Whoredom with ber," Rev. xviii. 3. "God bath judged the great Whore, who corrupted the Earth with her Whoredom," Rev. xix. 2. Whoredom is fpoken of in Regard to Babylon, because by Babylon are meant thofe, who arrogate to themselves the Divine Power of the Lord, and profane the Word by adulterating and falfifying it; wherefore alfo Babylon is called "the Mother of Whoredoms, and of Abominations of the Earth," Rev. xvii. 5. The fame is fignified by Whoredom in the Prophets, as in Jeremiah, "I have feen an horrible Thing in the Prophets of Jerufalem; they commit Adultery and walk in Lies," xxiii. 14. So in Ezechiel, Two Women the Daughters of one Mother committed Whoredom in Egypt, they committed Whoredom in their Youth: One committed Whoredom under Me; fhe doted on her Lovers the Affyrians ber Neighbours; he committed her Whoredoms upon them; yet fhe forfook not her Whoredoms in Egypt. The other corrupted her Love more than the former, and her Whore

Whoredoms more than the Whoredoms of ber Sifter; fbe added to her Whoredoms, she loved the Chaldeans; the Sons of Babel [Babylon] came to her to the Bed of Love, and polluted her by their Whoredom,” xxiii. 2 to 17; thefe Words relate to the Ifraelitish and Jewish Church, which are called the Daughters of one Mother; by their Whoredoms are meant the Adulterations and Falfifications of the Word; and whereas in the Word by Egypt is fignified Science, by Affyria Reasoning, by Chaldea the Profanation of Truth, and by Babel the Profanation of Good, therefore it is faid that they committed Whoredoms with thofe Nations. The like is faid in Ezechiel concerning Jerusalem, whereby is fignified the Church as to Doctrine, "Thou didst trust to thy Beauty, and committed Whoredom because of thy Renown, so that thou pouredft out thine Whore doms on every one that passed by; thou baft committed Whoredom with the Sons of Egypt thy Neighbours, great in Flesh, and bast

mul

multiplied tby Whoredom; thou haft committed Whoredom with the Sons of the Affy rian: and when thou waft not fatisfied with thofe with whom thou committedt Whoredom, thou multipliedft thy Whoredom even to Chaldea the Land of Merchandize: An adulterous Woman bath received Strangers inftead of her Husband: All give a Reward to their Whores, but thou haft given Rewards to all thy Lovers, that they may come to thee in thy Circuit in thy Whoredoms : Wherefore, O Harlot, hear the Word of Jehovah," xvi. 15, 26, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35; that by Jerufalem is meant the Church, may be seen in the DOCTRINE concerning the LORD, n. 62, 63; the like is fignified by Whoredoms in Ifaiah, Chap. xxiii. 17. Chap. lvii. 3; and in Jeremiah, Chap. ii. 2, 6, 8, 9. Chap. v. 1, 7. Chap. xiii. 27. Chap. xxix. 23; and in Micah, Chap. i 7; and in Nahum, Chap. iii. 4; and in Hofea, Chap. iv. 10, II; and in

and in Numbers, xiv. 33.

Levit. xx. 5;

Chap. xv. 39 ;

and

and in other Places. For the fame Reafon alfo the Jewish Nation was called by the Lord" an adulterous Generation," Matt. xii. 39. Chap. xvi. 4. Mark viii. 38.

That fo far as any one fhuns Thefts of every Kind as Sins, fo far he loves Sincerity.

So.

B

Y ftealing in a natural Senfe is not only meant to steal and to rob, but also to defraud, and under any Pretence to take away from another the good Things which belong to him: But by ftealing in a spiritual Senfe is meant, to deprive another of the Truths of his Faith, and of the good Things of his Charity: Whereas by stealing, in a fupreme sense, is meant, to take away from the Lord what is His, whilft Man attributes to himfelf what belongs to the Lord, and thus claims

4

claims to himself Righteousness and Merit: These are Thefts of every Kind, and they also make One, as Adulteries of every Kind, and Murders of every Kind, spoken of above: The Reason why they make One is, because one is in the other.

81. The Evil of Theft enters deeper into Man than any other Evil, because it is joined together with Deceit and Cunning, and Deceit and Cunning infinuate themselves even into the spiritual Mind of Man, in which is his thinking Principle with the Understanding. That Man hath a Spiritual Mind and a Natural Mind, will be feen below.

82. The Reason why Man loves Sincerity fo far as he shuns Theft as Sin, is, because Theft is alfo Fraud, and Fraud and Sincerity are two Oppofites, wherefore fo far as any one is not in Fraud, fo far he is in Sincerity.