Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord the Shepherd

A song of David.

The Leaders Are Like Shepherds

34 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said: ² “Human being, prophesy against the leaders of Israel, who are like shepherds. Prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Lord God says: How terrible it will be for the shepherds of Israel who feed only themselves! Why don’t the shepherds feed the flock? ³ You eat the milk curds from the sheep. You clothe yourselves with the wool from the sheep. You kill the fat sheep. But you do not feed the flock. ⁴ You have not made the weak strong. You have not healed the sick. You have not put bandages on those that were hurt. You have not brought back those who strayed away. You have not searched for the lost. You ruled the sheep with cruel force. ⁵ The sheep were scattered because there was no shepherd. Then they became food for every wild animal. ⁶ My flock wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over all the face of the earth. And no one searched or looked for them.

⁷ “‘So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. This is what the Lord God says: ⁸ As surely as I live, my flock has been caught. It has become food for all the wild animals. This is because the flock has no shepherd. The shepherds did not search for my flock. No, they fed themselves instead of my flock. ⁹ So, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. ¹⁰ This is what the Lord God says: I am against the shepherds. I will blame them for what has happened to my sheep. I will not let them tend the flock anymore. Then the shepherds will stop feeding themselves. And I will take my flock from their mouths. My sheep will no longer be their food.

¹¹ “‘This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep. I will take care of them. ¹² A shepherd will take care of his scattered flock when it is found. In the same way I will take care of my sheep. I will save them from all the places where they are scattered. I will do this on a cloudy and dark day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the nations. I will gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains and in the ravines of Israel. And I will feed them in all the places where people live in the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a good pasture. They will eat grass on the high mountains of Israel. They will lie down on good ground where they eat grass. They will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed my flock and lead them to rest, says the Lord God. ¹⁶ I will search for the lost. I will bring back those that were scattered. I will put bandages on those that were hurt. I will make the weak strong. I will destroy those sheep that are fat and strong. I will tend the sheep with fairness.

A Lost Sheep and a Lost Coin

15 Many tax collectors and “sinners” came to listen to Jesus. ² The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to complain: “Look! This man welcomes sinners and even eats with them!”

³ Then Jesus told them this story: ⁴ “Suppose one of you has 100 sheep, but he loses 1 of them. Then he will leave the other 99 sheep alone and go out and look for the lost sheep. The man will keep on searching for the lost sheep until he finds it. ⁵ And when he finds it, the man is very happy. He puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. He calls to his friends and neighbors and says, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you there is much joy in heaven when 1 sinner changes his heart. There is more joy for that 1 sinner than there is for 99 good people who don’t need to change.