⁴ Thus said the Lord my God: ^(A)“Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. ^5 (B)Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, ^(C)I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. ⁶ For ^(D)I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

^7 (E)So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named ^(F)Favor, the other I named ^(G)Union. ^(H)And I tended the sheep. ⁸ In one month ^(I)I destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. ⁹ So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. ^(J)What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” ¹⁰ And I took ^(K)my staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. ¹¹ So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. ¹² Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages ^(L)thirty pieces of silver. ¹³ Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—^(M)the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the ^(N)thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. ¹⁴ Then I broke ^(O)my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of ^(P)a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd ^(Q)who does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but ^(R)devours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

Preach the Word

4 ^(A)I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, ^(B)who is to judge the living and the dead, and by ^(C)his appearing and his kingdom: ² preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; ^(D)reprove, rebuke, and ^(E)exhort, with complete patience and teaching. ^3 (F)For the time is coming when people will not endure ^(G)sound^[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, ⁴ and ^(H)will turn away from listening to the truth and ^(I)wander off into myths. ⁵ As for you, ^(J)always be sober-minded, ^(K)endure suffering, do the work of ^(L)an evangelist, ^(M)fulfill your ministry.

⁶ For ^(N)I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my ^(O)departure has come. ^7 (P)I have fought the good fight, ^(Q)I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Henceforth there is ^(R)laid up for me ^(S)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, ^(T)the righteous judge, will award to me on ^(U)that day, and not only to me but also to all ^(V)who have loved his appearing.

Personal Instructions

^9 (W)Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For ^(X)Demas, ^(Y)in love with ^(Z)this present world, ^(AA)has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,^{[b] (AB)}Titus to Dalmatia. ^11 (AC)Luke alone is with me. Get ^(AD)Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. ^12 (AE)Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. ^14 (AF)Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^(AG)the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. ¹⁵ Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. ¹⁶ At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. ^(AH)May it not be charged against them! ¹⁷ But ^(AI)the Lord stood by me and ^(AJ)strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^(AK)all the Gentiles might hear it. So ^(AL)I was rescued ^(AM)from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. ^(AN)To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.