A Vision of Joshua the High Priest
1 Then he showed me jJoshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and kSatan1 standing at his right hand to accuse him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, l“The Lord rebuke you, O Satan! The Lord who has mchosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this na brand2 plucked from the fire?” 3 Now jJoshua was standing before the angel, oclothed with filthy garments. 4 And the angel said to pthose who were standing before him, q“Remove 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.” 5 And I said, t“Let 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.
6 And the angel of the Lord solemnly assured jJoshua, 7 “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. 8 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. 9 For behold, on athe stone that I have set before Joshua, on a single stone with bseven eyes,3 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.”
Our Heavenly Dwelling
1 For we know that if kthe tent that is lour earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, ma house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent nwe groan, longing to oput on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on1 we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal pmay be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, qwho has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
6 So we are always of good courage. We know that rwhile we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for swe walk by faith, not tby sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we uwould rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to vplease him. 10 For wwe must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, xso that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The Ministry of Reconciliation
11 Therefore, knowing ythe fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But zwhat we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 aWe are not commending ourselves to you again but bgiving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we care beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ dcontrols us, because we have concluded this: that eone has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, fthat those who live might no longer live for themselves but gfor him who for their sake died and was raised.
16 From now on, therefore, hwe regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is iin Christ, he is ja new creation.2 kThe old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, lwho through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us mthe ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling3 the world to himself, nnot counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us mthe message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, owe are ambassadors for Christ, pGod making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 qFor our sake he made him to be sin rwho knew no sin, so that in him we might become sthe righteousness of God.
