God’s Favor to Zion

2 ^[a]Then I raised my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a man with a ^(A)measuring line in his hand. ² So I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, “To ^(B)measure Jerusalem, to see how wide it is and how long it is.” ³ And behold, the ^(C)angel who had been speaking with me was going out, and another angel was going out to meet him. ⁴ And he said to him, “Run, speak to that ^(D)young man there, saying, ‘^(E)Jerusalem will be inhabited ^(F)as open country because of the ^(G)multitude of people and cattle within it. ⁵ But I,’ declares the Lord, ‘will be a ^(H)wall of fire to her on all sides, and I will be the ^(I)glory in her midst.’”

⁶ “^[b]You there! ^(J)Flee from the land of the north,” declares the Lord, “because I have ^(K)spread you out like the four winds of the heavens,” declares the Lord. ⁷ “^[c]You, Zion! ^(L)Escape, you who are living with the daughter of Babylon.” ⁸ For the Lord of armies says this: “After ^(M)glory He has sent me against the nations that plunder you, for the one who touches you, touches the ^[d](N)apple of His eye. ⁹ For behold, I am going to ^(O)wave My hand over them so that they will be ^(P)plunder for their slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent Me. ^10 (Q)Shout for joy and rejoice, daughter of Zion; for behold I am coming and I will ^(R)dwell in your midst,” declares the Lord. ¹¹ “And ^(S)many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and will become My people. Then I will ^(T)dwell in your midst, and you will ^(U)know that the Lord of armies has sent Me to you. ¹² And the Lord will ^[e](V)possess Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again ^(W)choose Jerusalem.

¹³ “^[f](X)Be silent, all ^[g]mankind, before the Lord; for He has ^(Y)roused Himself from His holy dwelling.”

Joshua, the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(Z)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^[h](AA)Satan standing at his right to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “^(AB)The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has ^(AC)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a ^(AD)log snatched from the fire?” ³ Now Joshua was clothed in ^(AE)filthy garments and was standing before the angel. ⁴ And he responded and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “^(AF)Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have ^(AG)taken your guilt away from you and ^[i]will ^(AH)clothe you with festive robes.” ⁵ Then I said, “Have them put a clean ^(AI)headband on his head.” So they put the clean headband on his head and clothed him with garments, while the angel of the Lord was standing by.

⁶ And the angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, ⁷ “The Lord of armies says this: ‘If you ^(AJ)walk in My ways and perform My service, then you will both ^(AK)govern My house and be in charge of My ^(AL)courtyards, and I will grant you ^[j]free access among these who are standing here.

The Branch

⁸ Now listen, Joshua, you high priest, you and your friends who are sitting in front of you—indeed they are men who are a ^(AM)sign: for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the ^[k](AN)Branch. ⁹ For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are ^(AO)seven eyes. Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘and I will ^(AP)remove the guilt of that land in one day. ¹⁰ On that day,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘every one of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his ^(AQ)vine and under his fig tree.’”

The Golden Lampstand and the Olive Trees

4 Then ^(AR)the angel who had been speaking with me returned and ^(AS)woke me, like a person who is awakened from his sleep. ² And he said to me, “^(AT)What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a ^(AU)lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its ^(AV)seven lamps on it with seven ^[l]spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; ³ also ^(AW)two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the other on its left side.” ⁴ Then I said to the angel who was speaking with me, saying, “What are these, ^(AX)my lord?” ⁵ So ^(AY)the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “^(AZ)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ Then he said to ^[m]me, “This is the word of the Lord to ^(BA)Zerubbabel, saying, ‘^(BB)Not by might nor by power, but by My ^(BC)Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies. ⁷ ‘What are you, you great ^(BD)mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with ^(BE)shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

⁸ Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have ^(BF)laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will ^(BG)finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent me to ^[n]you. ¹⁰ For who has shown contempt for the day of ^(BH)small things? ^[o]But these ^(BI)seven will rejoice when they see the ^[p](BJ)plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—they are the ^(BK)eyes of the Lord ^(BL)roaming throughout the earth.”

¹¹ Then I said to him, “What are these ^(BM)two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?” ¹² And I responded the second time and said to him, “What are the two olive ^[q]branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” ¹³ So he answered me, saying, “^(BN)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, ^(BO)my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “These are the two ^[r](BP)anointed ones, who are ^(BQ)standing by the ^(BR)Lord of the whole earth.”

The Flying Scroll

5 Then I raised my eyes again and looked, and behold, there was a flying ^(BS)scroll. ² And he said to me, “^(BT)What do you see?” And I said, “I see a flying scroll; its length is ^[s]twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.” ³ Then he said to me, “This is the ^(BU)curse that is going forth over the face of the entire ^[t]land; everyone who ^(BV)steals certainly will be purged away according to ^[u]the writing on one side, and everyone who ^(BW)swears falsely will be purged away according to ^[v]the writing on the other side. ⁴ I will ^(BX)make it go forth,” declares the Lord of armies, “and it will ^(BY)enter the house of the ^(BZ)thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name; and it will spend the night within that house and ^(CA)destroy it with its timber and stones.”

⁵ Then ^(CB)the angel who had been speaking with me went out and said to me, “Now raise your eyes and see what this is that is going forth.” ⁶ And I said, “What is it?” Then he said, “This is the ^[w](CC)ephah going forth.” Again he said, “This is their ^[x]appearance in all the ^[y]land. ⁷ And behold, a lead cover was lifted up.” He continued, “And this is a woman sitting inside the ephah.” ⁸ Then he said, “This is ^(CD)Wickedness!” And he thrust her into the middle of the ephah and threw the lead weight on its ^[z]opening. ⁹ Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of the ^(CE)stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. ¹⁰ So I said to the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the ephah?” ¹¹ Then he said to me, “To build a ^[aa]temple for her in the land of ^(CF)Shinar; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal.”

Children of God Love One Another

3 See ^[a](A)how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called ^(B)children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because ^(C)it did not know Him. ^2 (D)Beloved, now we are ^(E)children of God, and ^(F)it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^(G)appears, we will be ^(H)like Him, because we will ^(I)see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this ^(J)hope set on Him ^(K)purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and ^(L)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that He ^(M)appeared in order to ^(N)take away sins; and ^(O)in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who remains in Him ^(P)sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or ^[b](Q)knows Him. ^7 (R)Little children, make sure no one ^(S)deceives you; ^(T)the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; ⁸ the one who practices sin is ^(U)of the devil; for the devil ^[c]has been sinning from the beginning. ^(V)The Son of God ^(W)appeared for this purpose, ^(X)to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one who has been ^(Y)born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this the ^(Z)children of God and the ^(AA)children of the devil are obvious: ^[d]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(AB)does not love his ^(AC)brother and sister.

^11 (AD)For this is the message ^(AE)which you have heard from the beginning, ^(AF)that we are to love one another; ¹² not as ^(AG)Cain, who was of ^(AH)the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because ^(AI)his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if ^(AJ)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have ^(AK)passed out of death into life, ^(AL)because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who ^(AM)hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that ^(AN)no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that ^(AO)He laid down His life for us; and ^(AP)we ought to lay down our lives for the ^(AQ)brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ But ^(AR)whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and ^(AS)closes his ^[e]heart ^[f]against him, ^(AT)how does the love of God remain in him? ^18 (AU)Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^(AV)truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are ^(AW)of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him, ²⁰ that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. ^21 (AX)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^(AY)confidence ^[g]before God; ²² and ^(AZ)whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we ^(BA)keep His commandments and do ^(BB)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³ This is His commandment, that we ^[h](BC)believe in ^(BD)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^(BE)He ^[i]commanded us. ²⁴ The one who ^(BF)keeps His commandments ^(BG)remains in Him, and He in him. ^(BH)We know by this that ^(BI)He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

The Majesty of the Lord.