To the Elders and the Flock

5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder^(A) and a witness^(B) of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed:^{(C) 2} Be shepherds of God’s flock^(D) that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be;^(E) not pursuing dishonest gain,^(F) but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over^(G) those entrusted to you, but being examples^(H) to the flock.

⁴ You have not strengthened the weak or healed^(A) the sick or bound up^(B) the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.^(C)

²⁵ Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ²⁶ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^(A)

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father,^(A) and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

⁴² Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. ⁴³ Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,^{(A) 44} and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve,^(B) and to give his life as a ransom for many.”^(C)

²⁵ Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. ²⁶ But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest,^(A) and the one who rules like the one who serves.^{(B) 27} For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.^(C)

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos?^(A) And what is Paul? Only servants,^(B) through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

⁵ For what we preach is not ourselves,^(A) but Jesus Christ as Lord,^(B) and ourselves as your servants^(C) for Jesus’ sake.