Zechariah 5

1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.

I looked again and saw a flying scroll.

2 And 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.

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

3 Then 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.

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 I 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.

“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 Then 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.

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] an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This [is] their resemblance through 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, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this [is] a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

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

8 And 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.

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

9 Then 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.

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 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?

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

11 And 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.

“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.”