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.”

²⁰ ‘Therefore thus says the Lord God to them: ^(A)“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 ^(B)shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—^(C)My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And ^(D)I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David ^(E)a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.

A Call to Worship and Obedience

Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom

¹⁵ Therefore I also, ^(A)after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ^16 (B)do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ that ^(C)the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, ^(D)may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ^18 (E)the eyes of your ^[a]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is ^(F)the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, ^(G)according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when ^(H)He raised Him from the dead and ^(I)seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ^21 (J)far above all ^(K)principality^[b] and ^[c]power and ^[d]might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.

²² And ^(L)He put all things under His feet, and gave Him ^(M)to be head over all things to the church, ^23 (N)which is His body, ^(O)the fullness of Him ^(P)who fills all in all.

The Son of Man Will Judge the Nations

^31 (A)“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the ^[a]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ^32 (B)All the nations will be gathered before Him, and ^(C)He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the ^(D)sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, ^(E)inherit the kingdom ^(F)prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ^35 (G)for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; ^(H)I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was ^(I)naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; ^(J)I was in prison and you came to Me.’

³⁷ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? ³⁸ When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? ³⁹ Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ⁴⁰ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(K)inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ^(L)‘Depart from Me, you cursed, ^(M)into the everlasting fire prepared for ^(N)the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they also will answer ^[b]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(O)inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ And ^(P)these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”