The Lord the Shepherd of His People

A Psalm of David.

Addressing the Sanhedrin

⁵ And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, ⁶ as well as ^(A)Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, ^(B)“By what power or by what name have you done this?”

^8 (C)Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: ⁹ If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, ¹⁰ let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, ^(D)that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, ^(E)whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. ¹¹ This is the ^(F)‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ ^12 (G)Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

The Outworking of Love

^16 (A)By this we know love, ^(B)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(C)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸ My little children, ^(D)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. ¹⁹ And by this we ^[a]know ^(E)that we are of the truth, and shall ^[b]assure our hearts before Him. ^20 (F)For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, ^(G)we have confidence toward God. ²² And ^(H)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments ^(I)and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. ²³ And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ ^(J)and love one another, as He gave ^[c]us commandment.

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

²⁴ Now ^(K)he who keeps His commandments ^(L)abides in Him, and He in him. And ^(M)by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

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

¹⁷ “Therefore My Father ^(I)loves Me, ^(J)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 ^(K)have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. ^(L)This command I have received from My Father.”