< Zechariah 2 >

1 Then I looked again and I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.
2 “Where are you going?” I asked him. “I'm going to Jerusalem to measure its width and length,” he replied.
Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”
3 The angel I was talking to came forward and another angel came to meet him
Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him,
4 and told him, “Run, and tell the young man that Jerusalem will have so many people and farm animals that it will be too big to have walls.”
and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
5 The Lord declares, I myself will be a wall of fire all around the city, and I will be the glory inside it.
For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.
6 Run! Run! Run away from the northern land, says the Lord, because I have scattered you to the four winds of heaven.
Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says the LORD; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says the LORD.
7 Run away, people of Zion! All of you who live in Babylon must escape.
‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’
8 For this is what the Lord Almighty said: Afterwards the glorious Lord sent me against the nations that plundered you—for those who touch you touch the apple of his eye.
For the LORD of Armies says: ‘For honour he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.
9 I will raise my hand against them and their former slaves will plunder them. Then you will know the Lord Almighty has sent me.
For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me.
10 Sing in celebration, people of Zion, for I am coming to live with you, declares the Lord.
Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion! For behold, I come and I will dwell within you,’ says the LORD.
11 Many nations will become believers in Lord on that day, and they shall be my people. I will live among you, and you will know the Lord Almighty has sent me to you.
Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell amongst you, and you shall know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.
12 The people of Judah will be the Lord's special people in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem as his special city.
The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
13 Be silent before the Lord, everyone, for he has risen from the holy place where he lives.
Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”

< Zechariah 2 >