²⁵ For ^(A)you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned ^(B)to the Shepherd and ^[a]Overseer of your souls.

^4 (A)“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ^(B)‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep ^(C)which was lost!’

⁶ My sheep ^(A)wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them.”

^28 (A)Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit ^(B)has made you overseers, to shepherd the church ^[a]of God ^(C)which He purchased ^(D)with His own blood.

^11 (A)“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a ^[a]hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(B)leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and ^(C)I know My sheep, and ^(D)am known by My own. ^15 (E)As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; ^(F)and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And ^(G)other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; ^(H)and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

God, the True Shepherd

¹¹ ‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹² As a ^(A)shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on ^(B)a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ And ^(C)I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, ^[a]in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. ^14 (D)I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. ^(E)There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord God. ^16 (F)“I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy ^(G)the fat and the strong, and feed them ^(H)in judgment.”

²³ I will establish one ^(A)shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—^(B)My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(C)I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ^(D)a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.