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Luke 12

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1 When there were gathered together myriads* of the crowd, so that they trampled one another, He first said to His disciples, Beware principally of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

2 And there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither secret that shall not be known.

3 Therefore whatever things you have said in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which you have spoken in the ear in bedrooms shall be preached on the housetops.

4 And I say to·​·you, My friends, Fear not those who kill the body, and afterward do not have any·​·more anything to do.

5 But I will show you whom you shall fear: Fear Him* who has authority, after He has killed, to cast into gehenna*; yes, I say to you, fear Him.

6 Are not five sparrows sold for two assaria*, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

7 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered; fear not therefore, you are·​·of· more ·value than many sparrows.

8 But I say to you, Whoever shall profess Me before men, him also shall the Son of Man profess before the angels of God.

9 But he who denies Me before men shall be denied before the angels of God.

10 And everyone who says a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven* him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven.

11 And when they bring· you ·to the synagogues and rulers and authorities, be· not ·anxious how or what you shall respond, or what you shall say.

12 For the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that hour what things you ought to say.

13 And one of the crowd said to Him, Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.

14 But He said to him, Man, who has set Me as a judge or a divider over you?

15 And He said to them, See you, and guard yourselves from avarice*; for no one’s life consists in the excess of his belongings.

16 And He told a parable to them, saying, The field of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.

17 And he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have nowhere to gather my fruits?

18 And he said, This I will do: I will take·​·down my barns, and build greater, and there I will gather all my produce and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast many goods laid up for many years; rest, eat, drink, and be·​·merry.

20 But God said to him, Senseless one, this night they require thy soul of thee; and whose shall those things be that thou hast prepared?

21 So is he who treasures·​·up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

22 And He said to His disciples, On this account I say to you, be· not ·anxious for your soul, what you shall eat, nor for the body, what you shall put·​·on.

23 The soul is more than food, and the body than clothing.

24 Consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap, which have neither locked·​·room nor barn, and God feeds them; of· how much more ·value·​·are you than the birds?

25 And which of you by being·​·anxious can add to his stature one cubit?

26 If then you are not able to do that which is least, why are· you ·anxious about the rest?

27 Consider the lilies, how they grow; they labor not, neither do they spin; but I say to you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

28 And if God so clothe the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more shall He clothe you, O you of·​·little·​·faith!

29 And seek ye not what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, and be not unsettled;

30 for all these·​·things do the nations of the world seek after; and your Father knows that you need these·​·things.

31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these·​·things shall be added to you.

32 Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good·​·pleasure to give you the kingdom.

33 Sell your belongings, and give alms; make for yourselves purses which become· not ·old, a treasure in the heavens which fails not, where neither thief is near, nor moth corrupts.

34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

35 Let your loins be girded around, and your lamps burning,

36 and you yourselves like men waiting for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he comes and knocks, they may open to him straightway.

37 Happy are those servants whom the lord at his coming shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that he will gird·​·himself and have them recline, and passing·​·through he will minister to them.

38 And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, happy are those servants.

39 But know this, that if the householder knew at what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have let his house be dug·​·through.

40 And be ye therefore prepared, for in the hour that you think not, the Son of Man comes.

41 And Peter said to Him, Lord, sayest Thou this parable to us, or even to all?

42 And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and prudent steward, whom the lord shall appoint over his household, to apportion the measure·​·of·​·wheat in due time?

43 Happy is that servant whom his lord at his coming shall find so doing.

44 Truly I say to you that he will appoint him over all his belongings.

45 But if that servant shall say in his heart, My lord delays to come, and shall begin to strike the boy-servants and maids, and to eat and to drink and be drunken;

46 the lord of that servant shall come in a day that he expects him not, and in an hour which he knows not, and will divide· him ·in·​·two, and will put his part with the unbelieving.

47 And that servant who knew his lord’s will, and prepared not, nor did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

48 But he who knew not, but did things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few. And everyone to whom much has been given, from him much will be sought; and to whom they have committed much, of him they will ask all·​·the·​·more.

49 I have come to cast fire into the earth, and I will that it were already kindled.

50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how I am beset until it be finished!

51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on the earth? No, I say to you, but rather division.

52 For from henceforth five shall be in one house divided, three against two and two against three.

53 The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

54 And He said also to the crowds, When you see a cloud rising from the west, straightway you say, A shower comes; and so it comes·​·to·​·pass.

55 And when the south wind blows, you say, There will be heat; and it comes·​·to·​·pass.

56 Hypocrites! You know how to test the face of the earth and of the heaven; but how is it that you do not test this time?

57 But why also of yourselves do you not judge what is just?

58 For as thou goest with thine adversary to the prince, in the way give diligence that thou mayest be released from him, lest he drag thee to the judge, and the judge deliver· thee ·up to the exactor, and the exactor cast thee into prison.

59 I say to thee, Thou shalt not come·​·out thence, until thou hast paid the last mite.

   


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

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Arcana Coelestia #9014

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9014. 'You shall take him from My altar to die' means damnation even though he flees to worship the Lord, pleads for forgiveness, and promises to repent. This is clear from the meaning of Jehovah's altar' as the chief representative of worship of the Lord, dealt with in 921, 2777, 2811, 4541, 8935, 8940, and since the altar was representative of worship 'fleeing to the altar' means going to the Lord, pleading for forgiveness, and also promising to repent, for one action follows the other; and from the meaning of 'dying' as damnation, dealt with in 5407, 6119, 9008.

[2] The implications of all this may be recognized from what has been shown in paragraph 9013 above, to the effect that guile in spiritual things, that is, hypocrisy, is not able to be forgiven. The reason why is that guile is like poison that penetrates right through to the inward parts; it kills all of the faith and charity there, and destroys remnants, which are the truths and forms of the good of faith and charity stored away by the Lord in a person inwardly. And when these have been destroyed no spiritual life at all survives any longer. Regarding remnants, see 468, 530, 560-563, 660, 661, 798, 1050, 1738, 1906, 2284, 5135, 5342, 5344, 5897, 5898, 6156, 7560, 7564. Consequently when people full of guile plead with the Lord to be forgiven and promise to repent, meant by 'fleeing to the altar', their pleas and promises do not come at all from the heart but are made only with the lips. Therefore they are not heard, for the Lord looks on the heart, not on words separated and isolated from the heart. So it is that there is no forgiveness for them, because they are not capable of any repentance.

[3] The majority within the Church think that the forgiveness of sins involves wiping and washing them away, like the removal of dirt by water, and that after forgiveness people go about clean and pure. This idea reigns especially with those who attribute all of salvation to faith alone. But let it be known that the situation with the forgiveness of sins is altogether different from that being Mercy itself, the Lord forgives everyone their sins. Nevertheless they do not come to be forgiven unless the person sincerely repents, refrains from evils, and after that leads a life of faith and charity, doing so to the end of his life. When this happens the person receives spiritual life from the Lord, called new life. Then when with this new life he looks at the evils of his former life, turns away from them, and abhors them, his evils have for the first time been forgiven. For the person is now maintained in truths and forms of good by the Lord and held back from evils. This shows what the forgiveness of sins is, and that it cannot take place within an hour, nor within a year. The Church knows this to be so, for it says to those who attend the Holy Supper that their sins are forgiven if they begin a new life by refraining from evils and abhorring them.

[4] All this now shows what the situation is with hypocrites who through guile are inwardly eaten up by evils - they are incapable of repenting. For the actual remnants of goodness and truth present with them have been destroyed and lost, and everything of spiritual life with them. And being incapable of repenting they cannot be forgiven. This is meant by the law that those who kill their neighbour with guile must be taken from the altar to die.

[5] Their damnation was described by the following prophetic utterance made by David regarding Joab, who had killed Abner with guile,

There will always be in the house of Joab 1 one who suffers from a discharge, or is a leper, or supports himself with a rod, or falls by the sword, or lacks bread. 2 Samuel 3:27, 29.

'One suffering from a discharge' means profanation of the good of love; 'a leper' means profanation of the truth of faith, 6963; 'one supporting himself with a rod', or a person who is lame, means those with whom all good has been lost, 4302, 4314; 'one falling by the sword' means those constantly dying through falsities, 4499, 6353, 7102, 8294; and 'one lacking bread' means those deprived of all spiritual life, for 'bread' is the sustainment of spiritual life by means of good, 6118, 8410. Because such people were meant by 'Joab' he was killed by the command of Solomon at the altar to which he had fled, 1 Kings 2:28-32.

Footnotes:

1. lit There will not be cut off from the house of Joab

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