⁶ “For you are a ^[a]holy people to the Lord your God; ^(A)the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. ⁷ The Lord did not set His ^(B)love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were ^(C)the least of all peoples; ⁸ but ^(D)because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep ^(E)the oath which He swore to your fathers, ^(F)the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of ^[b]bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

⁹ “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, ^(G)the faithful God ^(H)who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments; ¹⁰ and He repays those who hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not ^[c]be ^(I)slack with him who hates Him; He will repay him to his face. ¹¹ Therefore you shall keep the commandment, the statutes, and the judgments which I command you today, to observe them.

¹⁷ ‘And as for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord God: ^(A)“Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. ¹⁸ Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the ^[a]residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? ¹⁹ And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet.”

²⁰ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: ^(B)“Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, ²² therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. ²³ I will establish one ^(C)shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—^(D)My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(E)I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ^(F)a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

^25 (G)“I will make a covenant of peace with them, and ^(H)cause wild beasts to cease from the land; and they ^(I)will dwell safely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places all around ^(J)My hill ^(K)a blessing; and I will ^(L)cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be ^(M)showers of blessing. ²⁷ Then ^(N)the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase. They shall be safe in their land; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have ^(O)broken the bands of their yoke and delivered them from the hand of those who ^(P)enslaved them. ²⁸ And they shall no longer be a prey for the nations, nor shall beasts of the land devour them; but ^(Q)they shall dwell safely, and no one shall make them afraid. ²⁹ I will raise up for them a ^(R)garden^[b] of renown, and they shall ^(S)no longer be consumed with hunger in the land, ^(T)nor bear the shame of the Gentiles anymore. ³⁰ Thus they shall know that ^(U)I, the Lord their God, am with them, and they, the house of Israel, are ^(V)My people,” says the Lord God.’

³¹ “You are My ^(W)flock, the flock of My pasture; you are men, and I am your God,” says the Lord God.

The King on a Cross^(A)

^17 (B)And He, bearing His cross, ^(C)went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, ¹⁸ where they crucified Him, and ^(D)two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center. ^19 (E)Now Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was:

JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

²⁰ Then many of the Jews read this title, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

²¹ Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘He said, “I am the King of the Jews.” ’ ”

²² Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

^23 (F)Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece. ²⁴ They said therefore among themselves, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be,” that the Scripture might be fulfilled which says:

Therefore the soldiers did these things.

The Word Discovers Our Condition

^11 (A)Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. ¹² For the word of God is ^(B)living and powerful, and ^(C)sharper than any ^(D)two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is ^(E)a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ^13 (F)And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are ^(G)naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

Our Compassionate High Priest

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great ^(H)High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, ^(I)let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For ^(J)we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but ^(K)was in all points tempted as we are, ^(L)yet without sin. ^16 (M)Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.