Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

2 ^[a]I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.^{(A) 2} Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.”^{(B) 3} Then the angel who spoke with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like unwalled villages because of the multitude of people and animals in it.^{(C) 5} For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”^(D)

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

⁶ Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord, for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord.^{(E) 7} Up! Escape to Zion, you who live with daughter Babylon. ⁸ For thus said the Lord of hosts after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.^{[b](F) 9} For I am going to raise^[c] my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me.^{(G) 10} Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord.^{(H) 11} Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day and shall be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ¹² The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land and will again choose Jerusalem.^(I)

¹³ Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord, for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.^(J)

The Message to Laodicea

¹⁴ “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the origin^[a] of God’s creation:^(A)

¹⁵ “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. ¹⁶ So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. ¹⁷ For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’ You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.^{(B) 18} Therefore I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white robes to clothe yourself and to keep the shame of your nakedness from being seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.^{(C) 19} I reprove and discipline those whom I love. Be earnest, therefore, and repent.^{(D) 20} Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.^{(E) 21} To the one who conquers I will give a place with me on my throne, just as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.^{(F) 22} Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.”

¹² And because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end will be saved.^{(A) 14} And this good news^[a] of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.^(B)

The Desolating Sacrilege

¹⁵ “So when you see the desolating sacrilege, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),^{(C) 16} then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; ¹⁷ the one on the housetop must not go down to take things from the house; ¹⁸ the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. ¹⁹ Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰ Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.^{(D) 22} And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved, but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.^{(E) 23} Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’^[b] or ‘There he is!’—do not believe it.^{(F) 24} For false messiahs^[c] and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.^{(G) 25} Take note, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶ So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. ²⁷ For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.^{(H) 28} Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather.

The Coming of the Son of Man

²⁹ “Immediately after the suffering of those days

³⁰ “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory.^{(J) 31} And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.^(K)

The Lesson of the Fig Tree

³² “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So also, when you see all these things, you know that he^[d] is near, at the very gates. ³⁴ Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.^{(L) 35} Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.^(M)

The Necessity for Watchfulness

³⁶ “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son,^[e] but only the Father. ³⁷ For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.^{(N) 38} For as in the days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so, too, will be the coming of the Son of Man. ⁴⁰ Then two will be in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.^{(O) 41} Two women will be grinding meal together; one will be taken, and one will be left. ⁴² Keep awake, therefore, for you do not know on what day^[f] your Lord is coming.^{(P) 43} But understand this: if the owner of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.^{(Q) 44} Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.^(R)