Zechariah 2–5; Psalm 93; 1 John 3

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Zechariah 2–5

A Vision of a Man with a Measuring Line

1 And I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, oa man with a measuring line in his hand! Then I said, Where are you going? And he said to me, pTo measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length. And behold, qthe angel who talked with me came forward, and another angel came forward to meet him and said to him, Run, say to that young man, rJerusalem shall be inhabited sas villages without walls, because of tthe multitude of people and livestock in it. And I will be to her ua wall of fire all around, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory in her midst.

Up! Up! vFlee from the land of the north, declares the Lord. For I have wspread you abroad as the four winds of the heavens, declares the Lord. xUp! Escape to Zion, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon. For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me2 to the nations who plundered you, yfor he who touches you touches zthe apple of his eye: Behold, aI will shake my hand over them, band they shall become plunder for those who served them. Then cyou will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me. 10 dSing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for ebehold, I come fand I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. 11 gAnd many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. fAnd I will dwell in your midst, and cyou shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 12 hAnd the Lord will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again ichoose Jerusalem.

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

A Vision of Joshua the High Priest

Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan3 standing at his right hand to accuse him. And the Lord said to Satan, lThe Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand4 plucked from the fire? Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, qRemove the filthy garments from him. And to him he said, Behold, rI have taken your iniquity away from you, and sI will clothe you with pure vestments. And I said, tLet them put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord was standing by.

And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured jJoshua, Thus says the Lord of hosts: If you will walk in my ways and ukeep my charge, then you shall vrule my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you the right of access among wthose who are standing here. Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, you and your friends who sit before you, for xthey are men who are a sign: behold, I will bring ymy servant zthe Branch. For behold, on athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with bseven eyes,5 I will cengrave its inscription, declares the Lord of hosts, and dI will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day. 10 In that day, declares the Lord of hosts, every one of you will invite his neighbor to come eunder his vine and under his fig tree.

A Vision of a Golden Lampstand

And fthe angel who talked with me came again gand woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, What do you see? I said, I see, and behold, ha lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and iseven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are jtwo olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left. And I said to fthe angel who talked with me, What are these, my lord? Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, kDo you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. Then he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to lZerubbabel: mNot by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, nO great mountain? Before lZerubbabel oyou shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward pthe top stone amid shouts of Grace, grace to it!

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, qThe hands of lZerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also rcomplete it. sThen you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 tFor whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see uthe plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.

vThese seven vare the eyes of the Lord, wwhich range through the whole earth. 11 Then I said to him, What are these jtwo olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand? 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, What are these jtwo branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil6 is poured out? 13 He said to me, xDo you not know what these are? I said, No, my lord. 14 Then he said, yThese are the two anointed ones7 who stand by zthe Lord of the whole earth.

A Vision of a Flying Scroll

Again I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, a flying ascroll! And he said to me, What do you see? I answered, I see a flying ascroll. Its length is twenty cubits, and its width ten cubits.8 Then he said to me, This is bthe curse that goes out over the face of the whole land. For everyone who csteals shall be cleaned out according to what is on one side, and everyone who dswears falsely9 shall be cleaned out according to what is on the other side. I will send it out, declares the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief, and the house of ehim who swears falsely by my name. And fit shall remain in his house and gconsume it, both timber and stones.

A Vision of a Woman in a Basket

hThen the angel who talked with me came forward and said to me, iLift your eyes and see what this is that is going out. And I said, What is it? He said, This is jthe basket10 that is going out. And he said, This is their iniquity11 in all the land. And behold, the leaden cover was lifted, and there was a woman sitting in the basket! And he said, This is Wickedness. And he thrust her back into the basket, and thrust down jthe leaden weight on its opening.

Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and behold, two women coming forward! kThe wind was in their wings. They had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. 10 Then I said to the angel who talked with me, Where are they taking the basket? 11 He said to me, To the lland of Shinar, to build a house for it. And when this is prepared, they will set the basket down there on its base.


Psalm 93

The Lord Reigns

cThe Lord reigns; he is drobed in majesty;

the Lord is erobed; he has fput on strength as his belt.

gYes, the world is established; hit shall never be moved.

iYour throne is established from of old;

jyou are from everlasting.

kThe floods have lifted up, O Lord,

the floods have lifted up their voice;

the floods lift up their roaring.

Mightier than the thunders of many waters,

mightier than the waves of the sea,

lthe Lord mon high is mighty!

Your ndecrees are very trustworthy;

oholiness befits your house,

O Lord, forevermore.


1 John 3

See ywhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called zchildren of God; and so we are. The reason why athe world does not know us is that bit did not know him. Beloved, we are zGod’s children cnow, and what we will be dhas not yet appeared; but we know that ewhen he appears1 fwe shall be like him, because gwe shall see him as he is. And everyone who hthus hopes in him ipurifies himself as he is pure.

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; jsin is lawlessness. You know that khe appeared in order to ltake away sins, and min him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; nno one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, olet no one deceive you. pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. qWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was rto destroy the works of the devil. sNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s2 seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, tnor is the one who udoes not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For vthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, wthat we should love one another. 12 We should not be like xCain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? yBecause his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,3 zthat the world hates you. 14 We know that awe have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 bEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that cno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that dhe laid down his life for us, and ewe ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But fif anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet gcloses his heart against him, hhow does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not ilove in word or talk but in deed and jin truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, kif our heart does not condemn us, lwe have confidence before God; 22 and mwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ndo what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, othat we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and plove one another, qjust as he has commanded us. 24 rWhoever keeps his commandments abides in God,4 and God5 in him. And sby this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.