New Living Translation NLT
The Message Bible MSG
1 When I looked again, I saw a man with a measuring line in his hand.
1
I looked up and was surprised to see a man holding a tape measure 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.”
2
I said, "What are you up to?" "I'm on my way," he said, "to survey Jerusalem, to measure its width and length."
3 Then the angel who was with me went to meet a second angel who was coming toward him.
3
Just then the Messenger-Angel on his way out
4 The 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.
4
and said, "Run! Tell the Surveyor, 'Jerusalem will burst its walls - bursting with people, bursting with animals.
5 Then I, myself, will be a protective wall of fire around Jerusalem, says the LORD . And I will be the glory inside the city!’”
5
And I'll be right there with her' - God's Decree - 'a wall of fire around unwalled Jerusalem and a radiant presence within.'"
6 The LORD says, “Come away! Flee from Babylon in the land of the north, for I have scattered you to the four winds.
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 Come away, people of Zion, you who are exiled in Babylon!”
7
"Escape from Babylon, Zion, and come home - now!"
8 After a period of glory, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies sent me against the nations who plundered you. For he said, “Anyone who harms you harms my most precious possession.
8
God-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.
9 I 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.
9
Yes, 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 The LORD says, “Shout and rejoice, O beautiful Jerusalem, for I am coming to live among you.
10
"Shout and celebrate, Daughter of Zion! I'm on my way. I'm moving into your neighborhood!" God's Decree.
11 Many 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.
11
Many 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.
12 The 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.
12
God will reclaim his Judah inheritance in the Holy Land. He'll again make clear that Jerusalem is his choice.
13 Be silent before the LORD, all humanity, for he is springing into action from his holy dwelling.”
13
Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before God. Something's afoot in his holy house. He's on the move!
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.