Proverbs 27:23

Therefore, even as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you will hear his voice,

These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart;

Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?

This is a faithful saying: someone who seeks to be an overseer desires a good work.

Servants, in the same way, must be reverent, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for money,

For the overseer must be blameless, as God’s steward, not self-pleasing, not easily angered, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for dishonest gain;

Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;

His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.

His brothers asked him, “Will you indeed reign over us? Will you indeed have dominion over us?” They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.

His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

Now set your heart and your soul to follow Yahweh your God. Arise therefore, and build the sanctuary of Yahweh God, to bring the ark of Yahweh’s covenant and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for Yahweh’s name.”

God, why have you rejected us forever? Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city. Disputes are like the bars of a fortress.

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says Yahweh.

The man said to me, “Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart on all that I will show you; for you have been brought here so that I may show them to you. Declare all that you see to the house of Israel.”

Her leaders judge for bribes, and her priests teach for a price, and her prophets of it tell fortunes for money: yet they lean on Yahweh, and say, “Isn’t Yahweh among us? No disaster will come on us.”

A man’s foes will be those of his own household.

“It is like a man, traveling to another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants, and to each one his work, and also commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch.

Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of Yahweh, to do righteousness and justice; to the end that Yahweh may bring on Abraham that which he has spoken of him.”

Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul. You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes.

Rehoboam took a wife for himself, Mahalath the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David and of Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Jesse.

But he led out his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

from following the ewes that have their young, he brought him to be the shepherd of Jacob, his people, and Israel, his inheritance.

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit above the cherubim, shine out.

I made myself great works. I built myself houses. I planted myself vineyards.

He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

As the flock for sacrifice, as the flock of Jerusalem in her appointed feasts, so the waste cities will be filled with flocks of men. Then they will know that I am Yahweh.’ ”

Yahweh said to me, “Son of man, mark well, and see with your eyes, and hear with your ears all that I tell you concerning all the ordinances of Yahweh’s house, and all its laws; and mark well the entrance of the house, with every exit of the sanctuary.

“Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you,” says Yahweh of Armies, “neither will I accept an offering at your hand.

I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;

Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.”

Not that I seek for the gift, but I seek for the fruit that increases to your account.

not a drinker, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous;

whose mouths must be stopped: men who overthrow whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for dishonest gain’s sake.

Remind them to be in subjection to rulers and to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work,

Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are tender, and that the flocks and herds with me have their young, and if they overdrive them one day, all the flocks will die.

Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart.

Whoever didn’t respect Yahweh’s word left his servants and his livestock in the field.

Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to declare this law, saying,

Only be careful, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes saw, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your children and your children’s children—

All Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall not do any more wickedness like this among you.

All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.

Oh that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!

He said to them, “Set your heart to all the words which I testify to you today, which you shall command your children to observe to do, all the words of this law.

About the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Don’t be afraid, for you have given birth to a son.” But she didn’t answer, neither did she regard it.

But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.”

Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your children here?” He said, “There remains yet the youngest. Behold, he is keeping the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the middle of his brothers. Then Yahweh’s Spirit came mightily on David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle.

Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”

He said, ‘Please let me go, for our family has a sacrifice in the city. My brother has commanded me to be there. Now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers.’ Therefore he has not come to the king’s table.”

After two full years, Absalom had sheep shearers in Baal Hazor, which is beside Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king’s sons.

Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder; and he supplied the king of Israel with the wool of one hundred thousand lambs, and of one hundred thousand rams.

He struck the Philistines to Gaza and its borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fortified city.

By your messengers, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots, I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon, and I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees; and I will enter into his farthest lodging place, the forest of his fruitful field.

and Jesse became the father of his firstborn Eliab, and Abinadab the second, and Shimea the third,

Over the king’s treasures was Azmaveth the son of Adiel: and over the treasures in the fields, in the cities, and in the villages, and in the towers, was Jonathan the son of Uzziah;

He built towers in the wilderness, and dug out many cisterns, for he had much livestock; in the lowland also, and in the plain. He had farmers and vineyard keepers in the mountains and in the fruitful fields, for he loved farming.

also storehouses for the increase of grain, new wine, and oil; and stalls for all kinds of animals, and flocks in folds.

Moreover he provided for himself cities, and possessions of flocks and herds in abundance; for God had given him abundant possessions.

His possessions also were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.

What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

Stand in awe, and don’t sin. Search your own heart on your bed, and be still.

Don’t trust in oppression. Don’t become vain in robbery. If riches increase, don’t set your heart on them.

I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s children.

for he is our God. We are the people of his pasture, and the sheep in his care. Today, oh that you would hear his voice!

Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.

Then I saw, and considered well. I saw, and received instruction:

Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming; but who is able to stand before jealousy?

I bought male servants and female servants, and had servants born in my house. I also had great possessions of herds and flocks, above all who were before me in Jerusalem.

Then I saw all the labor and achievement that is the envy of a man’s neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Isn’t it yet a very little while, and Lebanon will be turned into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field will be regarded as a forest?

No one thinks, neither is there knowledge nor understanding to say, “I have burned part of it in the fire. Yes, I have also baked bread on its coals. I have roasted meat and eaten it. Shall I make the rest of it into an abomination? Shall I bow down to a tree trunk?”

O Yahweh, don’t your eyes look on truth? You have stricken them, but they were not grieved. You have consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction. They have made their faces harder than a rock. They have refused to return.

The king and his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, and didn’t tear their garments.

You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”

For, behold, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who will not visit those who are cut off, neither will seek those who are scattered, nor heal that which is broken, nor feed that which is sound; but he will eat the meat of the fat sheep, and will tear their hoofs in pieces.

For he knew that because of envy they had delivered him up.

But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.

So when they had eaten their breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I have affection for you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away.