Zechariah 4-5

Contemporary English Version

Fifth Vision: A Lampstand and Olive Trees

4 The angel who explained the visions woke me from what seemed like sleep. ² Then he asked, “What do you see?”

“A solid gold lampstand with an oil container above it,” I answered. “On the stand are seven lamps, each with seven flames. ^3 (A) One olive tree is on the right side and another on the left of the oil container. ⁴ But, sir, what do these mean?”

⁵ Then he asked, “Don't you know?”

“No sir,” I replied.

^6 (B) So the angel explained that it was the following message of the Lord to Zerubbabel:^[a]

I am the Lord All-Powerful. So don't depend on your own power or strength, but on my Spirit. ⁷ Zerubbabel, that mountain in front of you will be leveled to the ground. Then you will bring out the temple's most important stone and shout, “God has been very kind.”^[b]

⁸ The Lord spoke to me again and said:

⁹ Zerubbabel laid the foundation for the temple, and he will complete it. Then everyone will know that you were sent by me, the Lord All-Powerful. ^10 (C) Those who have made fun of this day of small beginnings will celebrate when they see Zerubbabel holding this important stone.^[c]

Those seven lamps represent my eyes—the eyes of the Lord—and they see everything on this earth.

^11 (D) Then I asked the angel, “What about the olive trees on each side of the lampstand? What do they represent? ¹² And what is the meaning of the two branches from which golden olive oil^[d] flows through the two gold pipes?”

¹³ “Don't you know?” he asked.

“No sir, I don't,” was my answer.

¹⁴ Then he told me, “These branches are the two chosen leaders^[e] who stand beside the Lord of all the earth.”

Sixth Vision: A Flying Scroll

5 When I looked the next time, I saw a flying scroll,^{[f] 2} and the angel asked, “What do you see?”

“A flying scroll,” I answered. “About nine meters long and four and a half meters wide.”

³ Then he told me:

This scroll puts a curse on everyone in the land who steals or tells lies. The writing on one side tells about the destruction of those who steal, while the writing on the other side tells about the destruction of those who lie.

⁴ The Lord All-Powerful has said, “I am sending this scroll into the house of everyone who is a robber or tells lies in my name, and it will remain there until every piece of wood and stone in that house crumbles.”

Seventh Vision: A Woman in a Basket

⁵ Now the angel who was there to explain the visions came over and said, “Look up and tell me what you see coming.”

⁶ “I don't know what it is,” was my reply.

“It's a big basket,” he said. “And it shows what everyone in the land has in mind.”^[g]

⁷ The lead cover of the basket was opened, and in the basket was a woman. ⁸ “This woman represents evil,” the angel explained. Then he threw her back into the basket and slammed the heavy cover down tight.

⁹ Right after this I saw two women coming through the sky with wings outstretched like a stork in the wind. Suddenly they lifted the basket into the air, ¹⁰ and I asked the angel, “Where are they taking the basket?”

¹¹ “To Babylonia,”^[h] he answered, “where they will build a house for the basket and set it down inside.”