A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

2 ^[a] And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, ^(A)a man with a measuring line in his hand! ² Then I said, “Where are you going?” And he said to me, ^(B)“To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” ³ And behold, ^(C)the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him ⁴ and said to him, “Run, say to that young man, ^(D)‘Jerusalem shall be inhabited ^(E)as villages without walls, because of ^(F)the multitude of people and livestock in it. ⁵ And I will be to her ^(G)a wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.’”

⁶ Up! Up! ^(H)Flee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have ^(I)spread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. ^7 (J)Up! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. ⁸ For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me^[b] to the nations who plundered you, ^(K)for he who touches you touches ^(L)the apple of his eye: ⁹ “Behold, ^(M)I will shake my hand over them, ^(N)and they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then ^(O)you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. ^10 (P)Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ^(Q)behold, I come ^(R)and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. ^11 (S)And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. ^(T)And I will dwell in your midst, and ^(U)you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. ^12 (V)And the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ^(W)choose Jerusalem.”

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

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

3 Then he showed me ^(X)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and ^(Y)Satan^[c] standing at his right hand to accuse him. ² And the Lord said to Satan, ^(Z)“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has ^(AA)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this ^(AB)a brand^[d] plucked from the fire?” ³ Now ^(AC)Joshua was standing before the angel, ^(AD)clothed with filthy garments. ⁴ And the angel said to ^(AE)those who were standing before him, ^(AF)“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, ^(AG)I have taken your iniquity away from you, and ^(AH)I will clothe you with pure vestments.” ⁵ And I said, ^(AI)“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 ^(AJ)Joshua, ⁷ “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ^(AK)keep my charge, then you shall ^(AL)rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among ^(AM)those who are standing here. ⁸ Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for ^(AN)they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ^(AO)my servant ^(AP)the Branch. ⁹ For behold, on ^(AQ)the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with ^(AR)seven eyes,^[e] I will ^(AS)engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and ^(AT)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 ^(AU)under his vine and under his fig tree.”

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

4 And ^(AV)the angel who talked with me came again ^(AW)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, ^(AX)a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and ^(AY)seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. ³ And there are ^(AZ)two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” ⁴ And I said to ^(BA)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” ⁵ Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, ^(BB)“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 ^(BC)Zerubbabel: ^(BD)Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. ⁷ Who are you, ^(BE)O great mountain? Before ^(BF)Zerubbabel ^(BG)you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward ^(BH)the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”

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

^(BO)“These seven ^(BP)are the eyes of the Lord, ^(BQ)which range through the whole earth.” ¹¹ Then I said to him, “What are these ^(BR)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 ^(BS)two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil^[f] is poured out?” ¹³ He said to me, ^(BT)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” ¹⁴ Then he said, ^(BU)“These are the two anointed ones^[g] who stand by ^(BV)the Lord of the whole earth.”

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

5 Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ^(BW)scroll! ² And he said to me, “What do you see?” I answered, “I see a flying ^(BX)scroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.”^{[h] 3} Then he said to me, “This is ^(BY)the curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who ^(BZ)steals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who ^(CA)swears falsely^[i] shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. ⁴ I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ^(CB)him who swears falsely by my name. And ^(CC)it shall remain in his house and ^(CD)consume it, both timber and stones.”

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

^5 (CE)Then the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, ^(CF)“Lift your eyes and see what this is that is going out.” ⁶ And I said, “What is it?” He said, “This is ^(CG)the basket^[j] that is going out.” And he said, “This is their iniquity^[k] in all the land.” ⁷ And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! ⁸ And he said, “This is Wickedness.” And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down ^(CH)the leaden weight on its opening.

⁹ Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! ^(CI)The wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. ¹⁰ Then I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they taking the basket?” ¹¹ He said to me, “To the ^(CJ)land of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.”

The Lord Reigns

3 See ^(A)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(B)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(C)the world does not know us is that ^(D)it did not know him. ² Beloved, we are ^(E)God's children ^(F)now, and what we will be ^(G)has not yet appeared; but we know that ^(H)when he appears^{[a] (I)}we shall be like him, because ^(J)we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who ^(K)thus hopes in him ^(L)purifies himself as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^(M)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that ^(N)he appeared in order to ^(O)take away sins, and ^(P)in him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ^(Q)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children, ^(R)let no one deceive you. ^(S)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ^8 (T)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^(U)to destroy the works of the devil. ^9 (V)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's^[b] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^(W)nor is the one who ^(X)does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(Y)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(Z)that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like ^(AA)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(AB)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers,^{[c] (AC)}that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that ^(AD)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15 (AE)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(AF)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that ^(AG)he laid down his life for us, and ^(AH)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But ^(AI)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(AJ)closes his heart against him, ^(AK)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(AL)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(AM)in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, ^(AN)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(AO)we have confidence before God; ²² and ^(AP)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(AQ)do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, ^(AR)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(AS)love one another, ^(AT)just as he has commanded us. ^24 (AU)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[d] and God^[e] in him. And ^(AV)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.