Arcana Coelestia (Elliott): AC 8858

8858. A person's whole character is determined by the nature of whatever dominates his life; this is what marks him off from others. His heaven is formed in accordance with it if he is good, or his hell if he is bad. For it constitutes his true will and so the true being of his life, which is unchangeable after death. From all this one may see what the life is like in a person who has been regenerated, and what it is like in one who has not been regenerated.

EXODUS 20

And God spoke all these words, saying,

I am Jehovah your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slaves.

You shall not have other gods before My face.

You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness [of things] which are in the heavens above, and which are on the earth beneath, and which are in the waters under the earth.

You shall not bow down to them, and you shall not serve them; for I am Jehovah your God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the sons,^a on the third and on the fourth [generations] of those who hate Me,

And showing mercy to thousands who love Me and keep My commandments.

You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; for Jehovah will not render him innocent who takes His name in vain.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Six days you shall labour and do all your work;

And the seventh day is a sabbath to Jehovah your God. You shall not do any work - you, nor your son, nor your daughter; your male slave, nor your female slave, nor your beast, nor your sojourner who is within your gates.

For in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and sanctified it.

Honour your father and your mother, in order that your days may be prolonged on the land which Jehovah your God gives you.

^b You shall not kill.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not answer as witness of a lie against your neighbour.

You shall not covet your neighbour's house; you shall not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his male slave nor his female slave, nor his ox nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbour's.

And all the people saw the voices and torches,^c and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and the people saw and were violently shaken, and stood afar off.

And they said to Moses, Speak yourself to us, and we will hear; and do not let God speak to us, lest perhaps we die.

And Moses said to the people, Do not fear, for God has come in order to test you, and in order that His fear may be before your faces, so that you do not sin.

And the people stood afar off; and Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.

And Jehovah said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

You shall not make [to be] with Me gods of silver and gods of gold; you shall not make [them] for yourselves.

An altar of soil ^d you shall make for Me, and shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your eucharistic offerings, your flocks and your herds; in every place where I shall put the memory of My name I will come to you and bless you.

And if you make for Me an altar of stones, you shall not build it with hewn ones; for if you move your chisel over it you will profane it.

And you shall not go up to My altar by steps, in order that your nakedness may not be revealed on it.

Notes

^a or the children
^b In the Latin an alternative numbering of verses is used from here to the end of the chapter.
^c i.e. thunder and lightning
^d lit. the ground (humus)

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