[God says:] "My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray; they have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place."
   Jesus now traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of illness and disability.
   When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. "What do you think? What will a man do who has one hundred sheep and one of them gets lost? He will leave the other ninety-nine grazing on the hillside and go to look for the lost sheep. When he finds it, I tell you, he feels far happier over this one sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not get lost."
   [Jesus said:] "It is the shepherd of the flock who goes in by the door. It is to him the door-keeper opens the door and it is his voice that the sheep recognize. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out of the fold, and when he has brought all his own flock outside, he goes in front of them himself, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will never follow a stranger - indeed, they will run away from him, for they do not recognize strange voices . . .
   "I am the door. If a man goes in through Me, he will be safe and sound; he can come in and out and find his food. The thief comes only to steal, to kill and to destroy, but I have come to bring them life in its fullness. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sake of His sheep."
   May the God of peace, Who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

Taken from Jer. 50, Mt. 9, 18, Ps. 119, Is. 53, Jn. 10, Heb. 13, I Pt. 2, 5, The New King James, The Phillips Translation, The New International Version and Today's English Version. For free Lifescope book, write to Box 1575, Carlsbad, NM 88221.
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