Who Can Stand Before You?

To the choirmaster: with ^(A)stringed instruments. A Psalm of ^(B)Asaph. A Song.

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^(B)Satan^[a] standing at his right hand to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, ^(C)“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has ^(D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this ^(E)a brand^[b] plucked from the fire?” ³ Now ^(F)Joshua was standing before the angel, ^(G)clothed with filthy garments. ⁴ And the angel said to ^(H)those who were standing before him, ^(I)“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, ^(J)I have taken your iniquity away from you, and ^(K)I will clothe you with pure vestments.” ⁵ And I said, ^(L)“Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured ^(M)Joshua, ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ^(N)keep my charge, then you shall ^(O)rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among ^(P)those who are standing here. ⁸ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for ^(Q)they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ^(R)my servant ^(S)the Branch. ⁹ For behold, on ^(T)the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with ^(U)seven eyes,^[c] I will ^(V)engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(W)I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. ¹⁰ In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come ^(X)under his vine and under his fig tree.”

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

4 And ^(Y)the angel who talked with me came again ^(Z)and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. ² And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, ^(AA)a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and ^(AB)seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. ³ And there are ^(AC)two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” ⁴ And I said to ^(AD)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ^(AE)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to ^(AF)Zerubbabel: ^(AG)Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. ⁷ Who are you, ^(AH)O great mountain? Before ^(AI)Zerubbabel ^(AJ)you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward ^(AK)the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ^9 (AL)“The hands of ^(AM)Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also ^(AN)complete it. ^(AO)Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^10 (AP)For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see ^(AQ)the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

^(AR)“These seven ^(AS)are the eyes of the Lord, ^(AT)which range through the whole earth.” ¹¹ Then I said to him, “What are these ^(AU)two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” ¹² And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these ^(AV)two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil^[d] is poured out?” ¹³ He said to me, ^(AW)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, ^(AX)“These are the two anointed ones^[e] who stand by ^(AY)the Lord of the whole earth.”

Behold, the Lamb of God

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, ^(A)the Lamb of God, who ^(B)takes away the sin ^(C)of the world! ³⁰ This is he of whom I said, ^(D)‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ³¹ I myself did not know him, but ^(E)for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” ³² And John ^(F)bore witness: ^(G)“I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and ^(H)it remained on him. ³³ I myself did not know him, but ^(I)he who sent me to baptize ^(J)with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, ^(K)this is he who baptizes ^(L)with the Holy Spirit.’ ³⁴ And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son^[a] of God.”

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

³⁵ The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, ³⁶ and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, ^(M)the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, ^(N)“What are you seeking?” And they said to him, ^(O)“Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.^{[b] 40 (P)}One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus^[c] was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. ⁴¹ He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found ^(Q)the Messiah” (which means Christ). ⁴² He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of ^(R)John. You shall be called ^(S)Cephas” (which means ^(T)Peter^[d]).

Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael

^43 (U)The next day Jesus decided ^(V)to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” ⁴⁴ Now ^(W)Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. ⁴⁵ Philip found ^(X)Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom ^(Y)Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus ^(Z)of Nazareth, ^(AA)the son of Joseph.” ⁴⁶ Nathanael said to him, ^(AB)“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” ⁴⁷ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Behold, ^(AC)an Israelite indeed, ^(AD)in whom there is no deceit!” ⁴⁸ Nathanael said to him, “How ^(AE)do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” ⁴⁹ Nathanael answered him, ^(AF)“Rabbi, ^(AG)you are the Son of God! You are the ^(AH)King of Israel!” ⁵⁰ Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” ⁵¹ And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you,^[e] you will see ^(AI)heaven opened, and ^(AJ)the angels of God ascending and descending on ^(AK)the Son of Man.”