Zechariah 5
Common English Bible
Sixth night vision
5 I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
I said, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”
3 He said to me, “This is the curse going out across all the land.
Anyone stealing will be purged according to what’s on one side of the scroll,[a]
and anyone swearing lies[b] will be purged according to what’s on the other side.
4 I sent it out, says the Lord of heavenly forces.
It will come to the house of the thief and the one swearing lies in my name.
It will lodge in their house and destroy the wood and stones of that house.”
Seventh night vision
5 Then the messenger speaking with me came forward and said,
“Look up and see what’s approaching.”
6 I said, “What’s this?”
He said, “This is the basket[c] that is going out.
This is how it appears[d] throughout the entire land.”[e]
7 Then a lead cover was lifted,
showing a woman sitting in the middle of the basket.
8 He said, “This is wickedness.”
He shoved her back into the basket,
and he put the lead stone over its opening.
9 I looked up again and saw two women going out.
There was a wind in their wings;
their wings were like the wings of a stork.
They carried the basket between the earth and the sky.
10 I said to the messenger speaking with me,
“Where are they taking the basket?”
11 He said to me,
“To build a house for it in the land of Shinar.
It will be firmly placed there on its base.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 5:3 Heb lacks of the scroll.
- Zechariah 5:3 Heb lacks lies.
- Zechariah 5:6 Heb ephah, a basket measuring approximately twenty quarts
- Zechariah 5:6 Or their eye
- Zechariah 5:6 Heb uncertain
Zechariah 5
New King James Version
Vision of the Flying Scroll
5 Then I turned and raised my eyes, and saw there a flying (A)scroll.
2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits and its width ten cubits.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the (B)curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth: ‘Every thief shall be expelled,’ according to this side of the scroll; and, ‘Every perjurer shall be expelled,’ according to that side of it.”
4 “I will send out the curse,” says the Lord of hosts;
“It shall enter the house of the (C)thief
And the house of (D)the one who swears falsely by My name.
It shall remain in the midst of his house
And consume (E)it, with its timber and stones.”
Vision of the Woman in a Basket
5 Then the angel who talked with me came out and said to me, “Lift your eyes now, and see what this is that goes forth.”
6 So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a [a]basket that is going forth.”
He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: 7 Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; 8 then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead [b]cover over its mouth. 9 Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a (F)stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven.
10 So I said to the (G)angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?”
11 And he said to me, “To (H)build a house for it in (I)the land of [c]Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 5:6 Heb. ephah, a measuring container, and so elsewhere
- Zechariah 5:8 Lit. stone
- Zechariah 5:11 Babylon
Zechariah 5
English Standard Version
A Vision of a Flying Scroll
5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying (A)scroll! 2 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] 3 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. 4 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
5 (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.” 6 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.” 7 And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down (L)the leaden weight on its opening.
9 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.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 5:2 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
- Zechariah 5:3 Hebrew lacks falsely (supplied from verse 4)
- Zechariah 5:6 Hebrew ephah; also verses 7–11. An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
- Zechariah 5:6 One Hebrew manuscript, Septuagint, Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts eye
Zechariah 5
Lexham English Bible
Zechariah’s Sixth Vision
5 I looked up again,[a] and I saw, and look!—a flying scroll! 2 And he asked me, “What are you seeing?” And I said, “I am seeing a flying scroll twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.”[b] 3 And he said to me, “This is the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished[c] according to it, and likewise everyone who swears falsely has gone unpunished according to it. 4 ‘I have sent it out,’ declares[d] Yahweh of hosts, ‘and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one swearing falsely by my name,[e] and it will spend the night in that[f] house and will destroy it, with its timber and its stone.’”
Zechariah’s Seventh Vision
5 And the angel who was speaking to me went out, and he said to me, “Please look up![g] See what this is going out.” 6 And I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “This is a basket[h] going out. And he said, “This is their iniquity[i] throughout all the earth. 7 And look, the lead cover was lifted and a woman was sitting inside the basket.[j] 8 And he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her back down into the basket,[k] and threw the lead cover on top of it.[l] 9 And I looked up[m] and saw, and look!—two women coming forward, and the wind was in their wings, and they had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket[n] between the earth and the sky.[o] 10 And I asked the angel who was talking to me, “Where are they taking the basket?”[p] 11 And he said to me, “To build for it a house[q] in the land of Shinar,[r] and when it is put in place, it will be placed there on its site.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 5:1 Literally “I did again, I lifted up my eyes”
- Zechariah 5:2 That is, thirty feet by fifteen feet
- Zechariah 5:3 Many translations render this verb as “will be cut off”
- Zechariah 5:4 Literally “declaration of”
- Zechariah 5:4 Literally “by my name to lie”
- Zechariah 5:4 Hebrew “his”
- Zechariah 5:5 Literally “Lift, please, your eyes!”
- Zechariah 5:6 Or “an ephah,” a measure of grain
- Zechariah 5:6 Hebrew “eye”; other ancient versions (LXX, Syriac) read “iniquity”
- Zechariah 5:7 Or “ephah,” a measure of grain
- Zechariah 5:8 Or “ephah,” a measure of grain
- Zechariah 5:8 That is, on top of the “basket” or “ephah”
- Zechariah 5:9 Literally “lifted up my eyes”
- Zechariah 5:9 Or “ephah,” a measure of grain
- Zechariah 5:9 Or “heaven”
- Zechariah 5:10 Or “ephah,” a measure of grain
- Zechariah 5:11 Or “temple”
- Zechariah 5:11 That is, Babylon (Gen 11:2)
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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