A Vision of a Flying Scroll

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying (A)scroll! And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying (B)scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”[a] Then he said to me, “This is (C)the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who (D)steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who (E)swears falsely[b] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of (F)him who swears falsely by my name. And (G)it shall remain in his house and (H)consume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

(I)Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, (J)“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is (K)the basket[c] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[d] in all the land.” And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down (L)the leaden weight on its opening.

Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! (M)The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He said to me, “To the (N)land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

A Vision of Four Chariots

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, four chariots came out from between two mountains. And the mountains were mountains of (O)bronze. The first chariot had (P)red horses, the second (Q)black horses, the third (R)white horses, and the fourth chariot dappled horses—all of them strong.[e] Then I answered and said to (S)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” And the angel answered and said to me, (T)“These are going out to the four winds of heaven, after (U)presenting themselves before (V)the Lord of all the earth. The chariot with the black horses goes toward (W)the north country, the white ones go after them, and the dappled ones go toward (X)the south country.” When the strong horses came out, they were impatient to go and (Y)patrol the earth. And he said, “Go, (Z)patrol the earth.” (AA)So they patrolled the earth. Then he cried to me, “Behold, those who go toward (AB)the north country have set my Spirit at rest in (AC)the north country.”

The Crown and the Temple

And the word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take from the exiles (AD)Heldai, Tobijah, and (AE)Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon, and go the same day to the house of Josiah, the son of (AF)Zephaniah. 11 Take from them silver and gold, and make a crown, (AG)and set it on the head of (AH)Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, the high priest. 12 And say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Behold, the man whose name is (AI)the Branch: for he shall branch out from his place, and (AJ)he shall build the temple of the Lord. 13 (AK)It is he who shall build the temple of the Lord (AL)and shall bear royal honor, and shall sit and rule on his throne. And there[f] shall be a (AM)priest on his throne, (AN)and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.”’ 14 And the crown shall be in the temple of the Lord as (AO)a reminder to (AP)Helem,[g] (AQ)Tobijah, (AR)Jedaiah, and Hen (AS)the son of Zephaniah.

15 (AT)“And those who are far off shall come and (AU)help to build the temple of the Lord. (AV)And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. (AW)And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 5:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  2. Zechariah 5:3 Hebrew lacks falsely (supplied from verse 4)
  3. Zechariah 5:6 Hebrew ephah; also verses 7–11. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  4. Zechariah 5:6 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts eye
  5. Zechariah 6:3 Or and the fourth chariot strong dappled horses
  6. Zechariah 6:13 Or he
  7. Zechariah 6:14 An alternate spelling of Heldai (verse 10)

The Flying Scroll

I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.(A)

He asked me, “What do you see?”(B)

I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.[a]

And he said to me, “This is the curse(C) that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief(D) will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely(E) will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely(F) by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.(G)’”

The Woman in a Basket

Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”

I asked, “What is it?”

He replied, “It is a basket.(H)” And he added, “This is the iniquity[b] of the people throughout the land.”

Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.(I)

Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork,(J) and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

11 He replied, “To the country of Babylonia[c](K) to build a house(L) for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”(M)

Four Chariots

I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots(N) coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black,(O) the third white,(P) and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits[d](Q) of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.(R) The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west,[e] and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth.(S) And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit[f] rest(T) in the land of the north.”(U)

A Crown for Joshua

The word of the Lord came to me: 10 “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon.(V) Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. 11 Take the silver and gold and make a crown,(W) and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua(X) son of Jozadak.[g](Y) 12 Tell him this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch,(Z) and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the Lord.(AA) 13 It is he who will build the temple of the Lord, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he[h] will be a priest(AB) on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ 14 The crown will be given to Heldai,[i] Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen[j] son of Zephaniah as a memorial(AC) in the temple of the Lord. 15 Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the Lord,(AD) and you will know that the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.(AE) This will happen if you diligently obey(AF) the Lord your God.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 5:2 That is, about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide or about 9 meters long and 4.5 meters wide
  2. Zechariah 5:6 Or appearance
  3. Zechariah 5:11 Hebrew Shinar
  4. Zechariah 6:5 Or winds
  5. Zechariah 6:6 Or horses after them
  6. Zechariah 6:8 Or spirit
  7. Zechariah 6:11 Hebrew Jehozadak, a variant of Jozadak
  8. Zechariah 6:13 Or there
  9. Zechariah 6:14 Syriac; Hebrew Helem
  10. Zechariah 6:14 Or and the gracious one, the