Zechariah 5
The Voice
5 That night I had a sixth vision. I looked up and saw a large scroll flying.
Heavenly Messenger: 2 What do you see before you?
A sixth vision reveals the righteous ness held in God’s word, the true measure by which all are judged.
Zechariah: I see a large scroll flying. It’s at least 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.
Heavenly Messenger: 3 This scroll is God’s curse of judgment that blankets all the land. On one side, it is written that all who steal will be banished from the land. On the other side, it says that all who break their solemn vows will be banished. 4 The Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, says, “I will dispatch this curse of judgment into the home of every thief and every perjurer who invokes My name. The decree will remain through the night in that house until it destroys everything, even its wood and stone.”
5 The heavenly messenger who had been talking with me went out. It was time for a seventh vision.
Heavenly Messenger: Look up. What do you see moving forward?
A seventh vision explains that the wickedness infecting the world will one day be contained by the agents of God.
Zechariah: 6 What is it?
Heavenly Messenger: It is a six-gallon basket[a] moving forward. Like the scroll, it, too, is a mark of judgment carrying the iniquity that they committed in the land.
7 Suddenly, the basket’s lead cover was lifted, and I saw a woman inside. She seemed to want out.
Heavenly Messenger: 8 This is Lady Wickedness.
The messenger pushed the woman back into the basket and replaced the basket’s stone (that is, its lead cover) over the mouth so she’d stay inside it. 9 Then in this vision, I looked up and saw two women moving forward with wings resembling the wings of storks. With the power of the wind in their wings, they lifted the basket up to a place somewhere far away, between heaven and earth.
Zechariah: 10 Where are they taking the basket?
Heavenly Messenger: 11 It is being delivered to the land of Shinar, which you know as Babylon. A temple is being built for it there; and once it is ready, they will put the basket on its own altar cart. Let the Babylonians worship what God has condemned.
Footnotes
- 5:6 Hebrew, ephah
Zechariah 5
New Living Translation
A Flying Scroll
5 I looked up again and saw a scroll flying through the air.
2 “What do you see?” the angel asked.
“I see a flying scroll,” I replied. “It appears to be about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide.[a]”
3 Then he said to me, “This scroll contains the curse that is going out over the entire land. One side of the scroll says that those who steal will be banished from the land; the other side says that those who swear falsely will be banished from the land. 4 And this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: I am sending this curse into the house of every thief and into the house of everyone who swears falsely using my name. And my curse will remain in that house and completely destroy it—even its timbers and stones.”
A Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who was talking with me came forward and said, “Look up and see what’s coming.”
6 “What is it?” I asked.
He replied, “It is a basket for measuring grain,[b] and it’s filled with the sins[c] of everyone throughout the land.”
7 Then the heavy lead cover was lifted off the basket, and there was a woman sitting inside it. 8 The angel said, “The woman’s name is Wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and closed the heavy lid again.
9 Then I looked up and saw two women flying toward us, gliding on the wind. They had wings like a stork, and they picked up the basket and flew into the sky.
10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel.
11 He replied, “To the land of Babylonia,[d] where they will build a temple for the basket. And when the temple is ready, they will set the basket there on its pedestal.”
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
