1Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying scroll! (Jer 36:2; Jer 36:28)2And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”[1] (Zec 5:1)3Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who swears falsely[2] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. (Ex 20:7; Ex 20:15; De 29:27; Ec 5:2; Jer 29:18; Eze 2:9)4I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. And it shall remain in his house and consume it, both timber and stones.” (Le 14:45; Le 19:12; Pr 3:33; Zec 8:17; Mal 3:5)
A Vision of a Woman in a Basket
5Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, “Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” (Zec 1:9; Zec 5:1; Zec 5:9; Zec 6:1)6And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the basket[3] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity[4] in all the land.” (Eze 45:11)7And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket!8And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down the leaden weight on its opening. (Zec 5:6)9Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! 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. (Ho 4:19)10Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”11He said to me, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.” (Ge 11:2)
Zechariah 5
New International Version
The flying scroll
1I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.2He asked me, ‘What do you see?’ I answered, ‘I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.[1]’3And he said to me, ‘This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished.4The 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 by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.” ’
The woman in a basket
5Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, ‘Look up and see what is appearing.’6I asked, ‘What is it?’ He replied, ‘It is a basket.’ And he added, ‘This is the iniquity[2] of the people throughout the land.’7Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!8He said, ‘This is wickedness,’ and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.9Then I looked up – and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, 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.11He replied, ‘To the country of Babylonia[3] to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.’
Zechariah 5
King James Version
1Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.2And 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.3Then 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.4I 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.5Then 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.6And 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.7And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.8And 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.9Then 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.10Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?11And 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.
Zechariah 5
New International Reader’s Version
A vision of a flying scroll
1I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.2‘What do you see?’ the angel asked me. ‘A scroll flying in the air,’ I replied. ‘It’s 10 metres long and 5 metres wide.’3He said to me, ‘A curse sent by the LORD is written on it. It is going out over the whole land. Every thief will be driven out of the land. That is what it says on one side of the scroll. Everyone who lies when promising to tell the truth will also be driven out. That is what it says on the other side.4The LORD who rules over all announces, “I will send the curse out. It will enter the house of the thief. It will also enter the house of anyone who lies when making a promise in my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely. It will pull down its beams and stones.” ’
A vision of a woman in a basket
5Then the angel who was talking with me came forward. He said to me, ‘Look at what is coming.’6‘What is it?’ I asked. ‘A basket’, he replied. ‘The sins of the people all through the land are in it.’7Then the basket’s cover was lifted up. It was made out of lead. A woman was sitting in the basket!8The angel said, ‘She stands for everything that is evil.’ Then he pushed her down into the basket. He put the lead cover back over it.9I looked up and saw two other women. They had wings like the wings of a stork. A wind sent by the LORD carried them along. They lifted the basket up between heaven and earth.10‘Where are they taking the basket?’ I asked the angel.11He replied, ‘To the country of Babylon. A temple will be built for it. When the temple is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.’