³⁶ “Now therefore the Lord God of Israel says the following concerning this city of which you say, ‘It has been ^(A)handed over to the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by plague’: ³⁷ Behold, I am going to ^(B)gather them out of all the lands to which I have driven them in My anger, in My wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them back to this place and ^(C)have them live in safety. ³⁸ They shall be ^(D)My people, and I will be their God; ³⁹ and I will ^(E)give them one heart and one way, so that they will fear Me always, for their own ^(F)good and for the good of their children after them. ⁴⁰ I will make an ^(G)everlasting covenant with them that I will ^(H)not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will ^(I)put the fear of Me in their hearts, so that they will not turn away from Me. ⁴¹ I will ^(J)rejoice over them to do them good and will ^[a]faithfully ^(K)plant them in this land with ^(L)all My heart and all My soul. ⁴² For this is what the Lord says: ‘^(M)Just as I brought all this great disaster on this people, so I am going to ^(N)bring on them all the good that I am promising them. ⁴³ And ^(O)fields will be purchased in this land of which you say, “^(P)It is a desolation, without man or animal; it has been handed over to the Chaldeans.” ⁴⁴ People will buy fields for money, ^[b](Q)sign and seal ^[c]deeds, and call in witnesses in the ^(R)land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the ^[d]Negev; for I will ^(S)restore their fortunes,’ declares the Lord.”

Thanksgiving

1 ^(A)Paul and ^(B)Timothy, ^(C)bond-servants of ^(D)Christ Jesus,

To ^(E)all the ^[a](F)saints in Christ Jesus who are in ^(G)Philippi, ^[b]including the ^(H)overseers and ^(I)deacons: ^2 (J)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

^3 (K)I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, ⁴ always offering prayer with joy in ^(L)my every prayer for you all, ⁵ in view of your ^[c](M)participation in the ^(N)gospel ^(O)from the first day until now. ⁶ For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work ^[d]among you will complete it ^[e]by ^(P)the day of Christ Jesus. ^7 [f]For ^(Q)it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I ^(R)have you in my heart, since both in my ^[g](S)imprisonment and in the ^(T)defense and confirmation of the ^(U)gospel, you all are ^[h]partakers of grace with me. ⁸ For ^(V)God is my witness, how I long for you all with the ^[i]affection of ^(W)Christ Jesus. ⁹ And this I pray, that ^(X)your love may overflow still more and more in ^(Y)real knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ so that you may ^[j](Z)discover the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and blameless for ^(AA)the day of Christ; ¹¹ having been filled with the ^(AB)fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, for the glory and praise of God.

Restoration Promised

33 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the second time, while he was still ^(A)confined in the courtyard of the guard, saying, ² “This is what ^(B)the Lord says, He who made ^[a]the earth, the Lord who formed it to create it, He whose name is the ^(C)Lord: ³ ‘^(D)Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you ^(E)great and ^[b]mighty things, ^(F)which you do not know.’ ⁴ For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says concerning the ^(G)houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah which have been torn down to make a defense against the ^(H)assault ramps and the sword: ⁵ ‘While they are coming to ^(I)fight the Chaldeans and to fill ^[c]their houses with the bodies of people whom I have struck down in My anger and My wrath, and I have ^(J)hidden My face from this city because of all their wickedness: ⁶ Behold, I am going to bring to it ^(K)healing and a remedy, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an ^(L)abundance of peace and truth. ⁷ And I will ^(M)restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and will ^(N)rebuild them as they were at first. ⁸ And I will ^(O)cleanse them from all their wrongdoing by which they have sinned against Me, and I will forgive all their wrongdoings by which they have sinned against Me and revolted against Me. ^9 [d]It will be to Me a ^(P)name of joy, praise, and glory before ^(Q)all the nations of the earth, which will hear of all the ^(R)good that I do for them, and they will be ^(S)frightened and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.’

¹⁰ “This is what the Lord says: ‘Yet again there will be heard in this place, of which you say, “It is a ^(T)waste, without man and without animal,” that is, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem that are ^(U)deserted, without man and without inhabitant and without animal, ¹¹ the voice of ^(V)joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say,

as they bring a ^(X)thanksgiving offering into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the Lord.

¹² “This is what the Lord of armies says: ‘There will again be in this place which is waste, ^(Y)without man or animal, and in all its cities, a pasture for shepherds who rest their ^(Z)flocks. ¹³ In the ^(AA)cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the Negev, in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks will again ^(AB)pass under the hands of the one who counts them,’ says the Lord.

Parable of the Good Shepherd

10 “Truly, truly I say to you, the one who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is ^(A)a thief and a robber. ² But the one who enters by the door is ^(B)a shepherd of the sheep. ³ To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep listen to ^(C)his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and ^(D)leads them out. ⁴ When he puts all his own sheep outside, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know ^(E)his voice. ⁵ However, a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know ^(F)the voice of strangers.” ⁶ Jesus told them this ^(G)figure of speech, but they did not understand what the things which He was saying to them ^[a]meant.

⁷ So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am ^(H)the door of the sheep. ⁸ All those who came before Me are ^(I)thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ^9 (J)I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came so that they ^(K)would have life, and ^[b]have it abundantly.

¹¹ “^(L)I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd ^(M)lays down His life for the sheep. ¹² He who is a hired hand, and not a ^(N)shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters the flock. ¹³ He flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep. ^14 (O)I am the good shepherd, and ^(P)I know My own, and My own know Me, ¹⁵ just as ^(Q)the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and ^(R)I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶ And I have ^(S)other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice; and they will become ^(T)one flock, with ^(U)one shepherd. ¹⁷ For this reason the Father loves Me, because I ^(V)lay down My life so that I may take it back. ^18 (W)No one has taken it away from Me, but I ^(X)lay it down on My own. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it back. ^(Y)This commandment I received from My Father.”

^19 (Z)Dissension occurred again among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰ Many of them were saying, “He ^(AA)has a demon and ^(AB)is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” ²¹ Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who is ^(AC)demon-possessed. ^(AD)A demon cannot open the eyes of those who are blind, can it?”