Add parallel Print Page Options

but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep.

Read full chapter

“My people have been lost sheep.
    Their shepherds have led them astray
    and turned them loose in the mountains.
They have lost their way
    and can’t remember how to get back to the sheepfold.

Read full chapter

25 Once you were like sheep
    who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
    the Guardian of your souls.

Read full chapter

They have wandered through all the mountains and all the hills, across the face of the earth, yet no one has gone to search for them.

Read full chapter

46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.

Read full chapter

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
    We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
    the sins of us all.

Read full chapter

176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep;
    come and find me,
    for I have not forgotten your commands.

Read full chapter

26 When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”

Read full chapter

24 Then Jesus said to the woman, “I was sent only to help God’s lost sheep—the people of Israel.”

25 But she came and worshiped him, pleading again, “Lord, help me!”

26 Jesus responded, “It isn’t right to take food from the children and throw it to the dogs.”

Read full chapter

25 And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet,

26 ‘Go and say to this people:
When you hear what I say,
    you will not understand.
When you see what I do,
    you will not comprehend.
27 For the hearts of these people are hardened,
    and their ears cannot hear,
    and they have closed their eyes—
so their eyes cannot see,
    and their ears cannot hear,
    and their hearts cannot understand,
and they cannot turn to me
    and let me heal them.’[a]

28 So I want you to know that this salvation from God has also been offered to the Gentiles, and they will accept it.”[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 28:26-27 Isa 6:9-10 (Greek version).
  2. 28:28 Some manuscripts add verse 29, And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, greatly disagreeing with each other.

10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 18:10 Some manuscripts add verse 11, And the Son of Man came to save those who are lost. Compare Luke 19:10.

As surely as I live, says the Sovereign Lord, you abandoned my flock and left them to be attacked by every wild animal. And though you were my shepherds, you didn’t search for my sheep when they were lost. You took care of yourselves and left the sheep to starve.

Read full chapter

11 Did God’s people stumble and fall beyond recovery? Of course not! They were disobedient, so God made salvation available to the Gentiles. But he wanted his own people to become jealous and claim it for themselves. 12 Now if the Gentiles were enriched because the people of Israel turned down God’s offer of salvation, think how much greater a blessing the world will share when they finally accept it.

13 I am saying all this especially for you Gentiles. God has appointed me as the apostle to the Gentiles. I stress this, 14 for I want somehow to make the people of Israel jealous of what you Gentiles have, so I might save some of them. 15 For since their rejection meant that God offered salvation to the rest of the world, their acceptance will be even more wonderful. It will be life for those who were dead!

Read full chapter

20 I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.

Read full chapter

But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”

Read full chapter

47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[a] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 24:47 Or all peoples.

So Jesus told them this story: “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

Parable of the Lost Coin

“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 15:8 Greek ten drachmas. A drachma was the equivalent of a full day’s wage.

16 I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak. But I will destroy those who are fat and powerful. I will feed them, yes—feed them justice!

Read full chapter

Hope for God’s People

17 “The Israelites are like sheep
    that have been scattered by lions.
First the king of Assyria ate them up.
    Then King Nebuchadnezzar[a] of Babylon cracked their bones.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 50:17 Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant spelling of Nebuchadnezzar.

Bible Gateway Recommends

NLT Filament Bible, Gray Clothbound Hardcover
NLT Filament Bible, Gray Clothbound Hardcover
Retail: $59.99
Our Price: $15.99
Save: $44.00 (73%)
5.0 of 5.0 stars
NLT Daily Reader's Bible, softcover
NLT Daily Reader's Bible, softcover
Retail: $19.99
Our Price: $4.99
Save: $15.00 (75%)
4.0 of 5.0 stars
NLT Hands-On Bible, Third Edition, Softcover
NLT Hands-On Bible, Third Edition, Softcover
Retail: $24.99
Our Price: $18.99
Save: $6.00 (24%)
NLT Everyday Matters Bible for Women, softcover
NLT Everyday Matters Bible for Women, softcover
Retail: $39.95
Our Price: $14.99
Save: $24.96 (62%)
4.5 of 5.0 stars