Zechariah 5

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

And once more lifted I mine eyes, and looked, —and lo! a Flying Volume.

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 unto me, What canst thou see? So I said, I, can see a flying volume, the length thereof, twenty by the cubit, and, the breadth thereof, ten by the cubit.

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.

Then said he unto me, This, is the curse, which is going forth over the face of all the earth, —Because, every one who stealeth, on the one side, hath in one way been let off, and, every one who sweareth, on the other side, hath in another way been let off,

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.’”

[therefore] have I brought it forth, Declareth Yahweh of hosts, And it shall enter—into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth by my name, falsely, —and it shall roost in the midst of his house, and shall consume it, both the timbers thereof, and the stones thereof.

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

Then came forward, the messenger who was talking with me, —and said unto me—Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see what this is which is coming 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? Then said he, This, is an ephah that is coming forth. And he said, This, is their iniquity, throughout all the land.

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

And lo! a leaden disc uplifted, —and here a certain woman, sitting inside the ephah.

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].

Then said he, This, is Lawlessness. So he thrust her back inside the ephah, —and then thrust the leaden weight into the mouth thereof.

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.

Then lifted I up mine eyes and looked, and lo! Two Women coming forward, with the wind in their wings, and, they, had wings, like the wings of the stork, —and bare up the ephah, between the earth and the heavens.

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

Then said I unto the messenger who was speaking with me, —Whither are they carrying the ephah?

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 unto me, To build for it a house in the land of Shinar, —so shall it be ready, and they shall settle it there, upon its own base?