Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

1[a] I looked up and saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.” 3Then the angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him, 4and said to him, “Run, say to that young man: Jerusalem shall be inhabited like villages without walls, because of the multitude of people and animals in it. 5For I will be a wall of fire all around it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.”

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

6Up, up! Flee from the land of the north, says the Lord; for I have spread you abroad like the four winds of heaven, says the Lord. 7Up! Escape to Zion, you that live with daughter Babylon. 8For thus said the Lord of hosts (after his glory[b] sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.[c] 9See now, I am going to raise[d] my hand against them, and they shall become plunder for their own slaves. Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10Sing and rejoice, O daughter Zion! For lo, I will come and dwell in your midst, says the Lord. 11Many nations shall join themselves to the Lord on that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell in your midst. And you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12The Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

13Be silent, all people, before the Lord; for he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.