----中文待译----
1167. And adorned with gold, and precious stone, and pearls.- That this signifies the appearance in externals as though it were from spiritual and natural truth and good, is evident from what was explained above (n. 1043, 1044), where similar words occur.
Continuation.- The law of the Divine Providence, that man, so far as he can be withdrawn from evils, so far does good from the Lord which in itself is good, but that so far as he cannot be withdrawn from them, so far he does good from himself, which has evil in itself, may be illustrated from the commandments of the Decalogue. The commandment against stealing may serve as an example. Those who, as if from themselves, resist the passion for stealing, and thus the desire of acquiring gain insincerely and unjustly, saying in their hearts that they ought not to do so, because it is contrary to Divine law, thus contrary to God - in itself infernal, thus in itself evil, after a few brief combats are withdrawn from that evil, and led by the Lord into the goods called sincerity and justice. They then begin to think of those goods, and from a perception of their qualities to see them, sincerity from sincerity, and justice from justice; and afterwards, as they shun and hold in aversion the evil of this passion, they love those goods, and do them from love without using any compulsion in themselves. These goods are from the Lord, because they are in themselves goods.
But it is otherwise if the desire of acquiring gain insincerely and unjustly remains with a man; for in this case he cannot do what is sincere from sincerity, nor what is just from justice, thus not from the Lord, but from himself. For he does these things in order that he may acquire the credit of being sincere and just, for the sake of the ends which he has in view, viz., of securing greater gain and honour. These ends are in his goods, and it is from the end that all the quality of good is derived. This good has evil in itself, since its quality is derived from the proposed end of acquiring gain insincerely and unjustly. Every one can see that good of this kind cannot become good in itself, until evil is removed. The case is similar with regard to the other commandments of the Decalogue.
1167. And inwrought with gold and precious stone and pearls signifies the appearance in externals of being from spiritual and natural truth and good, as is evident from what has been explained above (n. 1043, 1044), where like words occur.
(Continuation)
The law of the Divine providence, that so far as a man can be withdrawn from evils he does good from the Lord that is good in itself, but so far as he cannot be withdrawn from evils, he does good from himself, and such good has evil in it, may be illustrated by the commandments of the Decalogue. Take for example the commandment not to steal. Those who resist as if from themselves the lust of stealing and thus the lust of gaining wealth dishonestly and unjustly, saying in their hearts that this must not be done because it is contrary to the Divine law, thus contrary to God, and is in itself infernal, thus in itself evil, such after some brief combats are withdrawn from that evil, and are led by the Lord into the good that is called integrity, and into the good that is called justice; and then they begin to think about these goods, and to look upon them from them, to look upon integrity from integrity, and upon justice from justice; and afterwards as they shun and turn away from the evil of this lust, they love the goods, and do them from love and not from compulsion. Such goods are from the Lord, because they are goods that are good in themselves. It is otherwise when the lust of gaining wealth dishonestly and unjustly remains with man; then he cannot act honestly from honesty or justly from justice, thus not from the Lord, but only from self. For he acts honestly and justly only that he may be believed to be honest and just with a view to securing greater gain and honor; these ends are in his goods, and from the end is the whole quality of the good. Such good has evil in it, since its quality is from the end to make gains dishonestly and unjustly. Everyone can see that such good cannot become good in itself until the evil has been removed. It is the same with all the other commandments of the Decalogue.
1167. "Et inaurata auro, et lapide pretioso et margaritis." - Quod significet apparentiam in externis sicut foret ex spirituali et naturali vero et bono, constat ex illis quae supra (n. 1043, 1044) explicata sunt, ubi similia.
(Continuatio.)
Lex Providentiae Divinae, quod homo, quantum a malis potest abduci, tantum a Domino faciat bonum quod in se bonum est, at quantum non potest a malis abduci, tantum a se faciat bonum quod in se habet malum, illustrari potest ex praeceptis decalogi; sed in exemplum sit praeceptum de non furando. Illi qui cupiditati furandi, ita quoque cupiditati insincere et injuste lucrandi, resistunt sicut a se, dicendo corde quod non faciendum sit quia est contra Divinam legem, ita contra Deum, in se infernale, ita in se malum, illi post aliquot breves pugnas abducuntur ab illo, ac inducuntur a Domino in bonum quod vocatur sincerum, et in bonum quod vocatur justum; et tunc incipiunt cogitare illa, ac videre illa ex illis, sincerum ex sincero, ac justum ex justo; et postea sicut fugiunt et aversantur malum praedictae cupiditatis, amant illa bona, et ex amore faciunt illa, non cogendo se; haec bona a Domino sunt, quia sunt bona in se bona. Aliter vero si cupiditas insincere et injuste lucrandi apud hominem remanet; tunc ille non potest sincerum facere ex sincero, nec justum ex justo, ita non a Domino, sed a semet; facit enim illa, ut credatur sincerus et justus propter fines ut lucretur amplius vel ut honoretur; hi fines sunt in bonis ejus, et ex fine est omne quale boni: hoc bonum in se habet malum, quoniam quale ejus est ex fine insincere et injuste lucrandi. Quisque potest videre quod id bonum non possit fieri bonum in se antequam malum est remotum. Simile est cum reliquis praeceptis decalogi.