¹⁶ I will seek the lost,^(A) bring back the strays, bandage the injured,^(B) and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy^[a] the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.

¹³ Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice.^[a](A) For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”^[b]

⁶ Instead, go to the lost sheep^(A) of the house of Israel.^(B)

²⁴ He replied, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”^(A)

¹² What do you think?^(A) If someone has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, won’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillside and go and search for the stray?^(B)

⁴ “What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them,^(A) does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field^[a] and go after the lost one until he finds it?