5462. 'And you, go, take corn for the famine of your houses' means that in the meantime they will be left in freedom to consider their own interests. This is clear from the meaning of 'you, go', after they had been held in bonds and one was then kept back in place of them, as their being left in freedom in the meantime; from the meaning of 'corn' as truth, dealt with in 5276, 5280, 5292; from the meaning of 'the famine' as an absence of cognitions and a desolation, dealt with in 5360, 5376; and from the meaning of 'your houses' as the dwelling-places where specifically truths of every kind reside, namely the natural mind. For 'a house' is the natural mind, see 4973, 5023, and the truths represented by 'the sons of Jacob' here, are those known to the external Church, and so are truths in the natural, 5401, 5415, 5428. From all these meanings taken together one may see that 'take corn for the famine of your houses' means so as to consider their own interests amid the desolation of truth in which they find themselves.

5452. 'And you will be in bonds' means if all else is separated. This is clear from the meaning of 'being in bonds' here as being separated. For one who is held in bonds is separated, separated from spiritual good meant by their father Israel.