Is. 41:1–13

41:1 “Listen to me in silence, you coastlands!

Let the nations find renewed strength!

Let them approach and then speak;

let us come together for debate.

2Who stirs up this one from the east?

Who officially commissions him for service?

He hands nations over to him

and enables him to subdue kings.

He makes them like dust with his sword,

like windblown straw with his bow.

3He pursues them and passes by unharmed;

he advances with great speed.

4Who acts and carries out decrees?

Who summons the successive generations from the beginning?

I, the Lord, am present at the very beginning,

and at the very end—I am the one.

5The coastlands see and are afraid;

the whole earth trembles;

they approach and come.

6They help one another;

one says to the other, ‘Be strong!’

7The craftsman encourages the metalsmith,

the one who wields the hammer encourages the one who pounds on the anvil.

He approves the quality of the welding,

and nails it down so it won’t fall over.

8“You, my servant Israel,

Jacob, whom I have chosen,

offspring of Abraham my friend,

9you whom I am bringing back from the earth’s extremities

and have summoned from the remote regions—

I told you, ‘You are my servant.’

I have chosen you and not rejected you.

10Don’t be afraid, for I am with you!

Don’t be frightened, for I am your God!

I strengthen you—

yes, I help you—

yes, I uphold you with my victorious right hand!

11Look, all who were angry at you will be ashamed and humiliated;

your adversaries will be reduced to nothing and perish.

12When you will look for your opponents, you will not find them;

your enemies will be reduced to absolutely nothing.

13For I am the Lord your God,

the one who takes hold of your right hand,

who says to you, ‘Don’t be afraid, I am helping you.’

Ps. 22

22:1 For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”; a psalm of David.

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.

2My God, I cry out during the day,

but you do not answer,

and during the night my prayers do not let up.

3You are holy;

you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel.

4In you our ancestors trusted;

they trusted in you and you rescued them.

5To you they cried out, and they were saved;

in you they trusted and they were not disappointed.

6But I am a worm, not a man;

people insult me and despise me.

7All who see me taunt me;

they mock me and shake their heads.

8They say,

“Commit yourself to the Lord!

Let the Lord rescue him!

Let the Lord deliver him, for he delights in him.”

9Yes, you are the one who brought me out from the womb

and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.

10I have been dependent on you since birth;

from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God.

11Do not remain far away from me,

for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.

12Many bulls surround me;

powerful bulls of Bashan hem me in.

13They open their mouths to devour me

like a roaring lion that rips its prey.

14My strength drains away like water;

all my bones are dislocated.

My heart is like wax;

it melts away inside me.

15The roof of my mouth is as dry as a piece of pottery;

my tongue sticks to my gums.

You set me in the dust of death.

16Yes, wild dogs surround me—

a gang of evil men crowd around me;

like a lion they pin my hands and feet.

17I can count all my bones;

my enemies are gloating over me in triumph.

18They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;

they are rolling dice for my garments.

19But you, O Lord, do not remain far away.

You are my source of strength. Hurry and help me!

20Deliver me from the sword.

Save my life from the claws of the wild dogs.

21Rescue me from the mouth of the lion

and from the horns of the wild oxen.

You have answered me.

22I will declare your name to my countrymen.

In the middle of the assembly I will praise you.

23You loyal followers of the Lord, praise him.

All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.

All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him.

24For he did not despise or detest the suffering of the oppressed.

He did not ignore him;

when he cried out to him, he responded.

25You are the reason I offer praise in the great assembly;

I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.

26Let the oppressed eat and be filled.

Let those who seek his help praise the Lord.

May you live forever!

27Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him.

Let all the nations worship you.

28For the Lord is king

and rules over the nations.

29All the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship;

all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him,

including those who cannot preserve their lives.

30A whole generation will serve him;

they will tell the next generation about the Lord.

31They will come and tell about his saving deeds;

they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.

John 10:1–21

10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, the one who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The doorkeeper opens the door for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4When he has brought all his own sheep out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. 5They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him because they do not recognize the stranger’s voice.” 6Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

7So Jesus said again, “I tell you the solemn truth, I am the door for the sheep. 8All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.

11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not a shepherd and does not own sheep, sees the wolf coming and abandons the sheep and runs away. So the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13Because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep, he runs away.

14“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me— 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not come from this sheepfold. I must bring them too, and they will listen to my voice, so that there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17This is why the Father loves me—because I lay down my life, so that I may take it back again. 18No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down of my own free will. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it back again. This commandment I received from my Father.”

19Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people because of these words. 20Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind! Why do you listen to him?” 21Others said, “These are not the words of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see, can it?”