Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
11 “‘This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep and ·take care of [look after; or look for] them. 12 As a shepherd ·take care of [looks after; or looks for] his scattered flock when ·it is found [or they are with him], I will ·take care of [look after; or look for] my sheep. I will ·save [rescue] them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. 13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries. I will bring them to their own land and ·pasture [feed] them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines, and in all the places where people live in the land. 14 I will feed them in a good pasture, and they will ·eat grass [graze] on the ·high mountains [mountain heights] of Israel. They will lie down on good ·ground where they eat grass [pasture], and they will eat in rich grassland on the mountains of Israel. 15 I will feed my flock and ·lead them to rest [have them lie down], says the Lord God [Ps. 23; Is. 40:11]. 16 I will search for the lost, bring back those that strayed away [v. 4], put bandages on those that were hurt, and make the weak strong. But I will destroy those sheep that are fat and strong. I will ·tend [shepherd; feed] the sheep with ·fairness [justice].
20 “‘So this is what the Lord God says to them: [L Look; T Behold] I, myself, will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. 21 You push with your side and with your shoulder, and you ·knock down [butt; thrust at] all the weak sheep with your horns until you have ·forced them away [or scattered them abroad]. 22 So I will save my flock; they will ·not be hurt anymore [L no longer be prey]. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 Then I will put over them one shepherd, my servant David [Is. 11:1; Jer. 30:9; Hos. 3:5; Mic. 5:2; C the Messiah envisioned as a new David]. He will feed them and tend them and be their shepherd. 24 Then I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a ·ruler [prince] among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
A Call to Praise the Lord
A psalm of thanks.
100 Shout to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with joy;
come before him with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us [Gen. 1–2], and ·we belong to him [or not ourselves];
we are his people, the sheep ·he tends [L of his pasture; 74:1; 79:13; John 10:11–14].
4 Come into his ·city [L gates] with songs of thanksgiving
and into his courtyards with songs of praise.
·Thank [Praise] him and ·praise [bless] his name.
5 The Lord is good. His ·love [loyalty] is forever,
and his ·loyalty [faithfulness] ·goes on and on [L for all generations].
Paul’s Prayer
15 That is why ·since [or because] I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all ·God’s people [T the saints], 16 I ·have not stopped [never cease] giving thanks to God for you. I always remember you in my prayers, 17 asking the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you ·a spirit of wisdom [or spiritual wisdom; or the Spirit of wisdom] and revelation so that you will know him better. 18 I pray also that ·you will have greater understanding in your heart [L the eyes of your heart may be enlightened] so you will ·know [comprehend] the hope to which he has called us and that you will know ·how rich and glorious are the blessings God has promised [the riches of his glorious inheritance for; or the glorious wealth of an inheritance that God possesses in] ·his holy people [T the saints]. 19 And you will know that God’s power is ·very [exceedingly; overwhelmingly] great for us who believe. That power ·is the same as [or was demonstrated in] the great strength 20 God ·used [exerted] to raise Christ from the dead and ·put [L seat] him at his right ·side [L hand; Ps. 110:1; Acts 2:34] in the heavenly ·world [realm; places]. 21 God has put Christ ·over [far above] all rulers, authorities, powers, and ·kings [lords; dominion], and every other ·title given [L name that is named] not only in this ·world [age] but also in the ·next [coming one]. 22 God ·put [subjected] everything under his ·power [L feet; Ps. 8:6] and ·made him the head over everything for the church [or gave him to the church as head over all things], which is his body. 23 ·The church is filled with Christ [or The church completes Christ; L …the fullness of the one], who fills ·everything in every way [or all things everywhere; L all in all].
The King Will Judge All People
31 “The Son of Man will come again in his great glory [Dan. 7:13–14], with all his angels. He will ·be King and sit on his [L sit on his] ·great [glorious] throne. 32 All the nations of the world will be gathered before him, and he will separate them ·into two groups [L one from another] as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 The Son of Man will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to the people on his right, ‘Come, ·my Father has given you his blessing [L those blessed by my Father]. ·Receive [Inherit] the kingdom God has prepared for you ·since the world was made [L from the creation/foundation of the world]. 35 [L For; Because] I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was ·alone and away from home [a stranger], and you ·invited me into your house [welcomed/received me]. 36 I was ·without clothes [naked], and you ·gave me something to wear [clothed me]. I was sick, and you ·cared for [visited; looked after] me. I was in prison, and you ·visited [came to] me.’
37 “Then the ·good [righteous] people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and give you food, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you ·alone and away from home [a stranger] and ·invite you into our house [welcome/receive you]? When did we see you ·without clothes [naked] and ·give you something to wear [clothe you]? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and ·care for [come to] you?’
40 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, anything you did for even the least of my ·people here [L brothers (and sisters)], you also did for me.’
41 “Then the King will say to those on his left, ‘·Go away [Depart] from me. You ·will be punished [are cursed]. Go into the ·fire that burns forever [eternal fire] that was prepared for the devil and his angels [C the demons]. 42 [L For; Because] I was hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink. 43 I was ·alone and away from home [a stranger], and you did not ·invite me into your house [welcome/receive me]. I was ·without clothes [naked], and you ·gave me nothing to wear [did not clothe me]. I was sick and in prison, and you did not ·care for [visit; look after] me.’
44 “Then those people will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or ·alone and away from home [a stranger] or ·without clothes [naked] or sick or in prison? When did we see these things and not ·help [serve; care for] you?’
45 “Then the King will answer, ‘I tell you the truth, ·anything [to the extent] you refused to do for even the least of ·my people here [L these], you refused to do for me.’
46 “These people will go off to ·be punished forever [eternal punishment], but the ·good people [righteous] ·will go to live forever [to eternal life].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.