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Exodus第8章

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1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, Go to Pharaoh, and say to him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people Go that they may serve me.

2 And if thou shalt refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs:

3 And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thy house, and into thy bed-chamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy ovens, and into thy kneading troughs:

4 And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants.

5 And the LORD spoke to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch forth thy hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up on the land of Egypt.

6 And Aaron stretched his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

7 And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the LORD that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people: and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice to the LORD.

9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, Glory over me: when shall I entreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee, and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?

10 And he said, To-morrow. And he said, Be it according to thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like the LORD our God.

11 And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy houses, and from thy servants, and from thy people; they shall remain in the river only.

12 And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried to the LORD, because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh.

13 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses: and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields.

14 And they gathered them into heaps: and the land was offensive in smell.

15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was respit, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not to them, as the LORD had said.

16 And the LORD said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

17 And they did so: for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt.

18 And the magicians did so with their inchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man and upon beast.

19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, This is the finger of God: and Pharaoh's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not to them; as the LORD had said.

20 And the LORD said to Moses, Rise early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; (lo, he cometh forth to the water) and say to him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me.

21 Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they are.

22 And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.

23 And I will put a division between my people and thy people: to-morrow shall this sign be.

24 And the LORD did so: and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh, and into his servants' houses, and into all the land of Egypt: the land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.

25 And Pharaoh called for Moses, and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land.

26 And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: Lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

27 We will go three days' journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God as he shall command us.

28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that ye may sacrifice to the LORD your God in the wilderness; only ye shall not go very far away: entreat for me.

29 And Moses said, Behold, I go out from thee, and I will entreat the LORD that the swarms of flies may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people, to-morrow: but let not Pharaoh deal deceitfully any more, in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the LORD.

30 And Moses went out from Pharaoh, and entreated the LORD:

31 And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and he removed the swarms of flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people; there remained not one.

32 And Pharaoh hardened his heart at this time also, neither would he let the people go.

   

来自斯威登堡的著作

 

Arcana Coelestia#7439

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7439. 'Send My people away and let them serve Me' means that they should leave those who belong to the spiritual Church, in order that these may worship their God in freedom. This is clear from the meaning of 'sending away' as leaving; from the representation of the children of Israel, to whom 'My people' refers here, as those who belong to the spiritual Church, dealt with in 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7075, 7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223; and from the meaning of 'serving Jehovah' as worshipping. That they should worship in freedom is evident from what follows in verses 21-23, and also from the consideration that all worship which is truly worship must take place in freedom.

[2] The children of Israel are called Jehovah's people not because they were any better than other nations but because they represented Jehovah's people, that is, those who belonged to the Lord's spiritual kingdom. The fact that they were no better than other nations is evident from their life in the wilderness, where they did not believe at all in Jehovah. Instead they believed in their hearts in the gods of the Egyptians, as is clear from the golden calf which they made for themselves and which they called their gods who had led them out of the land of Egypt, Exodus 32:8. The same fact is also evident from their life subsequently in the land of Canaan, dealt with in the historical sections of the Word; and the things said about them in the prophetical parts and finally by the Lord make it evident too.

[3] This also explains why few of them are in heaven; for the destiny they have met in the next life has been determined by the way they lived. Refuse to believe therefore that they have been chosen for heaven ahead of others. Those who believe that these people have been chosen for heaven ahead of others do not believe that each one's life remains with him. Nor do they believe that a person has to be made ready for heaven throughout his entire life in the world, and that although this is accomplished by the Lord's mercy, people are not admitted into heaven by mercy alone regardless of the life they have led in the world. The kind of notion they have of heaven and the Lord's mercy is the result of teachings about faith alone and salvation by it without good works; for such people are unconcerned about life. Hence they also believe that evils can be purged away like dirt with water, and so believe that a person can be brought in an instant into leading a life of goodness and consequently be admitted into heaven. Such people do not know that if the evil were deprived of their life of evil they would have no life whatever, and also that if those who lead an evil life were admitted into heaven it would feel like hell to them, and the further they went into heaven the worse would that feeling become.

[4] All this now makes it clear that the Israelites and Jews had not by any means been chosen; they were simply accepted in order that they might represent the things of heaven. And this they had to do in the land of Canaan because the Lord's Church had existed there since most ancient times and all places there had consequently become representative of heavenly and Divine realities. Then also the Word could be written, in which the names would serve to mean such things as belong to the Lord and His kingdom.

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