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.

Preach the Word

1 ^hI charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, ⁱwho is to judge the living and the dead, and by ^jhis appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; ^kreprove, rebuke, and ^lexhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 ^mFor the time is coming when people will not endure ⁿsound¹ teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and ^owill turn away from listening to the truth and ^pwander off into myths. 5 But as for you, ^qalways be sober-minded, ^rendure suffering, do the work of ^san evangelist, ^tfulfill your ministry.

6 For ^uI am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my ^vdeparture has come. 7 ^wI have fought the good fight, ^xI have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is ^ylaid up for me ^zthe crown of righteousness, which the Lord, ^athe righteous judge, will award to me on ^bthat day, and not only to me but also to all ^cwho have loved his appearing.

Personal Instructions

9 ^dDo your best to come to me soon. 10 For ^eDemas, ^fin love with ^gthis present world, ^hhas deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,^{2 i}Titus to Dalmatia. 11 ^hLuke alone is with me. Get ^jMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 ^kTychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 ^lAlexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^mthe Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. ⁿMay it not be charged against them! 17 But ^othe Lord stood by me and ^pstrengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^qall the Gentiles might hear it. So ^rI was rescued ^sfrom the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. ^tTo him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.