Zechariah 2 (MSG)

¹I looked up and was surprised to see a man holding a tape measure in his hand.

²I said, "What are you up to?" "I'm on my way," he said, "to survey Jerusalem, to measure its width and length."

³Just then the Messenger-Angel on his way out met another angel coming in

⁴and said, "Run! Tell the Surveyor, 'Jerusalem will burst its walls— bursting with people, bursting with animals.

⁵And I'll be right there with her'—God's Decree—'a wall of fire around unwalled Jerusalem and a radiant presence within.' "

⁶"Up on your feet! Get out of there—and now!" God says so. "Return from your far exile. I scattered you to the four winds." God's Decree.

⁷"Escape from Babylon, Zion, and come home—now!"

⁸God-of-the-Angel-Armies, the One of Glory who sent me on my mission, commenting on the godless nations who stripped you and left you homeless, said, "Anyone who hits you, hits me—bloodies my nose, blackens my eye.

⁹Yes, and at the right time I'll give the signal and they'll be stripped and thrown out by their own servants." Then you'll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.

¹⁰"Shout and celebrate, Daughter of Zion! I'm on my way. I'm moving into your neighborhood!" God's Decree.

¹¹Many godless nations will be linked up with God at that time. ("They will become my family! I'll live in their homes!") And then you'll know for sure that God-of-the-Angel-Armies sent me on this mission.

¹²God will reclaim his Judah inheritance in the Holy Land. He'll again make clear that Jerusalem is his choice.

¹³Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before God. Something's afoot in his holy house. He's on the move!