I Am the Good Shepherd
1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 yA stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This figure of speech Jesus zused with them, but they adid not understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, bI am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, che will be saved and will go in and out and dfind pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and ekill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because ryour sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know shim who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because tyou have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because uyou know the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
because you know shim who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because tyou are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15 vDo not love the world or the things in the world. wIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—xthe desires of the flesh and ythe desires of the eyes and pride of life1—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And zthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
Job Continues: A Plea to God
1 “I uloathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my vcomplaint;
I will speak in wthe bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, Do not xcondemn me;
let me know why you ycontend against me.
3 zDoes it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise athe work of your hands
band favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Have you ceyes of flesh?
dDo you see as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man,
or your eyears as a man’s years,
6 that you fseek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although you gknow that I am not guilty,
and there is hnone to deliver out of your hand?
8 iYour hands fashioned and made me,
and now you have destroyed me altogether.
9 Remember that you have made me like jclay;
and will you return me to the kdust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and knit me together with bones and sinews.
12 You have granted me life and steadfast love,
and your care has preserved my spirit.
13 Yet these things you hid in your heart;
I know that lthis was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you mwatch me
and do not nacquit me of my iniquity.
15 oIf I am guilty, woe to me!
If I am pin the right, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and qlook on my affliction.
16 And were my head lifted up,1 you would hunt me like ra lion
and again work swonders against me.
17 You renew your twitnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
you ubring fresh troops against me.
18 v“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
19 wand were as though I had not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 xAre not my days few?
yThen cease, and leave me alone, zthat I may find a little cheer
21 before I go—and aI shall not return—
to the land of bdarkness and cdeep shadow,
22 the land of gloom like thick darkness,
like deep shadow without any order,
where light is as thick darkness.”
Prophecy Against Egypt
1 iIn the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 j“Son of man, kset your face against lPharaoh king of Egypt, mand prophesy against him and nagainst all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
o“Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
pthe great dragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
qthat says, ‘My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.’
4 I will rput hooks in your jaws,
and make the fish of your streams stick to your scales;
and I will draw you up out of the midst of your streams,
with all the fish of your streams
that stick to your scales.
5 sAnd I will cast you out into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall ton the open field,
and unot be brought together or gathered.
To the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
sI give you as food.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt vshall know that I am the Lord.
“Because you1 have been wa staff of reed to the house of Israel, 7 xwhen they grasped you with the hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders; and when they leaned on you, you broke and made all their loins to shake.2 8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: yBehold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you man and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. vThen they will know that I am the Lord.
z“Because you3 said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, zbehold, I am against you and aagainst your streams, and aI will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, bfrom Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 cNo foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 dAnd I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. eI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and disperse them through the countries.
13 “For thus says the Lord God: At the end of forty years fI will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and gI will restore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to hthe land of Pathros, the land of their origin, and there they shall be a lowly kingdom. 15 It shall be the most lowly of the kingdoms, iand never again exalt itself above the nations. And I will make them so small that they will never again rule over the nations. 16 And it shall never again be jthe reliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. kThen they will know that I am the Lord God.”
17 lIn the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 m“Son of man, nNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon made his army labor hard against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was rubbed bare, yet neither he nor his army got anything from Tyre to pay for the labor that he had performed against her. 19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: oBehold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; pand he shall carry off its wealth4 qand despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 rI have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God.
21 “On that day sI will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and tI will open your lips among them. uThen they will know that I am the Lord.”
A Lament for Egypt
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 v“Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
w“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 wFor the day is near,
xthe day of the Lord is near;
it will be ya day of clouds,
a time of doom for5 the nations.
4 zA sword shall come upon Egypt,
aand anguish shall be in bCush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and cher wealth6 is carried away,
and dher foundations are torn down.
5 bCush, and ePut, and Lud, and fall Arabia, and Libya,7 and the people of the land that is in league,8 shall fall with them by the sword.
6 “Thus says the Lord:
gThose who support Egypt shall fall,
and hher proud might shall come down;
ifrom Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
7 jAnd they shall be desolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 kThen they will know that I am the Lord,
when lI have set fire to Egypt,
and gall her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day mmessengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting bpeople of Cush, and aanguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom;9 for, behold, it comes!
10 “Thus says the Lord God:
n“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, othe most ruthless of nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land,
zand they shall draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 And pI will qdry up the Nile
and will sell the land into the hand of revildoers;
sI will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
by the hand of tforeigners;
uI am the Lord; I have spoken.
13 “Thus says the Lord God:
v“I will destroy the idols
and put an end to the images in wMemphis;
xthere shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so yI will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make zPathros a desolation
and will set fire to aZoan
band will execute judgments on cThebes.
15 And I will pour out my wrath on Pelusium,
the stronghold of Egypt,
and cut off the multitude10 of Thebes.
16 And I will set fire to Egypt;
Pelusium shall be in great agony;
Thebes shall be breached,
and wMemphis shall face enemies11 by day.
17 The young men of On and of Pi-beseth shall fall by the sword,
and the women12 shall go into captivity.
18 At dTehaphnehes ethe day shall be dark,
when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and fher proud might shall come to an end in her;
she shall be covered by a cloud,
and her daughters shall go into captivity.
19 Thus gI will execute judgments on Egypt.
hThen they will know that I am the Lord.”
Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon
20 iIn the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 j“Son of man, kI have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, lit has not been bound up, to heal it by binding it with a bandage, so that it may become strong to wield the sword. 22 Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and mwill break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 nI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And oI will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put pmy sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him qlike a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. rThen they shall know that I am the Lord, swhen I put my sword into the hand of the king of Babylon and he stretches it out against the land of Egypt. 26 And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them throughout the countries. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
