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النشر الإلكتروني

NOTE

The marginal figures in this edition indicate the subdivisions of the paragraphs arranged for the "Concordance to the Theological Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg by the Rev. John Faulkner Potts."

EXODUS.

CHAPTER THIRTEENTH.

THE DOCTRINE OF CHARITY.

8033. What charity is and what faith is with man, is now to be told. Charity is an internal affection which consists in this, that one wills from the heart to do good to the neighbor, and that this is the enjoyment of his life, and this without recompense.

8034. Faith on the other hand is an internal affection which consists in this, that one wills from the heart to know what is true and what is good, and this not for the sake of doctrine as the end, but for the sake of life. This affection conjoins itself with the affection of charity by this, that it wills to do according to what is true, thus truth itself.

8035. They who are in the genuine affection of charity and faith believe that they will nothing of good of themselves, and that they understand nothing of truth of themselves, but that the willing of good and the understanding of truth are from the Lord.

8036. This now is charity, and this is faith. They who are in these have in themselves the kingdom of the Lord and heaven, and in them is the church, and they are they who are regenerated by the Lord, and from Him have received a new will and a new understanding.

8037. They who have the love of self or the love of the world for an end, cannot in any wise be in charity and faith. They who are in those loves do not even know what charity is and what faith is, and do not at all comprehend that to will good to the neighbor without recompense is heaven in man, and that in that affection there is a happiness as great as that of the angels, which is ineffable; for they believe that if they are deprived of the joy arising from the glory of honors and wealth, nothing more of joy can be given, when yet heavenly joy, which infinitely transcends every other joy, then first begins.

CHAPTER XIII.

1. And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,

2. Sanctify unto Me every firstborn, that which openeth every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and of beast it is Mine.

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3. And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondmen; for by strength of hand Jehovah brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be

eaten.

4. This day ye go forth in the month Abib.

5. And it shall be when Jehovah shall have brought thee into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which He sware unto thy fathers to give thee, a land flowing with milk and honey, that thou shalt keep this service in this month.

6. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Jehovah.

7. Unleavened bread shall be eaten seven days; and there shall no leavened bread be seen with thee, neither shall there be leaven seen with thee, in all thy border.

8. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying, It is because of that which Jehovah did for me, in my coming forth out of Egypt.

9. And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes, that the law of Jehovah may be in thy mouth for with a strong hand hath Jehovah brought thee out of Egypt.

10. Thou shalt therefore keep this statute in its season

from year to year.

II. And it shall be when Jehovah shall have brought thee into the land of the Canaanite, as He sware unto thee and to thy fathers, and shall have given it thee,

12. That thou shalt cause to pass over unto Jehovah all that openeth the womb, and all that openeth, the offspring of a beast, which shall be to thee males, shall be Jehovah's.

13. And all that openeth of an ass thou shalt redeem with one of the flock; and if thou wilt not redeem it, then thou shalt break its neck: and every firstborn of man among thy sons shalt thou redeem.

14. And it shall be when thy son asketh thee to-morrow, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand Jehovah brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondmen:

15. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh hardened against sending us away, that Jehovah slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man even to the firstborn of beast; therefore I sacrifice to Jehovah all that openeth the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.

16. And it shall be for a sign upon thine hand, and for frontlets between thine eyes: for by strength of hand Jehovah brought us forth out of Egypt.

17. And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had sent the people away, that God led them not by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.

18. But God led the people about, by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea and the sons of Israel went up girded out of the land of Egypt.

19. And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him: for taking he had taken an oath of the sons of Israel, saying, Visiting God will visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you.

20. And they took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness.

21. And Jehovah went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; that they might go by day and by night.

22. The pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not from before the people.

CONTENTS.

8038. In this chapter the subject in the internal sense is faith in the Lord, and the perpetual remembrance of having been liberated by Him from damnation. Faith in the Lord is signified by the sanctification of the firstborn, and the perpetual remembrance of liberation by the Lord is signified by the celebration of the passover.

8039. In the latter portion of the chapter and the following, the subject is the further preparation of those who were of the spiritual church and who before the coming of the Lord were detained in the lower earth until they could be introduced into heaven, and that for the sake of this end, they were first transmitted in safety through the midst of damnation, and then underwent temptations, the Lord being continually present. Transmission through. the midst of damnation is signified by the passage through the Red Sea; temptations are signified by the life in the wilderness into which they were led; and the presence of the Lord is signified by the pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night.

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