Therefore thus says the LORD: *I have returned to Yerushalayim with mercy. My house shall be built in it,* says the LORD of Armies, *and a line shall be stretched forth over Yerushalayim.*'
But the ka`at and the porcupine will possess it. The owl and the raven will dwell in it. He will stretch the line of confusion over it, and the plumb line of emptiness.
Thus says the LORD: Behold, I will turn again the captivity of Ya`akov's tents, and have compassion on his dwelling places; and the city shall be built on its own hill, and the palace shall be inhabited after its own manner.
He brought me there; and, behold, there was a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of brass, with a line of flax in his hand, and a measuring reed; and he stood in the gate.
When the man went forth eastward with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he caused me to pass through the waters, waters that were to the ankles.
The LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbavel, the son of She'alti'el, governor of Yehudah, and the spirit of Yehoshua, the son of Yehotzadak, the Kohen Gadol, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and worked on the house of the LORD of Armies, their God,
*I will strengthen the house of Yehudah, and I will save the house of Yosef, and I will bring them back; for I have mercy on them; and they will be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and I will hear them.
and said to him, *Run, speak to this young man, saying, 'Yerushalayim will be inhabited as villages without walls, because of the multitude of men and livestock in it.
*The hands of Zerubbavel have laid the foundation of this house. His hands shall also finish it; and you will know that the LORD of Armies has sent me to you.
Thus says the LORD: *I have returned to Tziyon, and will dwell in the midst of Yerushalayim. Yerushalayim shall be called 'The City of Truth;' and the mountain of the LORD of Armies, 'The Holy Mountain.'*