497. 'And they have authority over the waters to turn them into blood' signifies that those who turn away from these two Essentials will falsify the truths of the Word. By 'the waters' truths are signified (n. 50); and by 'blood' the falsification of the truth of the Word (n. 379). Consequently by 'to turn the waters into blood' is signified to falsify the truths of the Word. This is understood in like manner as before, namely, that those who turn away from the two Essentials of the New Church cannot but see the untruths in which they are, and if they confirm these by means of the Word they are falsifying the truths thereof.