Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A psalm of thanksgiving

Give Thanks to the Lord

God’s Shepherd: His Servant David

²³ “‘Then I’ll install one shepherd for them—my servant David—and he will feed them, will be there for them, and will serve as their shepherd. ²⁴ I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will rule among them as Prince.’ I, the Lord, have spoken this.

²⁵ “I’m going to enter into a covenant with them, one of peace, and I’ll eliminate wild beasts from the land so they can live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forests. ²⁶ I’m going to make^[a] them and everything that surrounds my hill^[b] a blessing. I’ll send down the rain! At the appropriate time there will be a rainstorm of blessing! ²⁷ I’ll bring fruit to the trees in the orchards, the land will yield its produce, they will live securely on their land, and they will learn that I am the Lord, when I break the bar that has been their yoke and deliver them from the control of those who have enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be plundered by the nations, and wild animals will no longer devour them. They will settle down confidently, with nothing to frighten them. ²⁹ I’m going to prepare for them the best of gardening spots. They will no longer live as victims in a land of starvation, nor will they have to bear the insults of the international community. ³⁰ That’s when they’ll learn that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people,’ declares the Lord God. ³¹ ‘And as for you, my sheep, the flock that I’m pasturing, you are mankind, and I am your God,’ declares the Lord God.”

²⁰ Now may the God of peace, who by the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep, ²¹ equip you with everything good^[a] to do his will, accomplishing in us^[b] what pleases him through Jesus, the Messiah.^[c] To him be glory forever and ever!^[d] Amen.