¹¹ “‘For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep^(A) and look after them. ¹² As a shepherd^(B) looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.^{(C) 13} I will bring them out from the nations and gather^(D) them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land.^(E) I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.^{(F) 14} I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel^(G) will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture^(H) on the mountains of Israel.^{(I) 15} I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down,^(J) declares the Sovereign Lord.^{(K) 16} I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up^(L) the injured and strengthen the weak,^(M) but the sleek and the strong I will destroy.^(N) I will shepherd the flock with justice.^(O)

⁵ And hope^(A) does not put us to shame, because God’s love^(B) has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,^(C) who has been given to us.

⁶ You see, at just the right time,^(D) when we were still powerless,^(E) Christ died for the ungodly.^{(F) 7} Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.^(G)

⁹ Since we have now been justified^(H) by his blood,^(I) how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath^(J) through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies,^(K) we were reconciled^(L) to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!^{(M) 11} Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.^(N)

³ Then Jesus told them this parable:^{(A) 4} “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?^{(B) 5} And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’^{(C) 7} I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.^(D)