The Flock Doomed to Slaughter

4 Thus said the Lord my God: ^o“Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 ^pThose who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, ^qI have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For ^rI will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of this land, declares the Lord. Behold, I will cause each of them to fall into the hand of his neighbor, and each into the hand of his king, and they shall crush the land, and I will deliver none from their hand.”

7 ^sSo I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named ^uFavor, the other I named ^vUnion. ^sAnd I tended the sheep. 8 In one month ^wI destroyed the three shepherds. But I became impatient with them, and they also detested me. 9 So I said, “I will not be your shepherd. ^xWhat is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. And let those who are left devour the flesh of one another.” 10 And I took ^ymy staff Favor, and I broke it, annulling the covenant that I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was annulled on that day, and the sheep traders, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages ^zthirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—^athe lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the ^zthirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. 14 Then I broke ^bmy second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

15 Then the Lord said to me, “Take once more the equipment of ^ca foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am raising up in the land a shepherd ^dwho does not care for those being destroyed, or seek the young or heal the maimed or nourish the healthy, but ^edevours the flesh of the fat ones, tearing off even their hoofs.

The Lord Will Give Salvation

1 ⁱThe oracle of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: Thus declares the Lord, ^jwho stretched out the heavens and ^kfounded the earth and ^jformed the spirit of man within him: 2 “Behold, I am about to make Jerusalem ^la cup of staggering to ^mall the surrounding peoples. The siege of Jerusalem ⁿwill also be against Judah. 3 ^oOn that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. ^pAll who lift it will surely hurt themselves. And ^mall the nations of the earth will gather against it. 4 ^oOn that day, declares the Lord, ^qI will strike every horse ^rwith panic, and its rider ^rwith madness. But for the sake of the house of Judah I will keep my eyes open, when I strike every horse of the peoples ^rwith blindness. 5 Then the clans of Judah shall say to themselves, ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem have strength through the Lord of hosts, their God.’

6 ^o“On that day I will make the clans of Judah ^slike a blazing pot in the midst of wood, like a flaming torch among sheaves. And ^tthey shall devour to the right and to the left all the surrounding peoples, while ^uJerusalem shall again be inhabited in its place, in Jerusalem.

7 “And the Lord will give salvation to the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem may not surpass that of Judah. 8 ^oOn that day ^vthe Lord will protect the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that ^wthe feeblest among them on that day shall be like David, and the house of David shall be like God, ^xlike the angel of the Lord, going before them. 9 ^oAnd on that day ^yI will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

Him Whom They Have Pierced

10 “And ^zI will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and ^zpleas for mercy, so that, ^awhen they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, ^bthey shall mourn for him, ^cas one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn. 11 ^oOn that day ^dthe mourning in Jerusalem will be as great ^eas the mourning for Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 The land shall mourn, ^feach family¹ by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of ^gNathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of ^hthe Shimeites by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 and all the families that are left, each by itself, and their wives by themselves.

To the Church in Ephesus

1 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: ‘The words of ^ehim who holds the seven stars in his right hand, ^fwho walks among the seven golden lampstands.

2 ^g“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but ^hhave tested those ⁱwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up ^jfor my name’s sake, and you ^khave not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned ^lthe love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do ^mthe works you did at first. If not, ⁿI will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of ^othe Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^qTo the one who conquers I will grant to eat of ^rthe tree of life, which is in ^sthe paradise of God.’

To the Church in Smyrna

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write: ‘The words of ^tthe first and the last, ^uwho died and came to life.

9 “‘I know your tribulation and ^vyour poverty (^vbut you are rich) and the slander¹ of ^wthose who say that they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, ^wthat you may be tested, and for ^xten days ^yyou will have tribulation. ^zBe faithful ^aunto death, and I will give you ^bthe crown of life. 11 ^cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^cThe one who conquers will not be hurt by ^dthe second death.’

To the Church in Pergamum

12 “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write: ‘The words of him who has ^ethe sharp two-edged sword.

13 “‘I know where you dwell, ^fwhere Satan’s throne is. Yet you hold fast my name, and you did not ^gdeny my faith² even in the days of Antipas ^hmy faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. 14 But I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of ⁱBalaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might ^jeat food sacrificed to idols and ^kpractice sexual immorality. 15 So also you have some who hold the teaching of ^lthe Nicolaitans. 16 Therefore repent. If not, ^mI will come to you soon and ⁿwar against them with ^ethe sword of my mouth. 17 ^cHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. ^cTo the one who conquers I will give some of ^othe hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with ^pa new name written on the stone ^qthat no one knows except the one who receives it.’

To the Church in Thyatira

18 “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, ^rwho has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.

19 ^s“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. 20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman ^tJezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants ^uto practice sexual immorality and ^uto eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but ^vshe refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, 23 and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he ^wwho searches mind and heart, and ^xI will give to each of you according to your works. 24 But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call ^ythe deep things of Satan, to you I say, I ^zdo not lay on you any other burden. 25 Only hold fast ^awhat you have until I come. 26 ^bThe one who conquers and who keeps my works ^cuntil the end, ^dto him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and ^ehe will ^frule³ them with a rod of iron, ^gas when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him ^hthe morning star. 29 ^pHe who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’