Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan

3 Then he showed me the high priest Joshua standing before the angel of the Lord and the accuser^[a] standing at his right hand to accuse him.^{(A) 2} And the Lord said to the accuser,^[b] “The Lord rebuke you, O accuser!^[c] The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this man a brand plucked from the fire?”^{(B) 3} Now Joshua was wearing filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel^[d] said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And to him he said, “See, I have taken your guilt away from you, and I will clothe you with festal apparel.”^{(C) 5} And he said,^[e] “Let them put a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with apparel, and the angel of the Lord was standing by.^(D)

⁶ Then the angel of the Lord warned Joshua, saying ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you shall rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among those who are standing here.^{(E) 8} Now listen, Joshua, high priest, you and your colleagues who sit before you! For they are an omen of things to come: I am going to bring my servant the Branch.^{(F) 9} For on the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with seven facets, I will engrave its inscription, says the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the guilt of this land in a single day.^{(G) 10} On that day, says the Lord of hosts, you shall invite each other to come under your vine and fig tree.”^(H)

Salutation

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,^(A)

² To Timothy, my true child^[a] in the faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.^(B)

Warning against False Teachers

³ I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach different teachings^{(C) 4} and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training^[b] that is known by faith.^{(D) 5} But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.^{(E) 6} Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

⁸ Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately; ⁹ this means understanding that the law is laid down not for the righteous but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,^{(F) 10} the sexually immoral, men who engage in illicit sex,^[c] slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching^{(G) 11} that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.

Gratitude for Mercy

¹² I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful and appointed me to his service,^{(H) 13} even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,^{(I) 14} and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me^[d] with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.^{(J) 15} The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance: that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.^{(K) 16} But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience as an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷ To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible,^[e] the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.^[f] Amen.^(L)

Fifth Vision: The Lampstand and Olive Trees

4 The angel who spoke with me came again and wakened me, as one is wakened from sleep.^{(A) 2} He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.^{(B) 3} And by it there are two olive trees, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”^{(C) 4} I said to the angel who spoke with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ Then the angel who spoke with me answered me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ⁶ He said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts.^{(D) 7} What are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring out the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’ ”^(E)

⁸ Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ⁹ “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.^{(F) 10} For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel.

“These seven are the eyes of the Lord that range through the whole earth.”^{(G) 11} Then I said to him, “What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” ¹² And a second time I said to him, “What are these two branches of the olive trees that pour out the oil^[a] through the two golden pipes?” ¹³ He said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, “These are the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”^(H)