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.

I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah 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 abide in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

I will cause it to go forth, saith Jehovah 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 lodge in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

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 its timber and its stones.

I have brought it out, an affirmation of Jehovah of Hosts, and it hath come in unto the house of the thief, and unto the house of him who hath sworn in My name to a falsehood, and it hath remained in the midst of his house, and hath consumed it, both its wood and its stones.'

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

And I will send it out, says the Lord of armies, and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of him who takes a false oath by my name: and it will be in his house, causing its complete destruction, with its woodwork and its stones.

I will bring it forth, says the Lord of hosts, and it will approach to the house of the thief, and to the house of him who swears falsely by my name, and it will remain in the midst of his house and will consume it, with its wood and its stones.

Emittam (vel, producam) eam, dicit Iehova exercituum; et veniet ad domum furantis, et ad domum jurantis in nomine meo fallaciter; et residebit in medio domus ejus, et consumet eam et ligna et lapides ejus.

I will bring it forth - Out of the treasure-house, as it were; as he says, "He bringeth forth the wind out of His treasures" Jeremiah 10:13; Jeremiah 51:16; and, "Is not this laid up in store with Me, sealed up among My treasures?" To Me belongeth "vengeance and recompense" Deuteronomy 32:34-35. And it shall remain, literally, "lodge for the night," until it has accomplished that for which it was sent, its utter destruction. Lap.: "So we have seen and see at this day powerful families, which attained to splendor by rapine or ill-gotten goods, destroyed by the just judgment of God, that those who see it are amazed, how such wealth perceptibly yet insensibly disappeared." Chrys. on the statues 15. n. 13. p. 259. Oxford Translation: "Why doth it overthrow the stones and the wood of the swearer's house? In order that the ruin may be a correction to all. For since the earth must hide the swearer, when dead, his house, overturned and become a heap, will by the very sight be an admonition to all who pass by and see it, not to venture on the like, lest they suffer the like, and it will be a lasting witness against the sin of the departed."
Paganism was impressed with the doom of him who consulted the oracle, whether he should foreswear himself for gain. "Swear," was the answer, "since death awaits too the man, who keeps the oath; yet Oath hath a son, nameless, handless, footless; but swift he pursueth, until he grasp together and destroy the whole race and house." "In the third generation, there was nought descended from him," who had consulted about this perjury, "nor hearthstone reputed to be his. It had been uprooted and effaced." A pagan orator relates, as well known, that "the perjurer escapes not the vengeance of the gods, and if not himself, yet the sons and whole race of the foresworn fall into great misfortunes." God left not Himself without witness.
Lap.: "The prophet speaks of the curse inflicted on the thieves and false swearers of his own day; but a fortiori he includes that which came upon them for slaying Christ. For this was the greatest of all, which utterly overthrew and consumed Jerusalem, the temple and polity, so that that ancient and glorious Jerusalem exists no longer, as Christ threatened. "They shall lay thee even with the ground, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another" Luke 19:44. This resteth upon them these" 1800 "years."

Into the house of him - Babylon, the house or city of Nebuchadnezzar, who was a public plunderer, and a most glaring idolater.

I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts,.... The roll was come forth, and was flying abroad; but the curse and wrath of God, signified by it, is what God would bring forth out of his treasures, according to his purposes and declarations, and execute upon sinners; which shows the certainty of it, and that there is no escaping it:
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; when wrath is gone forth from the Lord, there is no stopping it; and where it takes place it will remain, there is no getting rid of it; it makes an utter desolation of goods and estates, and entirely destroys both body and soul in hell: there seems to be an allusion to the plague of the leprosy, Leviticus 14:45. So the son of Sirach says,
"a man that swears much shall be full of iniquity, and the plague shall not depart from his house:''
and again,
"if a man swears in vain, he shall not be innocent or justified, for his house shall be full of calamities (y).''
So the oracle in Herodotus (z), which Grotius has observed, makes an utter destruction of a man's house and family, to be the punishment of the sin of perjury. Moreover, by the house of the thief and swearer may be meant the temple, as in the times of Christ, which was become a den of thieves and perjurers, and for their sins, became desolate, Matthew 21:13.
(y) Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 11. (z) Erato, sive l. 6. c. 86.

The "theft" immediately meant is similar sacrilege to that complained of in Nehemiah 13:10; Malachi 3:8. They robbed God by neglecting to give Him His due in building His house, while they built their own houses, forswearing their obligations to Him; therefore, the "houses" they build shall be "consumed" with God's "curse." Probably literal theft and perjury accompanied their virtual theft and perjury as to the temple of God (Malachi 3:5). Stealing and perjury go together; for the covetous and fraudulent perjure themselves by God's name without scruple (see Proverbs 30:9).
enter . . . the house--In vain they guard and shut themselves up who incur the curse; it will inevitably enter even when they think themselves most secure.
consume . . . timber . . . stones--not leaving a vestige of it. So the "stones" and "timber" of the house of a leper (type of the sinner) were to be utterly removed (Leviticus 14:15; compare 1-Kings 18:38).
The "ephah" is the Hebrew dry measure containing about thirty-seven quarts. Alluding to the previous vision as to theft and perjury: the ephah which, by falsification of the measure, they made the instrument of defrauding, shall be made the instrument of their punishment [GROTIUS]. Compare "this is their resemblance" (Zac 5:6), that is, this is a representation of what the Jews have done, and what they shall suffer. Their total dispersion ("the land of Shinar" being the emblem of the various Gentile lands of their present dispersion) is herein fortetold, when the measure (to which the ephah alludes) of their sins should be full. The former vision denounces judgment on individuals; this one, on the whole state: but enigmatically, not to discourage their present building [PEMBELLUS]. Rather, the vision is consolatory after the preceding one [CALVIN]. Idolatry and its kindred sins, covetousness and fraud (denounced in the vision of the roll), shall be removed far out of the Holy Land to their own congenial soil, never to return (so Zac 3:9; Isaiah 27:9; Isaiah 52:1; Isaiah 60:21; Jeremiah 50:20; Zephaniah 3:13). For more than two thousand years, ever since the Babylonian exile, the Jews have been free from idolatry; but the full accomplishment of the prophecy is yet future, when all sin shall be purged from Israel on their return to Palestine, and conversion to Christ.

It shall enter - This curse shall come with commission from me. It shall remain - It shall stick close to them and theirs like Gehazi's leprosy. And the stones - Nothing shall remain, as when both the timber and stones of a house are consumed.