1Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and hinei a megillah flying!

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

3Then said he unto me:
This is ha'alah (the curse) that goeth forth
over the face of kol ha'aretz;
for every ganav that stealeth
shall be purged out ¹³according to what it says on one side of the megillah;
and every perjurer that sweareth falsely
shall be purged out according to what it says on the other side. ¹⁴

4I will send it ¹⁵forth, saith Hashem Tzva'os,
and it shall enter into the bais haganav,
and into the bais of him that sweareth falsely biShmi (by My Name);
and it ¹⁶shall remain inside his bais,
and shall destroy it
with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

5Then the malach that spoke with me came forward, and said unto me, Lift up now thine eyes, and see what is this that cometh into view.

6And I said, What is it? And he said, This is the eifah (measuring basket) going out. He said moreover, This is their ¹⁷appearance throughout kol ha'aretz.

7And, hinei, there was lifted up a lead cover; and there was an isha (woman) yoshevet (sitting) inside the eifah (measuring basket)!

8And he said, This is HaRishah (The Wickedness). And he pushed her inside the eifah; and he pushed the lead cover over the mouth of the eifah.

9Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, hinei, there came forth two nashim (women), and the ruach (wind) was in their kenafayim (wings); for they had kenafayim (wings) like the kenafayim of a stork: and they lifted up the eifah between ha'aretz and HaShomayim.

10Then said I to the malach that spoke with me, Whither are these taking the eifah?

11And he said unto me, To build it a bais ¹⁸in Eretz Shinar (Babylon); and it shall be placed there and set upon its own base.