e, saying,
"What are these, my lord?" Then the angel that talked with me answered
and said unto me, "Knowest thou not what these are?" And I said, "No,
my Lord." Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, "This is the
word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, 'Not by might, nor by power,
but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great
mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall
bring forth the top stone with shoutings of Grace, grace, unto it.'"
Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "The hands of
Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall
also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent
me unto you. For who hath despised the day of small things? for they
shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel."

{405}

IV

THE VISION OF THE FLYING BOOK

(The flying book or roll is the vengeance of God, which flies into the
house of the evil-doer like a great bird, and roosts there and
destroys it.)

Then again I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and behold, a book flying.
And he said unto me, "What seest thou?" And I answered, "I see a book
flying; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof
ten cubits."

Then said he unto me, "This is the curse that goeth forth over the
face of the whole land: for every thief shall be purged away from
hence; and every perjurer is hereby purged from hence. I will cause it
to go 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 roost in the midst of his house, and shall
consume it with its beams and its stones."

V

THE VISION OF THE WOMAN IN THE BARREL

(The prophet sees Wickedness as a woman who is in a barrel measure.
She is pushed down into it, the leaden cover is put on, and she is
carried away out of the land.)

And the angel of Jehovah who spake with me came forward and spake to
me and said to me, "Lift now thine eyes and see what this is that
comes forth." {406}

And I said, "What is it?"

And he said, "This is a barrel coming forth."

And he said, "This is their transgression in all the land."

And behold, the round leaden top was lifted off, and lo, a woman
sitting inside the barrel.

And he said, "This is Wickedness," and he thrust her back into the
barrel, and thrust the leaden cover upon the mouth of it. And I lifted
up