40
This therefore is the meaning of the vision.
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The woman who appeared to you a little while ago, whom you saw mourning and began to console --
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but you do not now see the form of a woman, but an established city has appeared to you --
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and as for her telling you about the misfortune of her son, this is the interpretation:
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This woman whom you saw, whom you now behold as an established city, is Zion.
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And as for her telling you that she was barren for thirty years, it is because there were three thousand years in the world before any offering was offered in it.
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And after three thousand years Solomon built the city, and offered offerings; then it was that the barren woman bore a son.
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And as for her telling you that she brought him up with much care, that was the period of residence in Jerusalem.
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And as for her saying to you , `When my son entered his wedding chamber he died,' and that misfortune had overtaken her, that was the destruction which befell Jerusalem.
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And behold, you saw her likeness, how she mourned for her son, and you began to console her for what had happened.
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For now the Most High, seeing that you are sincerely grieved and profoundly distressed for her, has shown you the brilliance of her glory, and the loveliness of her beauty.