Zechariah 2

Then I looked up and saw a man who was holding a measuring line.

I asked him, “Where are you going?” He replied, “I am going to measure Jerusalem to find out how wide it is and how long it is.” \*

Then the angel who had been talking to me went out, and another angel came out to meet him.

The second angel said to him, “Run and tell that young man this: ‘Someday so many people and animals will live in Jerusalem that they will not all fit inside the city walls. Many of them will live outside the walls.

God says that he himself will protect the city all around, just as a wall of fire would protect it, and he will show everyone how great he is by living among his people in the city.’” \*

God declares, “Pay attention! You must flee from Babylonia, because I scattered you in every direction.”

God says, “You people of Jerusalem who are still living in Babylon, escape from there! \*

This is what God, the commander of the heavenly armies, says. In order to honor his people, he sent me to rebuke the nations that took away your valuable possessions. He says, ‘Anyone who harms you harms what is most precious to me.

I am about to use my power against those nations, and the people who used to serve them will take back their possessions from them.’” When that happens, you will know that God, the commander of the heavenly armies, sent me. \*

God says, “You people of Jerusalem, shout and be happy, because I am about to come to you and live among you!”

At that time, people from many nations will start worshiping God and become his people. He will live among all of you. Then you will know that God, the commander of the heavenly armies, sent me to you. \*

God will claim the people of Judah as his own special people in the land that he has set apart for himself, and he will once again choose Jerusalem as his city.

All people everywhere must be silent before God, because he has risen up from heaven, the holy place where he lives, and he is ready to act! \*