A Vision of a Man Holding a Measuring Line

¹Then I looked up and saw a man. He was holding a measuring line. ² “Where are you going?” I asked.

“To measure Jerusalem,” he answered. “I want to find out how wide and how long it is.”

³ The angel who was talking with me was leaving. At that time, another angel came over to him. ⁴ He said to him, “Run! Tell that young man Zechariah, ‘Jerusalem will be a city that does not have any walls around it. It will have huge numbers of people and animals in it. ⁵ And I myself will be like a wall of fire around it,’ announces the Lord. ‘I will be the city’s glory.’

⁶ “Israel, I have scattered you,” announces the Lord. “I have used the power of the four winds of heaven to do it. Come quickly! Run away from the land of the north,” announces the Lord.

⁷ “Come, people of Zion! Escape, you who live in Babylon!” ⁸ The Lord rules over all. His angel says to Israel, “The Glorious One has sent me to punish the nations that have robbed you of everything. That’s because anyone who hurts you hurts those the Lord loves and guards. ⁹ So I will raise my powerful hand to strike down your enemies. Their own slaves will rob them of everything. Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me.

¹⁰ “ ‘People of Zion, shout and be glad! I am coming to live among you,’ announces the Lord. ¹¹ ‘At that time many nations will join themselves to me. And they will become my people. I will live among you,’ says the Lord. Then you will know that the Lord who rules over all has sent me to you. ¹² He will receive Judah as his share in the holy land. And he will choose Jerusalem again. ¹³ All you people of the world, be still because the Lord is coming. He is getting ready to come down from his holy temple in heaven.”