Zechariah 5

The Vision of the Flying Scroll

5I looked again, and this time I saw a scroll flying through the air. ²The angel asked me what I saw. I answered, “A scroll flying through the air; it is nine metres long and four and a half metres wide.”

³Then he said to me, “On it is written the curse that is to go out over the whole land. On one side of the scroll it says that every thief will be removed from the land; and on the other side it says that everyone who tells lies under oath will also be taken away. ⁴The Lord Almighty says that he will send this curse out, and it will enter the house of every thief and the house of everyone who tells lies under oath. It will remain in their houses and leave them in ruins.”

The Vision of the Woman in the Basket

⁵The angel appeared again and said, “Look! Something else is coming!”

⁶“What is it?” I asked.

He replied, “It is a basket, and it stands for the sin^f of the whole land.”

⁷The basket had a lid made of lead. As I watched, the lid was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!

⁸The angel said, “This woman represents wickedness.” Then he pushed her down into the basket and put the lid back down. ⁹I looked up and saw two women flying towards me with powerful wings like those of a stork. They picked up the basket and flew off with it.

¹⁰I asked the angel, “Where are they taking it?”

¹¹He answered, “To Babylonia, where they will build a temple for it. When the temple is finished, the basket will be placed there to be worshipped.”