Zacharias 5

1 And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked and behold a flying sickle.

I looked again and saw a flying scroll.

2 And he said to me, What seest thou? And I said, I see a flying sickle, of the length of twenty cubits, and of the breadth of ten cubits.

“What do you see?” asked the angel. “I see a flying scroll,” I replied. “It's thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide.”

3 And he said to me, This is the curse that goes forth over the face of the whole earth: for every thief shall be punished with death on this side, and every false swearer shall be punished on that side.

He told me, “This is the curse that is going out to all the world. Anyone who steals will be purged from society, according to one side of the scroll. Anyone who swears lies under oath will be purged from society, according to the other side of the scroll.”

4 And I will bring it forth, saith the Lord Almighty, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that swears falsely by my name: and it shall rest in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, and the timber of it, and the stones of it.

“I have sent the curse out and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one who swears lies in my name, declares the Lord Almighty. The curse will remain in that house, and will destroy it, both the timbers and the stones.”

5 And the angel that talked with me went forth, and said to me, Lift up thine eyes, and see this that goes forth.

Then the angel I had been talking to came over to me and said, “Look. What do you see moving away?”

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the measure that goes forth. And he said, This is their iniquity in all the earth.

“What is it?” I asked. “What you see moving away is a barrel full of the sins of everyone in the country,” he replied.

7 And behold a talent of lead lifted up: and behold a woman sat in the midst of the measure.

Then the lead lid was lifted from the barrel and there was a woman sitting inside.

8 And he said, This is iniquity. And he cast it into the midst of the measure, and cast the weight of lead on the mouth of it.

“She represents wickedness,” he said, and pushed her back inside, forcing the lead lid shut.

9 And I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, two women coming forth, and the wind was in their wings; and they had stork's wings: and they lifted up the measure between the earth and the sky.

I looked once more and saw two women flying towards me. Their wings looked like those of a stork. They picked up the barrel and flew away, high into the sky.

10 And I said to the angel that spoke with me, Whither do these carry away the measure?

“Where are they taking it?” I asked the angel I was talking to.

11 And he said to me, To build it a house in the land of Babylon, and to prepare [a place for it]; and they shall set it there on its own base.

“They're taking it to the land of Babylon to build a house for it. When the house is ready, the barrel will be placed at its base.”