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Third Vision: The Man with a Measuring Line

2^*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 round it, says the Lord, and I will be the glory within it.’

Interlude: An Appeal to the Exiles

6 Up, 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^* sent me) regarding the nations that plundered you: Truly, one who touches you touches the apple of my eye.^{* 9}See now, I am going to raise^* 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.

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

¹⁰ Hear the word of the Lord, O nations,
   and declare it in the coastlands far away;
say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him,
   and will keep him as a shepherd a flock.’
¹¹ For the Lord has ransomed Jacob,
   and has redeemed him from hands too strong for him.
¹² They shall come and sing aloud on the height of Zion,
   and they shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord,
over the grain, the wine, and the oil,
   and over the young of the flock and the herd;
their life shall become like a watered garden,
   and they shall never languish again.
¹³ Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance,
   and the young men and the old shall be merry.
I will turn their mourning into joy,
   I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.

⁴³And all were astounded at the greatness of God.

Jesus Again Foretells His Death

While everyone was amazed at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, ⁴⁴‘Let these words sink into your ears: The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands.’ ⁴⁵But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was concealed from them, so that they could not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.