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The Flying Scroll

Again I looked up, and I saw a scroll flying in the air! And the angel said to me, “What do you see?” And I answered, “I see a [a]flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits (thirty feet) and its width is ten cubits (fifteen feet).” Then he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the face of the whole land; for everyone who steals will be cut off according to the writing on one side, and everyone who swears [oaths falsely] shall be cut off according to the writing on the other side.(A) I will send the curse out,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night in that house and consume it, both its timber and its stones.”

Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and said to me, “Now look up and see what this is going forth.” And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the [b]ephah (grain basket) going forth. This,” he continued, “is their appearance throughout the land(B) (and behold, a [round, flat] lead [c]cover was lifted up); and there sat a woman inside the ephah.” Then he said, “This is Wickedness (Godlessness)!” And he threw her back down into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead cover on its opening. Then I looked up, and there were two women coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. 10 I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” 11 And he said to me, “To the land of Shinar (Babylon) to build a temple for her; and when it is prepared, [d]she shall be set there on her own pedestal.”

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 5:2 The measurements of the scroll, as a symbol of God’s judgment, are the same as the measurements of the Holy Place in the tabernacle in the wilderness.
  2. Zechariah 5:6 The ephah (a bushel basket for collecting grain) that was used by farmers was approximately 1.05 bushels, but it would be much larger in this vision.
  3. Zechariah 5:7 The Hebrew word for the cover is also used for a talent weight. Metal ingots were cast in the form of a flat disk.
  4. Zechariah 5:11 Perhaps symbolic of the removal of the sinful customs of the Israelites.

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