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Zechariah 5:5-11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)

Sixth Vision: The Basket of Wickedness. 5 Then the angel who spoke with me came forward and said to me, “Raise your eyes and look. What is this that comes forth?” 6 I said, “What is it?” And he answered, “This is the basket[a] that is coming.” And he said, “This is their guilt in all the land.” 7 Then a leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting inside the basket.[b] 8 He said, “This is Wickedness,” and he thrust her inside the basket, pushing the leaden weight into the opening.

9 Then I raised my eyes and saw two women coming forth with wind under their wings[c]—they had wings like the wings of a stork—and they lifted the basket into the air. 10 I said to the angel who spoke with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” 11 He replied, “To build a temple for it in the land of Shinar.[d] When the temple is constructed, they will set it there on its base.”

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Footnotes

  1. 5:6 Basket: literally, ephah, a dry measure; see note on Is 5:10.
  2. 5:7 Woman sitting inside the basket: figure representing wickedness or foreign idolatry being transported back to Babylonia (vv. 1–11). Returning exiles were apparently worshiping deities they had learned to accept in Babylonia, and that “wickedness” (v. 8) must be removed.
  3. 5:9 Two women…wings: composite beings, part human and part animal, similar to the cherubim flanking the holy ark (Ex 25:18–22; 1 Kgs 6:23–28; Ez 10:18–22). Such creatures accompany foreign deities as here, or the biblical God.
  4. 5:11 Shinar: land of Babylonia; this name for Babylonia is found also in Gn 1:10; 11:2; 14:1; Is 11:11; and Dn 1:2.
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)

Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.