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Luke 3

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1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

2 in the highpriesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness.

3 And he came into all the region round about the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance unto remission of sins;

4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make ye ready the way of the Lord, Make his paths straight.

5 Every valley shall be filled, And every mountain and hill shall be brought low; And the crooked shall become straight, And the rough ways smooth;

6 And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.

7 He said therefore to the multitudes that went out to be baptized of him, Ye offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

9 And even now the axe also lieth at the root of the trees: every tree therefore that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

10 And the multitudes asked him, saying, What then must we do?

11 And he answered and said unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath food, let him do likewise.

12 And there came also publicans to be baptized, and they said unto him, Teacher, what must we do?

13 And he said unto them, Extort no more than that which is appointed you.

14 And soldiers also asked him, saying, And we, what must we do? And he said unto them, Extort from no man by violence, neither accuse [any one] wrongfully; and be content with your wages.

15 And as the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether haply he were the Christ;

16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but there cometh he that is mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and [in] fire:

17 whose fan is in his hand, thoroughly to cleanse his threshing-floor, and to gather the wheat into his garner; but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.

18 With many other exhortations therefore preached he good tidings unto the people;

19 but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

20 added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.

21 Now it came to pass, when all the people were baptized, that, Jesus also having been baptized, and praying, the heaven was opened,

22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form, as a dove, upon him, and a voice came out of heaven, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.

23 And Jesus himself, when he began [to teach], was about thirty years of age, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the [son] of Heli,

24 the [son] of Matthat, the [son] of Levi, the [son] of Melchi, the [son] of Jannai, the [son] of Joseph,

25 the [son] of Mattathias, the [son] of Amos, the [son] of Nahum, the [son] of Esli, the [son] of Naggai,

26 the [son] of Maath, the [son] of Mattathias, the [son] of Semein, the [son] of Josech, the [son] of Joda,

27 the [son] of Joanan, the [son] of Rhesa, the [son] of Zerubbabel, the [son] of Shealtiel, the [son] of Neri,

28 the [son] of Melchi, the [son] of Addi, the [son] of Cosam, the [son] of Elmadam, the [son] of Er,

29 the [son] of Jesus, the [son] of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the [son] of Matthat, the [son] of Levi,

30 the [son] of Symeon, the [son] of Judas, the [son] of Joseph, the [son] of Jonam, the [son] of Eliakim,

31 the [son] of Melea, the [son] of Menna, the [son] of Mattatha, the [son] of Nathan, the [son] of David,

32 the [son] of Jesse, the [son] of Obed, the [son] of Boaz, the [son] of Salmon, the [son] of Nahshon,

33 the [son] of Amminadab, the [son] of Arni, the [son] of Hezron, the [son] of Perez, the [son] of Judah,

34 the [son] of Jacob, the [son] of Isaac, the [son] of Abraham, the [son] of Terah, the [son] of Nahor,

35 the [son] of Serug, the [son] of Reu, the [son] of Peleg, the [son] of Eber, the [son] of Shelah

36 the [son] of Cainan, the [son] of Arphaxad, the [son] of Shem, the [son] of Noah, the [son] of Lamech,

37 the [son] of Methuselah, the [son] of Enoch, the [son] of Jared, the [son] of Mahalaleel, the [son] of Cainan,

38 the [son] of Enos, the [son] of Seth, the [son] of Adam, the [son] of God.

   

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #455

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455. The following brief description of hell and heaven can serve to show what a wicked person is like in his internal man, and what a good person is like in his, for in the case of the wicked the internal man is linked with devils in hell, in the case of the good it is linked with angels in heaven. Hell as the result of its loves is devoted to the pleasures of all evils, that is, the pleasures of hatred, revenge, and slaughter, those of looting and stealing, those of cursing and blaspheming, those of denying the existence of God and profaning the Word. These all lie concealed in a person's longings, so that he does not reflect on them. These pleasures make his longings burn like lighted torches, and this is what is meant in the Word by hell fire. But the pleasures of heaven are those of love towards the neighbour and of love to God.

[2] Since the pleasures of hell are the opposites of the pleasures of heaven, there is a great gap between them; the pleasures of heaven pour down from above into this gap, those of hell well up into it from below. While a person is alive in the world he is in the middle of the gap, so that he can be in equilibrium, and so free to turn either to heaven or to hell. It is this gap which is meant by the 'great gulf' fixed between those in heaven and those in hell (Luke 16:26).

[3] These facts can serve to establish what a bosom friendship is like between the wicked. As regards the external man it is accompanied by gestures and mimicry, and makes a pretence of morality, for the purpose of spreading its nets and looking to see where there is a chance of enjoying the pleasures of its loves, which burn hot in their internal man. It is only fear of the law, and as a result fear for one's reputation and way of life, which restrains and prevents them from acting thus. So their friendship resembles a spider in the sugar, a viper in the bread, a young crocodile in a honey-cake, and a snake in the grass.

[4] The friendship of the wicked with anyone is like this. But between those who are confirmed villains, as between thieves, highwaymen and pirates, friendship is close, so long as they are in full agreement in gloating over their robberies; then they embrace one another like brothers, entertain one another with feasts, singing and dancing, and conspire to ruin others. In fact each deep within himself looks on his companion as an enemy does an enemy. The cunning robber even sees this in his companion, and is afraid of him. It is plain from this that between such people there is no friendship, but implacable hatred.

455A 1 Anyone who has not openly sided with wrongdoers and taken to robbery, but who has led a moral life as a good citizen, aiming to be of service in various ways, without, however, restraining the longings which reside in the natural man, might believe that his friendship is not like this. But I have been allowed to know for certain as the result of many instances in the spiritual world that friendship is like this, more or less, with all who have rejected faith and despised the holy things of the church, thinking them of no consequence for themselves, but only for the common people. In the case of some of them the pleasures of hellish love lay hidden like fire in smouldering logs covered with bark; with some like burning coals under ash; with some like wax tapers which burst into flame at the touch of a light; with some in other ways. That is what everyone is like who banishes from his heart everything to do with religion. Their internal man is in hell, and so long as they live in the world - when they are unaware of it on account of the semblance of morality they display in externals - they do not acknowledge as neighbour any but themselves and their children. They treat everyone else either with contempt, when they resemble cats stalking birds in their nests, or with hatred, when they resemble wolves on the watch for dogs to devour. These remarks have been introduced so that it may be known what charity is like by reference to its opposite.

Footnotes:

1. The original has two paragraphs numbered 455.

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