The Righteous Branch

1 ^u“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning ^uthe shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. ^vBehold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. 3 ^wThen I will gather the remnant of my flock ^xout of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, ^yand they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4 ^zI will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord.

5 ^a“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous ^bBranch, and ^che shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved, and ^dIsrael will ^edwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ^f‘The Lord is our righteousness.’

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

One in Christ

11 Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called ^kthe circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— 12 remember ^lthat you were at that time separated from Christ, ^malienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to ⁿthe covenants of promise, ^ohaving no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were ^pfar off have been brought near ^qby the blood of Christ. 14 For ^rhe himself is our peace, ^swho has made us both one and has broken down ^tin his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ^uordinances, that he might create in himself one ^vnew man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might ^wreconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and ^xpreached peace to you who were ^yfar off and peace to those who were ^znear. 18 For ^athrough him we both have ^baccess in ^cone Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer ^dstrangers and aliens,¹ but you are ^efellow citizens with the saints and ^fmembers of the household of God, 20 ^gbuilt on the foundation of the ^hapostles and prophets, ⁱChrist Jesus himself being ^jthe cornerstone, 21 ^kin whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into ^la holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him ^myou also are being built together ⁿinto a dwelling place for God by² the Spirit.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30 ^ijThe apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and ^kthey had no leisure even to eat. 32 ^lAnd they went away in ^mthe boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and ⁿrecognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he ^osaw a great crowd, and ^ohe had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 ^pSend them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, ^q“You give them something to eat.” And ^rthey said to him, ^s“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii¹ worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, ^t“Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he ^ulooked up to heaven and ^vsaid a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.