Zechariah 5

The Flying Scroll

¹I looked again—and there before me was a flying scroll!

² He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a flying scroll, thirty feet long and fifteen feet wide. ^[a]”

³ And he said to me, “This is the curse that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely will be banished. ⁴The LORD Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by my name. It will remain in his house and destroy it, both its timbers and its stones.’ ”

The Woman in a Basket

⁵Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, “Look up and see what this is that is appearing.”

⁶ I asked, “What is it?”
He replied, “It is a measuring basket. ^[b] ” And he added, “This is the iniquity ^[c]of the people throughout the land.”

⁷ Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman! ⁸He said, “This is wickedness,” and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed the lead cover down over its mouth.

⁹Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork, 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 ^[d]to build a house for it. When it is ready, the basket will be set there in its place.”

Zechariah 6

Four Chariots

¹ I looked up again—and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze! ² The first chariot had red horses, the second black, ³ the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. ⁴I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits ^[e] of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. ⁶ The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, ^[f]and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.”

⁷When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

⁸ Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit ^[g]rest in the land of the north.”

A Crown for Joshua

⁹ The word of the LORD came to me: ¹⁰ “Take silver and gold from the exiles Heldai, Tobijah and Jedaiah, who have arrived from Babylon. Go the same day to the house of Josiah son of Zephaniah. ¹¹ Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak. ¹² Tell him this is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘Here is the man whose name is the Branch, and he will branch out from his place and build the temple of the LORD. ¹³ It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’ ¹⁴ The crown will be given to Heldai, ^[h] Tobijah, Jedaiah and Hen ^[i] son of Zephaniah as a memorial in the temple of the LORD. ¹⁵ Those who are far away will come and help to build the temple of the LORD, and you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. This will happen if you diligently obey the LORD your God.”