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which he saw where the harlot sitteth, are the waters that are mentioned in verse 1 of this chapter, where it is said, "I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. That by waters are there signified the truths of the Word adulterated and profaned, see above, n. 719. The reason why it is said that these waters are peoples and multitudes, and nations and tongues, is, because by them are signified all who are under the papal dominion of various doctrine and discipline, religion and confession; for by peoples are signified they who are in doctrine, n. 383; by multitudes they who are in discipline; by nations they who are in religion, n. 483; and by tongues they who are in confession, n. 282, 483. The reason why these are now mentioned, is, because what goes before relates to the reception and understanding of the Word by those who are in the Roman Catholic religion, from verses 8-11; and afterwards to the reception and understanding of the Word by the noble French nation, from verses 12—14; and here, therefore, to the reception and understanding of the Word among the rest of those who are under the papal dominion: after this follow verses 16, 17, relating to the Protestants; thus are all these things foretold in their exact order. That under the papal dominion there are people of various doctrine, discipline, religion, and confession, is well known; for the Roman Catholic religion is differently observed in the several kingdoms in which it is established.

746. "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot," signifies, the Word as to its power derived from divine truths among the Protestants, who have entirely cast off the yoke of popery. It is said here, as above, verse 12, "The ten horns which thou sawest:" but it is added above, "are ten kings, whereas, here it is said, "these," because in one as well as in the other, they are treated of who have seceded from the Roman Catholic religion; in the former, they who have seceded in part, and in the latter, they who have done so altogether. That the Protestants or the Reformed are here treated of is evident from what follows,

viz. that they would make the harlot desolate and naked; and that they would eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, and give her kingdom to the beast. That by the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, is signified the Word as to its power derived from divine truths, see above, n. 740. To hate the harlot is not to endure the Roman Catholic religion, and therefore to cast off the papal yoke.

747. "And shall make her desolate and naked," signifies, that they will divest themselves of its falses and evils. By making her desolate, is signified to divest themselves of its falses, and by making her naked, is signified to divest themselves of its evils, for they make her desolate and naked with themselves or in their own estimation. Desolation in the Word is predicated of truths and falses, and nakedness of goods and evils, as may appear from what has been adduced above concerning nakedness, at n. 213, 706. Hence it may appear that by their making her desolate and naked, is signified that they will divest themselves of all the falses and evils of that religion. That the Protestants or Reformed have done so, is well known.

748. "And shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire," signifies, that they will hate and condemn the evils and falses which are proper to that religion, and will desecrate the religion itself, and root it out from among them. This is said of the Protestants, who would act in this manner towards the harlot, that is, the Roman Catholic religion. By eating her flesh, is signified from aversion to condemn and destroy in themselves the things proper to that religion, which are evils and falses, as will be seen presently; and by burning her with fire, is signified to desecrate the religion itself as profane, and to root it out from among themselves. The reason why this is signified by burning with fire, is, because the punishment inflicted for profaning what is sacred was burning; therefore it was commanded in the divine law, that they who profaned the name of Jehovah by worshiping other gods, "should themselves, and all that they had, be burnt with fire," "Deut. xiii. 13, 18, therefore Moses burnt with fire

the golden calf, which the children of Israel profanely worshiped, Exod. xxxii. Deut. ix. 21, and the two sons of Aaron, because they profaned things holy, were consumed by fire from heaven, Levit. x. 1-6; nor is any thing else signified by the fire and pile in Tophet, but hell-fire, which is the portion of those who profane things holy, Isaiah xxx. 33, Jerem. vii. 11, 32, 33, xix. 5, 6, 2 Kings xxiii. 10, for there they worshiped Moloch by abominable sacrifices. Since by the fourth beast in Daniel is signified the religion which profanes the Word, and thence the holy things of the church, n. 751, therefore it is said to have been burnt with fire, Dan. vii. 11. Now as it is a profane kind of worship to worship a man instead of the Lord, therefore it is here said that they burned the harlot herself with fire, by which is signified that they desecrated that religion, and rooted it out from among themselves. The reason why eating her flesh, signifies, from aversion to condemn and root out from among themselves the evils and falses which are proper to that religion, is, because this is signified by eating her flesh; for by flesh are signified the things proper to any one, which relate to goods and truths, and, in an opposite sense, to evils and falses; and by eating is signified to consume, thus to destroy. That by flesh is signified man's proprium or self hood, which in itself is evil, is evident from these passages: "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing," John vi. 63. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit," John iii. 6. "As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God,Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh," John i. 12, 13. "For he remembered that they were but flesh; a wind that passeth away, and cometh not again," Psalm 1xxviii. 39. "Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh and not spirit," Isaiah xxxi. 3. "Jerusalem hath committed fornication with the Egyptians thy neighbors, great of flesh," Ezek. xvi. 26. "Jesus said unto Peter, Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee," Matt. xvi. 17. "Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh

flesh his arm," Jerem. xvii. 5. Since flesh signifies the selfhood of man, or his proprium, and since they who entertain hatred against others make attempts upon what is proper to them, or upon their property, with intent to destroy them, therefore this is what is signified by eating flesh; as also in the following passages: "That that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another," Zech. xi. 9. "They shall devour Israel with open mouth, they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm ;-Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh," Isaiah ix. 12, 20, 21. "I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh," Isaiah xlix. 26. "They shall eat every one the flesh of his friend," Jerem. xix. 9. "By eating the flesh of sons and daughters," Jerem. xvii. 5, xix. 9, is signified to destroy truths and goods in themselves; for by sons are signified truths, and by daughters goods, as may be seen above, n. 139, 543, 546, 612. Moreover, the expression, all flesh occurs in the Word, and by it is signified every man, Gen. vi. 12, 13, 17, 19, Isaiah xl. 5, 6, xlix. 26, lxvi. 16, 23, 24, Jer. xxv. 31, xxxii. 27, xlv. 5, Ezek. xx. 48, xxi. 4, 5.

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749. "For God hath put it in their hearts to execute his will, and to act [with] one mind, and to give their kingdom unto the beast," signifies, judgment from the Lord among them, that they might totally reject and condemn the Roman Catholic religion, and root out and extirpate it from among themselves, and their unanimous determination to acknowledge the Word, and thereupon to found the church. Since by the harlot is signified the Roman Catholic religion, and by the ten horns which will hate the harlot, are signified the Protestants, as above, n. 746, 747, 748, it is evident, that by executing his will, is signified that they came to a determination and conclusion to reject and desecrate that religion altogether, and to root out and extirpate it from among themselves, as above, n. 748; and it is also evident, that by acting with one mind, and giving their kingdom unto the beast, is signified to come to an unanimous determination

and conclusion to acknowledge the Word, and to found the church upon it. By the beast is signified the Word, as above, without exception, see n. 723; and by their kingdom is signified the church and its government, as will be seen below. By God's putting it in their hearts, is signified that these things are from the Lord. That a kingdom signifies the church may appear from the following passages: "But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness," Matt. viii. 12. “The good seed are the children of the kingdom," Matt. xiii. 38. "When any one heareth the Word of the kingdom and understandeth it not," Matt. xiii. 19. "The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof," Matt. xxi. 43. “No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God," Luke ix. 62. “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven," Matt. vi. 10. Jesus, John, and the disciples preached that "the kingdom of heaven was at hand," Matt. iii. 2, iv. 17, x. 7, Luke x. 11, xvi. 16, as also "The Gospel, or good tidings of the kingdom," Matt. iv. 23, ix. 35, xxiv. 14, Luke viii. 1. "But if I with the finger of God cast out devils, no doubt the kingdom of God is come unto you," Luke xi. 20, besides many other passages in the Word where the kingdom of God occurs. So in these "If ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant,-ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests," Exod. xix. 5, 6. “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong-hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion, the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem," Micah iv. 8. "But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever," Dan. vii. 18, 22. "And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him," Dan. vii. 27. "There was given to the Son of Man a kingdom, which should not be destroyed, and all peoples, nations, and languages