5
The vision of the flying scroll
1 I looked up again, and I saw a scroll that was flying through the air.
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.”
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.
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.’ ”
The vision of the woman in a basket
5 Then the angel who had been talking to me came closer to me and said, “Look up and see what is appearing!”
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.”
7 Then the angel lifted the basket’s cover, which was made of lead. There was a woman sitting inside the basket!
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.
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.
10 I asked the angel who had been talking to me, “Where are they taking that basket?”
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.”