The Lost Sheep

15 Now all the tax collectors and the ^[a]sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. ² Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

³ So He told them this parable, saying, ⁴ “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the ^[b]open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? ⁵ When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. ⁶ And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

The Lost Coin

⁸ “Or what woman, if she has ten ^[c]silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The Prodigal Son

¹¹ And He said, “A man had two sons. ¹² The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.’ So he divided his ^[d]wealth between them. ¹³ And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. ¹⁴ Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. ¹⁵ So he went and ^[e]hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. ¹⁶ And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the ^[f]pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. ¹⁷ But when he came to ^[g]his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! ¹⁸ I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and ^[h]in your sight; ¹⁹ I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.”’ ²⁰ So he got up and came to ^[i]his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and ^[j]embraced him and kissed him. ²¹ And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ ²² But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; ²³ and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; ²⁴ for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.’ And they began to celebrate.

²⁵ “Now his older son was in the field, and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. ²⁶ And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. ²⁷ And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ ²⁸ But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. ²⁹ But he answered and said to his father, ‘Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never ^[k]neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; ³⁰ but when this son of yours came, who has devoured your ^[l]wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’ ³¹ And he said to him, ‘Son, you ^[m]have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. ³² But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.’”

Prophecy against the Shepherds of Israel

34 Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ² “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to ^[a]those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord ^[b]God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been ^[c]feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds ^[d]feed the flock? ³ You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without ^[e]feeding the flock. ⁴ Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the ^[f]diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them. ⁵ They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and they became food for every beast of the field and were scattered. ⁶ My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth, and there was no one to search or seek for them.”’”

⁷ Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” declares the Lord God, “surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock; ⁹ therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰ ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My ^[g]sheep ^[h]from them and make them cease from feeding ^[i]sheep. So the shepherds will not ^[j]feed themselves anymore, but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them.”’”

The Restoration of Israel

¹¹ For thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. ¹² As a shepherd ^[k]cares for his herd in the day when he is among his scattered ^[l]sheep, so I will ^[m]care for My ^[n]sheep and will deliver them from all the places to which they were scattered on a 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 feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the streams, and in all the inhabited places of the land. ¹⁴ I will feed them in a 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 ^[o]rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁵ I will feed My flock and I will ^[p]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 fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with judgment.

¹⁷ “As for you, My flock, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I will judge between one ^[q]sheep and another, between the rams and the male goats. ¹⁸ Is it too slight a thing for you that you should feed in the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures? Or that you should drink of the clear waters, that you must ^[r]foul the rest with your feet? ¹⁹ As for My flock, they must eat what you tread down with your feet and drink what you ^[s]foul with your feet!’”

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 thrust at all the ^[t]weak with your horns until you have scattered them ^[u]abroad, ²² therefore, I will deliver My flock, and they will no longer be a prey; and I will judge between one sheep and another.

²³ “Then I will set over them one shepherd, My servant 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 David will be prince among them; I the Lord have spoken.

²⁵ “I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate harmful beasts from the land so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. ²⁶ I will make them and the places around My hill a blessing. And I will cause showers to come down in their season; they will be showers of blessing. ²⁷ Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure on their land. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have delivered them from the hand of those who enslaved them. ²⁸ They will no longer be a prey to the nations, and the beasts of the earth will not devour them; but they will live securely, and no one will make them afraid. ²⁹ I will establish for them a renowned planting place, and they will not again be ^[v]victims of famine in the land, and they will not endure the insults of the nations anymore. ³⁰ Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are My people,” declares the Lord God. ³¹ “As for you, My sheep, the sheep of My pasture, you are men, and I am your God,” declares the Lord God.