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 fshepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep ghear 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 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 This hfigure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did inot understand what he was saying to them.
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, jI 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, he will kbe saved and will lgo in and out and find mpasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and nkill and destroy. I came that they may ohave life and have it abundantly.
12 I am writing to you, little children,
because kyour sins are lforgiven for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know mhim who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you nknow the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God oabides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. pIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life1—is not from the Father but is qfrom the world. 17 And rthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever sdoes the will of God abides forever.
Job Continues: A Plea to God
1 q“I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my rcomplaint;
I will speak in the sbitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God, tDo not condemn me;
let me know why you ucontend against me.
3 Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the designs of the wicked?
4 Have you eyes of flesh?
Do you see as man sees?
5 Are your days as the days of man,
or vyour years as a man’s years,
6 that wyou seek out my iniquity
and search for my sin,
7 although you know that I am not guilty,
and there is none to deliver out of your hand?
8 xYour hands fashioned and made me,
and now you have destroyed me altogether.
9 yRemember that you have made me like zclay;
and will you areturn me to the dust?
10 Did you not pour me out like milk
and curdle me like cheese?
11 You clothed me with skin and flesh,
and bknit 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 this was your purpose.
14 If I sin, you watch me
and cdo not acquit me of my iniquity.
15 If I am guilty, woe to me!
If dI am in the right, I cannot lift up my head,
for I am filled with disgrace
and look on my affliction.
16 And were my head lifted up,1 you would hunt me like a lion
and again work wonders against me.
17 You renew your witnesses against me
and increase your vexation toward me;
eyou bring fresh troops against me.
18 f“Why did you bring me out from the womb?
Would that I had died before any eye had seen me
19 and were as though I had not been,
carried from the womb to the grave.
20 gAre not my days few?
Then cease, and leave me alone, that hI may find a little cheer
21 before I go—and iI shall not return—
to the land of jdarkness and deep 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 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of bEgypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt; 3 speak, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
“Behold, I am against you,
Pharaoh king of Egypt,
the great cdragon that lies
in the midst of his streams,
that says, ‘My Nile is my own;
I made it for myself.’
4 I will put dhooks 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 And I will cast you out into the wilderness,
you and all the fish of your streams;
you shall fall on the open field,
and not be brought together or egathered.
fTo the beasts of the earth and to the birds of the heavens
I give you as food.
6 Then all the inhabitants of Egypt shall know that I am the Lord.
“Because you1 have been a gstaff of reed to the house of Israel, 7 when 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: Behold, I will bring a sword upon you, and will cut off from you hman and beast, 9 and the land of Egypt shall be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am the Lord.
“Because you3 said, ‘The Nile is mine, and I made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your streams, and I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, ifrom Migdol to Syene, as far as the border of Cush. 11 jNo foot of man shall pass through it, and no foot of beast shall pass through it; it shall be uninhabited forty years. 12 And I will make the land of Egypt a kdesolation in the midst of desolated countries, and her cities shall be a desolation forty years among cities that are laid waste. lI 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 mI will gather the Egyptians from the peoples among whom they were scattered, 14 and I will nrestore the fortunes of Egypt and bring them back to the 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, and 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 the oreliance of the house of Israel, recalling their iniquity, when they turn to them for aid. Then they will know that I am the Lord God.”
17 In the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar 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: Behold, pI will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon; and he shall carry off its wealth4 and despoil it and plunder it; and it shall be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because qthey worked for me, declares the Lord God.
21 “On that day rI will cause a horn to spring up for the house of Israel, and I will open your lips among them. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
A Lament for Egypt
1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy, and say, Thus says the Lord God:
s“Wail, ‘Alas for the day!’
3 For the day is near,
tthe day of the Lord is near;
it will be a uday of clouds,
a time of doom for5 the nations.
4 A sword shall come upon Egypt,
and anguish shall be in Cush,
when the slain fall in Egypt,
and her wealth6 is carried away,
and her foundations are torn down.
5 Cush, and Put, and Lud, and all 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:
Those who support Egypt shall fall,
and her proud might shall come down;
vfrom Migdol to Syene
they shall fall within her by the sword,
declares the Lord God.
7 And they shall be wdesolated in the midst of desolated countries,
and their cities shall be in the midst of cities that are laid waste.
8 Then they will know that I am the Lord,
when I have set fire to Egypt,
and all her helpers are broken.
9 “On that day messengers shall go out from me in ships to terrify the unsuspecting people of Cush, and anguish shall come upon them on the day of Egypt’s doom;9 for, behold, it comes!
10 “Thus says the Lord God:
“I will put an end to the wealth of Egypt,
xby the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.
11 He and his people with him, ythe most ruthless of nations,
shall be brought in to destroy the land,
and they shall draw their swords against Egypt
and fill the land with the slain.
12 And I will dry up the Nile
and will sell the land zinto the hand of evildoers;
I will bring desolation upon the land and everything in it,
by the hand of foreigners;
I am the Lord; I have spoken.
13 “Thus says the Lord God:
“I will destroy the aidols
and put an end to the images in Memphis;
bthere shall no longer be a prince from the land of Egypt;
so I will put fear in the land of Egypt.
14 I will make Pathros a desolation
and will set fire to Zoan
and will execute judgments on Thebes.
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 Memphis 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 Tehaphnehes the day shall be dark,
when I break there the yoke bars of Egypt,
and her 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 I will execute judgments on Egypt.
Then they will know that I am the Lord.”
Egypt Shall Fall to Babylon
20 In the eleventh year, in the first month, on the seventh day of the month, the word of the Lord came to me: 21 “Son of man, I have broken the arm of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and behold, it 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: cBehold, I am against Pharaoh king of Egypt and will break his arms, both the strong arm and the one that was broken, and I will make the sword fall from his hand. 23 dI will scatter the Egyptians among the nations and disperse them through the countries. 24 And I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon and put my sword in his hand, but I will break the arms of Pharaoh, and he will groan before him like a man mortally wounded. 25 I will strengthen the arms of the king of Babylon, but the arms of Pharaoh shall fall. Then they shall know that I am the Lord, when 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.”
