531. Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell on the earth, from the remaining voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound, signifies grievous lamentation over the changes of state of the church at its end, on account of the aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation. This is evident from the signification of "woe," as being lamentation over the aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation; and as "woe" is said three times, grievous lamentation is meant (of which presently); also from the signification of "those that dwell on the earth," as being those who are of the church (the "earth" means the church, as may be seen above, n. 29, 304, 417); also from the signification of "the voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound," as being the changes of state of the church; for "the angels sounding the trumpets" signify changes from influx out of heaven (See above, n. 502). That "three" signifies what is complete even to the end will be seen in the following article. From this it can be seen that "Woe, woe, woe, to those that dwell on the earth, from the voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound," signifies grievous lamentation over the changes of state of the church at its end, on account of the aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation.

[2] That "woe" signifies lamentation over calamity, danger, hardship, destruction can be seen from passages in the Word where it occurs; but here it means lamentation over the aversion from good and truth, and consequent damnation, because this is what is treated of in what follows; and as the aversion from good and truth becomes successively more grievous in the church even to its end, it is said three times, each one standing for the successively increasing grievousness of the evil. This can be seen from the following, where it is said:

The first woe is past; behold there come yet two woes hereafter (Revelation 9:12).

And afterwards:

The second woe is past, behold the third woe cometh quickly (Revelation 11:14).

[3] That "woe" signifies in the Word lamentation over various occurrences, especially over the evils that devastate the church, can be seen from many passages therein. As in Matthew:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! (Matthew 23:13, 14, 16, 23, 25, 27, 29).

In Luke:

Woe unto that man through whom the Son of man is betrayed! (Luke 22:22).

In the same:

Woe unto him through whom occasions for stumbling come! (Luke 17:1).

In Isaiah:

Woe unto them that join house to house! (Isaiah 5:8).

Woe unto them that rise early in the morning that they may follow strong drink! (Isaiah 5:11).

Woe unto them that draw iniquity! (Isaiah 5:18).

Woe unto them that call evil good! (Isaiah 5:20).

Woe unto the wise in their own eyes! (Isaiah 5:21).

Woe unto the mighty in drinking wine! (Isaiah 5:22).

(See in many other passages, as in Isaiah 3:11; 10:1; 17:12; 18:1; 29:1, 29:15; 30:1; 31:1; 33:1; 45:9, 10, etc.; Jeremiah 22:13; Ezekiel 13:3; Revelation 18:16, 19).

967. And every living soul in the sea died, signifies that there was no longer anything from the Word from the spiritual man in the natural man. This is evident from the signification of "living soul in the sea," as being what has in itself spiritual life (of which presently); also from the signification of "sea," as being the generals of truth in the natural man, and thus also the knowledges of truth from the Word (of which just above, n. 965. When these have no life from the spiritual world or from heaven they are called dead. "Living soul in the sea" means fishes of various kinds, and these signify knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man (See above, n. 531); they also signify the knowledges of truth from the Word with natural men, for with natural men the knowledges [cognitiones] of truth from the Word do not differ from the knowledges [scientifica] of the world, and for the reason that with such these knowledges have in them no life from the spiritual, and unless the spiritual flows in out of heaven into the knowledges from the Word they are not living but dead.

[2] Knowledges of truth from the Word are not living with man until the internal spiritual man has been opened; and this is opened by the Lord while man is being regenerated; and then through the opened spiritual man the spiritual out of heaven flows into the knowledges of truth and good that are from the Word in the natural man and vivifies them. It vivifies them in such a way that the knowledges of truth and good in the natural man become correspondences of the spiritual things that are in the internal spiritual man; and when they are correspondences they are living, for then the spiritual is enclosed in the particular knowledges or truths as the soul is in its body. For this reason man after death comes into these spiritual things, and the knowledges to which they corresponded serve them for a basis. But it is otherwise with those in whom the knowledges from the Word have not been vivified. The spiritual that flows into the knowledges out of heaven is the affection of truth, the affection of good, and the affection of bearing fruit; for it is spiritual heat which is the love or the affection of good, and spiritual light which is the affection of truth. These are the spiritual things that flow in and vivify the knowledges of truth from the Word with those who are in the life of charity and in faith therefrom. But these same knowledges with those who are in faith separated from a life of charity are dead. This, therefore, is what is signified by the words "every living soul in the sea died."

[3] The fifth commandment is, "Thou shalt not steal." By "thefts" are meant thefts that are manifest and those not manifest, such as unlawful usury and gains, which are effected by fraud and craft under various pretenses to make them appear lawful, or so done clandestinely as not to appear at all. Such gains are commonly made by higher and lower managers of the goods of others, by merchants, also by judges who sell judgments and thus make justice purchasable. These and many other things are thefts that must be abstained from and shunned, and finally renounced as sins against God, because they are against the Divine laws that are in the Word and against this law, which is one among the fundamental laws of all religions in the whole globe. For these ten commandments are universals, given to the end that in living from these a man may live from religion, since by a life from religion man is conjoined with heaven, while a life according to these from obedience to civil and moral law conjoins man with the world and not with heaven, and to be conjoined with the world and not with heaven is to be conjoined with hell.