His Steadfast Love Endures Forever

A Psalm for ^(A)giving thanks.

The Lord God Will Seek Them Out

¹¹ “For thus says the Lord God: ^(A)Behold, I, I ^(B)myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on ^(C)a day of clouds and ^(D)thick darkness. ¹³ And I will bring them out from the peoples ^(E)and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on ^(F)the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14 (G)I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. ^(H)There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. ^15 (I)I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, ^(J)and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. ^16 (K)I will seek the lost, ^(L)and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and ^(M)the fat and the strong I will destroy.^[a] I will feed them in justice.

²⁰ “Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them: Behold, I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you push with side and shoulder, and ^(A)thrust at all the ^(B)weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad, ²² I will rescue^[a] my flock; ^(C)they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ And ^(D)I will set up over them one shepherd, ^(E)my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(F)I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. ^(G)I am the Lord; I have spoken.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

¹⁵ For this reason, ^(A)because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love^[a] toward all the saints, ¹⁶ I ^(B)do not cease to give thanks for you, ^(C)remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷ that ^(D)the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ^(E)may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ^18 (F)having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is ^(G)the hope to which he has called you, what are ^(H)the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, ^(I)according to the working of ^(J)his great might ²⁰ that he worked in Christ ^(K)when he raised him from the dead and ^(L)seated him at his right hand ^(M)in the heavenly places, ^21 (N)far above ^(O)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above ^(P)every name that is named, not only in ^(Q)this age but also in the one to come. ²² And ^(R)he put all things under his feet and gave him as ^(S)head over all things to the church, ^23 (T)which is his body, ^(U)the fullness of him ^(V)who fills ^(W)all in all.

Birth of John the Baptist Foretold

^5 (A)In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,^{[a] (B)}of ^(C)the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. ⁶ And they were both ^(D)righteous before God, walking ^(E)blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. ⁷ But they had no child, because ^(F)Elizabeth was barren, and ^(G)both were advanced in years.

⁸ Now ^(H)while he was serving as priest before God when ^(I)his division was on duty, ⁹ according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot ^(J)to enter ^(K)the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people ^(L)were praying ^(M)outside at the hour of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of ^(N)the altar of incense. ¹² And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and ^(O)fear fell upon him. ¹³ But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for ^(P)your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and ^(Q)you shall call his name John. ¹⁴ And you will have joy and gladness, and many will ^(R)rejoice at his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be ^(S)great before the Lord. And ^(T)he must not drink wine or strong ^(U)drink, and ^(V)he will be ^(W)filled with the Holy Spirit, ^(X)even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, ¹⁷ and ^(Y)he will go before him ^(Z)in the spirit and power of Elijah, ^(AA)to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and ^(AB)the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, ^(AC)to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

¹⁸ And Zechariah said to the angel, ^(AD)“How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.” ¹⁹ And the angel answered him, “I am ^(AE)Gabriel. ^(AF)I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. ²⁰ And behold, ^(AG)you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time.” ²¹ And the people were waiting for Zechariah, and they were wondering at his delay in ^(AH)the temple. ²² And when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in ^(AI)the temple. And ^(AJ)he kept making signs to them and remained mute. ²³ And ^(AK)when his time of ^(AL)service was ended, he went to his home.

²⁴ After these days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she kept herself hidden, saying, ²⁵ “Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, ^(AM)to take away my reproach among people.”