Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

This is a psalm to say ‘thank you’.

Thank you, God!^[a]

¹⁷ This is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to you, my sheep: I will judge you. I will decide which of you are good and which of you are bad. I will judge between male sheep and goats. ¹⁸ You bad sheep make sure that you have plenty of good grass to eat. But then you spoil the other grass so that no other sheep can eat it. You have clean water to drink. But then you spoil the water which remains. It is too dirty for other sheep to drink. ¹⁹ Because of that, my sheep eat grass that you have spoiled. They drink water that you have made dirty with your feet.

²⁰ So this is what I, the Almighty Lord, say to the sheep: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the thin sheep. ²¹ You fat sheep use your shoulders to push the other sheep away. You attack the weak sheep with your horns so that they run away. ²² Because you do this, I will rescue my sheep. They will no longer be in danger from other animals. I will judge between one sheep and another sheep.

²³ Then I will choose one shepherd to lead them. He is my servant, David. He will take care of them as their shepherd.

Peter writes to leaders and young men

5 Now I want to say something to you who are leaders of the groups of believers. Like you, I am also a leader. I myself saw how people caused Christ to have great pain so that he died. One day people will see how great he really is. Then I will be among those people who join with him in heaven. So I say this to you who are leaders: ² Watch over the group of believers that God has given to you. Be like a shepherd that takes care of his sheep. Lead them well because you want to do it. Do not do it just because you have to do it. Do it in the way that God wants for you. Do not be a leader because you want to receive money for yourself. Instead, do it because you want to help people.

³ God has given you a group of believers to take care of them. Do not try to rule over them with power. Instead, show them how to live in a good way, so that they can copy you. ⁴ Then our master, Christ, will give you a beautiful crown when he appears. That is a great gift that will never become old or less beautiful. He is the great Shepherd who takes care of us.^[a]

⁵ I want to say the same thing to you who are young men. You must respect the authority of the leaders. All of you who are believers must respect one another. Do not think that you are more important than other people. The Bible says: