Zechariah 5:4

I will send it out, declares the LORD of Hosts, and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name. It will remain inside his house and destroy it, down to its timbers and stones.”

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Yahweh of Hosts declares through the prophet to the seer that He will actively send forth a curse. This declaration follows the vision of the flying scroll that represents judgment extending over the entire land.

The words — הוֹצֵאתִ֗י (ho.tze.Ti) means "I will send forth," establishing divine agency, while בֵּ֣ית (beit) translates to "house," specifying the exact location where the curse will take root and destroy.

The thread — The judgment on thieves and perjurers aligns with the principle in Proverbs 3:33 that the LORD's curse rests on the wicked. It also echoes the warning in Habakkuk 2:9 against building one's house by unjust gain, and Malachi 3:5's promise that God will confront perjurers.

Why it lands — The text requires the reader to recognize that divine judgment penetrates private spaces and leaves no structural element intact. It demands a sober assessment that oath-breaking and theft inevitably produce total domestic ruin.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

King James Version

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.

Cross-references

Proverbs 3:33 The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but He blesses the home of the righteous.
Habakkuk 2:9 Woe to him who builds his house by unjust gain, to place his nest on high and escape the hand of disaster!
Malachi 3:5 “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. And I will be a swift witness against sorcerers and adulterers and perjurers, against oppressors of the widowed and fatherless, and against those who defraud laborers of their wages and deny justice to the foreigner but do not fear Me,” says the LORD of Hosts.
Leviticus 14:34 “When you enter the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your possession, and I put a contamination of mildew into a house in that land,
Deuteronomy 7:26 And you must not bring any detestable thing into your house, or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction. You are to utterly detest and abhor it, because it is set apart for destruction.
Job 18:15 Fire resides in his tent; burning sulfur rains down on his dwelling.
James 5:2 Your riches have rotted and moths have eaten your clothes.
Job 20:26 Total darkness is reserved for his treasures. A fire unfanned will consume him and devour what is left in his tent.