Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Lord Our Shepherd^[a]

The Shepherds of Israel

34 The Lord spoke to me. ² “Mortal man,” he said, “denounce the rulers of Israel. Prophesy to them, and tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, say to them: You are doomed, you shepherds of Israel! You take care of yourselves, but never tend the sheep. ³ You drink the milk, wear clothes made from the wool, and kill and eat the finest sheep. But you never tend the sheep. ⁴ You have not taken care of the weak ones, healed the ones that are sick, bandaged the ones that are hurt, brought back the ones that wandered off, or looked for the ones that were lost. Instead, you treated them cruelly. ^5 (A)Because the sheep had no shepherd, they were scattered, and wild animals killed and ate them. ⁶ So my sheep wandered over the high hills and the mountains. They were scattered over the face of the earth, and no one looked for them or tried to find them.

⁷ “Now, you shepherds, listen to what I, the Lord, am telling you. ⁸ As surely as I am the living God, you had better listen to me. My sheep have been attacked by wild animals that killed and ate them because there was no shepherd. My shepherds did not try to find the sheep. They were taking care of themselves and not the sheep. ⁹ So listen to me, you shepherds. ¹⁰ I, the Sovereign Lord, declare that I am your enemy. I will take my sheep away from you and never again let you be their shepherds; never again will I let you take care only of yourselves. I will rescue my sheep from you and not let you eat them.

The Good Shepherd

¹¹ “I, the Sovereign Lord, tell you that I myself will look for my sheep and take care of them ¹² in the same way as shepherds take care of their sheep that were scattered and are brought together again. I will bring them back from all the places where they were scattered on that dark, disastrous day. ¹³ I will take them out of foreign countries, gather them together, and bring them back to their own land. I will lead them back to the mountains and the streams of Israel and will feed them in pleasant pastures. ¹⁴ I will let them graze in safety in the mountain meadows and the valleys and in all the green pastures of the land of Israel. ¹⁵ I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will find them a place to rest. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken.

¹⁶ “I will look for those that are lost, bring back those that wander off, bandage those that are hurt, and heal those that are sick; but those that are fat and strong I will destroy, because I am a shepherd who does what is right.

The Lost Sheep^(A)

15 ^(B)One day when many tax collectors and other outcasts came to listen to Jesus, ² the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law started grumbling, “This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!” ³ So Jesus told them this parable:

⁴ “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it. ⁵ When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders ⁶ and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbors together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine respectable people who do not need to repent.