Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will ^(A)search for My sheep and seek them out. ^12 (B)As a shepherd ^[a]cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered ^[b]sheep, so I will ^[c](C)care for My ^[d]sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a ^(D)cloudy and gloomy day. ¹³ I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and bring them to their own land; and I will ^(E)feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ^(F)streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a ^(G)good pasture, and their grazing ground will be on the mountain heights of Israel. There they will lie down on good grazing ground and feed in ^[e](H)rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will ^(I)feed My flock and I will ^[f]lead them to rest,” declares the Lord God. ¹⁶ “I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick; but the ^(J)fat and the strong I will destroy. I will ^(K)feed them with judgment.

²⁰ Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, “Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. ²¹ Because you push with side and with shoulder, and ^(A)thrust at all the ^[a]weak with your horns until you have scattered them ^[b]abroad, ²² therefore, I will ^(B)deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ “Then I will ^(C)set over them one ^(D)shepherd, My servant ^(E)David, and he will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. ²⁴ And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant ^(F)David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

All Men Exhorted to Praise God.

A Psalm for ^[a]Thanksgiving.

¹⁵ For this reason I too, ^(A)having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and ^[a]your love for ^(B)all the ^[b]saints, ^16 (C)do not cease giving thanks for you, ^(D)while making mention of you in my prayers; ¹⁷ that the ^(E)God of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^(F)the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of ^(G)wisdom and of ^(H)revelation in the ^[c]knowledge of Him. ¹⁸ I pray that ^(I)the eyes of your heart ^[d]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the ^(J)hope of His ^(K)calling, what are ^(L)the riches of the glory of ^(M)His inheritance in ^(N)the ^[e]saints, ¹⁹ and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. ^(O)These are in accordance with the working of the ^(P)strength of His might ²⁰ which He brought about in Christ, when He ^(Q)raised Him from the dead and ^(R)seated Him at His right hand in ^(S)the heavenly places, ²¹ far above ^(T)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every ^(U)name that is named, not only in ^(V)this age but also in the one to come. ²² And He ^(W)put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as ^(X)head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His ^(Y)body, the ^(Z)fullness of Him who ^(AA)fills ^(AB)all in all.

The Judgment

³¹ “But when ^(A)the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then ^(B)He will sit on His glorious throne. ³² All the nations will be ^(C)gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, ^(D)as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; ³³ and He will put the sheep ^(E)on His right, and the goats ^(F)on the left.

³⁴ “Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, ^(G)inherit the kingdom prepared for you ^(H)from the foundation of the world. ³⁵ For ^(I)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; ^(J)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; ^36 (K)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you ^(L)visited Me; ^(M)I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ ³⁷ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ³⁸ And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ³⁹ When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ ^40 (N)The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, ^(O)to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘^(P)Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the ^(Q)eternal fire which has been prepared for ^(R)the devil and his angels; ⁴² for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ ⁴⁴ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not ^[a]take care of You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ These will go away into ^(S)eternal punishment, but the righteous into ^(T)eternal life.”