4544. 'Remove the gods of the foreigner which are in the midst of you' means that falsities were to be cast aside. This is clear from the meaning of 'removing' as casting aside, and from the meaning of 'the gods of the foreigner' as falsities; for in the Word 'gods' means truths and in the contrary sense falsities, 4402. Those people were called 'foreigners' who were outside the Church and therefore those who were subject to falsities and evils, 2049, 2115; and this explains why 'the gods of the foreigner' means falsities.

2115. 'From the son who is a foreigner' means all who are rational outside the Church. This is clear from the meaning of 'son who is a foreigner' as those who are outside the Church, dealt with above in 2049, thus gentiles who do not possess the Word and therefore do not know anything about the Lord. And that these equally are saved when they are rational, that is, when they live together in charity or mutual love and have received something of a conscience in accordance with their own religion, has been shown in Volume One, in 593, 932, 1032, 1059, 1327, 1328.