Study Desk

The Flying Scroll

I looked again, and there before me was a flying scroll.^(a)

He asked me, "What do you see?"^(b) I answered, "I see a flying scroll, twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide.^[a]"

And he said to me, "This is the curse^(c) that is going out over the whole land; for according to what it says on one side, every thief^(d) will be banished, and according to what it says on the other, everyone who swears falsely^(e) will be banished.

The Lord Almighty declares, ‘I will send it out, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of anyone who swears falsely^(f) by my name. It will remain in that house and destroy it completely, both its timbers and its stones.^(g)'"

Then the angel who was speaking to me came forward and said to me, "Look up and see what is appearing."

I asked, "What is it?" He replied, "It is a basket.^(h)" And he added, "This is the iniquity^[b] of the people throughout the land."

Then the cover of lead was raised, and there in the basket sat a woman!

He said, "This is wickedness," and he pushed her back into the basket and pushed its lead cover down on it.⁽ⁱ⁾

Then I looked up—and there before me were two women, with the wind in their wings! They had wings like those of a stork,^(j) and they lifted up the basket between heaven and earth.

"Where are they taking the basket?" I asked the angel who was speaking to me.

He replied, "To the country of Babylonia^[c](k) to build a house^(l) for it. When the house is ready, the basket will be set there in its place."^(m)