< Zechariah 5 >

1 And I turn back, and lift up my eyes, and look, and behold, a flying scroll.
I looked again and saw a flying scroll.
2 And he says to me, “What are you seeing?” And I say, “I am seeing a flying scroll, its length [is] twenty by the cubit, and its breadth [is] ten by the cubit.”
“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 says to me, “This [is] the execration that is going forth over the face of all the land, for everyone who is stealing, on the one side, according to it, has been declared innocent, and everyone who has sworn, on the other side, according to it, has been declared innocent.”
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 have brought it out,” a declaration of YHWH of Hosts, “and it has come into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who has sworn in My Name with a falsehood, and it has remained in the midst of his house, and has consumed it, both its wood and its stones.”
“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 messenger who is speaking with me goes forth and says to me, “Now lift up your eyes, and [do you] see what this [is] that is coming 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 say, “What [is] it?” And he says, “This—the ephah that is coming forth.” And he says, “This [is] their aspect in all the land.
“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 disc of lead lifted up; and this [is] a woman sitting 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 says, “This [is] the wicked woman.” And he casts her into the midst of the ephah, and casts the weight of lead on its mouth.
“She represents wickedness,” he said, and pushed her back inside, forcing the lead lid shut.
9 And I lift up my eyes, and see, and behold, two women are coming forth, and wind [is] in their wings; and they have wings like wings of the stork, and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.
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 say to the messenger who is speaking with me, “To where [are] they causing the ephah to go?”
“Where are they taking it?” I asked the angel I was talking to.
11 And he says to me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar.” And it has been prepared and has been placed there on its 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.”

< Zechariah 5 >