They Shall Be My People; I Will Be Their God

³⁶ “Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ^(A)‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: ^37 (B)Behold, I will gather them from all the countries ^(C)to which I drove them in ^(D)my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, ^(E)and I will make them dwell in safety. ^38 (F)And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. ^39 (G)I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, ^(H)for their own good and the good of their children after them. ^40 (I)I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. ^(J)And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. ^41 (K)I will rejoice in doing them good, ^(L)and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul.

⁴² “For thus says the Lord: ^(M)Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them. ^43 (N)Fields shall be bought in this land ^(O)of which you are saying, ‘It is a desolation, without man or beast; ^(P)it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’ ⁴⁴ Fields shall be bought for money, and ^(Q)deeds shall be signed and ^(R)sealed and ^(S)witnessed, ^(T)in the land of Benjamin, ^(U)in the places about Jerusalem, ^(V)and in the cities of Judah, ^(W)in the cities of the hill country, ^(X)in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for ^(Y)I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”

Greeting

1 Paul and Timothy, servants^[a] of Christ Jesus,

To all the ^(A)saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the ^(B)overseers^[b] and ^(C)deacons:^[c]

^2 (D)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanksgiving and Prayer

^3 (E)I thank my God ^(F)in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, ^5 (G)because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ And I am sure of this, that he who began ^(H)a good work in you ^(I)will bring it to completion at ^(J)the day of Jesus Christ. ⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you ^(K)in my heart, for you are all ^(L)partakers with me of grace,^[d] both ^(M)in my imprisonment and in ^(N)the defense and confirmation of the gospel. ⁸ For ^(O)God is my witness, ^(P)how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. ⁹ And it is my prayer that ^(Q)your love may abound more and more, ^(R)with knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may approve what is excellent, ^(S)and so be pure and blameless ^(T)for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled ^(U)with the fruit of righteousness that comes ^(V)through Jesus Christ, ^(W)to the glory and praise of God.

The Lord Promises Peace

33 The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still ^(A)shut up in the court of the guard: ² “Thus says ^(B)the Lord who made the earth,^[a] the Lord who formed it to establish it—^(C)the Lord is his name: ^3 (D)Call to me and I will answer you, ^(E)and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. ⁴ For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah that were torn down to make a defense against ^(F)the siege mounds and against the sword: ⁵ They are coming in ^(G)to fight against the Chaldeans and to fill them^[b] with the dead bodies of men whom I shall strike down ^(H)in my anger and my wrath, ^(I)for I have hidden my face from this city because of all their evil. ^6 (J)Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. ^7 (K)I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, ^(L)and rebuild them as they were ^(M)at first. ^8 (N)I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, ^(O)and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. ^9 (P)And this city^[c] shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall ^(Q)fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord: In this place ^(R)of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again ^11 (S)the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring ^(T)thank offerings to the house of the Lord:

^(V)For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord.

¹² “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ^(W)In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be ^(X)habitations of shepherds ^(Y)resting their flocks. ^13 (Z)In the cities of the hill country, ^(AA)in the cities of the Shephelah, ^(AB)and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, ^(AC)the places about Jerusalem, ^(AD)and in the cities of Judah, ^(AE)flocks shall again pass under the hands ^(AF)of the one who counts them, says the Lord.

I Am the Good Shepherd

10 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ² But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ^5 (A)A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶ This figure of speech Jesus ^(B)used with them, but they ^(C)did not understand what he was saying to them.

⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, ^(D)I am the door of the sheep. ⁸ All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by me, ^(E)he will be saved and will go in and out and ^(F)find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and ^(G)kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ^11 (H)I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd ^(I)lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² He who is ^(J)a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(K)leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and ^(L)scatters them. ¹³ He flees because ^(M)he is a hired hand and ^(N)cares nothing for the sheep. ^14 (O)I am the good shepherd. ^(P)I know my own and ^(Q)my own know me, ^15 (R)just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and ^(S)I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And ^(T)I have other sheep that are not of this fold. ^(U)I must bring them also, and ^(V)they will listen to my voice. So there will be ^(W)one flock, ^(X)one shepherd. ^17 (Y)For this reason the Father loves me, ^(Z)because ^(AA)I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ^18 (AB)No one takes it from me, but ^(AC)I lay it down ^(AD)of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and ^(AE)I have authority to take it up again. ^(AF)This charge I have received from my Father.”

^19 (AG)There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them said, ^(AH)“He has a demon, and ^(AI)is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹ Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. ^(AJ)Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”