Zechariah 5

1 I looked up again, and I saw a scroll that was flying [through the air].

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

2 The angel asked me, “What do you see?” I replied, “I see a flying scroll that is [huge], (10 yards/9 meters) long and (5 yards/4.5 meters) wide.”

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.

3 Then he said to me, “On this scroll is written the [words that Yahweh is speaking to] curse the entire country. On [one side of] the scroll it is written that every thief will be banished. On [the other side] it is written that everyone who tells a lie when he is solemnly promising to tell the truth will also be banished from the country.

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.

4 The Commander of the armies of angels says, ‘I will send [copies of] this scroll to the places where thieves live and to the houses of those who use my name when they solemnly promise to tell the truth. [The copies of] this scroll will stay in their houses, until those houses and all their wood and stones are destroyed.’”

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.

5 Then the angel who had been talking to me came closer to me and said, “Look up and see what is appearing!”

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

6 I asked him, “What is it?” He replied, “It is a big basket [for measuring grain]. But it represents the sins that everyone in this nation has committed.”

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.

7 Then [the angel] lifted the basket’s cover, [which was made] of lead. There was a woman sitting inside the basket!

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

8 The angel said, “She represents the wicked things [that people do].” Then the angel pushed her back into the basket and closed the very heavy lid [again].

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.

9 Then I looked up and saw two women in front of me. They [were flying toward us], with their wings spread out in the wind. Their wings were [large], like [SIM] storks’ wings. They lifted the big basket up into the sky.

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.

10 I asked the angel who had been talking to me, “Where are they taking that basket?”

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

11 He replied, “[They are taking it] to Babylonia to build a temple for it. When the temple is finished, they will set the basket there on a pedestal [for people to worship it].”

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.