DEUTERONOMY 14
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Deuteronomy Chapter 14

Verses 1, 2. The life of the regenerate flows in direct from heaven.
Verses 3-8. What affections may be appropriated to the soul.
Verses 9, 10. What knowledges and (verses 11-20) what thoughts may be appropriated.
Verses 21-27. What is of self is not to be conjoined to the new regenerate life, but all that flows in from heaven is to be conjoined.
Verses 28, 29. By this means the good facilities in the soul will be strengthened.

You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

The regenerate receive their life direct from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom flowing into the soul. They shall not afflict themselves or consider their intelligence and light destroyed when they perceive the falsity of their old doctrines or ideas,

For you are an holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

For they receive pure truths direct from the Divine Love and Wisdom—and the Lord gifts them in regeneration with truths in a special manner from the Word—far more abundant than those which could be acquired by any of the faculties of the natural mind.

You shall not eat any abominable thing.

You shall not adopt into your life and belief anything which you perceive to be denied with evil, or which turns away the soul from the Lord.

These are the beasts which you shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,

These are the affections which you may appropriate into your character: the good of love in the natural man (or the desire to do good in the natural life), the good of mutual charity, and the knowledges agreeing therewith.

The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.

All the good affections of the natural man which rejoice in true liberty of soul; its love of absolute truth and of absolute good, apart from the fetters of custom and creed; its love to roam wide in the field of external knowledges agreeing with good (wild goat), and the powerful affections for genuine good thus obtained (bison); and the external affection which explores the whole mind in search for good, and the active intelligence thence resulting;

And every beast that parts the hoof, and cleaves the cleft into two claws, and chews the cud among the beasts, that you shall eat.

And every affection that has its natural attributes agreeing with and subordinate to the spiritual, and is so disposed as to receive influx from the spiritual world, and is the result of mature reflection and consideration, this may be joined to the spiritual man.

Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you.

Nevertheless there are some which you shall not join to you of those that are the result of deliberation, or of those that seem to be in agreement with spiritual things; as the scientifics professing to lead the soul to heaven of themselves, and the thoughts and affections thence derived (which love to immerse themselves in worldly and sensual things, and thus shut out the light of heaven); for though these seem to be the result of thought and intelligence, they do not agree with the spiritual wisdom which comes from heaven; they are to be shunned as false by the spiritual man.

And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet chews not the cud, it is unclean to you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.

And the love of money and the pleasures of the world, although it might be made subservient and in agreement with heavenly love, yet it must be rejected if it draws away the mind to follow it without due subordination to spiritual love, and leads the spiritual man to falses: you shall not appropriate the evils derived from it, nor have the slightest communication with these things when separate from heavenly love.

These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall you eat:

And these are what may be appropriated by the spiritual man from the knowledges and scientifics of faith. All which are supported and living from the spiritual; sense of the Word and rational thought, and are contained in and confirmed by the literal sense of the Word, may be appropriated.

And whatever has not fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean to you.

And whatever is irrational and has no life from the spiritual sense, and is not contained in and confirmed by the literal sense of the Word, shall not be appropriated; it will lead the soul into error.
[Note. (verses 9,10).— Fins would seem to have the same signification as wings, as they raise and elevate. Scales correspond to what is literal and external in which superior things are contained.]

Of all clean birds you shall eat.

All pure and holy thoughts may be appropriated to the soul.

But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,

But these are they who shall not be admitted into the mind: all reasonings which confirm falses and evils, and prey upon the internal goods and truths of the Church and upon its knowledges;

And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,

And all false doctrines which love and devour evil, whether in common things in the understanding or the foul evil which exists in the hereditary will.

And every raven after his kind,

Melancholy and foreboding thoughts should not be admitted into the soul;

And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,

Nor those falses which love darkness rather than light, and destroy truths in obscure states of the mind, or substitute themselves for genuine truths, or any kind of falsity which preys upon goodness and truth;

The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,

Nor any kind of falsity which shuns the true light of the Word whether in a less or greater degree, or anything which destroys the rudimentary sciences of the Word. [Note.—Swans are great destroyers of fish-spawn.]

And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,

Nor those which destroy the scientifics of religion; nor those which reason from nature, and find their delight in pursuing and voraciously destroying the external truths of the Church;

And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.

Nor those thoughts which love to dwell upon the unclean things of the natural mind, whether in the will or the thoughts in all their varieties, or which love to wander to useless things, and prefer the darkness of this world to the light of heaven.

And every creeping thing that flies is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.

And every thought and feeling of the unregenerate will, which is really selfish, but assumes the appearance of what is spiritual, is harmful, and is not to be appropriated by the spiritual man.

But of all clean birds you may eat.

But all holy and pure thoughts which come from heaven may be appropriated.

You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it to the stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to an alien: for you are an holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.

The spiritual man shall not appropriate or conjoin to his new life given to him from heaven anything which is void of the true regenerate life that comes from the Lord; he shall relegate it to what is not spiritual within him, that it may be conjoined to those external things within him which respect this life only; or he shall altogether alienate it from the soul: for the spiritual man is pure by receiving only what proceeds from the Divine Love and Wisdom. The innocence of true wisdom, which consists in acknowledging that all things good and true are from the Lord alone, must not be conjoined to the innocence of ignorance, which imagines there is somewhat good and true proceeding from the natural heart of man. (AC 9301).

You shall truly tithe all the increase of your seed, that the field brings forth year by year.

You shall truly ascribe to the Lord all the increase of good and truth within you, that the Lord brings forth by means of the Church planted in your soul in each succeeding state of regeneration.

And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.

You shall conjoin to your soul the good things that are received into the soul from the Divine Love and Wisdom in those states to which He shall lead you, in which He shall impress upon you the qualities derived from His Divine Humanity, from which you shall receive all that is good within you, all the genuine truth which you have, and all the sincere love to the Lord, and all that is good in your spiritual and natural affections; that you may learn at all times to shun evil, and to conform your life to the Divine Goodness and Wisdom.

And if the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from you, which the LORD your God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD your God has blessed you:

And if the truth of the Lord be too exalted for you, so that you can not bring yourself entirely into conformity with it; or if the states be too far removed from you, which the Lord shall show you are in accordance with the love and wisdom of His Divine Humanity, when you have received a new proprium, or life as it were of your own from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom;

Then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose:

Then you shall alienate the affections and thoughts which cannot be brought into conformity, and when you have them thoroughly in your power, you shall advance towards those states which you perceive to be in accordance with the goodness and truth which flow from the Divine Humanity.

And you shall bestow that money for whatever your soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you, and your household,

And you shall acquire in their place what is suitable to the regenerate state of the soul, whether natural affections from a celestial origin (that is, those derived from love to the Lord), or spiritual affections (those derived from the love of the public welfare), or spiritual truth derived from the Word, or philosophical truth agreeing with spiritual, or whatever is craved for in the new state of the soul; and these things shall be conjoined to the soul in that state as far as they are in accordance with the goodness and truth of the Lord's Divine Humanity, and the soul will be recruited and rejoiced, and all the spiritual part of man's nature.

And the Levite that is within your gates; you shall not forsake him; for he has no part nor inheritance with you.

And the desires after genuine good which have been given you in the natural mind, you shall cherish these; for they are from the Lord with you, and derive nothing good or true from the natural disposition of man.

At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:

And at the end of every full and complete period of regeneration you shall pass in review by self-examination all the increase of good and truth which you have received from the Lord in that state, and it shall be stored up in the external mind and become serviceable to introduce you to heaven.

And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.

And the desires for genuine good which you have (because they are of the Lord, and are not derived from the peculiar disposition of the man), and those principles which desire instruction in good and truth, and those which are in a state of innocence and charity, and desire to know and do what is good, and those which are in a state of truth and not yet in good, which are ready to be introduced into more interior states, shall be conjoined more closely to the soul, and shall appropriate the increase the Lord has given you and be satisfied; that the Divine Goodness and Wisdom may bless and vivify with real life every endeavour and act done with a view to advance in the spiritual life.

DEUTERONOMY 14 Other translations - previous - next - notes - discussion - Deuteronomy - BM Home - Full Page

You are the children of the LORD your God: you shall not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.	The regenerate receive their life direct from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom flowing into the soul. They shall not afflict themselves or consider their intelligence and light destroyed when they perceive the falsity of their old doctrines or ideas,
For you are an holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a peculiar people to himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.	For they receive pure truths direct from the Divine Love and Wisdom—and the Lord gifts them in regeneration with truths in a special manner from the Word—far more abundant than those which could be acquired by any of the faculties of the natural mind.
You shall not eat any abominable thing.	You shall not adopt into your life and belief anything which you perceive to be denied with evil, or which turns away the soul from the Lord.
These are the beasts which you shall eat: the ox, the sheep, and the goat,	These are the affections which you may appropriate into your character: the good of love in the natural man (or the desire to do good in the natural life), the good of mutual charity, and the knowledges agreeing therewith.
The hart, and the roebuck, and the fallow deer, and the wild goat, and the pygarg, and the wild ox, and the chamois.	All the good affections of the natural man which rejoice in true liberty of soul; its love of absolute truth and of absolute good, apart from the fetters of custom and creed; its love to roam wide in the field of external knowledges agreeing with good (wild goat), and the powerful affections for genuine good thus obtained (bison); and the external affection which explores the whole mind in search for good, and the active intelligence thence resulting;
And every beast that parts the hoof, and cleaves the cleft into two claws, and chews the cud among the beasts, that you shall eat.	And every affection that has its natural attributes agreeing with and subordinate to the spiritual, and is so disposed as to receive influx from the spiritual world, and is the result of mature reflection and consideration, this may be joined to the spiritual man.
Nevertheless these you shall not eat of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the hoof; therefore they are unclean to you.	Nevertheless there are some which you shall not join to you of those that are the result of deliberation, or of those that seem to be in agreement with spiritual things; as the scientifics professing to lead the soul to heaven of themselves, and the thoughts and affections thence derived (which love to immerse themselves in worldly and sensual things, and thus shut out the light of heaven); for though these seem to be the result of thought and intelligence, they do not agree with the spiritual wisdom which comes from heaven; they are to be shunned as false by the spiritual man.
And the swine, because it divides the hoof, yet chews not the cud, it is unclean to you: you shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcase.	And the love of money and the pleasures of the world, although it might be made subservient and in agreement with heavenly love, yet it must be rejected if it draws away the mind to follow it without due subordination to spiritual love, and leads the spiritual man to falses: you shall not appropriate the evils derived from it, nor have the slightest communication with these things when separate from heavenly love.
These you shall eat of all that are in the waters: all that have fins and scales shall you eat:	And these are what may be appropriated by the spiritual man from the knowledges and scientifics of faith. All which are supported and living from the spiritual; sense of the Word and rational thought, and are contained in and confirmed by the literal sense of the Word, may be appropriated.
And whatever has not fins and scales you may not eat; it is unclean to you.	And whatever is irrational and has no life from the spiritual sense, and is not contained in and confirmed by the literal sense of the Word, shall not be appropriated; it will lead the soul into error. [Note. (verses 9,10).— Fins would seem to have the same signification as wings, as they raise and elevate. Scales correspond to what is literal and external in which superior things are contained.]
Of all clean birds you shall eat.	All pure and holy thoughts may be appropriated to the soul.
But these are they of which you shall not eat: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray,	But these are they who shall not be admitted into the mind: all reasonings which confirm falses and evils, and prey upon the internal goods and truths of the Church and upon its knowledges;
And the glede, and the kite, and the vulture after his kind,	And all false doctrines which love and devour evil, whether in common things in the understanding or the foul evil which exists in the hereditary will.
And every raven after his kind,	Melancholy and foreboding thoughts should not be admitted into the soul;
And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckow, and the hawk after his kind,	Nor those falses which love darkness rather than light, and destroy truths in obscure states of the mind, or substitute themselves for genuine truths, or any kind of falsity which preys upon goodness and truth;
The little owl, and the great owl, and the swan,	Nor any kind of falsity which shuns the true light of the Word whether in a less or greater degree, or anything which destroys the rudimentary sciences of the Word. [Note.—Swans are great destroyers of fish-spawn.]
And the pelican, and the gier eagle, and the cormorant,	Nor those which destroy the scientifics of religion; nor those which reason from nature, and find their delight in pursuing and voraciously destroying the external truths of the Church;
And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.	Nor those thoughts which love to dwell upon the unclean things of the natural mind, whether in the will or the thoughts in all their varieties, or which love to wander to useless things, and prefer the darkness of this world to the light of heaven.
And every creeping thing that flies is unclean to you: they shall not be eaten.	And every thought and feeling of the unregenerate will, which is really selfish, but assumes the appearance of what is spiritual, is harmful, and is not to be appropriated by the spiritual man.
But of all clean birds you may eat.	But all holy and pure thoughts which come from heaven may be appropriated.
You shall not eat of anything that dies of itself: you shall give it to the stranger that is in your gates, that he may eat it; or you may sell it to an alien: for you are an holy people to the LORD your God. You shall not seethe a kid in his mother's milk.	The spiritual man shall not appropriate or conjoin to his new life given to him from heaven anything which is void of the true regenerate life that comes from the Lord; he shall relegate it to what is not spiritual within him, that it may be conjoined to those external things within him which respect this life only; or he shall altogether alienate it from the soul: for the spiritual man is pure by receiving only what proceeds from the Divine Love and Wisdom. The innocence of true wisdom, which consists in acknowledging that all things good and true are from the Lord alone, must not be conjoined to the innocence of ignorance, which imagines there is somewhat good and true proceeding from the natural heart of man. (AC 9301).
You shall truly tithe all the increase of your seed, that the field brings forth year by year.	You shall truly ascribe to the Lord all the increase of good and truth within you, that the Lord brings forth by means of the Church planted in your soul in each succeeding state of regeneration.
And you shall eat before the LORD your God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of your corn, of your wine, and of your oil, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks; that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.	You shall conjoin to your soul the good things that are received into the soul from the Divine Love and Wisdom in those states to which He shall lead you, in which He shall impress upon you the qualities derived from His Divine Humanity, from which you shall receive all that is good within you, all the genuine truth which you have, and all the sincere love to the Lord, and all that is good in your spiritual and natural affections; that you may learn at all times to shun evil, and to conform your life to the Divine Goodness and Wisdom.
And if the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from you, which the LORD your God shall choose to set his name there, when the LORD your God has blessed you:	And if the truth of the Lord be too exalted for you, so that you can not bring yourself entirely into conformity with it; or if the states be too far removed from you, which the Lord shall show you are in accordance with the love and wisdom of His Divine Humanity, when you have received a new proprium, or life as it were of your own from the Divine Goodness and Wisdom;
Then shall you turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose:	Then you shall alienate the affections and thoughts which cannot be brought into conformity, and when you have them thoroughly in your power, you shall advance towards those states which you perceive to be in accordance with the goodness and truth which flow from the Divine Humanity.
And you shall bestow that money for whatever your soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the LORD your God, and you shall rejoice, you, and your household,	And you shall acquire in their place what is suitable to the regenerate state of the soul, whether natural affections from a celestial origin (that is, those derived from love to the Lord), or spiritual affections (those derived from the love of the public welfare), or spiritual truth derived from the Word, or philosophical truth agreeing with spiritual, or whatever is craved for in the new state of the soul; and these things shall be conjoined to the soul in that state as far as they are in accordance with the goodness and truth of the Lord's Divine Humanity, and the soul will be recruited and rejoiced, and all the spiritual part of man's nature.
And the Levite that is within your gates; you shall not forsake him; for he has no part nor inheritance with you.	And the desires after genuine good which have been given you in the natural mind, you shall cherish these; for they are from the Lord with you, and derive nothing good or true from the natural disposition of man.
At the end of three years you shall bring forth all the tithe of your increase the same year, and shall lay it up within your gates:	And at the end of every full and complete period of regeneration you shall pass in review by self-examination all the increase of good and truth which you have received from the Lord in that state, and it shall be stored up in the external mind and become serviceable to introduce you to heaven.
And the Levite, (because he has no part nor inheritance with you,) and the stranger, and the fatherless, and the widow, which are within your gates, shall come, and shall eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hand which you do.	And the desires for genuine good which you have (because they are of the Lord, and are not derived from the peculiar disposition of the man), and those principles which desire instruction in good and truth, and those which are in a state of innocence and charity, and desire to know and do what is good, and those which are in a state of truth and not yet in good, which are ready to be introduced into more interior states, shall be conjoined more closely to the soul, and shall appropriate the increase the Lord has given you and be satisfied; that the Divine Goodness and Wisdom may bless and vivify with real life every endeavour and act done with a view to advance in the spiritual life.