The Flying Sickle
Zechariah 5, verse 1. I turned and looked up, and behold a flying sickle. Zechariah 5, verse 2. And he said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a flying sickle, twenty cubits in length by ten cubits wide.” Zechariah 5, verse 3. And he said to me, “This is the curse going out over the face of the whole earth, for every thief on this side shall be punished with death, and everyone on that side who swears falsely shall be punished by death.” Zechariah 5, verse 4. “And I will bring it forth,” says the Lord Almighty, “and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name. It shall settle in the midst of his house and destroy it, both its timber and its stones.” Zechariah 5, verse 5. And the angel who was talking to me came out and said to me, “Look up and see this that is going forth.” Zechariah 5, verse 6. And I said, “What is it?” And he said, “This is the measuring basket that goes forth.” And he said, “This is their wrongdoing in all the land.” Zechariah 5, verse 7. And behold, a talent of lead was being lifted up, and behold one woman sat in the midst of the measuring basket. Zechariah 5, verse 8. And he said, “This is lawlessness.” And he threw it into the midst of the measure, and he threw the lead weight into the mouth of it. Zechariah 5, verse 9. Then I looked up to see, and behold two women going forth, and the wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they took up the measuring basket into the air between heaven and earth. Zechariah 5, verse 10. And I asked the angel speaking to me, “For what reason do they carry this basket for measuring?” Zechariah 5, verse 11. And he said to me, “To prepare and to build a place for it in the land of Babylon. They will place it there upon its own place.”