Joshua, the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^[a](B)Satan standing at his right to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, “^(C)The Lord rebuke you, Satan! Indeed, the Lord who has ^(D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is this not a ^(E)log snatched from the fire?” ³ Now Joshua was clothed in ^(F)filthy garments and was standing before the angel. ⁴ And he responded and said to those who were standing before him, saying, “^(G)Remove the filthy garments from him.” Again he said to him, “See, I have ^(H)taken your guilt away from you and ^[b]will ^(I)clothe you with festive robes.” ⁵ Then I said, “Have them put a clean ^(J)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 ^(K)walk in My ways and perform My service, then you will both ^(L)govern My house and be in charge of My ^(M)courtyards, and I will grant you ^[c]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 ^(N)sign: for behold, I am going to bring in My servant the ^[d](O)Branch. ⁹ For behold, the stone that I have put before Joshua; on one stone are ^(P)seven eyes. Behold, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares the Lord of armies, ‘and I will ^(Q)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 ^(R)vine and under his fig tree.’”

Correcting False Teaching

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)according to the commandment of ^(D)God our Savior, and of ^(E)Christ Jesus, who is our ^(F)hope,

² To ^(G)Timothy, ^(H)my true ^[a]son in the faith: ^(I)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and ^(J)Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ Just as I urged you ^[b]upon my departure for ^(K)Macedonia, to remain on at ^(L)Ephesus so that you would instruct certain people not to ^(M)teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to ^[c]pay attention to ^(N)myths and endless ^(O)genealogies, which give rise to useless ^(P)speculation rather than ^(Q)advance ^[d]the plan of God, which is by faith, so I urge you now. ⁵ But the goal of our ^[e](R)instruction is love ^(S)from a pure heart, from a ^(T)good conscience, and from a sincere ^(U)faith. ⁶ Some people have strayed from these things and have turned aside to ^(V)fruitless discussion, ^7 (W)wanting to be ^(X)teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

⁸ But we know that ^(Y)the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ realizing the fact that ^(Z)law is not made for a righteous person but for those who are lawless and ^(AA)rebellious, for the ^(AB)ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and ^(AC)worldly, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the ^[f](AD)sexually immoral, ^(AE)homosexuals, ^[g](AF)slave traders, ^(AG)liars, ^(AH)perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^(AI)sound teaching, ¹¹ according to ^(AJ)the glorious gospel of ^(AK)the blessed God, with which I have been ^(AL)entrusted.

Paul’s Testimony

¹² I thank ^(AM)Christ Jesus our Lord, who has ^(AN)strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, ^(AO)putting me into service, ¹³ even though I was previously a blasphemer and a ^(AP)persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was ^(AQ)shown mercy because ^(AR)I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴ and the ^(AS)grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the ^(AT)faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. ^15 (AU)It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that ^(AV)Christ Jesus came into the world to ^(AW)save sinners, among whom ^(AX)I am foremost. ¹⁶ Yet for this reason I ^(AY)found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might ^(AZ)demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those ^[h]who would believe in Him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the ^(BA)King ^[i]eternal, ^(BB)immortal, ^(BC)invisible, the ^(BD)only God, ^(BE)be honor and glory ^[j]forever and ever. Amen.

The Golden Lampstand and the Olive Trees

4 Then ^(A)the angel who had been speaking with me returned and ^(B)woke me, like a person who is awakened from his sleep. ² And he said to me, “^(C)What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a ^(D)lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its ^(E)seven lamps on it with seven ^[a]spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it; ³ also ^(F)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, ^(G)my lord?” ⁵ So ^(H)the angel who was speaking with me answered and said to me, “^(I)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ Then he said to ^[b]me, “This is the word of the Lord to ^(J)Zerubbabel, saying, ‘^(K)Not by might nor by power, but by My ^(L)Spirit,’ says the Lord of armies. ⁷ ‘What are you, you great ^(M)mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain; and he will bring out the top stone with ^(N)shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

⁸ Also the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have ^(O)laid the foundation of this house, and his hands will ^(P)finish it. Then you will know that the Lord of armies has sent me to ^[c]you. ¹⁰ For who has shown contempt for the day of ^(Q)small things? ^[d]But these ^(R)seven will rejoice when they see the ^[e](S)plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—they are the ^(T)eyes of the Lord ^(U)roaming throughout the earth.”

¹¹ Then I said to him, “What are these ^(V)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 ^[f]branches which are beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden oil from themselves?” ¹³ So he answered me, saying, “^(W)Do you not know what these are?” And I said, “No, ^(X)my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “These are the two ^[g](Y)anointed ones, who are ^(Z)standing by the ^(AA)Lord of the whole earth.”