Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

(A special song by the clan of Korah and for the music leader.)

God Is Our Mighty Fortress

Trouble for Israel's Enemies

Worthless Shepherds

⁴ The Lord my God said to me:

Tend those sheep doomed for slaughter! ⁵ The people who buy and butcher them go unpunished, while everyone who sells them says, “Praise the Lord! I'm rich.” Not even their shepherds have pity on them.

⁶ Tend those sheep because I, the Lord, will no longer have pity on the people of this earth. I'll turn neighbor against neighbor and make them slaves of a king. They will bring disaster on the earth, and I'll do nothing to rescue any of them.

⁷ So I became a shepherd of those sheep doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep dealers.^[a] And I gave names to the two sticks I used for tending the sheep: One of them was named “Mercy” and the other “Unity.” ⁸ In less than a month, I became impatient with three shepherds who didn't like me, and I got rid of them. ⁹ Then I said, “I refuse to be your shepherd. Let the sheep that are going to die, go on and die, and those that are going to be destroyed, go on and be destroyed. Then let the others eat one another alive.”

¹⁰ On that same day, I broke the stick named “Mercy” to show that the Lord had canceled his agreement with all people. ¹¹ The sheep dealers who saw me knew at once that this was a message from the Lord. ^12-13 (A) I told them, “Pay me my wages, if you think you should; otherwise, forget it.” So they handed me my wages, a measly 30 pieces of silver.

Then the Lord said, “Throw the money into the treasury.”^[b] So I threw the money into the treasury at the Lord's temple. ¹⁴ Then I broke the stick named “Unity” and canceled the ties between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Next, the Lord said to me, “Act like a shepherd again—this time a worthless shepherd. ¹⁶ Once more I am going to let a worthless nobody rule the land—one who won't care for the strays or search for the young or heal the sick or feed the healthy. He will just dine on the fattest sheep, leaving nothing but a few bones.”

A Real Reason for Hope

³ Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. ^4 (A) God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear.

⁵ You have faith in God, whose power will protect you until the last day.^[a] Then he will save you, just as he has always planned to do. ⁶ On that day you will be glad, even if you have to go through many hard trials for a while. ^7 (B) Your faith will be like gold that has been tested in a fire. And these trials will prove that your faith is worth much more than gold that can be destroyed. They will show that you will be given praise and honor and glory when Jesus Christ returns.

⁸ You have never seen Jesus, and you don't see him now. But still you love him and have faith in him, and no words can tell how glad and happy ⁹ you are to be saved. This is why you have faith.