Third Vision: Surveyor

2 I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. ² I asked, “Where are you going?”

He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem to determine its width and length.”

³ Then the angel who was speaking with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him. ⁴ He said to him, “Run and tell this young man: Jerusalem will be inhabited without walls because of the number of people and animals in it.”^{(A) 5} The declaration of the Lord: “I myself will be a wall^(B) of fire around it, and I will be the glory within it.”

⁶ “Listen! Listen! Flee from the land of the north”^(C)—this is the Lord’s declaration—“for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven”—this is the Lord’s declaration. ⁷ “Listen, Zion! Escape, you who are living with Daughter Babylon.” ⁸ For the Lord of Armies says this: “In pursuit of his glory, he sent me against the nations plundering you, for whoever touches you touches the pupil^[a] of my^[b] eye. ⁹ For look, I am raising my hand against them, and they will become plunder for their own servants.^(D) Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me.

¹⁰ “Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you”—this is the Lord’s declaration. ¹¹ “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become my^[c] people.^(E) I will dwell among you, and you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. ¹² The Lord will take possession of Judah as his portion in the Holy Land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem.^{(F) 13} Let all humanity be silent^(G) before the Lord, for from his holy dwelling he has roused himself.”

Fourth Vision: High Priest and Branch

3 Then he showed me the high priest Joshua^(H) standing before the angel of the Lord,^(I) with Satan^[d](J) standing at his right side to accuse him. ² The Lord^[e] said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, Satan! May the Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Isn’t this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” ^(K)

³ Now Joshua was dressed with filthy^[f] clothes^(L) as he stood before the angel.^{(M) 4} So the angel of the Lord^[g] spoke to those^[h] standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes!” Then he said to him, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you,^(N) and I will clothe you with festive robes.”

⁵ Then I said, “Let them put a clean turban^(O) on his head.” So a clean turban was placed on his head, and they clothed him in garments while the angel of the Lord was standing nearby.

⁶ Then the angel of the Lord charged Joshua, ⁷ “This is what the Lord of Armies says: If you walk in my ways and keep my mandates, you will both rule my house and take care of my courts; I will also grant you access among these who are standing here.

⁸ “Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your colleagues sitting before you; indeed, these men are a sign that I am about to bring my servant, the Branch.^{(P) 9} Notice the stone^(Q) I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes.^(R) I will engrave an inscription on it”—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“and I will take away the iniquity of this land in a single day. ¹⁰ On that day, each of you will invite his neighbor to sit under his vine and fig tree.”^(S) This is the declaration of the Lord of Armies.

Fifth Vision: Gold Lampstand

4 The angel who was speaking with me then returned and roused me as one awakened out of sleep. ² He asked me, “What do you see?”

I replied, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top. The lampstand also has seven lamps at the top with seven spouts for each of^[i] the lamps. ³ There are also two olive trees beside it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

⁴ Then I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “What are these, my lord?”

⁵ “Don’t you know what they are?” replied the angel who was speaking with me.

I said, “No, my lord.”

⁶ So he answered me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength or by might, but by my Spirit,’^(T) says the Lord of Armies. ⁷ ‘What are you, great mountain?^(U) Before Zerubbabel you will become a plain.^(V) And he will bring out the capstone accompanied by shouts of: Grace, grace to it!’”

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me:^{(W) 9} “Zerubbabel’s hands have laid the foundation of this house,^(X) and his hands will complete it. Then you will know that the Lord of Armies has sent me to you. ¹⁰ For who despises the day of small things?^(Y) These seven eyes of the Lord, which scan throughout the whole earth, will rejoice when they see the ceremonial stone^[j] in Zerubbabel’s hand.”^(Z)

¹¹ I asked him, “What are the two olive trees on the right and left of the lampstand?” ¹² And I questioned him further, “What are the two streams^[k] of the olive trees, from which the golden oil is pouring through the two golden conduits?”

¹³ Then he inquired of me, “Don’t you know what these are?”

“No, my lord,” I replied.

¹⁴ “These are the two anointed ones,”^[l](AA) he said, “who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.”^(AB)

Sixth Vision: Flying Scroll

5 I looked up again and saw a flying scroll.^{(AC) 2} “What do you see?” he asked me.

“I see a flying scroll,” I replied, “thirty feet^[m] long and fifteen feet^[n] wide.”^(AD)

³ Then he said to me, “This is the curse^(AE) that is going out over the whole land, for everyone who is a thief, contrary to what is written on one side, has gone unpunished,^[o] and everyone who swears falsely, contrary to what is written on the other side, has gone unpunished. ⁴ I will send it out,”^(AF)—this is the declaration of the Lord of Armies—“and it will enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by my name. It will stay inside his house and destroy it along with its timbers and stones.”^(AG)

Seventh Vision: Woman in the Basket

⁵ Then the angel who was speaking with me came forward and told me, “Look up and see what this is that is approaching.”

⁶ So I asked, “What is it?”

He responded, “It’s a measuring basket^[p] that is approaching.” And he continued, “This is their iniquity^[q] in all the land.” ⁷ Then a lead cover was lifted, and there was a woman^(AH) sitting inside the basket.^{(AI) 8} “This is Wickedness,” he said. He shoved her down into the basket and pushed the lead weight over its opening. ⁹ Then I looked up and saw two women approaching with the wind in their wings. Their wings were like those of a stork,^(AJ) and they lifted up the basket between earth and sky.

¹⁰ So I asked the angel who was speaking with me, “Where are they taking the basket?”

¹¹ “To build a shrine for it in the land of Shinar,”^(AK) he told me. “When that is ready, the basket will be placed there on its pedestal.”

Psalm 93

God’s Eternal Reign

3 See what great love^[a] the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. ² Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed.^(A) We know that when he appears,^[b] we will be like him^(B) because we will see him as he is.^{(C) 3} And everyone who has this hope^(D) in him purifies himself just as he is pure.^(E)

⁴ Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins,^[c](F) and there is no sin in him.^{(G) 6} Everyone who remains in him^(H) does not sin;^[d](I) everyone who sins^[e] has not seen him or known him.

⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. ⁸ The one who commits^[f] sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God^(J) was revealed^(K) for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works. ⁹ Everyone who has been born of God^(L) does not sin,^[g] because his seed^(M) remains in him; he is not able to sin,^[h] because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.^(N)

Love in Action

¹¹ For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, ¹² unlike Cain,^(O) who was of the evil one^(P) and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates^(Q) you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.^{(R) 15} Everyone who hates his brother or sister^(S) is a murderer,^(T) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. ¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life^(U) for us.^(V) We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{(W) 17} If anyone has this world’s goods^(X) and sees a fellow believer^[i] in need^(Y) but withholds compassion^(Z) from him—how does God’s love reside in him?^{(AA) 18} Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.^(AB)

¹⁹ This is how we will know that we belong to the truth^(AC) and will reassure our hearts before him ²⁰ whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.^(AD)

²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God ²² and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands^(AE) and do what is pleasing in his sight. ²³ Now this is his command: that we believe in the name^(AF) of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The one who keeps his commands remains in him,^(AG) and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us^(AH) is from the Spirit^(AI) he has given us.