Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

34 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the ^(A)shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to ^[a]those shepherds, ‘This is what the Lord ^[b]God says: “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been ^[c](B)feeding themselves! Should the shepherds not ^[d](C)feed the flock? ³ You ^(D)eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you ^(E)slaughter the fat sheep ^[e]without feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, ^(F)the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you ^(G)searched for the lost; but with force and with violence you have ^[f]dominated them. ⁵ They ^(H)scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became ^(I)food for every animal of the field and scattered. ⁶ My flock ^(J)strayed through all the mountains and on every high hill; ^(K)My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was ^(L)no one to search or seek for them.”’”

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “certainly, because My flock has become ^(M)plunder, and My flock has become food for all the animals of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock, ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ ‘This is what the Lord God says: “Behold, I am ^(N)against the shepherds, and I will demand My ^[g]sheep ^[h]from them and make them ^(O)stop tending sheep. So the shepherds will not ^[i]feed themselves anymore, but I will ^(P)save My sheep from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ For the Lord God says this: “Behold, I Myself will ^(Q)search for My sheep and look after them. ^12 (R)As a shepherd cares for his flock on a day when he is among his scattered ^[j]sheep, so I will ^(S)care for My ^[k]sheep and will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a ^(T)cloudy and gloomy day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will ^(U)feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ^(V)streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a ^(W)good pasture, and their grazing place will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down in a good grazing place and feed in ^[l](X)rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I Myself will ^(Y)feed My flock and I Myself will ^[m]lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken, and strengthen the sick; but the ^(Z)fat and the strong I will eliminate. I will ^(AA)feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ “As for you, My flock, this is what the Lord God says: ‘Behold, I am going to ^(AB)judge between one ^[n]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it too ^(AC)little a thing for you to feed in the good pasture, that you must trample with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or too little for you to drink the clear waters, that you must muddy the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ But as for My flock, they must eat what you trample with your feet, and drink what you muddy with your feet!’”

²⁰ Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: “Behold, I, I Myself will also judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Since you push away with your side and shoulder, and ^(AD)gore all the ^[o]weak with your horns until you have scattered them ^[p]abroad, ²² therefore, I will ^(AE)save My flock, and they will no longer be plunder; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ “Then I will ^(AF)appoint over them one ^(AG)shepherd, My servant ^(AH)David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant ^(AI)David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵ “And I will make a ^(AJ)covenant of peace with them and ^(AK)eliminate harmful animals from the land, so that they may ^(AL)live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places around My hill a ^(AM)blessing. And I will make ^(AN)showers fall in their season; they will be showers of ^(AO)blessing. ²⁷ Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce, and they will be ^(AP)secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have ^(AQ)broken the bars of their yoke and have saved them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plunder to the nations, and the animals of the earth will not devour them; but they will ^(AR)live securely, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will establish for them a ^(AS)renowned planting place, and they will ^(AT)not again be ^[q]victims of famine in the land, and they will not ^(AU)endure the insults of the nations anymore. ³⁰ Then they will know that ^(AV)I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God. ³¹ “As for you, My ^(AW)sheep, ^[r]the ^(AX)sheep of My pasture, you are mankind, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.

Prophecy against Mount Seir

35 Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face against ^(AY)Mount Seir, and prophesy against it ³ and say to it, ‘This is what the Lord ^[s]God says:

⁵ Since you have had everlasting ^(BC)hostility and have turned over the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their disaster, at the time of the ^[t](BD)punishment of the end, ⁶ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will certainly ^[u]doom you to ^(BE)bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. ⁷ I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will eliminate from it one who passes through and returns. ⁸ I will ^(BF)fill its mountains with its slain; those killed by the sword will fall on your hills, in your valleys, and in all your ravines. ⁹ I will make you a permanent ^(BG)desolation, and your cities will not be inhabited. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “Since you have ^(BH)said, ‘These two nations and these two lands will be mine, and we will possess ^[v]them,’ although the ^(BI)Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will deal with you ^(BJ)according to your anger and according to your envy which you displayed because of your hatred for them; so I will ^(BK)make Myself known among them when I judge you. ¹² Then you will know ^[w]that I, the Lord, have heard all your insults which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel saying, ‘They are desolate; they have been ^(BL)given to us as food.’ ¹³ And you have ^[x](BM)spoken arrogantly against Me and have multiplied your words against Me; ^(BN)I Myself have heard it.” ¹⁴ This is what the Lord God says: “As all the ^(BO)earth rejoices, I will make you a desolation. ¹⁵ As you ^(BP)rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, ^(BQ)so I will do to you. You will be a ^(BR)desolation, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”’

Paul’s Stewardship

3 For this reason I, Paul, ^(A)the prisoner of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)for the sake of you ^(D)Gentiles— ² if indeed you have heard of the ^(E)administration of God’s grace which was given to me for you; ^3 (F)that ^(G)by revelation there was ^(H)made known to me ^(I)the mystery, ^(J)as I wrote before briefly. ^4 [a]By referring to this, when you read you can understand ^(K)my insight ^[b]into the ^(L)mystery of Christ, ⁵ which in other generations was not made known to ^[c]mankind, as it has now been revealed to His holy ^(M)apostles and prophets ^[d]in the Spirit; ⁶ to be specific, that the Gentiles are ^(N)fellow heirs and ^(O)fellow members of the body, and ^(P)fellow partakers of the promise in ^(Q)Christ Jesus through the gospel, ^7 (R)of which I was made a ^(S)minister, according to the gift of ^(T)God’s grace which was given to me ^(U)according to the working of His power. ⁸ To me, ^(V)the very least of all ^[e]saints, this grace was given, to ^(W)preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable ^(X)riches of Christ, ⁹ and to ^[f]enlighten all people as to what the plan of the ^(Y)mystery is which for ages has been ^(Z)hidden in God, ^(AA)who created all things; ¹⁰ so that the multifaceted ^(AB)wisdom of God might now be ^(AC)made known through the church to the ^(AD)rulers and the authorities in ^(AE)the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was in ^(AF)accordance with the ^[g]eternal purpose which He ^[h]carried out in ^(AG)Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and ^[i](AH)confident ^(AI)access through faith ^[j]in Him. ¹³ Therefore I ask ^[k]you not ^(AJ)to become discouraged about my tribulations ^(AK)in your behalf, ^[l]since they are your glory.

¹⁴ For this reason I ^(AL)bend my knees before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom ^[m]every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, ¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to ^(AM)the riches of His glory, to be ^(AN)strengthened with power through His Spirit in ^(AO)the inner ^[n]self, ¹⁷ so that ^(AP)Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ^(AQ)rooted and ^(AR)grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with ^(AS)all the ^[o]saints what is ^(AT)the width and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know ^(AU)the love of Christ which ^(AV)surpasses knowledge, that you may be ^(AW)filled to all the ^(AX)fullness of God.

^20 (AY)Now to Him who is ^(AZ)able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ^(BA)according to the power that works within us, ^21 (BB)to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ^[p]forever and ever. Amen.

Unity of the Spirit

4 Therefore I, ^(BC)the prisoner of the Lord, ^(BD)urge you to ^(BE)walk in a manner worthy of the ^(BF)calling with which you have been ^(BG)called, ² with all ^(BH)humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another ^(BI)in love, ³ being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the ^(BJ)bond of peace. ⁴ There is ^(BK)one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one ^(BL)hope of your calling; ^5 (BM)one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all ^(BN)who is over all and through all and in all.

⁷ But ^(BO)to each one of us ^(BP)grace was given ^(BQ)according to the measure of Christ’s gift. ⁸ Therefore ^[q]it says,

⁹ (Now this expression, “He ^(BT)ascended,” what ^[r]does it mean except that He also ^[s]had descended into ^(BU)the lower parts of the earth? ¹⁰ He who descended is Himself also He who ascended ^(BV)far above all the heavens, so that He might ^(BW)fill all things.) ¹¹ And He ^(BX)gave ^(BY)some as apostles, some as prophets, some as ^(BZ)evangelists, some as ^[t]pastors and ^(CA)teachers, ^12 (CB)for the equipping of the ^[u]saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of ^(CC)the body of Christ; ¹³ until we all attain to ^(CD)the unity of the faith, and of the ^[v](CE)knowledge of the Son of God, to a ^(CF)mature man, to the measure of the stature ^[w]which belongs to the ^(CG)fullness of Christ. ^14 [x]As a result, we are ^(CH)no longer to be children, ^(CI)tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by ^(CJ)craftiness ^[y]in ^(CK)deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but ^[z]speaking the truth ^(CL)in love, ^[aa]we are to ^(CM)grow up in all aspects into Him who is the ^(CN)head, that is, Christ, ¹⁶ from whom ^(CO)the whole body, being fitted and held together ^[ab]by what every joint supplies, according to the ^[ac]proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself ^(CP)in love.

The Christian’s Walk

^17 (CQ)So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, ^(CR)that you are to no longer walk just as the ^[ad]Gentiles also walk, in the ^(CS)futility of their minds, ¹⁸ being ^(CT)darkened in their understanding, ^[ae](CU)excluded from the life of God because of the ^(CV)ignorance that is in them, because of the ^(CW)hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having ^(CX)become callous, ^(CY)have given themselves up to ^(CZ)indecent behavior ^[af]for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not ^(DA)learn Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you ^(DB)have heard Him and have ^(DC)been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to ^(DD)rid yourselves of the ^(DE)old ^[ag]self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the ^(DF)lusts of deceit, ²³ and that you are to be ^(DG)renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to ^(DH)put on the ^(DI)new ^[ah]self, which ^[ai](DJ)in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

²⁵ Therefore, ^(DK)ridding yourselves of falsehood, ^(DL)speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, because we are ^(DM)parts of one another. ^26 (DN)Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, ²⁷ and do not ^(DO)give the devil ^[aj]an opportunity. ²⁸ The one who steals must no longer steal; but rather ^(DP)he must labor, ^(DQ)producing with his own hands what is good, ^(DR)so that he will have something to share with the one who has need. ²⁹ Let no ^[ak](DS)unwholesome word come out of your mouth, but if there is any good word for ^(DT)edification ^[al]according to the need of the moment, say that, so that it will give grace to those who hear. ^30 (DU)Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, ^[am]by whom you were ^(DV)sealed for the day of redemption. ^31 (DW)All bitterness, wrath, anger, ^[an]clamor, and slander must be ^(DX)removed from you, along with all ^(DY)malice. ^32 (DZ)Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving each other, ^(EA)just as God in Christ also has forgiven ^[ao]you.