The People of the Holy City^[a]

Chapter 5

Vision of the Scroll that Flies.^{[b] 1} Again I looked up, and I beheld a flying scroll. ² The angel said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. It is twenty cubits in length and ten cubits in width.”

³ Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes forth over the entire earth. According to the writing on one side, every thief will be swept away, and according to the writing on the other side, everyone who commits perjury in my name will be banished. ⁴ I have sent it forth, says the Lord of hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who commits perjury in my name. It will lodge inside such a house and consume it, both timber and stones.”

Vision of the Bushel Coming Forth.^{[c] 5} Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said, “Raise your eyes and see what this is that is coming forth.” ⁶ I asked, “What is it?” The angel replied, “This is a bushel basket coming forth.” And he added, “This is their guilt throughout the land.”

⁷ Then a leaden cover was lifted up, and there was a woman sitting inside the bushel basket. ⁸ “This is Wickedness,” the angel said. He immediately pushed her back into the basket and pressed the leaden cover into the opening.

⁹ Then I raised my eyes and beheld two women coming forward, with the wind in their wings which were like those of a stork. As they lifted up the bushel basket into the air, ¹⁰ I asked the angel who had been conversing with me, “Where are they taking the bushel basket?” ¹¹ He replied, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. When the house is completed, they will set down the bushel basket on a pedestal designed for it.”