Zechariah 5 (KJV) contains two visions: a flying scroll and a woman seated in an ephah who is carried to Shinar. The LORD is taken as Jesus Christ, and Shinar/Babylon is the territory corresponding to modern Iraq. The woman called Wickedness is sometimes linked by interpreters to the later Babylon figure of Revelation 17–18. Mystery Babylon (Roman Catholic Church), a false church that mixes Babylonian goddess worship and Paganism as biblical Christianity.

1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll.

Zechariah turns, lifts his eyes, and sees a flying roll (scroll). A written scroll that brings judgment also appears in Revelation 5 and in the little book of Revelation 10.

2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.

The angel asks what he sees. The scroll measures twenty cubits by ten cubits (about 30 by 15 feet), the same dimensions given for the porch of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:3).

3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

The scroll is the curse that goes out over the face of the whole earth. On one side it cuts off the thief; on the other side it cuts off the one who swears falsely. The judgment is universal in scope and specific in the sins named.

4 I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

The LORD of hosts (Jesus Christ) will cause the curse to enter the house of the thief and the house of the false swearer. It remains there and consumes both timber and stones. The judgment reaches the dwelling itself, not merely the person.

5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

The interpreting angel tells Zechariah to look at what is now going forth.

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

Zechariah asks what it is. The angel identifies an ephah (a standard dry measure, a basket or container) going forth, and says this is their resemblance (appearance or eye) through all the earth. The ephah stands for a measured, visible form of what is present everywhere.

7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

A lead cover (a talent of lead) is lifted, and a woman is seen sitting inside the ephah.

8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

The angel says, “This is wickedness.” He throws her down into the middle of the ephah and clamps the lead weight over its opening. Wickedness is confined and sealed inside the measure.

9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

Two women appear with the wind in their wings; the wings are like those of a stork. They lift the ephah up between earth and heaven. Storks are unclean birds in the law (Leviticus 11:19); the carriers are therefore not presented as holy agents.

10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah?

Zechariah asks where they are carrying the ephah.

11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.

They are carrying it to build a house for it in the land of Shinar. There it will be established and set on its own base. Shinar is the region of Babel/Babylon (Genesis 11:2), whose core territory corresponds to modern Iraq. The vision therefore relocates sealed Wickedness to a prepared house in Babylon/Iraq.

Revelation 17–18 later depicts a woman identified with Babylon, seated in a place of commerce and judgment, and called the mother of harlots and abominations; interpreters who connect the two passages treat Zechariah’s woman in the ephah as an earlier image of that Wickedness being housed in Shinar. The verse itself states only the destination and the establishment of the house.

Chapter 5 therefore sends a consuming curse against theft and false swearing across the earth, then seals Wickedness inside an ephah and has it carried to a house built for it in Shinar (Iraq). The scroll of judgment and the woman associated with Babylon are the clearest thematic links to Revelation.