Judgment on Mount Seir

35 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² “Son of man, set your face against ^(A)Mount Seir and ^(B)prophesy against it, ³ and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

^5 (D)“Because you have had an ^[b]ancient hatred, and have shed the blood of the children of Israel by the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, ^(E)when their iniquity came to an end, ⁶ therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will prepare you for ^(F)blood, and blood shall pursue you; ^(G)since you have not hated ^[c]blood, therefore blood shall pursue you. ⁷ Thus I will make Mount Seir ^[d]most desolate, and cut off from it the ^(H)one who leaves and the one who returns. ⁸ And I will fill its mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those who are slain by the sword shall fall. ^9 (I)I will make you ^[e]perpetually desolate, and your cities shall be uninhabited; ^(J)then you shall know that I am the Lord.

¹⁰ “Because you have said, ‘These two nations and these two countries shall be mine, and we will ^(K)possess them,’ although ^(L)the Lord was there, ¹¹ therefore, as I live,” says the Lord God, “I will do ^(M)according to your anger and according to the envy which you showed in your hatred against them; and I will make Myself known among them when I judge you. ^12 (N)Then you shall know that I am the Lord. I have ^(O)heard all your ^(P)blasphemies which you have spoken against the mountains of Israel, saying, ‘They are desolate; they are given to us to consume.’ ¹³ Thus ^(Q)with your mouth you have ^[f]boasted against Me and multiplied your ^(R)words against Me; I have heard them.”

¹⁴ ‘Thus says the Lord God: ^(S)“The whole earth will rejoice when I make you desolate. ^15 (T)As you rejoiced because the inheritance of the house of Israel was desolate, ^(U)so I will do to you; you shall be desolate, O Mount Seir, as well as all of Edom—all of it! Then they shall know that I am the Lord.” ’

Greeting

1 Paul, a bondservant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect and ^(A)the acknowledgment of the truth ^(B)which accords with godliness, ² in hope of eternal life which God, who ^(C)cannot lie, promised before time began, ³ but has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;

⁴ To ^(D)Titus, a true son in our common faith:

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and ^[a]the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

Qualified Elders

⁵ For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should ^(E)set in order the things that are lacking, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you— ⁶ if a man is blameless, the husband of one wife, ^(F)having faithful children not accused of ^[b]dissipation or insubordination. ⁷ For a ^[c]bishop must be blameless, as a steward of God, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, ^(G)not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, ⁸ but hospitable, a lover of what is good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, ⁹ holding fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

The Elders’ Task

¹⁰ For there are many insubordinate, both idle ^(H)talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, ¹¹ whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, ^(I)for the sake of dishonest gain. ^12 (J)One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This testimony is true. ^(K)Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith, ¹⁴ not giving heed to Jewish fables and ^(L)commandments of men who turn from the truth. ^15 (M)To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. ¹⁶ They profess to ^(N)know God, but ^(O)in works they deny Him, being ^[d]abominable, disobedient, ^(P)and disqualified for every good work.

Jesus the True Shepherd

10 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by ^(A)name and leads them out. ⁴ And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵ Yet they will by no means follow a ^(B)stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

Jesus the Good Shepherd

⁷ Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who ever came ^[a]before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. ^9 (C)I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

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

¹⁷ “Therefore My Father ^(L)loves Me, ^(M)because I lay down My life that I may take it again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I ^(N)have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. ^(O)This command I have received from My Father.”

¹⁹ Therefore ^(P)there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. ²⁰ And many of them said, ^(Q)“He has a demon and is ^[c]mad. Why do you listen to Him?”

²¹ Others said, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. ^(R)Can a demon ^(S)open the eyes of the blind?”

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

²² Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. ²³ And Jesus walked in the temple, ^(T)in Solomon’s porch. ²⁴ Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, “How long do You keep us in ^[d]doubt? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

²⁵ Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. ^(U)The works that I do in My Father’s name, they ^(V)bear witness of Me. ²⁶ But ^(W)you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, ^[e]as I said to you. ^27 (X)My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. ^29 (Y)My Father, ^(Z)who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. ^30 (AA)I and My Father are one.”

Renewed Efforts to Stone Jesus

³¹ Then ^(AB)the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. ³² Jesus answered them, “Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?”

³³ The Jews answered Him, saying, “For a good work we do not stone You, but for ^(AC)blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, ^(AD)make Yourself God.”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ^(AE)‘I said, “You are gods” ’? ³⁵ If He called them gods, ^(AF)to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture ^(AG)cannot be broken), ³⁶ do you say of Him ^(AH)whom the Father sanctified and ^(AI)sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ ^(AJ)because I said, ‘I am ^(AK)the Son of God’? ^37 (AL)If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; ³⁸ but if I do, though you do not believe Me, ^(AM)believe the works, that you may know and ^[f]believe ^(AN)that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” ^39 (AO)Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.

The Believers Beyond Jordan

⁴⁰ And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place ^(AP)where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed. ⁴¹ Then many came to Him and said, “John performed no sign, ^(AQ)but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true.” ⁴² And many believed in Him there.