous arrangement is made up of the Natural Divine, as it is in the world, the source of the wisdom of people on earth. This outermost ring surrounds, binds and holds together the inner rings, to prevent them falling apart and to act as a fulcrum for them. The literal sense of the Word is like this in general and in every part.

So when it is read piously by a person, then its inner rings are untied and uncovered, and each heaven draws from it what is its own, the spiritual angels their Spiritual Divine, the celestial angels their Celestial Divine, the source of their wisdom. It was not only told and heard from heaven that our Word is like this, but it was demonstrated and proved by many experiences. When the Divine was sent down by the Lord into the world, it must have passed through the heavens one after the other, and come into existence in the world in such a form as to return in the same order through the heavens to its source, the Lord.

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

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Ezekiel 29

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1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 "Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt.

3 Speak and say, 'Thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the midst of his rivers, that has said, 'My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.'

4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales; and I will bring you up out of the midst of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales.

5 I'll cast you forth into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You'll fall on the open field. You won't be brought together, nor gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the earth and to the birds of the sky.

6 All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am Yahweh, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel.

7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke, and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke, and paralyzed all of their thighs."

8 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: "Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you.

9 The land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste; and they shall know that I am Yahweh. Because he has said, 'The river is mine, and I have made it;'

10 therefore, behold, I am against you, and against your rivers, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia.

11 No foot of man shall pass through it, nor foot of animal shall pass through it, neither shall it be inhabited forty years.

12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of the countries that are desolate; and her cities among the cities that are laid waste shall be a desolation forty years; and I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries."

13 For thus says the Lord Yahweh: "At the end of forty years will I gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered;

14 and I will bring back the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth; and they shall be there a base kingdom.

15 It shall be the base of the kingdoms; neither shall it any more lift itself up above the nations: and I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations.

16 It shall be no more the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them: and they shall know that I am the Lord Yahweh."'"

17 It came to pass in the seven and twentieth year, in the first [month], in the first [day] of the month, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

18 Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre: every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it.

19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off her multitude, and take her spoil, and take her prey; and it shall be the wages for his army.

20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his recompense for which he served, because they worked for me, says the Lord Yahweh.

21 In that day will I cause a horn to bud forth to the house of Israel, and I will give you the opening of the mouth in the midst of them; and they shall know that I am Yahweh.