4 Thus said the Lord my God: “Become shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,’ and their own shepherds have no pity on them. 6 For I 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 So I became the shepherd of the flock doomed to be slaughtered by the sheep traders. And I took two staffs, one I named Favor, the other I named Union. And I tended the sheep. 8 In one month I 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. What 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 my 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 ^jthirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. ^kSo I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter. 14 Then I broke my second staff Union, annulling the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.

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

Preach the Word

1 I ^tcharge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, ^uwho is to judge the living and the dead, and by his ^vappearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; ^wreprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 ^xFor the time is coming when people will not endure ^ysound¹ teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and ^zwander off into ^amyths. 5 But as for you, always be sober-minded, ^bendure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, ^cfulfill your ministry.

6 ^dFor I am already being ^epoured out as a drink offering, and the time of my ^fdeparture has come. 7 I have fought the ^ggood fight, I have ^hfinished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is ⁱlaid up for me the ^jcrown of righteousness, which the Lord, the ^krighteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

Personal Instructions

9 Do your best ^lto come to me soon. 10 For ^mDemas, ⁿin love with ^othis present world, ^phas deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia,^{2 q}Titus to Dalmatia. 11 ^rLuke alone is with me. Get ^sMark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 ^tTychicus 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 ^uAlexander the coppersmith did me great harm; ^vthe Lord will repay him ^waccording to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first ^xdefense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and ^ystrengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and ^zall the Gentiles might hear it. So I was ^arescued ^bfrom the lion’s mouth. 18 ^cThe Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. ^dTo him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.