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.”

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

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)

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

And I was converted, and raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! a book flying. (And I turned, and raised up my eyes, and lo! I saw a flying book/and lo! I saw a scroll flying through the air.)

And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, Lo! I see a book flying; the length thereof was of twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof of ten cubits. (And I said, Lo! I see a flying book/Lo! I see a scroll flying through the air; its length was twenty cubits, and its breadth was ten cubits.)

And he said to me, This is the curse, that goeth on the face of all (the) earth; for each thief shall be deemed, as it is written there; and each man swearing (falsely) shall be deemed of this also. (And he said to me, This is the curse, that goeth forth over the face of all the earth; for each thief shall be judged, as it is written there; and each person who falsely sweareth shall also be judged by this, and swept away.)

I shall lead out it, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the house of a thief, and to the house of him that sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall dwell in the middle of his house, and shall waste him, and his trees, and his stones. (I have sent it out, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall come to the thief’s house, and to the house of him who sweareth falsely in my name; and it shall stay, or remain, in the midst of his house, and it shall destroy him, and his wood, or his timber, and his stones.)

And the angel went out, that spake in me (who spoke to me), and said to me, Raise (up) thine eyes, and see, what this thing is that goeth out.

And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an amphora, either a pot, going out. And he said, This is the eye of them in all earth (And he said, This is their sin in all the earth).

And lo! a talent of lead was borne (up from it); and lo! a woman (was) sitting in (the) middle of the pot.

And he said, This is unpiety, either unfaithfulness. And he casted down her in(to) the middle of the pot, and sent a gobbet of lead into the mouth thereof. (And he said, This is Unrighteousness, or Wickedness. And he threw her down into the midst of the pot, and put the piece of lead back into the mouth of the pot.)

And I raised mine eyes, and saw, and lo! two women going out, and a spirit in the wings of them; and they had wings as the wings of a kite, and raised the pot betwixt heaven and earth. (And I raised up my eyes, and saw, and lo! two women going out, and the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they raised up the pot between heaven and the earth.)

10 And I said to the angel that spake in me, Whither bear these the pot? (And I said to the angel who spoke to me, Where shall they take the pot?)

11 And he said to me, That an house be builded thereto in the land of Shinar, and be stablished, and set there on his foundament. (And he said to me, To the land of Shinar, or to Babylon, so that a house, or a temple, can be built for it, and it can be established, and put there upon its own foundation, or upon its own base.)

Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.

And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?

11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.