Zechariah 5:1-6:8
New Catholic Bible
The People of the Holy City[a]
Chapter 5
Vision of the Scroll that Flies.[b] 1 Again I looked up, and I beheld a flying scroll. 2 The angel said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll. It is twenty cubits in length and ten cubits in width.”
3 Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes forth over the entire earth. According to the writing on one side, every thief will be swept away, and according to the writing on the other side, everyone who commits perjury in my name will be banished. 4 I have sent it forth, says the Lord of hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who commits perjury in my name. It will lodge inside such a house and consume it, both timber and stones.”
Vision of the Bushel Coming Forth.[c] 5 Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said, “Raise your eyes and see what this is that is coming forth.” 6 I asked, “What is it?” The angel replied, “This is a bushel basket coming forth.” And he added, “This is their guilt throughout the land.”
7 Then a leaden cover was lifted up, and there was a woman sitting inside the bushel basket. 8 “This is Wickedness,” the angel said. He immediately pushed her back into the basket and pressed the leaden cover into the opening.
9 Then I raised my eyes and beheld two women coming forward, with the wind in their wings which were like those of a stork. As they lifted up the bushel basket into the air, 10 I asked the angel who had been conversing with me, “Where are they taking the bushel basket?” 11 He replied, “To the land of Shinar, to build a house for it. When the house is completed, they will set down the bushel basket on a pedestal designed for it.”
Chapter 6
Vision of the Four Chariots. 1 Again I raised my eyes and beheld four chariots coming out between two mountains—and the mountains were mountains of bronze. 2 The first chariot had red horses, the second chariot had black horses, 3 the third chariot had white horses, and the fourth chariot had spotted horses.
4 I asked the angel who was conversing with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 The angel replied, “These are the four winds of heaven which are now ready to depart after presenting themselves for review by the Lord of all the earth. 6 The chariot with the black horses is departing for the land of the north, the red and the white horses will follow after them, and the chariot with the spotted horses will leave for the land of the south.”
7 As these horses emerged, eager to set off and patrol the earth, he said to them, “Go forth and patrol the earth,” and they did so. 8 Then he called to me and said, “Those who are going forth to the land of the north have allowed my Spirit to rest on the land of the north.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 5:1 It is not enough to restore political and religious buildings and structures; the essential thing is to implement the moral and spiritual conditions that are needed for a new community. These final three visions proclaim that the Lord intends to sanctify his people and make them truly faithful to their mission of salvation.
- Zechariah 5:1 A scroll was a strip of parchment that was written on and then rolled up. The ancients thought that a prediction written on a scroll would certainly be fulfilled.
- Zechariah 5:5 The woman seen in a dream personifies the evil which God will remove from his people when he comes to save them.
