Zechariah 3
Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
Fourth Vision: Joshua and Satan
3 Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire?” 3 Now Joshua was standing before the angel, clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to those who were standing before him, “Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, I have taken your iniquity away from you, and I will clothe you with rich apparel.” 5 And I said, “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 enjoined Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and keep my charge, 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. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for they are men of good omen: behold, I will bring my servant the Branch. 9 For behold, upon the stone which I have set before Joshua, upon 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. 10 In that day, says the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor under his vine and under his fig tree.”
Zechariah 3
New King James Version
Vision of the High Priest
3 Then he showed me (A)Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and (B)Satan[a] standing at his right hand to oppose him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, (C)“The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who (D)has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! (E)Is this not a brand plucked from the fire?”
3 Now Joshua was clothed with (F)filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.
4 Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, “Take away the filthy garments from him.” And to him He said, “See, I have removed your iniquity from you, (G)and I will clothe you with rich robes.”
5 And I said, “Let them put a clean (H)turban on his head.”
So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put the clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by.
The Coming Branch
6 Then the Angel of the Lord admonished Joshua, saying, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts:
‘If you will walk in My ways,
And if you will (I)keep My command,
Then you shall also (J)judge My house,
And likewise have charge of My courts;
I will give you places to walk
Among these who (K)stand here.
8 ‘Hear, O Joshua, the high priest,
You and your companions who sit before you,
For they are (L)a[b] wondrous sign;
For behold, I am bringing forth (M)My Servant the (N)BRANCH.
9 For behold, the stone
That I have laid before Joshua:
(O)Upon the stone are (P)seven eyes.
Behold, I will engrave its inscription,’
Says the Lord of hosts,
‘And (Q)I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 (R)In that day,’ says the Lord of hosts,
‘Everyone will invite his neighbor
(S)Under his vine and under his fig tree.’ ”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 3:1 Lit. the Adversary
- Zechariah 3:8 Lit. men of a sign or wonder
Zechariah 3
English Standard Version
A Vision of Joshua the High Priest
3 Then he showed me (A)Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and (B)Satan[a] standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, (C)“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has (D)chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this (E)a brand[b] plucked from the fire?” 3 Now (F)Joshua was standing before the angel, (G)clothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to (H)those who were standing before him, (I)“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, (J)I have taken your iniquity away from you, and (K)I will clothe you with pure vestments.” 5 And I said, (L)“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 (M)Joshua, 7 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and (N)keep my charge, then you shall (O)rule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among (P)those who are standing here. 8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for (Q)they are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring (R)my servant (S)the Branch. 9 For behold, on (T)the stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with (U)seven eyes,[c] I will (V)engrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and (W)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 (X)under his vine and under his fig tree.”
Footnotes
- Zechariah 3:1 Hebrew the Accuser or the Adversary
- Zechariah 3:2 That is, a burning stick
- Zechariah 3:9 Or facets
Zechariah 3
EasyEnglish Bible
Clean clothes for Joshua the most important priest
3 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to me, Zechariah, and he showed me Joshua, the most important priest. Joshua was standing in front of the angel of the Lord. Satan stood on the right side of Joshua. He was ready to say that Joshua had done bad things. 2 The Lord said to Satan, ‘The Lord says that you are wrong. The Lord has chosen Jerusalem. And he says that you are wrong. Joshua is certainly like a burning stick that someone pulls quickly out of the fire.’
3 Joshua was wearing very dirty clothes and he stood in front of the angel. 4 The angel said to the other angels that stood in front of him, ‘Remove his very dirty clothes.’ Then the first angel said to Joshua, ‘See, I have taken away your sin. I will put the clothes on you that a priest should wear.’
5 Then Zechariah said, ‘Put a clean hat on his head.’ So they put a clean hat on his head and they dressed him in clean clothes. The angel of the Lord stood near to them.[a]
6 The angel of the Lord spoke to Joshua with these serious words. 7 ‘These are the words of the Lord Almighty. Listen to them and obey them. “You will rule in my house. You will rule inside the walls of my house. I will give you a place among the angels that are standing here.
8 Listen, Joshua, most important priest of the Lord. Listen you priests that sit with Joshua. You are like a sign. People can look at you. And they can know that good things will happen in future years. See! I will bring to you my servant who is called The Branch.[b] 9 See the stone that I have put in front of Joshua! It is a stone with seven sides and I will cut words in the stone”, says the Lord Almighty. “I will remove the sin of this country's people in one day.” 10 “On that day”, says the Lord Almighty, “each of you will ask your friends to come. You will ask them to come and to sit under your own vines and fig trees.” ’[c]
Footnotes
- 3:5 The angel of the Lord was watching everything that they were doing.
- 3:8 The Branch is another name for Jesus. See also Isaiah 11:1-2 and Jeremiah 23:5.
- 3:10 This means that they will have plenty of good things. They will ask their friends to enjoy those good things with them.
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

