Zechariah 5 is a short vision chapter with two scenes: a flying scroll that carries God’s judgment against theft and false oaths, and a woman sealed inside a measuring basket that is carried away to Shinar. These questions suit a small group, a Sunday class, or personal study. Each set is built so a leader can read the text, ask the question, and guide the room toward the meaning without needing a separate commentary.
Zechariah 5 at a Glance
The chapter opens with the prophet seeing a large scroll flying through the air. An angel explains that it is a curse going out over the whole land, targeting those who steal and those who swear falsely in God’s name, and that it will enter their houses and destroy them.
The second vision shows a measuring basket, called an ephah, with a woman inside. A heavy lead weight is pressed over its opening, and then two winged women lift the basket and carry it away to Shinar, where a house is being prepared for it. The chapter moves from judgment on visible sin to a picture of wickedness being removed from the land.
Observation Questions
Use these first to make sure everyone has the same facts before moving to meaning. Ask people to point to the words in the text rather than answer from memory, and keep the discussion anchored in what the chapter actually says.
Zechariah 5:1-2
1 Then again I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a flying scroll. 2 He said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying scroll; its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”
(WEB)
Read these opening verses to set the scene with the flying scroll. Hearing the measurements aloud helps the group picture the object and prepares them for the explanation that follows.
Zechariah 5:3
Then he said to me, “This is the curse that goes out over the surface of the whole land; for everyone who steals shall be cut off according to it on the one side; and everyone who swears falsely shall be cut off according to it on the other side.
(WEB)
This verse names the two offenses the curse targets, so reading it aloud helps the group fix the chapter’s central concern in mind before the discussion begins.
Zechariah 5:4
I will cause it to go out,” says the LORD of Armies, “and it will enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him who swears falsely by my name; and it will remain in the middle of his house, and will destroy it with its timber and its stones.”
(WEB)
Reading the statement that the curse enters the house and destroys it brings the judgment close to home and invites the group to reflect on how sin affects a whole household.
Zechariah 5:6-8
6 I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is the ephah basket that is appearing.” He said moreover, “This is their appearance in all the land 7 (and behold, a talent of lead was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting in the middle of the ephah basket.” 8 He said, “This is Wickedness”; and he threw her down into the middle of the ephah basket; and he threw the weight of lead on its mouth.
(WEB)
This passage introduces the ephah and the woman inside it, so reading it together lets the group hear the strange imagery in sequence and notice how the lead weight seals the basket shut.
Zechariah 5:9-11
9 Then lifted I up my eyes, and saw, and behold, there were two women, and the wind was in their wings. Now they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah basket between earth and the sky. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are these carrying the ephah basket?” 11 He said to me, “To build her a house in the land of Shinar. When it is prepared, she will be set there in her own place.”
(WEB)
Ending on the two winged women and the house in Shinar gives the session a sense of movement, and it prompts the group to discuss where God sends evil away and what that means for the people of God.
Memory Verse for Zechariah 5
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, thank you for the honesty of your Word, which does not flinch from calling out theft and false swearing. We confess that we have not always kept our hands clean in money, speech, and promises, and we ask you to make us people whose yes is yes and whose work is fair. Teach us to trust your justice rather than seizing our own, and help us to remove from our homes and habits whatever belongs to the house of wickedness. Keep us faithful in the small things this week, and let our ordinary lives reflect your truth. Amen.
