The Chief Shepherd
Micah 4:2, 1 Kings 22:15,Zechariah 11:14-16,Jeremiah 50:6-7, 1 Kings 22:17, Ezekiel 34:6, Ezekiel 34:5, Ezekiel 34:7-10, 1 Kings 22:17,2 Samuel 5:1-2, Ezekiel 34:10-12, Micah 7:14,Psalm 120:5,Nahum 3:17, Amos 8:9, Jeremiah 3:14,Genesis 49:24, Jeremiah 3:15, Lamentations 2:13, Jeremiah 6:2, Song of Solomon 1:9, Song of Solomon 1:7-9, Jeremiah 6:3, Jeremiah 50:6, Jeremiah 3:16, Genesis 29:8, Exodus 2:18-19, Isaiah 31:3, Ezekiel 34:2, Matthew 26:31, Isaiah 56:10,Nahum 3:18, Isaiah 56:10, Isaiah 56:11, Psalm 59:6-7, Isaiah 56:12,Psalm 59:8,Psalm 59:12,Nahum 3:19, Ezekiel 34:1-3, Zephaniah 2:5-7, Zephaniah 2:7, 1 Corinthians 4:5,Ezekiel 34:22, John 10:15-17, Acts 20:27-29,Psalm 59:13, Ezekiel 34:23-24, Jeremiah 17:16, Isaiah 31:4-5, Zechariah 13:4-6, Psalm 22:16, Jeremiah 11:19, Isaiah 38:12, Jeremiah 23:1-3, Psalm 80:1-3, Psalm 22:20, Psalm 13:1-3, Isaiah 40:10-12,Jeremiah 23:4-5, Jeremiah 25:33-37, Jeremiah 33:9-13, Hebrews 13:19-21, Luke 15:1-7 1 Peter 2:24-25, Revelation 7:16-17, 1 Peter 5:1-4,2 Thessalonians 2-12, Job 27:8-10, Matthew 24:24, Matthew 24:25, Matthew 24:12, Matthew 24:11, Matthew 24:23-25, Ecclesiastes 7:13-14, Jeremiah 16:15-17, Jeremiah 43:11-13, Hebrews 9:22, 1 Kings 22:16-18,Numbers 20:16,Ecclesiastes 12:10-12)
...Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them.
Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.
And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.
And their adversaries said, ‘We have not offended, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, The Lord, the hope of their fathers.’
Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. “For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”— therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”
And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”
…“Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’”
‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. Who dwell solitarily in a woodland, And the place where they are being not known. In the midst of Carmel.Woe is me, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
As in days of old. “As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.” Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake, “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight; “
“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you.
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
…I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman. I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
Then God said,How shall I console you?
To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion?
She said, “Tell me, O you whom I love,
Where you feed your flock,
Where you make it rest at noon.
For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions?”
And He said, If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your little goats Beside the shepherds’ tents.
…The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’
But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.
Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.”
(he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”)
And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.
…Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant; Your shepherds slumber; Your nobles rest in the dust. They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory. At evening they return, they growl like a dog, and go all around the city.
Indeed, they belch with their mouth; Swords are in their lips; For they say, “Who hears?”
“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink;
Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.”
But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in derision. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride, and for the cursing and lying which they speak.
And God said to them, Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
(The Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together.)
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves!
Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.
“I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant. “The seacoast shall be pastures, with shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall feed their flocks there; For the LORD their God will intervene for them, and return their captives.
Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
Therefore, I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep between rams and goats. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God Which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
(Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be; And let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth). Selah
I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of my lips; It was right there before You.
For thus the Lord has spoken to me:
… “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise),
So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it.”
“And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies;
They will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’
And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’
Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.‘For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter;and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” My life span is gone, Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.
Therefore, thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD.
“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up Your strength, and come and save us!
Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!
Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.
How long, O Lord?
Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.
“Wail, shepherds, and cry! Roll about in the ashes, You leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled; You shall fall like a precious vessel. And the shepherds will have no way to flee, Nor the leaders of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds,and a wailing of the leaders to the flock will be heard.For the Lord has plundered their pasture, And the peaceful dwellings are cut down Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’
“Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness,the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: “Praise the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His mercy endures forever”--
and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Selah
The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness,
For what is the hope of the hypocrite,Though he may gain much,If God takes away his life?
Will God hear his cry When trouble comes upon him?
Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
See, I have told you beforehand.
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
Consider the work of God;
In the day of prosperity be joyful,But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’
For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers. When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword.
I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. He shall also break the sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.”’” …. and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Selah
So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?
When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border...
...
The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
Psalm 23:2-6
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul;He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You anoint my head with oil;My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
...Then I cut in two my other staff, Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
“My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; They have forgotten their resting place. All who found them have devoured them.
Then he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered.
And the Lord said to me, “Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.
And their adversaries said, ‘We have not offended, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, The Lord, the hope of their fathers.’
Many nations shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. “For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”— therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”
And the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”
…“Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’”
‘For thus says the Lord God: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. Who dwell solitarily in a woodland, And the place where they are being not known. In the midst of Carmel.Woe is me, That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
As in days of old. “As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I will show them wonders.” Yes, you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake, “And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Lord God, “That I will make the sun go down at noon, And I will darken the earth in broad daylight; “
“Return, O backsliding children,” says the Lord; “for I am married to you.
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (From there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel), And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.
…I have likened the daughter of Zion to a lovely and delicate woman. I have compared you, my love, To my filly among Pharaoh’s chariots.
Then God said,How shall I console you?
To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem?
What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion?
She said, “Tell me, O you whom I love,
Where you feed your flock,
Where you make it rest at noon.
For why should I be as one who veils herself by the flocks of your companions?”
And He said, If you do not know, O fairest among women, follow in the footsteps of the flock, and feed your little goats Beside the shepherds’ tents.
…The shepherds with their flocks shall come to her. They shall pitch their tents against her all around. Each one shall pasture in his own place. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, ‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant That will not be forgotten.’
But they said, “We cannot until all the flocks are gathered together, and they have rolled the stone from the well’s mouth; then we water the sheep.
Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.”
(he said, “How is it that you have come so soon today?”)
And they said, “An Egyptian delivered us from the hand of the shepherds, and he also drew enough water for us and watered the flock.
…Now the Egyptians are men, and not God;
And their horses are flesh, and not spirit. His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant; Your shepherds slumber; Your nobles rest in the dust. They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs Which never have enough. And they are shepherds Who cannot understand; They all look to their own way, Every one for his own gain, From his own territory. At evening they return, they growl like a dog, and go all around the city.
Indeed, they belch with their mouth; Swords are in their lips; For they say, “Who hears?”
“Come,” one says, “I will bring wine, and we will fill ourselves with intoxicating drink;
Tomorrow will be as today, And much more abundant.”
But You, O LORD, shall laugh at them; You shall have all the nations in derision. For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips, let them even be taken in their pride, and for the cursing and lying which they speak.
And God said to them, Your injury has no healing, Your wound is severe. All who hear news of you Will clap their hands over you, for upon whom has not your wickedness passed continually?
(The Lord stretches out His hand, both he who helps will fall, and he who is helped will fall down; They all will perish together.)
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves!
Then Jesus said to them, “All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written: ‘I will strike the Shepherd, And the sheep of the flock will be scattered.’
Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?
You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock.
“I will destroy you; So there shall be no inhabitant. “The seacoast shall be pastures, with shelters for shepherds and folds for flocks. The coast shall be for the remnant of the house of Judah; They shall feed their flocks there; For the LORD their God will intervene for them, and return their captives.
Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.
Therefore, I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep between rams and goats. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep and other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.
For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.
Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God Which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.
(Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be; And let them know that God rules in Jacob to the ends of the earth). Selah
I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the Lord, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the Lord, have spoken.
As for me, I have not hurried away from being a shepherd who follows You, nor have I desired the woeful day; You know what came out of my lips; It was right there before You.
For thus the Lord has spoken to me:
… “As a lion roars, and a young lion over his prey (When a multitude of shepherds is summoned against him, He will not be afraid of their voice nor be disturbed by their noise),
So the Lord of hosts will come down to fight for Mount Zion and for its hill. Like birds flying about, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem. Defending, He will also deliver it; Passing over, He will preserve it.”
“And it shall be in that day that every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies;
They will not wear a robe of coarse hair to deceive. But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’
And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your arms?’
Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.‘For dogs have surrounded Me; The congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet; But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter;and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” My life span is gone, Taken from me like a shepherd’s tent;I have cut off my life like a weaver. He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me.
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.
Therefore, thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD.
“But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up Your strength, and come and save us!
Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!
Deliver Me from the sword, My precious life from the power of the dog.
How long, O Lord?
Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart daily?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, Lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand,And His arm shall rule for Him;
Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.
I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.
“Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
And at that day the slain of the Lord shall be from one end of the earth even to the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, or gathered, or buried; they shall become refuse on the ground.
“Wail, shepherds, and cry! Roll about in the ashes, You leaders of the flock! For the days of your slaughter and your dispersions are fulfilled; You shall fall like a precious vessel. And the shepherds will have no way to flee, Nor the leaders of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds,and a wailing of the leaders to the flock will be heard.For the Lord has plundered their pasture, And the peaceful dwellings are cut down Because of the fierce anger of the Lord.
Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’
“Thus says the Lord: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, the voice of joy and the voice of gladness,the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: “Praise the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His mercy endures forever”--
and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lord.
“Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down.
In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lord.
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
But I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
Selah
The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness,
For what is the hope of the hypocrite,Though he may gain much,If God takes away his life?
Will God hear his cry When trouble comes upon him?
Will he delight himself in the Almighty? Will he always call on God?
For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
See, I have told you beforehand.
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.
“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it.
Consider the work of God;
In the day of prosperity be joyful,But in the day of adversity consider:
Surely God has appointed the one as well as the other,So that man can find out nothing that will come after him.
but, ‘The Lord lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the lands where He had driven them.’
For I will bring them back into their land which I gave to their fathers. When he comes, he shall strike the land of Egypt and deliver to death those appointed for death, and to captivity those appointed for captivity, and to the sword those appointed for the sword.
I will kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt, and he shall burn them and carry them away captive. And he shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, and he shall go out from there in peace. He shall also break the sacred pillars of Beth Shemesh that are in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians he shall burn with fire.”’” …. and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
Selah
So the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?
When we cried out to the Lord, He heard our voice and sent the Angel and brought us up out of Egypt; now here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your border...
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The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright—words of truth. The words of the wise are like goads, and the words of scholars are like well-driven nails, given by one Shepherd. And further, my son, be admonished by these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is wearisome to the flesh.
Psalm 23:2-6
A Psalm of David.
The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul;He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You anoint my head with oil;My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
References and external links
- Patterson, Steven, and Marvin Meyer. "The Gospel of Thomas Collection - Translations and Resources." The Gospel of Thomas Collection - Translations and Resources. Gnostic Society Library Nag Hamadi, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016. <http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/gosthom.html>. Selection from Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version. (Polebridge Press, 1992, 1994)
- "BibleGateway." Thomas Nelson, 1982. Web. 18 July 2016. <https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=goliath&qs_version=NKJV>.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause. 12/21/2015