Zechariah 5

₁The Lord again showed me something. I saw a scroll flying in the air. ₂The angel asked me: ‘What do you see?’

I said: ‘I see a scroll that flies in the air. It is 20 cubits long and 10 cubits wide.’

₃The angel then said to me: ‘God has written on the scroll. On one side of the scroll He wrote that He will curse people who steal things. On the other side of the scroll he wrote that He will curse people who promise things that they don't want to do. ₄The Lord who rules over all said: “I have cursed the people who steal things and who promise things that they don't want to do. I will destroy their houses completely, with the wood and all the stones of the houses.” ’

₅The angel who had to tell me what everything meant came to me and told me: ‘Look. What do you see?’

₆I asked: ‘What is that?’ The angel said: ‘It is a basket.’ The angel also said: ‘The sins of everyone on earth are in the basket.’

₇The lid of the basket was made of lead. They took the lid off the basket and I saw a woman sitting inside the basket. ₈The angel said: ‘This is sin.’

He pushed the woman back into the basket and he closed the lid. ₉Then I saw 2 women coming to us. They had wings like big storks. They picked up the basket and flew away. ₁₀I asked the angel who had to tell me what everything meant: ‘Where are they taking the basket?’

₁₁And he told me: ‘They are building a house in the land of Babylon for the woman. When the house is finished, they will put down the basket there. That is where the woman must be.’