Future Prosperity of Jerusalem

1aWhen I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand. 2“Where are you going?” I asked.

He replied, “I am going to measure Jerusalem, to see how wide and how long it is.”

3Then the angel who was with me went to meet a second angel who was coming toward him. 4The other angel said, “Hurry, and say to that young man, ‘Jerusalem will someday be so full of people and livestock that there won’t be room enough for everyone! Many will live outside the city walls. 5Then I, myself, will be a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the LORD. And I will be the glory inside the city!’”

The Exiles Are Called Home

6The LORD says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds. 7Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon!”

8After a period of glory, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent meb against the nations who plundered you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.c 9I will raise my fist to crush them, and their own slaves will plunder them.” Then you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has sent me.

10The LORD says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem,d for I am coming to live among you. 11Many nations will join themselves to the LORD on that day, and they, too, will be my people. I will live among you, and you will know that the LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me to you. 12The land of Judah will be the LORD’s special possession in the holy land, and he will once again choose Jerusalem to be his own city. 13Be silent before the LORD, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”