⁷ So I fed the flock for slaughter, ^[a]in particular ^(A)the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called ^[b]Beauty, and the other I called ^[c]Bonds; and I fed the flock.

Prophecy of the Shepherds

⁴ Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter,

¹⁴ Then I cut in two my other staff, ^[a]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

¹⁶ “As for you, son of man, ^(A)take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for ^(B)the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ ¹⁷ Then ^(C)join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand.

¹⁸ “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ^(D)‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’— ^19 (E)say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely I will take ^(F)the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ ²⁰ And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand ^(G)before their eyes.

²¹ “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Surely ^(H)I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; ²² and ^(I)I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and ^(J)one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. ^23 (K)They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but ^(L)I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, and I will be their God.

The Good News of Salvation

⁵ Listen, my beloved brethren: ^(A)Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be ^(B)rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom ^(C)which He promised to those who love Him?

¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Christ Our Peace

¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one ^(A)new man from the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and that He might ^(B)reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby ^(C)putting to death the enmity.