WEB

Zechariah 2

A man with a measuring line sets out to measure Jerusalem (v.1-2) — but the surveyor is stopped. A second angel runs to tell him the city will spread out "without walls," too full of people and livestock to be contained, with the LORD himself a wall of fire around it. From there the vision opens into a summons: flee Babylon, return to Zion. The chapter ends with the striking claim that many nations will join the LORD, and a command for all flesh to be silent before him.

Parallel reading
English + Español (LatAm)
Zechariah 2 (WEB)
  1. 1

    I lifted up my eyes, and saw, and behold, a man with a measuring line in his hand.

  2. 2

    Then I asked, “Where are you going?” He said to me, “To measure Jerusalem, to see what is its width and what is its length.”

  3. 3

    Behold, the angel who talked with me went out, and another angel went out to meet him,

  4. 4

    and said to him, “Run, speak to this young man, saying, ‘Jerusalem will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.

  5. 5

    For I,’ says the LORD, ‘will be to her a wall of fire around it, and I will be the glory in the middle of her.

  6. 6

    Come! Come! Flee from the land of the north,’ says the LORD; ‘for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the sky,’ says the LORD.

  7. 7

    ‘Come, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon.’

  8. 8

    For the LORD of Armies says: ‘For honor he has sent me to the nations which plundered you; for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye.

  9. 9

    For, behold, I will shake my hand over them, and they will be a plunder to those who served them; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me.

  10. 10

    Sing and rejoice, daughter of Zion! For behold, I come and I will dwell within you,’ says the LORD.

  11. 11

    Many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people; and I will dwell among you, and you shall know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.

  12. 12

    The LORD will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.

  13. 13

    Be silent, all flesh, before the LORD; for he has roused himself from his holy habitation!”

A city too big for walls

The reversal is the point. A returning community might want strong walls; the vision says walls would limit a city God means to overflow. The protection shifts from masonry to presence — fire around it, glory in the middle of it (v.5).

The tender note in verse 8 anchors it: whoever touches Zion touches "the apple of his eye." The promise that nations themselves become God's people (v.11) widens the book beyond Judah, and prepares the high-priest vision of chapter 3.

Context layers

Keep these closed by default and open them only when you want more context.

Share a small range via:

/en/web/zechariah/2/16-18

Or use the Passage link builder.

Keep reading in context