DEUTERONOMY 26
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Deuteronomy Chapter 26

Verges 1-11. When the soul has received a new will capable of acting out with joy the requirements of Divine order; it shall ascribe with thankfulness all things to the Lord, and shall acknowledge the wisdom of the dealings of Providence.
Verses 12-15. And when all the good in the soul is ascribed to the Lord, and the perception of right given from Him implicitly followed, the soul may ask for and receive the new life promised in the Word to those who follow the Divine leadings.
Verses 16-19. In this state the soul is betrothed to heaven by the keeping of the Divine commands.

And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein;

And it shall be that when the regenerating soul has come into the state of heavenly order with which the Divine Love and Wisdom desire to gift it as its own, and possesses a new will-principle for good derived from heaven, and dwells constantly in it;

That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that the LORD your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place his name there.

Then you shall take of the holy affections and thoughts in the natural mind which you shall see are produced from that state into which the Divine Love and Wisdom have brought you, and shall store them in the new regenerate will or proprium in the external mind, which is perceptive of joy from Divine good, and shall advance to those states upon which the Divine Love and Wisdom have impressed the qualities derived from the Lord's Divine Humanity.

And you shall go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him, I profess this day to the LORD your God, that I am come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers for to give us.

And you shall come to the celestial good which is derived from these states, and shall in them acknowledge with thankfulness the goodness and wisdom of the Lord, and that you are come into the state promised you in all the previous struggles of the soul that you should possess it. [Note.—Whatever happiness the soul may have promised itself, or imagined (that is really good and unselfish), it is to be believed that the reality will exceed it eventually if the leadings of Providence are followed.]

And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.

And you shall dedicate, by means of the good with which you are endowed, the new regenerate will that has been given you in the external man, with all that is therein, and all the worship that proceeds therefrom, entirely to the service of the Divine Love and Wisdom.

And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:

And you shall confess before the Lord your God and acknowledge that the beginning of your regenerate life was but a few knowledges of good and truth ready to perish, and these degenerated to mere scientifics, amongst which few truths were left—that is to say, all religion consisted in a mere system of dogmas not understood,—and that you were in that state instructed in genuine truths grounded in good, full of power to gift the soul with true charity, and mighty against falsities and immensely increased:

And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:

And the scientifics of perverted religion (or the system of dogmas passing current for religion) were inimical to real truth, and harassed the mind, and brought it into a state of slavery—that is, truths were subservient to dogma:

And when we cried to the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:

And when the soul besought the Lord, who is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and who has always given the knowledges and light of truth to those who seek Him; its desires were heard, and the difficulties and struggles and oppressions induced by falsities perceived;

And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:

And the Lord delivered what was spiritual in the soul from the false persuasions, which prevented its deliverance from the evils of the natural unregenerate heart,* by His Divine Omnipotence, and the manifest workings of Providence, and a mighty influx of truth, whereby falsities were dissipated, accompanied by many and clear proofs to the mind:
* The regeneration of the soul being solely effected by carrying out the Divine will in the life, any doctrines which make salvation to consist in anything else, such as, in any particular doctrine, creed, church, or ceremonial; are falsities, which bar the very commencement of the regenerate life, by enslaving the only principles that can effect regeneration.

And he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey.

And has brought the soul to its present state, and given it the power to receive the things of the heavenly kingdom, full of good derived from genuine truths, and the happiness thence resulting.

And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which you, O LORD, have given me. And you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God:

And the soul shall then ascribe to the Lord the good of the new will given in that state, and shall acknowledge that it is given by the Lord out of pure mercy; and you shall place your newly-acquired spiritual life entirely in the hands of the Divine Love and Wisdom, which shall be ever regarded in the first place, and shall be supremely worshiped.

And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.

And you shall rejoice in all the good things with which the Divine Love and Wisdom have endowed you, and the faculties receptive of good in the soul, both your new will, which is your new self, and all the desires to receive true usefulness and wisdom from heaven which are in the mind.

When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled;

When you have devoted all you have to the Lord to the full, and acknowledged that all things are from Him, and have thereby recruited the holy desires which you have from heaven, and all those faculties in the mind which seek for knowledge, or that desire to be led by good, or which are in good and desire truth, that they may be nourished in the external mind and be satisfied;

Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.

Then shall you acknowledge before the Divine Love and Wisdom, and say, What is holy in my mind is not in the least from myself; and the continual sustaining of the holy principle of love, and of the external principles that desire instruction, and of all those faculties within the mind that desire good and truth, is also from the Lord, and is solely maintained by perception given from Him, according to all that is written in His Word; I have endeavoured not to act contrary to the perception given me by the Lord, nor to obscure it:

I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded me.

I have not appropriated what is of the Lord to myself in times of deprivation of truth, nor taken thereof for worldly use, nor turned thereof to evil: I have endeavoured to obey the dictates of the Divine Love and Wisdom as given in the Word and the conscience, and have endeavoured to conform my life to what I know to be right.

Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land which you have given us, as you swarest to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.

Pour down Yours influx of good and truth from Your Divine Humanity, which is the source of all good, and bless the soul which You have regenerated, and the new life which You have given it, according to Your promises in previous states, a life abounding with good derived from genuine truths, and with the happiness thence derived.

This day the LORD your God has commanded you to do these statutes and judgements: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.

In this state it is doubly essential to conform the life to the laws of heaven proceeding from the Divine Love and Wisdom both as to external and internal things; and it is necessary that they should permeate and influence the whole will and understanding.

You have avouched the LORD this day to be your God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and to hearken to his voice:

For in this state the soul is betrothed to the Lord, and there is a holy desire to be conjoined to Him and to be led by Him, and to conform the life to His laws and His commandments, to attend to every perception of His will, and to obey Divine truth in all things: [Note.—The voice of Jehovah denotes the Word itself, the doctrine of faith, the conscience or internal animadvertence: the voice of Jehovah is Divine truth (AC Index).]

And the LORD has avouched you this day to be his peculiar people, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;

And the Lord betrothes the soul to Himself in that state, and it becomes more immediately conjoined to Him, according to His promises in the Word, to enable it to conform the life to His will;

And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that you may be an holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken.

And to lead it towards interior things and to the highest good of which it is capable, and towards real and essential truth and a life derived therefrom, and towards true love; that it may receive the good which flows in from the Divine Love and Wisdom without admixture with evil, as promised in the Word.

DEUTERONOMY 26 Other translations - previous - next - notes - discussion - Deuteronomy - BM Home - Full Page

And it shall be, when you are come in to the land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and possess it, and dwell therein;	And it shall be that when the regenerating soul has come into the state of heavenly order with which the Divine Love and Wisdom desire to gift it as its own, and possesses a new will-principle for good derived from heaven, and dwells constantly in it;
That you shall take of the first of all the fruit of the earth, which you shall bring of your land that the LORD your God gives you, and shall put it in a basket, and shall go to the place which the LORD your God shall choose to place his name there.	Then you shall take of the holy affections and thoughts in the natural mind which you shall see are produced from that state into which the Divine Love and Wisdom have brought you, and shall store them in the new regenerate will or proprium in the external mind, which is perceptive of joy from Divine good, and shall advance to those states upon which the Divine Love and Wisdom have impressed the qualities derived from the Lord's Divine Humanity.
And you shall go to the priest that shall be in those days, and say to him, I profess this day to the LORD your God, that I am come to the country which the LORD swore to our fathers for to give us.	And you shall come to the celestial good which is derived from these states, and shall in them acknowledge with thankfulness the goodness and wisdom of the Lord, and that you are come into the state promised you in all the previous struggles of the soul that you should possess it. [Note.—Whatever happiness the soul may have promised itself, or imagined (that is really good and unselfish), it is to be believed that the reality will exceed it eventually if the leadings of Providence are followed.]
And the priest shall take the basket out of your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your God.	And you shall dedicate, by means of the good with which you are endowed, the new regenerate will that has been given you in the external man, with all that is therein, and all the worship that proceeds therefrom, entirely to the service of the Divine Love and Wisdom.
And you shall speak and say before the LORD your God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:	And you shall confess before the Lord your God and acknowledge that the beginning of your regenerate life was but a few knowledges of good and truth ready to perish, and these degenerated to mere scientifics, amongst which few truths were left—that is to say, all religion consisted in a mere system of dogmas not understood,—and that you were in that state instructed in genuine truths grounded in good, full of power to gift the soul with true charity, and mighty against falsities and immensely increased:
And the Egyptians evil entreated us, and afflicted us, and laid upon us hard bondage:	And the scientifics of perverted religion (or the system of dogmas passing current for religion) were inimical to real truth, and harassed the mind, and brought it into a state of slavery—that is, truths were subservient to dogma:
And when we cried to the LORD God of our fathers, the LORD heard our voice, and looked on our affliction, and our labour, and our oppression:	And when the soul besought the Lord, who is Love itself and Wisdom itself, and who has always given the knowledges and light of truth to those who seek Him; its desires were heard, and the difficulties and struggles and oppressions induced by falsities perceived;
And the LORD brought us forth out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with an outstretched arm, and with great terribleness, and with signs, and with wonders:	And the Lord delivered what was spiritual in the soul from the false persuasions, which prevented its deliverance from the evils of the natural unregenerate heart,* by His Divine Omnipotence, and the manifest workings of Providence, and a mighty influx of truth, whereby falsities were dissipated, accompanied by many and clear proofs to the mind: * The regeneration of the soul being solely effected by carrying out the Divine will in the life, any doctrines which make salvation to consist in anything else, such as, in any particular doctrine, creed, church, or ceremonial; are falsities, which bar the very commencement of the regenerate life, by enslaving the only principles that can effect regeneration.
And he has brought us into this place, and has given us this land, even a land that flows with milk and honey.	And has brought the soul to its present state, and given it the power to receive the things of the heavenly kingdom, full of good derived from genuine truths, and the happiness thence resulting.
And now, behold, I have brought the firstfruits of the land, which you, O LORD, have given me. And you shall set it before the LORD your God, and worship before the LORD your God:	And the soul shall then ascribe to the Lord the good of the new will given in that state, and shall acknowledge that it is given by the Lord out of pure mercy; and you shall place your newly-acquired spiritual life entirely in the hands of the Divine Love and Wisdom, which shall be ever regarded in the first place, and shall be supremely worshiped.
And you shall rejoice in every good thing which the LORD your God has given to you, and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the stranger that is among you.	And you shall rejoice in all the good things with which the Divine Love and Wisdom have endowed you, and the faculties receptive of good in the soul, both your new will, which is your new self, and all the desires to receive true usefulness and wisdom from heaven which are in the mind.
When you have made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase the third year, which is the year of tithing, and have given it to the Levite, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled;	When you have devoted all you have to the Lord to the full, and acknowledged that all things are from Him, and have thereby recruited the holy desires which you have from heaven, and all those faculties in the mind which seek for knowledge, or that desire to be led by good, or which are in good and desire truth, that they may be nourished in the external mind and be satisfied;
Then you shall say before the LORD your God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them to the Levite, and to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all your commandments which you have commanded me: I have not transgressed your commandments, neither have I forgotten them.	Then shall you acknowledge before the Divine Love and Wisdom, and say, What is holy in my mind is not in the least from myself; and the continual sustaining of the holy principle of love, and of the external principles that desire instruction, and of all those faculties within the mind that desire good and truth, is also from the Lord, and is solely maintained by perception given from Him, according to all that is written in His Word; I have endeavoured not to act contrary to the perception given me by the Lord, nor to obscure it:
I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I taken away ought thereof for any unclean use, nor given ought thereof for the dead: but I have hearkened to the voice of the LORD my God, and have done according to all that you have commanded me.	I have not appropriated what is of the Lord to myself in times of deprivation of truth, nor taken thereof for worldly use, nor turned thereof to evil: I have endeavoured to obey the dictates of the Divine Love and Wisdom as given in the Word and the conscience, and have endeavoured to conform my life to what I know to be right.
Look down from your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless your people Israel, and the land which you have given us, as you swarest to our fathers, a land that flows with milk and honey.	Pour down Yours influx of good and truth from Your Divine Humanity, which is the source of all good, and bless the soul which You have regenerated, and the new life which You have given it, according to Your promises in previous states, a life abounding with good derived from genuine truths, and with the happiness thence derived.
This day the LORD your God has commanded you to do these statutes and judgements: you shall therefore keep and do them with all your heart, and with all your soul.	In this state it is doubly essential to conform the life to the laws of heaven proceeding from the Divine Love and Wisdom both as to external and internal things; and it is necessary that they should permeate and influence the whole will and understanding.
You have avouched the LORD this day to be your God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgements, and to hearken to his voice:	For in this state the soul is betrothed to the Lord, and there is a holy desire to be conjoined to Him and to be led by Him, and to conform the life to His laws and His commandments, to attend to every perception of His will, and to obey Divine truth in all things: [Note.—The voice of Jehovah denotes the Word itself, the doctrine of faith, the conscience or internal animadvertence: the voice of Jehovah is Divine truth (AC Index).]
And the LORD has avouched you this day to be his peculiar people, as he has promised you, and that you should keep all his commandments;	And the Lord betrothes the soul to Himself in that state, and it becomes more immediately conjoined to Him, according to His promises in the Word, to enable it to conform the life to His will;
And to make you high above all nations which he has made, in praise, and in name, and in honour; and that you may be an holy people to the LORD your God, as he has spoken.	And to lead it towards interior things and to the highest good of which it is capable, and towards real and essential truth and a life derived therefrom, and towards true love; that it may receive the good which flows in from the Divine Love and Wisdom without admixture with evil, as promised in the Word.