And I looked up and I saw, and look, a man, and in his hand was a measuring rope! And I asked, "Where are you going?" And he answered me, "To measure Jerusalem to see what is its width and what is its length." And look, the angel who was talking to me was coming forward, and another angel was coming forward to meet him. And he 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 its midst. And I will be for it a wall of fire all around,’ declares Yahweh, ‘and I will be the glory in its midst.’"

"Woe! Woe! Flee from the land of the north," declares Yahweh, "for I have scattered you like the four winds of the heavens," declares Yahweh. "Woe, Zion! Escape, you inhabitants of the daughter of Babylon!" For thus said Yahweh of hosts, after glory he sent me against the nations plundering you: Truly, the one touching you is touching the apple of his eye. "Yes, look! I am going to wave my hand against them, and they will become plunder for their servants, and you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for look, I am coming and I will dwell in your midst," declares Yahweh. "Many nations will join themselves to Yahweh on that day, and they will be my people, and I will dwell in your midst. And you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. And Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and he will again choose Jerusalem. Be silent, all people, before Yahweh, for he is roused from his holy dwelling."

And he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of Yahweh; and Satan was standing on his right to accuse him. But Yahweh said to Satan, "Yahweh rebukes you, O Satan! Yahweh who has chosen Jerusalem rebukes you! Is this not a stick snatched from the fire?" And Joshua was clothed in filthy garments and was standing before the angel. And he answered and said to the ones standing before him, saying, "Remove the filthy garments from him." And he said to him, "See, I have taken away your guilt from you, and will clothe you with rich garments." And I said, "Let them put a clean headband on his head." And they put a clean headband on his head, and they clothed him with garments. And the angel of Yahweh was standing by.

And the angel of Yahweh assured Joshua, saying, "Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘If you will walk in my ways, and if you will keep my requirements, then you will judge my house, and you will also guard my courtyards, and I will give to you passageways among these that are standing here. Listen, please, O Joshua the high priest, you and your companions that are sitting before you. For the men are a sign that, look, I am going to bring my servant the Branch. For consider, the stone that I set before Joshua, on one stone are seven eyes. Look, I am going to engrave an inscription on it,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘and I will remove the guilt of that land in a single day. On that day,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘you will invite one another under the vine and under the fig tree.’"

And the angel who was talking with me returned, and he wakened me as one who is wakened from his sleep. And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I said, "I see, and look, a lampstand all of gold, and a bowl was on its top, and its seven lamps on it, and seven lips on each of the lamps that are on its top. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." And I answered and said to the angel who was talking to me, "What are these, my lord?" And the angel who was talking with me answered and said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." And he answered and said to me, "This is the word of Yahweh to Zerubbabel, saying, ‘Not by strength and not by power, but only by my Spirit,’ says Yahweh of hosts. ‘Who are you O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground, and he will bring out the top stone amid the shouts of "Grace, grace to it!"’" And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, "The hands of Zerubbabel have founded this house, and his hands will finish it. And you will know that Yahweh of hosts has sent me to you. For whoever has despised the day of small things will rejoice and will see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel."

These seven are the eyes of Yahweh which are ranging throughout the whole earth. And I answered and said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?" And I replied a second time and asked him, "What are these two twigs of olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?" And he replied to me, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said, "No, my lord." And he said, "These are the two anointed ones standing by the Lord of the whole earth."

I looked up again, and I saw, and look!—a flying scroll! And he asked me, "What are you seeing?" And I said, "I am seeing a flying scroll twenty cubits long and ten cubits wide." And he said to me, "This is the curse going out over the surface of the whole earth. For everyone who steals has gone unpunished according to it, and likewise everyone who swears falsely has gone unpunished according to it. ‘I have sent it out,’ declares Yahweh of hosts, ‘and it will go into the house of the thief and into the house of the one swearing falsely by my name, and it will spend the night in that house and will destroy it, with its timber and its stone.’"

And the angel who was speaking to me went out, and he said to me, "Please look up! See what this is going out." And I asked, "What is it?" And he said, "This is a basket going out. And he said, "This is their iniquity throughout all the earth. And look, the lead cover was lifted and a woman was sitting inside the basket. And he said, "This is Wickedness!" And he thrust her back down into the basket, and threw the lead cover on top of it. And I looked up and saw, and look!—two women coming forward, and the wind was in their wings, and they had wings like those of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between the earth and the sky. And I asked the angel who was talking to me, "Where are they taking the basket?" And he said to me, "To build for it a house in the land of Shinar, and when it is put in place, it will be placed there on its site."

See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called children of God, and we are! Because of this the world does not know us: because it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever he is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as that one is pure.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. And you know that that one was revealed in order that he might take away sins, and in him there is no sin. Everyone who resides in him does not sin. Everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. Little children, let no one deceive you: the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as that one is righteous. The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this reason the Son of God was revealed: in order to destroy the works of the devil. Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are evident: everyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, namely, the one who does not love his brother.

For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of the evil one and violently murdered his brother. And for what reason did he violently murder him? Because his deeds were evil and the deeds of his brother were righteous.

Do not marvel, brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed over from death to life because we love the brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life residing in him. We have come to know love by this: that he laid down his life on behalf of us, and we ought to lay down our lives on behalf of the brothers. But whoever has the world’s material possessions and observes his brother in need and shuts his heart against him, how does the love of God reside in him?

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. By this we know that we are of the truth and will convince our heart before him, that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Dear friends, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us. And the one who keeps his commandments resides in him, and he in him. And by this we know that he resides in us: by the Spirit whom he has given to us.