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Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and hinei a megillah flying!

And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered: I see a megillah flying; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

Then said he unto me, This is ha’alah (the curse) that goeth forth over the face of kol ha’aretz; for every ganav that stealeth shall be purged out [i.e., banished] according to what it says on one side of the megillah; and every perjurer that sweareth falsely shall be purged out according to what it says on the other side. [Shemot 20:15,7]

I will send it [ha’alah, the curse] forth, saith Hashem Tzva’os, and it shall enter into the bais haganav, and into the bais of him that sweareth falsely biShmi (by My Name); and it [ha’alah] shall remain inside his bais, and shall destroy it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

Then the malach that spoke with me came forward, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that cometh into view.

And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the eifah (measuring basket) going out. He said moreover, This is their [i.e., that of ganavim and perjurors] appearance throughout kol ha’aretz.

And, hinei, there was lifted up a lead cover; and there was an isha (woman) yoshevet (sitting) inside the eifah (measuring basket)!

And he said, This is HaRishah (The Wickedness). And he pushed her inside the eifah; and he pushed the lead cover over the mouth of the eifah.

Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, hinei, there came forth two nashim (women), and the ruach (wind) was in their kenafayim (wings); for they had kenafayim (wings) like the kenafayim of a stork: and they lifted up the eifah between ha’aretz and HaShomayim.

10 Then said I to the malach that spoke with me, Whither are these taking the eifah?

11 And he said unto me, To build it a bais [i.e., ziggurat] in Eretz Shinar (Babylon); and it is shall be placed there and set upon its own base.

The Flying Scroll

I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.(A)

He asked me, “What do you see?”(B)

I answered, “I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.[a]

And he said to me, “This is the curse(C) that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief(D) will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely(E) will be banished. The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely(F) by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.(G)’”

The Woman in a Basket

Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what is appearing.”

I asked, “What is it?”

He replied, “It is a basket.(H)” And he added, “This is the iniquity[b] of the people throughout the land.”

Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.(I)

Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork,(J) and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

10 “Where are they taking the basket?” I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

11 He replied, “To the country of Babylonia[c](K) to build a house(L) for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”(M)

Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 5:2 That is, about 30 feet long and 15 feet wide or about 9 meters long and 4.5 meters wide
  2. Zechariah 5:6 Or appearance
  3. Zechariah 5:11 Hebrew Shinar